I haven't deer hunted in many years but when I did it was mostly public land within a few miles from my driveway, I am blessed to live almost geographically in the middle of a national forest.
i always scouted year round, more to learn the ground then anything but i would nearly always learn something else in the process. for bow season i didn't have much competition and found a spot within walking distance of home where i only hunted 2 or 3 times without seeing deer
for the general season i always hunted the river bottom setting up near trails or on ridges that a buck was working. i wasn't all that successful myself but rarely did i set a guest up that they didn't have a chance for a buck. a couple of my friends teased me that i should start a guide service. my theory is that God knew a deer kill didn't mean much to me so he sent them elsewhere, in truth it was probably because i am a fidgeter and they were busting me and slipping off. one of the last hunts i went on i took my brother who hardly hunts at all, i put him on the intersection of two trails with a scrape on each side of him, the buck was so close to where he was sitting that he heard him when he got out bed. he shot him from about 15 steps, leaned his gun (actually my daughters gun) against the tree and went to drag the deer to the trail, at about the second step the deer stood up behind him. he was trying to drag the deer to the gun and couldn't, he let go and sprinted the few steps to the gun and thankfully was able to finish him. i know, sounds like a fish story but i have no doubt it is true, you'd have to know my brother.
creek