would you hunt this saddle for the rut?

[lungpuncher1]

Would you hunt this saddle on public Ohio land during the rut? Saddles seem like such an obvious funnel especially during the rut but my problem is 1) could this be too obvious. That other hunters would wear it out before I could hunt it and 2) do you think there is enough elevation change to be a good funnel? I put a "1" on the saddle I'm looking at.

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[dan]

1) could this be too obvious. That other hunters would wear it out before I could hunt it

You might or might not find hunter sign at that saddle... For the most part, I am constantly surprised by the lack of pressure at easy to map spots. I don't think a lot of hunters map there spots like us. If you get there and its got a lot of hunter sign, move on, if it don't, hunt it.

2) do you think there is enough elevation change to be a good funnel? I put a "1" on the saddle I'm looking at.

Yes... I would hunt just below the "1" on a north or north west wind, and just above it on a South or S.E. wind...

[lungpuncher1]

Thanks for the reply Dan. I just finished watching both your videos and it most certainly opened my eyes.

That spot is basically in the middle between two roads basically as far of a walk there is there. I'm hoping that will be an advantage also. There's a 20 acre clear cut just NW of that saddle and a 60 acre pine thicket just SE of it so I'm hoping they will cross there cruising.

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[dan]

Be careful on your entry that you don't walk down the deer trails... I like to come into spots like that from below into the wind and up a ravine to the tree. Another common mistake on picking spots on a map is to walk around the area trying to choose a tree. Straight line it as much as possible so you don't get your scent everywhere.

[lungpuncher1]

I'm going up there again in late August early September so I'm going to find my trees then hopefully. Do you think it would be fine to sit all day in a spot like that with a constant wind or hunt morning/evening only?

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[BassBoysLLP]

During your scouting trip, I'd also take a look at the tip of the draw directly east of that saddle. Double inside corner.

[dan]

I'm going up there again in late August early September so I'm going to find my trees then hopefully. Do you think it would be fine to sit all day in a spot like that with a constant wind or hunt morning/evening only?

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During rut, all day is good. Outside the rut, I wouldn't hunt there. Look at the moon chart and make sure your on post whenever the moon is o/h or u/f despite the time of day.

[JoeRE]

Thanks for the reply Dan. I just finished watching both your videos and it most certainly opened my eyes.

That spot is basically in the middle between two roads basically as far of a walk there is there. I'm hoping that will be an advantage also. There's a 20 acre clear cut just NW of that saddle and a 60 acre pine thicket just SE of it so I'm hoping they will cross there cruising.

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I have a spot that is very, very similar to what you show, including ridge configuration and big adjacent bedding. Actually for a second I thought you posted a topo of it until I looked closer . It is very good, have had many encounters with mature bucks in the first few days of the cruising phase of the rut. In my spot, once the rut progresses the does scatter some to get away from the bucks harassment and its not as good.

I agree with Dan, everyone and their brother hunts inside corners from an aerial but I don't have much company hunting saddles and other subtle terrain features The key is as always it has to be between point A and B, sounds like this one is.

[Terry]

2) I have found many good saddles that offered very little change in elevation. It was just enough to be different and offer a tiny bit of ease in travel. These can sometimes be the best ones because they are so easily overlooked.

Same goes for all sorts of terrain change. Sometimes the difference is very subtle.

[Spysar]

I have found lots of saddles on maps. A lot of times there is already a human trail there. Humans are the king of lazy. If there's an easy route, humans have found it. The only way to find out if that one is good, is go look at it. If you can't look at it (traveling hunter), you better have about 30 or more of those to look at when you get there.

[ozzz]

I have found lots of saddles on maps. A lot of times there is already a human trail there. Humans are the king of lazy. If there's an easy route, humans have found it. The only way to find out if that one is good, is go look at it. If you can't look at it (traveling hunter), you better have about 30 or more of those to look at when you get there.

Is that generally what you find when traveling?

30 spots that look good on paper, one you decide actually IS good when you get there.

[Spysar]

I have found lots of saddles on maps. A lot of times there is already a human trail there. Humans are the king of lazy. If there's an easy route, humans have found it. The only way to find out if that one is good, is go look at it. If you can't look at it (traveling hunter), you better have about 30 or more of those to look at when you get there.

Is that generally what you find when traveling?

30 spots that look good on paper, one you decide actually IS good when you get there.

It's what you have to be prepared for. Maybe the first one will be all you need. If you want to set up for success, you just have to be prepared. And I don't expect to find only 1 out of 30. I would hope to do better than that, and have a few good options. My point is, I do find human trails a lot when checking maps for funnels spots, that's all, and be prepared to check out all the funnels on that map.

[Bigb]

What about the saddle directly to the west of there? It looks like a greater elevation change on the sides of it.

[lungpuncher1]

I plan to check out the one west of there however it isnt as tight of a ridge line there. I'm not going to ignore it though. It looks like on bing aerial view there is a old logging road going on top of that ridge to the saddle... I'm hoping its not traveled much plus this is about as far of a walk I can find in this place. I doubt the majority of people will hunt that far in or they will stay in the bottoms

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