I have lived and hunted in Maryland all my life. I have hunted Texas, spot and stalk for Javelina and that was an absolute blast ! However I was on at least 1-2 sometimes 3 groups per day so seeing game keeps you motivated to walk the miles of Senderos. I killed one and it was pretty exciting, would do it again no question. I have hunted pigs on public land in Georgia and walked 29 miles before I saw the first one, not as much fun ! But still a good trip with friends. You can stalk whitetails in certain areas, I do it during muzzleloader quite a bit and have a few spots where I can do it with a bow. We get coastal storms, and hurricanes that blow over huge trees and it turns into a jungle in some areas where the only option is to sit a stand. It is what you make of it, we do 2 man bumps for deer with bows and that'll get your heart started ! Then you have Rinella coming to the shore to hunt Sika, it's a great hunt, can be tough, thanks for putting it on blast Steve !
You can't bait on public here, there is plenty of public spots some are small tracts but they hold deer and some are Pope and Young and some are Boone and Crocket. Picking the right tree, wind, time of day, time of year, moon etc and putting in your time to kill a mature whitetail that will jump your string and leave your jaw on the ground on public land is no small feat. Those deer have survived several gun seasons, pushes, drives etc. They live in the marshes and places you can't go, catch him on his feet during shooting light is one thing and killing him is another especially when he's in a laurel thicket that's like shooting through a wicker basket.
I'm hunting elk this year for the first time and can't wait, it'll be different for sure. Everything has it's challenges, any mature game animal is going to give you a run for your money if it was easy I don't know if I would do it. I am not of the opinion that elk are going to be "easier" than whitetail hunting. I also wouldn't think someone who has never done it would consider hunting here easy.