I too would focus on the water right away. For early and late seasons especially, the water will be key. If you can locate spots where they go to drink and cross, you can locate most other important areas from circling out from those points.

From there I would obviously look at the plots and apples. If you can find too and from routes between those areas and some of the denser thickets you can increase your chances at getting a shot at some deer. I think all of that goes without needing to jump deeper into it.

The last thing I would do is try to find a small clump of those scattered apples that have some real thick cover near it and prefferably close to the water. That area would be a spot I would keep an eye on all season, but no hunt. If the deer use the area occasionally, I would watch it for the late season/Last ditch hunts. That little low pressure, secluded spot could hold a ton of deer in the late season.