I'd go in further than most people who hike into the wilderness and back out every day, which is probably about 2 to 3 miles. But don't go in further than say, 10 to 15 miles, because that's where all the drop camps will be. At least that's my experience from the one drop camp that we did back in 2005. That's about all I have to offer. Deer are spread out pretty thin as you already know. We were 15 miles in and I ended up with a buck and my brother did not. There were lots of other camps and hunters in the same area we were hunting.