Once I know where I'm going to deer hunt, I say out of that area the month or two just before the season.
The best time I've found to scout an area is January/February...just a couple of nice mid-day walks looking for sheds, and with the all the leaves off the trees, the late season deer trails that got well worn into the leaves are easy to spot...easy to stand there and look back and forth and see the direction, connect the dots where they might have been traveling from and to...gives me a better indication of the actual deer travel that took place DURING the November/December season, AFTER the pre-season September/October food sources had ended.
Look around and make a mental note of a good place to throw together a natural blind in the summer and come back then.