RE: Order of Strategies?
For the early season I generally look for a travel route between food sources and water sources. Most of the deer I've shot have come from a setup similar to this, and this is strategy I will carry through the majority of the season as a fall back. For the pre-rut, I'll generally concentrate on travel routes again, but this time between bedding areas and feeding areas like acorns, certain crop fields, etc. This is something else that has almost always worked for me. I usually hunt fairly small properties and this seems to be a good way to at least pattern some deer, as the bedding routes and food plot areas will always be used.
The rut post rut and late season I haven't generally been able to hunt too much, I generally just too busy with Hockey, school, officiating to get a free weekend to go out with the bow. Gun season is a different story though.
I really enjoy hunting from the ground. That is just the way I was introduced to hunting and its still one of my favorite ways to hunt. I'm just now starting to get into tree stands. I shot my first deer from a stand this year in fact. I don't hunt too high off the ground - had a fall once my first year from a tree.