Parallel Trails + Hunting Pressure = ???

[Singing Bridge]

Stanley’s thread on parallel trails was exceptional, with a lot of input from hunters with experience in utilizing that type of trail. This thread is going to be about a different kind of parallel trail with the associated differences in dynamics. In high pressure areas, with orange pumpkins behind every tree in gun season and camo pumpkins behind half the trees in bow, a different kind of parallel trail becomes more important. This is because the parallel trails in the other thread actually become a “low odds” proposition in high pressure areas as the bucks are killed with ease by the hordes of hunters before they can get a few birthdays under their belt.

The parallel trails I am discussing here quite commonly follow transition lines of cover and terrain, but instead of cutting doe trails near crop fields or big woods browse concentrations (doe feeding areas) they cut the doe trails exiting doe bedding areas. These types of parallel trails offer the bucks much greater security and cover for travel and increase the odds of seeing daytime movement in heavily hunted areas. I have found some trails in super pressure areas that are in cover so thick you would literally have to be perched directly above them to have a chance of seeing the bucks… as they travel from doe bedding area to doe bedding area.

A few of the many areas these parallel trails will traverse include the edges of swamps and marshes, river and creek bottoms, the base of hills and bluffs as well as the thermal “tunnels” located near the top, clearcuts and their heavy regrowth where doe bedding takes place, farm country thickets and potholes of water, along with doe bedding areas in general.

These trails and buck travel do not always go “downwind of the doe bedding area” either, which I am sure will prompt some discussion. I hope to hear what others have encountered with these types of trails and the time of day they typically see buck travel utilizing them.

[PK_]

Low pressure areas I see the bucks cruising the outside edge of swamps, just above the water line and on the edge of the cover. They are hitting the doe trails entering/exiting bedding. High pressure they are following the same transition lines but they are below the water line on the inside edge of the cover, behind the doe bedding, I imagine they are using the swamp thermals pulling the scent from the doe bedding during dawn/dusk.

[Singing Bridge]

Low pressure areas I see the bucks cruising the outside edge of swamps, just above the water line and on the edge of the cover. They are hitting the doe trails entering/exiting bedding. High pressure they are following the same transition lines but they are below the water line on the inside edge of the cover, behind the doe bedding, I imagine they are using the swamp thermals pulling the scent from the doe bedding during dawn/dusk.

Good point Palmetto, these parallel trails get used in low pressure areas as well and a lot of hunters do not know much about them. I also see buck movement farther inside the heaviest cover along a swamp transition the higher the hunting pressure gets as the buck moves from doe area to doe area bedding. Inside the edge of conifer swamps if there is a tiny creek you can step across (or larger) flowing between doe bedding areas the mature bucks will take advantage of that transition line and the increased safety it offers. They leave a few rubs and scrapes behind as they travel along them to check doe bedding. A lot of times they still front the doe bedding areas depending on how far into the swamp they are, but I also see them go behind them as you observed in your areas.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

Stanley’s thread on parallel trails was exceptional, with a lot of input from hunters with experience in utilizing that type of trail. This thread is going to be about a different kind of parallel trail with the associated differences in dynamics. In high pressure areas, with orange pumpkins behind every tree in gun season and camo pumpkins behind half the trees in bow, a different kind of parallel trail becomes more important. This is because the parallel trails in the other thread actually become a “low odds” proposition in high pressure areas as the bucks are killed with ease by the hordes of hunters before they can get a few birthdays under their belt.

The parallel trails I am discussing here quite commonly follow transition lines of cover and terrain, but instead of cutting doe trails near crop fields or big woods browse concentrations (doe feeding areas) they cut the doe trails exiting doe bedding areas. These types of parallel trails offer the bucks much greater security and cover for travel and increase the odds of seeing daytime movement in heavily hunted areas. I have found some trails in super pressure areas that are in cover so thick you would literally have to be perched directly above them to have a chance of seeing the bucks… as they travel from doe bedding area to doe bedding area.

A few of the many areas these parallel trails will traverse include the edges of swamps and marshes, river and creek bottoms, the base of hills and bluffs as well as the thermal “tunnels” located near the top, clearcuts and their heavy regrowth where doe bedding takes place, farm country thickets and potholes of water, along with doe bedding areas in general.

These trails and buck travel do not always go “downwind of the doe bedding area” either, which I am sure will prompt some discussion. I hope to hear what others have encountered with these types of trails and the time of day they typically see buck travel utilizing them.

