One of the best avenues to travel in the woods, other than on man-made roads and paths, is on deer trails themselves. Deer expect travel on their highways, especially during rut when bucks are roaming at all hours of the day and night, so if a hunter moves carefully and makes like a deer, he has a decided advantage. Look at it this way. In your neighborhood you pay little attention to people walking on the sidewalks, yet let someone start cutting across back yards and everyone is the area will be looking to see what's going on. The same thing works in the woods.
Animals expect travel along game trails.
Try also, when walking, to imitate the sounds of leaf travel of deer, squirrels or other woods creatures. A man walking through dry leaves sounds like nothing else in the woods, but by moving hesitantly, and with a minimum of leaf-crunching and no snapping of sticks, he may disguise his travel sounds with sometimes amazing results in almost plain sight of his quarry.