A couple additional guidelines I practice when hiking during hunting season.
Avoid popular hunting areas ... i.e. where the game is apt to be. Open areas such as small clearcuts offer forage for deer and a hunter would likely be waiting there. If passing an area like this it is preferable to pass well down wind ... that is most likely where the hunter will be waiting ... avoid passing through the no mans land between the hunter and the field.
Other popular feeding areas include flood plains. A hunter will often stalk from the elbow side of a stream where the vantage point up and down stream is best.
Smaller game such as predators often approach their prey from the downwind side, too, and after triangulating the position, say, of prey in distress (their easiest target) close in via low lying swales or tall grass. Avoid this kind of route if it is season for coyotes, foxes, bobcats.
Hunters have access to some remote areas by ATVs which can then be used to haul out their kill so be careful how you interpret the rule of thumb about hunters not going in too far from the road.
Play it safe. Accidents happen. Ask any dairy farmer how many cows he lost over the years to some flatlander that couldn't tell the difference! In general, I avoid likely hunting areas in favor of more popular areas that time of year. Better yet, coach soccer!
Though I'm not a hunter I do respect the tradition and I do love wild game ... properly dressed of course. It is enjoyable to learn about good hunting technique and the lessons apply equally to those who shoot with cameras.
