Sadly, that's true. I had family and friends in S. KY before I retired for the second and last time. I had all kinds of access to hunt down there, for the price of just being respectful enough to ask, knowing full well the answer was "yes". Many of those folks, or most, practically, are dead and have moved on, and finding public hunting land that's not so heavily hunted, you're not dodging bullets, well I can only say I haven't had any luck myself. I'm going south to do some boar hunting in May, and will probably hunt some squirrel and rabbits next season. I'm on track with a hunting trip to South Africa the summer after this coming. Due to the the difficulty and ridiculous prices wanted to hunt private property in this area, within a reasonable drive from here (Florence KY) I will sadly be putting my deer rifles in the safe for the last time. And I wouldn't waste my time or a strangers time, asking a stranger for permission to hunt their land. I'd literally be embarrassed too, for looking foolish enough to bother to ask in the first place, or paying a whole lot of money for a place that might not hold much (lease).
