Water is one of the main draws for deer; especially if it's the closest source around. Also, what you describe sounds like an excellent bedding area.
If you don't want to invest money on trail cameras, you can get trail timers. The string timers tell you which way the animal went at what time.(the first one anyway) The multi-event timers tell you what times the animals went by. They're much less money than cameras, but can at least tell you something about travel times.
Another thing to do is scout, one-time, find your ambush points and only hunt it when the wind is in your favor. Other than that, don't go traipsing around unnecessarily or you'll just push deer off that small parcel.
iSnipe