RE: Anyone studying the deer where they hunt?
I have been out about that much also. Pretty much scouting the things you mentioned. One thing I think I found is a staging area. John Eberhart talks about them in his books and video but I had never seen one around here (pretty much all public land I hunt). Well, I found one in this neck of woods that comes up between to fields.They can get to it from a draw that goes to a creek bottom that goes to the road that they cross from their bedding areas. That is probably the most significant thing I have found and very exciting for me. The other stuff, trails, food, etc. is just confirmation of what I thought but in some new hunting areas farther out.