In most cases there are far more of the prey species than there ever were throughout history. That is also true in most cases of predator species as well, entirely due to our wildlife management actions. Of course, if you were to point out spectacular fails, do not forget that by not allowing a hunt to thin the deer numbers in Florida a number of years back resulted in thousands of deer slowly starving to death. I remember a time when grizzlies were completely extinct in almost all of lower 48. Since then their numbers have expanded greatly and their range is now expanded well into the lower 48. The numbers of black bears in many of the lower 48 were miniscule until now there are more black bears than at any time in history. All due to wildlife management by responsible humans.