I' m no wizard but may have a little insight that could help. For you land that is 2hours away my first suggestion is to go early in the spring when the ground is muddy/wet. The deer will start to move in their summer patterns and the runs should be pretty run up and easily visible. I' m sure you know to look for funnels, places where 2-3 or more runs merge together. I like to find funnels with in 50 or 60 yards of bedding cover. I like to make mock scrapes just off where the run with the most cover merges with the others. Start it early(may or june) and keep it small, not more than 3/4 of a foot square. Use some pre/post rut scents and let it be for a couple of weeks. If you' ve choosen a spot wisely the deer will take it over. It should remain small until near the rut whan you' ll see that scrape " grow" .
If the deer take over you scrape and look to be utilizing the runs go 10 yards in every direction from the intersection and clear a small aera about the width of the run by 2-3 feet long. Use a garden rake and dig up the ground so you can get good tracks left from the deer using the runs. Find the big tracks and set up game cams on those runs. You may want to invest in a cam that holds 100 or more " hits" espically if you can only get there once a month or so. I just bought a scent dripper this year and had never used on before this fall but that is also a good way to get the deer to check the scrapes durring daylight hours. Most of this can be done in a couple of weekends through out the summer. Once you' ve got you funnel and an active scrape leave it alone. sneak in a couple of times to check the game cam but don' t disturb the honey hole anymore than you need to.

Where I do most of my hunting from big bucks is about 5 hours north and it is all timber company land. I' ve put in countless hours scouting this year and patterning only to get there and have the ridge I hunt selectively cut and in ruins. The two days I was able to get there to hunt the wind was blowing 30+ mph so It is possiable to " waste" a lot of time for no payout.[:@]

If I were you I' d try a couple of the mentioned techniques in the back 15 behind you home. It will easier and less time consuming and if there are bigboys, Why travel?
Most of these techiques I got from a video that came with my Bow-Grunter. Although I havn' t connected with any monsters this year I have got some good looks. It' s just time before the shot is there.
Also when I was younger and in high school I just camped out in my tree stand for a month or more before the season. Kept a calander of what I saw and where it came from/went to. Also funny things like crows or bluejays makeing noise that followed the deer through the woods. I could tell where the deer were by the birds and which runs they were on. Sorry to be long winded. I could go on forever.