Might be more people out on deer opener vs a random saturday in the winter, but most everybody is just sitting in stands now. There are very few big family/friends groups left doing post/drive hunts all day long like 20 years ago. I know first hand because I've watched the decline in group sizes and I've watched the corresponding reduction in traffic and mid day deer movement due to hunting pressure. Where as take a February Saturday when there's three or four predator hunts all scheduled for the same day and there's guys all over the county running from one slough or farm grove to the next with rifles either post/drive hunting it, or just ripping off 15 shots into the cover to see what runs out. What's less safe? If a rifle is safe for coyotes it should be safe for deer in the same township.I've never seen public lands crawling with coyote hunters. Traffic and human presence in "rural" areas isn't multiple times higher for a weekend during "coyote opener".
I'm not a staunch advocate of maintaining slug only season but i can certainly see some positives.