I've seen some of the same things Bridge. In some of my farmland areas where hunting pressure is high, I see movement in relation to standing corn and doe bedding areas. I see this movement regardless of wind direction. The thicker cover in spots like this seem to trump a prevailing wind. Simply put the deer feel safer cruising these areas. In years where the "downwind side of doe bedding" is a bean field or more open hardwoods with pressure, you won't see any mature bucks cruising the downwind side of doe bedding. Stanley had another thread regarding "Corridors" and that illustrates the travel routes I have described. I tend to focus in on interior transitions more than anything else in higher pressure spots. It seems most guys wont hunt these spots because they are very hard to see on a map and its something you have to find by walking your boots off

[Singing Bridge]

Stanley’s thread on parallel trails was exceptional, with a lot of input from hunters with experience in utilizing that type of trail. This thread is going to be about a different kind of parallel trail with the associated differences in dynamics. In high pressure areas, with orange pumpkins behind every tree in gun season and camo pumpkins behind half the trees in bow, a different kind of parallel trail becomes more important. This is because the parallel trails in the other thread actually become a “low odds” proposition in high pressure areas as the bucks are killed with ease by the hordes of hunters before they can get a few birthdays under their belt.

The parallel trails I am discussing here quite commonly follow transition lines of cover and terrain, but instead of cutting doe trails near crop fields or big woods browse concentrations (doe feeding areas) they cut the doe trails exiting doe bedding areas. These types of parallel trails offer the bucks much greater security and cover for travel and increase the odds of seeing daytime movement in heavily hunted areas. I have found some trails in super pressure areas that are in cover so thick you would literally have to be perched directly above them to have a chance of seeing the bucks… as they travel from doe bedding area to doe bedding area.

A few of the many areas these parallel trails will traverse include the edges of swamps and marshes, river and creek bottoms, the base of hills and bluffs as well as the thermal “tunnels” located near the top, clearcuts and their heavy regrowth where doe bedding takes place, farm country thickets and potholes of water, along with doe bedding areas in general.

These trails and buck travel do not always go “downwind of the doe bedding area” either, which I am sure will prompt some discussion. I hope to hear what others have encountered with these types of trails and the time of day they typically see buck travel utilizing them.

I've seen some of the same things Bridge. In some of my farmland areas where hunting pressure is high, I see movement in relation to standing corn and doe bedding areas. I see this movement regardless of wind direction. The thicker cover in spots like this seem to trump a prevailing wind. Simply put the deer feel safer cruising these areas. In years where the "downwind side of doe bedding" is a bean field or more open hardwoods with pressure, you won't see any mature bucks cruising the downwind side of doe bedding. Stanley had another thread regarding "Corridors" and that illustrates the travel routes I have described. I tend to focus in on interior transitions more than anything else in higher pressure spots. It seems most guys wont hunt these spots because they are very hard to see on a map and its something you have to find by walking your boots off

Stanley always has fantastic posts, we need to pick his brain as often as we can! Your point about these trails being utilized despite wind direction is many times exactly what I see as well. The bucks moving between the doe bedding areas are moving as efficiently and safely as they can. When they hit the main doe trails coming out of the adjacent doe bedding area they check the trail for ground scent or any airborne scent left very recently on nearby vegetation and the ground. If the doe scent isn't promising they appear to continue on their way to the next doe bedding area using the trails we are discussing here.

and its something you have to find by walking your boots off

Spot on... and the hunters willing to go to these lengths are a rare breed. Fortunately a lot of them are here on the Beast!

[lungpuncher1]

Stanley’s thread on parallel trails was exceptional, with a lot of input from hunters with experience in utilizing that type of trail. This thread is going to be about a different kind of parallel trail with the associated differences in dynamics. In high pressure areas, with orange pumpkins behind every tree in gun season and camo pumpkins behind half the trees in bow, a different kind of parallel trail becomes more important. This is because the parallel trails in the other thread actually become a “low odds” proposition in high pressure areas as the bucks are killed with ease by the hordes of hunters before they can get a few birthdays under their belt.

The parallel trails I am discussing here quite commonly follow transition lines of cover and terrain, but instead of cutting doe trails near crop fields or big woods browse concentrations (doe feeding areas) they cut the doe trails exiting doe bedding areas. These types of parallel trails offer the bucks much greater security and cover for travel and increase the odds of seeing daytime movement in heavily hunted areas. I have found some trails in super pressure areas that are in cover so thick you would literally have to be perched directly above them to have a chance of seeing the bucks… as they travel from doe bedding area to doe bedding area.

