big woods hunting can be tough because there is so much land. finding the food source the deer are keying in on is the ticket. of hunting bedding areas etc...but some big woods i hunt deer seem to wander pretty aimlessly..and seem to bed wherever the heck they want. behind a log..under a hemlock..in a thicket..wherever..never the same places...im still REALLLLY wet at bowhunting the big woods..as you know i gave it heck this year at school. every day i hunted i found another spot i needed to be. one day the ridge was lite up with scrapes..the next not a hint of deer sign..ill get there one day. its definently a diffrent ball game. the land i hunted was only about 10,000 acres..plus its surrounded in more woods mostly..only broken up by a few small dirt roads that most guys wont/cant drive. which leads me to next years adventure. hunting the bottom lands where i hope other people cant/wont go. one road i hunt off of you sometimes need 4WD to get back up it when its DRY. rain turns it to a mud slide which is always an adventure, and snow..well that can be a mess if its packed. last time in i had to put it in 4WD low range. never had to do that before..and i was the only one on fresh snow. when im back there fishing this spring im going to do my scouting. i know i found some WHOPPER rubs down in there last year while fishing. also i want to look for side valleys that run into the large drainage. hunt the points and edges of those..thats been good to me in the passed. but the diffrence between my big woods and yours is probably hunting pressure. thats why i look for "out of the way" areas..like the bottom of the mountain..that cuts out anyone without 4WD atleast..then i will walk longer, farther, steeper, thicker etc..

the best piece of advice for big woods is a TOPO! then couple that with an area and try to highlight areas of intrest. thickets, pinch points(funnels, saddels, bottle necks, draws etc) stands of mature forest, fields etc..that can cut down the leg work and ground pounding that needs done..doesnt eliminate it but it can help a bit..

if you find any good reads or anything let me know...i got alot to learn about it before fall!! funny i got big woods hunting to worry about at school and then i got small wood lots etc with highly super pressured deer to learn to hunt at home on the farms...