The red maples in your area should all be leafed out fully by now. Look under the larger trees and you should be able to find an abundance of seedlings.
The "trilobum" variant of Acer rubrum(leaves pictured above) is the type that is supposed to more lend itself to bonsai.
I now live in SE PA and even up here I see both types with regularity.
This past fall, I found a young seedling with fire engine red leaves and a cherry red stem. I will be growing this out for bonsai purposes.
With many, many years of selective breeding and experience, I think Acer rubrum could be tamed into a species fully suitable for bonsai culture.