A few of the many areas these parallel trails will traverse include the edges of swamps and marshes, river and creek bottoms, the base of hills and bluffs as well as the thermal “tunnels” located near the top, clearcuts and their heavy regrowth where doe bedding takes place, farm country thickets and potholes of water, along with doe bedding areas in general.

These trails and buck travel do not always go “downwind of the doe bedding area” either, which I am sure will prompt some discussion. I hope to hear what others have encountered with these types of trails and the time of day they typically see buck travel utilizing them.

I've seen some of the same things Bridge. In some of my farmland areas where hunting pressure is high, I see movement in relation to standing corn and doe bedding areas. I see this movement regardless of wind direction. The thicker cover in spots like this seem to trump a prevailing wind. Simply put the deer feel safer cruising these areas. In years where the "downwind side of doe bedding" is a bean field or more open hardwoods with pressure, you won't see any mature bucks cruising the downwind side of doe bedding. Stanley had another thread regarding "Corridors" and that illustrates the travel routes I have described. I tend to focus in on interior transitions more than anything else in higher pressure spots. It seems most guys wont hunt these spots because they are very hard to see on a map and its something you have to find by walking your boots off

Could you define interior transition? Are you saying basically the thick side of cover with the other side being a more open area like hardwoods or crops?

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[MOBIGBUCKS]

Stanley’s thread on parallel trails was exceptional, with a lot of input from hunters with experience in utilizing that type of trail. This thread is going to be about a different kind of parallel trail with the associated differences in dynamics. In high pressure areas, with orange pumpkins behind every tree in gun season and camo pumpkins behind half the trees in bow, a different kind of parallel trail becomes more important. This is because the parallel trails in the other thread actually become a “low odds” proposition in high pressure areas as the bucks are killed with ease by the hordes of hunters before they can get a few birthdays under their belt.

The parallel trails I am discussing here quite commonly follow transition lines of cover and terrain, but instead of cutting doe trails near crop fields or big woods browse concentrations (doe feeding areas) they cut the doe trails exiting doe bedding areas. These types of parallel trails offer the bucks much greater security and cover for travel and increase the odds of seeing daytime movement in heavily hunted areas. I have found some trails in super pressure areas that are in cover so thick you would literally have to be perched directly above them to have a chance of seeing the bucks… as they travel from doe bedding area to doe bedding area.

A few of the many areas these parallel trails will traverse include the edges of swamps and marshes, river and creek bottoms, the base of hills and bluffs as well as the thermal “tunnels” located near the top, clearcuts and their heavy regrowth where doe bedding takes place, farm country thickets and potholes of water, along with doe bedding areas in general.

These trails and buck travel do not always go “downwind of the doe bedding area” either, which I am sure will prompt some discussion. I hope to hear what others have encountered with these types of trails and the time of day they typically see buck travel utilizing them.

I've seen some of the same things Bridge. In some of my farmland areas where hunting pressure is high, I see movement in relation to standing corn and doe bedding areas. I see this movement regardless of wind direction. The thicker cover in spots like this seem to trump a prevailing wind. Simply put the deer feel safer cruising these areas. In years where the "downwind side of doe bedding" is a bean field or more open hardwoods with pressure, you won't see any mature bucks cruising the downwind side of doe bedding. Stanley had another thread regarding "Corridors" and that illustrates the travel routes I have described. I tend to focus in on interior transitions more than anything else in higher pressure spots. It seems most guys wont hunt these spots because they are very hard to see on a map and its something you have to find by walking your boots off

Could you define interior transition? Are you saying basically the thick side of cover with the other side being a more open area like hardwoods or crops?

[ Post made via Android ]

Sure. An interior transition is also called a soft transition which is not as distinct as woods meeting an open field, grass meeting woods, etc; this would be more of a hard transition that anyone with an aerial can see. Soft transitions are usually very subtle and you have to see them to find them. A couple that I hunt are created by cedar thickets, multiflora rose bushes, or an area that was clear cut maybe 10 years before that has thicker growth on the edge of more established woods. Anything that creates a subtle edge yet still provides the deer with safety cover. The best ones I hunt are created with thick multiflora rose bushes that most guys will walk around instead of hunt. Spots like this in my area usually have cedars growing in the area too. Sometimes you just have to let the deer help you find these transitions while scouting; I have jumped a number of deer in areas like this and after investigating I could see the small changes in cover types. I would have walked right past some of these bedding spots if I had not jumped the deer out of its bed. Once you get an eye for it you will be picking out those areas much easier; it's a lot like finding buck beds and the two go hand in hand

[oldrank]

I can tell this is gonna b a good one..

