New Land
 

What would be the first thing to scout for with a new hunting location of 350 acres. It is being thinned out by a paper company this year to leave long shots available.

Welcome to the forum. Tracks. It will probably be better next year after a growing season. It will be a good bedding and browsing area.

I'd wait til the thinning is over. Logging will disrupt the deer activity unless it's confined to a small portion of the land. After that, the deer will start establishing or re-establishing their travel patterns.

Get the best aerial and topo maps you can find then try to figure out the food sources the deer use. You may be able to walk out old roads, timber type edges and ridges to locate the scrapes from last year. Note the concentrations and try to map out some sort of patterns.

Depending on when it's logged and where the land is located are the important factors.In northern areas with snow deer will hit the tops/slash left by the loggers.Down south they will likely be going after new growth resulting from the thinning.Again time and location are the main factors that will influence the deer herds reactions.