Zach, how about a bit of a bio? What kind of outdoor experience do you have? Backpacking, camping, off and on trail? New to guns, hunting, packing or all of it? I know everyone likes to talk about guns but that's probably the least important part of your tool kit when you get started. Nice to know it and shoot it well but at first whether you have a $3500 rig or just an out the box Savage your results aren't going to be different.
I'd argue that the time you can commit to learn an area is more important than the area at first. So probably nearby locations are worth the time even if the stats don't say it's the best. Pick an area and dive into it. If you're not good with off trail navigation spend some time learning compass/map/gps. Get off roads and trails go to places that are hard to reach, even if nearby, and be there early and late. Before long you start to put it together. It's no joke that most won't even get a few hundred yards off a road without a trail (most of those don't reside on this MB) so there's far far more huntable ground throughout the state than even the maps suggest.
Maybe pick an area and scout it a bit, then come back and describe the terrain, slope faces, cuts, distances from roads, locations of other notables and ask for general how would you approach this scenario questions. Works better than "point me toward a unit or area." How too's get a lot more response than where too's.
