Speaking of funnels. Saddles. Points. Inside corners. Breaklines. Bench/Shelf. Or whatever it may be. All things being equal, ie. the wind, entry exit routes....If they were all perfect, and there were absolutely NO other determining factors other than the type of funnel......which is your favorite and why?
Different setups for different times of year... Can't have just one answer. From your choices, this is my answer. Inside breaklines before the rut... Saddles during the rut... Inside breaklines post rut.
Scott, Do the inside breaklines you're hunting always have defined trails? And where does the "inside" part come from? I understand the breaklines between to differing types of cover,vegetation,etc. But am unsure if the "inside" is referring to which side you set up on. Thanks alot.
change in woods. Pines to oaks, oaks to cutover, swamp to oaks, anywhere they bed and can get up and eat within minutes...I want to be in between it. I like to pretty much be where they bed or close to it to intercept them...hunting funnels and saddles and points have never worked for me unless it was where they HAD to go to get to food.
I'm a funnel junkie and the one's I prefer are those that "force" the action such as beaver ponds, erosion ditches, topo features such as a steep bluff. They can even be as subtle as a fallen tree just as long as they force the deer to deter around them. Dan
I'm still trying to figure out my favorite on my property. On the farm I used to hunt in IL, it was hunting where the many long brushy ditches join up to the big woods. This farm had 4 different brush choked ditches from 50-300 yards long that extended out into the corn or bean fields. The deer loved to bed in those ditches. It was a great spot to sit during the rut as bucks would cruise these ditches looking for does. These spots are some of the few areas where I have ever had any luck rattling and calling. I think it is because the bucks expected to encounter other deer there.
Like others have said ,it is so tough to pick one specific feature. From my personal success here in NW Ohio, my 2 favorite are fencerows/grown up creeks/ditches and the second is inside corners. If you held a 2 blade Snyper to my head and made me pick my favorite, I would have to go with the inside corner! Soooo many of my kills have come from inside corner stands ( we call em "L" stands). I absolutely love hunting them, and they have always been very successful fo me during any phase of the season.
I use the terminology as an inside breakline is located inside the timber. An outside breakline is located outside of the timer. An outside breakline could be woods meeting an overgrown field for example. I do not really find trails along the breaklines to often, they seem to use up to a 40 yard zone each way (parallel) from the breakline to travel... It really matters what the two types of habitat are like though to determine how far from it (the break) they travel. Thick areas meeting semi thick areas you will see 40 yard zones used. Thick areas meeting mature timber you will see something like a 10 / 40 yard zone (10 yards into the open timber and 40 yards into the thicker area). Having Oak trees on these breaklines (pretty common as loggers never cut down property border trees) really sweetens up a breakline during the pre-rut. Especially since these trees are usually big with large crowns able to produce a lot of mast. Oaks will also sway these "zones" I was speaking about earlier. Sometimes breaking the zone all together (if they are feeding and not traveling). They will go further into the more open timber to feed on the acorns knowing they are just a few bounds away from cover. Once they leave the oaks, chances are they will again relate to the breakline. This is more geared toward spooky or older deer though. Younger deer will haphazardly travel anywhere not using the breaklines cover to their advantage.
For the rut, I like to hunt the rims or ridges of a saddle. Specifically downwind of the downwind lip of the saddle. Certain places that I hunt I also like to hunt an outside breakline like where CRP meets a thicket or timber. Assuming the wind is blowing through the trees out into the field, I like to set up in the field downwind of the tree edge and catch bucks scent checking at the woods via the breakline.
How do you guys figure out where the bucks bedding? Where I hunt there are huge pine thickets and it's hard to figure what and where in those thickets the big boys are bedding. During the rutting phases I don't think the bucks bed in the same areas all the time.
Inside breaklines have proven to be the most consistent place for me to kill deer each year. Even in late December.
Not sure the proper term, but in big woods, the top end of a steep ravine that deer cross up and around vs. actually crossing across the ravine. With these being near the top of a ridge many times, you can also fine these near a saddle...and get 2 for the price of 1.