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[lungpuncher1]

Understood. Thanks for explaining it. I have a spot that was select cut about 7-8 years ago. It is exactly like your describing. There is always a great trail below it down the hill between it and a creek. I think the bucks are using it to scent check the whole side of that ridge and thicket now that you've turned the lightbulb on inside my head. Thanks again to this website and you guys!!

During the rut would it be best to hunt this thicket on the downhill side in the evening and above it in the morning? Considering no wind strong enough to overcome the thermals that day?

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[MOBIGBUCKS]

Understood. Thanks for explaining it. I have a spot that was select cut about 7-8 years ago. It is exactly like your describing. There is always a great trail below it down the hill between it and a creek. I think the bucks are using it to scent check the whole side of that ridge and thicket now that you've turned the lightbulb on inside my head. Thanks again to this website and you guys!!

During the rut would it be best to hunt this thicket on the downhill side in the evening and above it in the morning? Considering no wind strong enough to overcome the thermals that day?

[ Post made via Android ]

If the area is steep enough for a thermal effect that sounds like a good plan. Entrance and Exit to the area being equally as important.

[Terry]

Can I add another type of high pressure parallel trail to the discussion? When I first read the thread title I thought this is what it meant. It's one I believe I have witnessed three times in the last 12 or so years. It's the type where a buck cruises perpendicular to hunter's trails scent checking them.

The first time I encountered it was roughly 12 years ago during gun season when I use to just pound the same spots day after day. There was snow on the ground pretty consistently and I noticed that a large buck track would often cross mine sometime mid morning after I had already been on stand. Everyday he would cross my track and just keep heading north to south. A couple times I missed a day hunting and would find his track from the previous day and on the days I didn't hunt he would head up into the funnel were my stand was. I believe he was checking to see if I was there or not before heading up in. Every time I tried setting up on him to take advantage of his "predictable" behavior I would never see him. He obviously had another advantage I couldn't figure out at the time. I was pretty green then, haha.

The second time I encountered this behavior was on a piece of heavily hunted state land while bow hunting. I just noticed that there were faint buck trails not far off the road that seemed to cross all the hunter's paths. I set up accordingly a couple times without any success. I really have no idea when the buck used this trail, but I figured it might be during daylight hours when he would need the advantage of knowing if hunters had walked up in.

The third was this turkey season. I hunted with a guy on his property and after the morning hunt, he walked me around and showed me all his deer stands. Again, I found a very faint trail with a couple rubs that ran perpendicular to this hunter's entry trails, but according to the guys statement of how the wind normally blew, this trail would have been upwind. This trail was super close to the road, but a very steep incline and a row of thick brush separated this trail from the road.

I haven't had a lot of chance to hunt these trails, but I would set up on them the same and actually expect action midday.

Any thoughts?

[Stanley]

Great topic for discussion. I think doe bedding areas and trails paralleling them are prevalent in low or high pressure areas. The reason I say this is because does bed in cover. Normally thick cover more so than bucks. Bucks bed more in advantage spots rather than just cover. The reason for this is because does are looking out for their young and themselves. Cover helps them along with this. Bucks on the other hand are trying to watch out for themselves only.

Anyway I always see more buck movement in heavy cover during daylight hrs. This is any time of the year, and anytime of the day. That said there is always more buck movement during the rut. I think we all know this. The trails that parallel the doe bedding areas are great place to hunt. Unfortunately I don't have any trail camera pictures to use as a visual aid, as I don't set cameras up in areas I hunt. I may set cameras up in area I intend to hunt next year or the year after though.

I do hunt the doe bedding area parallel trails during the rut especially. I often hear hunters ay it is too thick in certain areas. I love thick. I have killed more good bucks in the thickest nastiest stuff. I just see more big buck movement in the daylight hrs in the thick. The parallel trails around the doe bedding areas are more often than not in the thick. Keep this in mind when trying to figure out where to sit during the rut.

Also keep in mind the parallel trails along doe bedding area are good early season as well as during the rut. The doe bedding areas actually act as a funnel. We often over look the unobvious funnels associated with deer hunting. This can pay dividends in heavy pressured areas where the other guys are on the obvious funnels.

