Noble County (and other northern counties) for deer hunting?

Lot of lakes,lot of woods and some hills(not like southern indiana hills) The land up here is funny, you have large aeras of farming with small woods then large areas with small farming and large tracks of woods. And most of the large ag aeras are cut in 1 sq mile sections with the large wooded areas being 2 to 8 sq mile chunks. It is also mostly private and supper hard to get permission. Either they have hunters or they do not allow hunting. I have knocked on tons of doors only to be turned away or yelled at.
Just acc the road from me is a some what rectangular 4 sq mi block.3 brothers own 840 acres of it and only trophy hunt (no other hunters allowed and no does killed)there is 40 acres of wildlife habitat (no hunting) 90 acres a sawmill owned with no hunting an 80 acre that is leased for hunting. This area is over run with deer. My buddy and I drove around that section one Jan. evening and counted over 100 deer we could see in the fue fields and wood edge.other than the lease I think there is only 1 (150ish acre) farm that is hunted. That is the way most areas are up here.
I have permission on a small area 30 miles from here in a farming area and if I see deer 1 out of 3 sits I think I am doing good. It is either feast or famine with deer here and mostly no access.
I do wish I had access whre I could be some what selective but if I want to put meet in the freezer I have to take what ever gives me the good shot opportunity and as for bucks I have ran cameras for 4 years and only had 1 buck on camera that would exceed 120 in and only 1 time

Onebentarrow

About 10 years ago I had a framer working for me who lived in NE Indiana. He said that they taught their granddaughter to count by going out and counting deer in the evening. He said they had her counting to 45-50 regularly.

I have family on a lake in Noble Co. (I live next to Noble in DeKalb Co.). What Onebentarrow said is true about this part of the state - lots of deer, great deer habitat (water+food+cover) but 99% of it is private land and no one grants permission.

There are a few DNR properties up here you can hunt on but they get crowded quickly. Check out:

Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area
Mallard Roost Wetland Conservation Area
Eagle Lake Wetland Conservation Area
Whirledge Wetland Conservation Area

Further information about the terrain up here: Noble co. is mostly flat with a few hills here and there with many lakes and streams.

The southern part of DeKalb co. is mostly flat while the northern half gets pretty hilly; DeKalb county has few lakes but still lots of water sources (ponds, streams, county ditches, etc).

Steuben co. is even more hilly (in areas) and seems to have more woods and lakes.

I forgot to mention Huntington co. where I have also hunted (it is just south of Allen co. & Fort Wayne). It is hilly and has 2 large public hunting properties:

-J. E. Roush Lake Fish and Wildlife Area
-Salamonie Lake

I've hunted both public and private land in this area of the state. Deer behavior can be best described by saying if a given property isn't frequented by humans - the deer tend to be very skittish. Opposite is true where deer and humans live in close proximity, year-round.

Drive by there all the time, never been in it though... I know you have to put in for a draw hunt to be able to hunt deer on it. Friend of mine got drawn to hunt it 9 out of the last 10 years and he always gets a deer when he hunts there. Plenty of woods and water on the property - and corn/bean fields right across the street if the deer get hungry.