RE: Hunting clearcuts.
You could try to carefully clear some lanes where you could get in close to his core area and hunt very lightly. Basically, wait for conditions to be perfect and sneak in. Best time to find him moving will be from about the third week of Oct. to 2nd week of Nov. You might want to leave him alone, or just hunt the edges till then. If you can find lots of deer tracks, hunt those areas during the pre-rut.
Good luck!