"Soft" Funnels

[Shedder]

http://deerhunterforum.com/index.ph...ddle-become-useful-to-a-buck.1532/#post-27983

http://www.habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/when-does-a-saddle-become-useful-to-a-buck.6716/

Given the response to the above, what do you think of this funnel.

In the vein of my prior post, here is another funnel type that vexes me. It is more common than the other. It is on the outside bend of a Brook which is good but the cover is wide. I have marked some of the distances.

The Brook runs to the right. It is near dry in summer but in season it can be hard or impossible to cross. I crossed in knee boots this year but a common 2-3 inch rain will flood it so I cannot cross. There is mature cover in a strip along the brook below the red line. This spot borders 25 sq miles of woods with no people, except 3-4 camps. Most all the woods was cut in the last 20 years. The cuts filled with 20 foot regen, mostly conifer. The cuts come within 40 yards of the bend in one spot. The imagery is from 2007.

The field runs 650 yards down and right. North is not up. The ponds and maybe the road help pinch movement. I have never been there so I don't know how much traffic it gets. The right pond line is 230 yards. The left pond 580. The short line at the bend 30.

The terrain is a corrugated flat plain with 30 foot ridges and small swampy brooks. Beavers are oddly uncommon compared to elsewhere.

So the question is will the regen in the cuts near the bend have any influence on pinching movement through the mature strip along the Brook? Without that it will be a less likely spot.

 

[Bill]

I've looked at this a couple times. I can't really see the whole picture of what your trying to do. The pic seems to zoomed out. Not to point to the old place and I wouldn't except for Paul. Look over this 4 part series. LC was doing this in much smaller areas then you show. But if you hone in on the creek and the logged timber I think it's essence might spark some ideas.

https://www.qdma.com/bottled-bucks-map-1/

 

[Bszweda]

That small red line looks like a good funnel to me. So everything above the mature woods is regen or open space? Can you show a topo map? When you walked that creek/brook were you able to identify were they were crossing?

 

[Shedder]

That small red line looks like a good funnel to me. So everything above the mature woods is regen or open space? Can you show a topo map? When you walked that creek/brook were you able to identify were they were crossing?

Contours are meters. X 3.2 for feet.

So everything above the mature woods is regen or open space?
Yes

I have not walked it yet.

 

[Shedder]

I've looked at this a couple times. I can't really see the whole picture of what your trying to do. The pic seems to zoomed out. Not to point to the old place and I wouldn't except for Paul. Look over this 4 part series. LC was doing this in much smaller areas then you show. But if you hone in on the creek and the logged timber I think it's essence might spark some ideas.

https://www.qdma.com/bottled-bucks-map-1/

The pic is a GE 3D tilt image.

The question is will they use the mature woods more than the thick regen to travel through here.

I have hunted similar bends downstream that are more open with good results but the thick regen may make this spot less productive. It can be a big commitment to cross that brook.

 

[Bill]

Now I see what you're getting at. When you get there "if deer are using the area". I think you're going to find that your hunch is correct. The deer are using the mature timber just outside of the thicket. I say that based on the lack of human presence you describe. Path of least resistance.

I'm also with Bszweda that smallest line looks like a good pinch point on paper if it is so thick their taking a path of least resistance somewhere else, cut them a trail where you want them. Again, all dependent on what you find with boots on the ground.

 

[j-bird]

The short red line that connects the bend in the stream to the other cover type is a natural funnel. The habitat types change and as such the deer are going to use this "edge" the bend in the stream will help focus the movement in that area.....the steeper the banks of that bend in the creek the better. This forces the deer to stay to the north of that bend or to find an easier place to cross that stream.

I have a stand location on my place where I use the steep bank of a stream to force the deer to go around one way or the other. This prevents deer from getting down wind of my immediate location. I then know the deer will come from roughly 50 yards to the right of me as they work around the bend or 50 yards the other direction where there is a nice shallow firm bottom crossing. The steeper the bank the more it becomes an issue for the deer and you can use that to your advantage.

Soft edges like you show are always a great place for deer. You have thick cover just a short distance away and easier traveling in the more mature stuff. I have also seen where a location where various edges like this come together tend to be a hub of activity as well.

I think your spot in question certainly warrants some investigation. Following that stream when possible and looking for deer crossing or using it for stand access is also a great little thing to do as well. I have even chained ladders to trees before to keep them from washing away to facilitate climbing steep banks for better stand access before.

 

[Shedder]

I was finally in here, last week. It was a surprise. There was very little sign. A faint trail and no rut sign. I admit I was only there for an hour but I expected more. The plan was to leave a camera there but I never did.

I took video at all the points marked. Much better BTW than trying to remember what is at waypoints. Video with a spoken description really helps. The bank on the bend of the brook was not steep, like I hoped, but was still useful. The mature cover on the right blue line was open softwood about 50 yards across. There was a gully draining the long thin beaver pond that they crossed the head of, about 30 yards across the corridor. So ideal plus the regen, where the pond is, was silvicultured leaving a mess that was impossible to walk in. A real barrier to deer. Water barriers, too. The only E-W travel options I saw were the road or the brook corridor. The road was not used and was grown in with enough room for a faint game trail. All great but no rut sign.

BTW the bigger field at the bottom was not cut and was filling with weeds and alders.

One slight option was that the corridor on the left was filled with thicket that seemed to be bypassed with a trail down to the bend in the brook. In theory, with some cutting, I could hunt that from the other side of the brook if the water was too high to cross. A good backup option.

I was disappointed but it needs checking in the rut. It may be a spot only bucks\deer use then.

Should I hunt it on faith?

 

[j-bird]

If you didn't find reasonable sign to define some sort of a pattern or some sort of repeated use in the area by the deer - I think hunting there will be very frustrating. The rut can be very unpredictable as it is, but without some idea of at least some deer traffic in the area....you quite honestly could be hunting something that doesn't exist. Some may say a lack of doe activity can be attractive to an old buck and I can see that, but you need some sign of his presence. His feet still touch the ground, he still drinks water and he still has to eat, he still has to lay down. If you didn't find anything that really got your attention.....this place is a long shot at best in my opinion. If you hunt it I would certainly not make this location the focus of those efforts unless you get more/better sign to warrant that additional effort. Maybe a later scouting trip will show you it's a seasonal thing and maybe something changes and spurs the deer to be in this area....I would wait for the sign to prove that to me before I spent a deer season in a tree here though.