I use google earth for both scouting and finding land to hunt.
You can usually look at the satellite photos to see which pieces of land go with which house. Then go to that house and ask for permission like 1shotkill describes.
When scouting, I look for game trails, rubs, beds, scrapes, good lookouts, good locations for treestands, food/water sources and I take pictures of everything I find to make a map in Google Earth. I use a GPS and software to tag my photos on the map exactly where I took them so I can review when I get home. After a scouting trip I put all that information on satellite image maps and topography maps and use the organized information to help determine how the animals are travelling and behaving.
I describe what to look for and how to do all this in an eBook.
Deer Hunting, Scouting Tips, GPS Journal