Cotton farmer, welcome to the forum. I live in south Ar, which you know is loaded with deer. the main food source down here is acorns. especially whiteoak acorns, but postoak, and redoak are good also. what is the main food source for the deer in your area? if you know the food source, I' d start right there, and find trails, rublines, that lead into your thicker areas. that' s where the deer will bed up. if you can find trails comin out of, and goin in to the thick areas, then you should be able to set up somewhere along these trails(preferably at creek crossins, old log roads, tram roads, a place where the woods narrow down etc, these are all funnels and a good place to set a stand.
you shouldn' t have any problems findin these trails, if it' s a swampy area, deer tracks will be easy to find. of course if the river is up it will push the deer out closer to the hills and ridges. good luck.