Jimmy S

OK, here's the scoop. You and a friend plan to hunt Maine (as a non-resident) for the first time. It is the Big Woods.... no farms, no local crops. Feeding and bedding areas may be a little difficult to determine quickly. The area is relatively flat with many old logging roads. The woods are mostly cedar swamps, thick alder patches and some broken hardwoods. The peak of the rut is about a week and a half away when the season opens. You plan to arrive on Sat morning and will scout until Opening Day on Mon. You will hunt for 6 straight days. What is you plan of attack so that you feel confident when Opening Day comes? What do you put emphasis on when scouting? Note: Sat is also Opening Day for residents, so the woods will be occupied, you will have a selfclimber or lock-on portable treestand and assume you have no doe tag and will be hunting bucks only.

Solax

-I would first check out the some satelitte pics to determine funnels, bedding areas and other places I think deer might be.
-I would chart a route that would take me from one place to another w/o backtracking or covering too much ground.
-Once I started scouting I would hit those places fast to check for sign/trails/trees to place stands. I would take a pen and paper to write down how to get back to those places and maybe a ranking of how good they looked. GPS might come in handy on that one.
-Once I found a hot spot and tree to climb I'd not the proper wind direction for hunting there/getting in and out of there.
Find 3 or 4 hot spots that favor different wind directions and get out of the area. Head there Monday morning.

AND BY ALL MEANS I'd stay out of the way of other hunters. If they're residents on their opening morning and you're just showing up to scout they're gonna be PO'ed if you mess them up. See orange, head the other way.

BOWHUNTERCOP

Hey Solax you hit the nail on the head.....I would do what you said, maps, GPS, etc.

Stump_MN_Hunter

Everything that Solax said, but what I would try REALLY hard to do is try and get out there and do some pre-season scouting. Try and talk to the locals and see if you can dig out any information about the land if possible. You may have to bring a crisp $100 with you and try to find some 16-18 kid that knows the land like that back of his hand and have him show you around. Try hitting up all the message boards and see if anyone is from that area and see if they will give out any info. That would be a tough hunt the first couple of years just getting to know the lay of the land. Good luck.