[Ack]

Whether trails enter/exit doe bedding or feeding, there will always be a parallel trail to these that the bucks will run come rut time. I never overlook these areas on the high-pressure public land, because as you mentioned that is one of your higher-percentage areas for seeing the better bucks if your timing is right. Late morning and mid-day are the best times for me in these areas......if the cover is thick enough bucks will move through at any time of the day scent checking the cross trails nose-to-ground. Even if there isn't a pronounced parallel trail, I try to determine where a buck will come from/go to so he can scent check the trails, and then set up accordingly.

I sort-of lucked out finding a parallel trail on the UPWIND side of a doe bedding area when I shot my buck in 2006. Went into the area blind super early in the morning, knowing the general area I wanted to set up in, and ended up stumbling across a fresh scrape. The tree I sat in over the scrape was on what is typically the upwind side of a bedding thicket. At 1:00 pm I shot the 200 lb'er as he came through, crossing the bedding entrance/exit trails, and stopping at the scrape for a sniff.

[oldrank]

Great thread. .. I have a few areas I have seen this happen but never really put all the pieces together in what was going on... thanks for the info. I now can pick up a few different spots I was having trouble getting into that I was trying to evening hunt that I think I should access in morning and hunt more as mid day cruising spots. .. with the right wind during chase n rut I know they r gonna b deadly... thanks guys

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[Singing Bridge]

Can I add another type of high pressure parallel trail to the discussion? When I first read the thread title I thought this is what it meant. It's one I believe I have witnessed three times in the last 12 or so years. It's the type where a buck cruises perpendicular to hunter's trails scent checking them.

The first time I encountered it was roughly 12 years ago during gun season when I use to just pound the same spots day after day. There was snow on the ground pretty consistently and I noticed that a large buck track would often cross mine sometime mid morning after I had already been on stand. Everyday he would cross my track and just keep heading north to south. A couple times I missed a day hunting and would find his track from the previous day and on the days I didn't hunt he would head up into the funnel were my stand was. I believe he was checking to see if I was there or not before heading up in. Every time I tried setting up on him to take advantage of his "predictable" behavior I would never see him. He obviously had another advantage I couldn't figure out at the time. I was pretty green then, haha.

The second time I encountered this behavior was on a piece of heavily hunted state land while bow hunting. I just noticed that there were faint buck trails not far off the road that seemed to cross all the hunter's paths. I set up accordingly a couple times without any success. I really have no idea when the buck used this trail, but I figured it might be during daylight hours when he would need the advantage of knowing if hunters had walked up in.

The third was this turkey season. I hunted with a guy on his property and after the morning hunt, he walked me around and showed me all his deer stands. Again, I found a very faint trail with a couple rubs that ran perpendicular to this hunter's entry trails, but according to the guys statement of how the wind normally blew, this trail would have been upwind. This trail was super close to the road, but a very steep incline and a row of thick brush separated this trail from the road.

I haven't had a lot of chance to hunt these trails, but I would set up on them the same and actually expect action midday.

Any thoughts?

ya, I have thoughts on this

I see this occasionally in high pressure areas... if 90% of the hunters are pounding the interior of a section the bucks and deer in general will confine there movements to areas devoid of hunters- or wait to leave bedding until after dark. The younger, less experienced bucks especially will want to get to those doe areas and if the road area is only used for entry and exit they will shoot through it on their quest for does here and there. There are also a certain percentage of bucks that will monitor your movement and activity, but I see this mostly inside thick security zones where the bucks had previously felt safe. They were so shocked that I was there they began tracking me to see where I was going and what I was up to. I verified this on multiple occasions when there was snow on the ground. Magicman has also had bucks track him likely for the same reason.

Your other question brings up another point that puts me at odds with Dan and some others... I have snow tracked good bucks that scent check and clear an entire area of woods before they will move up into it. There appears to be a percentage of bucks that are going to get to the doe areas no matter what and this makes them vulnerable. If they walk with the wind to their back, they are immediately killed by the hordes of hunters in the trees in high pressure areas. I have observed a number of bucks (perhaps through a behavior learned the hard way) that scent areas ahead of them before they will advance. I see this in some in-woods food sources as well, they swing downwind and scent check the area before they approach (normally the same behavior they display before bedding). This leaves them vulnerable from behind, but it is exceptionally difficult to sneak up on a lone buck at close range from any direction. Also, their tracks when displaying this behavior of scent clearing an area show that they swing around here and there to stop and observe their backtrail, as they seldom go far in a straight line. These bucks are much more concerned with the hunters up ahead of them then they are about any wolf sneaking up behind them... a lesson they have learned the hard way and may have nearly paid for it with their life on multiple occasions. Remember that these are "high pressure" areas I am speaking of.

mah two pennies