After many years of hunting State land in N.J. and N.Y. and seeing only red coats, I finally got access to private land and got my first deer. That was about 20 years ago. Hunting on private land (with little hunting pressure)is much more like what you may read in magazines and what you have learned my work. It's a different ball game on state land. If you can get permission on private land, that would be the place to do your scouting and locate stand placements.
Good luck
Warren