Examples of super funnels?

[JoeRE]

Just in general regarding the original question, I agree look for multiple features dumping together. A ditch crossing or fence crossing or whatever doesn't get me excited - what I want is a bunch of features tying together. Say a fence crossing at the military crest on a long leeward slope with good doe bedding both up and down the ridge. 1-2-3 now we are talking. Maine, your example sounds just like that....

[mainebowhunter]

And it is interesting, the reason I moved my set in this area, the mature bucks WERE using this area different. And because of it, cost me a shot at an 8.5yr old 160s buck in 2012. Most of the deer would go through one break in the fence, mature bucks would go through next to a big cedar, not following other deer.

By moving off the tight fence crossing, increases my odds as I do not have to give up a buck that moves through differently.

Observations and adjusting made the difference.

That's pretty much what I was getting at in my first post. Reading between the lines of your description of that funnel you hunt in KS, you killed a big buck or two in that spot, and have had a pile of close calls there. The reason the close calls so outnumber the kills is that mature bucks are at their most wary (and therefore most unpredictable and hardest to kill) in tight bottlenecks like that. Definitely was wise to back off like you did.

The very best pinch points I have found over the years do not result in close calls. A buck comes through and he is either passed or dead. A bunch of close calls does not mean you are in a good spot - it means you are in the wrong spot.

Just to be clear I never meant literally ignore tight bottlenecks - but usually setting up right in the middle of them just gets you all those close calls. Let the bucks tell you how to kill them. Anywhere there is competitive hunting pressure the more obvious the funnel the more likely you will also have company.

Pressure has a huge effect of how mature bucks move we all know that. I know I have it good and hunt low to moderate pressure areas, but it is shared with other independent hunters and none of it is big exclusive access areas. I rarely see the biggest oldest bucks come through tight funnels. If they do they are usually right behind a hot doe which makes ANY male with a pulse be dumb (but that dead horse has been beaten already ).

By old deer I mean 5 years old around here. That is the age where buck behavior changes dramatically around here. There is definately a big change from 3 to 4 years old but because pressure is low to moderate, I see 4 year olds being pretty carefree in the rut sometimes. A few 4 year olds can get that old just by being dumb-but-lucky around here. My guess is KS is the same. Bucks hit 5 and that drops to almost never. In high pressure areas like lower Michigan or maybe parts of PA, the behavior of older deer is the same but the age class is just different. I haven't hunted those spots but I bet a 3 year old acts more like a 5 year old buck here. That's just the way it is.

Ks pressure is probably pretty similar. Pressure is low. Guys hunt abutting properties. See them walk to stands.

The 8.5yr old buck WAS right behind a doe. She went right by me at 10yds. It was then that I realized why I was seeing the deer move through this piece the way they did. We saw that buck come through that funnel 2x that year. Both times we were out of place. Part of that issue really was a landowner issue ...not really knowing where one property started and another one ended. Once we figured that out...made a big difference.

The biggest issues with killing 4.5 - 5.5yr old bucks, they got to be around to kill them. 2012 kind of put a hurting on the. 2015 - 2016 started to see them again. The more of them alive, more often we see them. Not rocket science thats for sure.

Its what I see here in Maine. Run a pile cameras, probably saw 2 5.5yr old bucks on camera this year in 3-4mos.

[Stanley]

I killed a good buck in this funnel in 1988 right around Thanksgiving. My approach was by the river (red arrows). They don't get any more super than one you kill a buck out of.

[mainebowhunter]

I killed a good buck in this funnel in 1988 right around Thanksgiving. My approach was by the river (red arrows). [glow=red]They don't get any more super than one you kill a buck out of[/glow].

Thats one way to look at it.

That is a great funnel. Did it ever produce again after that year?

[magicman54494]

I killed a good buck in this funnel in 1988 right around Thanksgiving. My approach was by the river (red arrows). They don't get any more super than one you kill a buck out of.

That one jumps right off the page at you. Those are great spots if they don't get pressured. Add the fact that you can access by water and it don't get much better than that!
Spots like that where I hunt get tons of pressure unfortunately. Most of the time there is a stand right there or remnants of stands from years gone by.

[Stanley]

That is a great funnel. Did it ever produce again after that year?

The guy that owned the land died. He let anyone that wanted to hunt go in there. The guy that ended up with the land wouldn't let anyone hunt. There was about 4 stand in that spot from other hunters.

During wet years it was tough to get down there by land. I went in by boat and that worked well. You just have to work around other hunters. Sometimes other hunters push bucks to you also.

[Lockdown]

I killed a good buck in this funnel in 1988 right around Thanksgiving. My approach was by the river (red arrows). They don't get any more super than one you kill a buck out of.

That one jumps right off the page at you. Those are great spots if they don't get pressured. Add the fact that you can access by water and it don't get much better than that!
Spots like that where I hunt get tons of pressure unfortunately. Most of the time there is a stand right there or remnants of stands from years gone by.

A lot of guys will notice, but for those that don't, the wind is not only perfect for Stanley's stand location, but also for accessing it. It's bullet proof.

I have a good rut funnel I can show after work if I get time. Might draw it up rather than show an aerial. It's the same set I talked about it in the "over hunting a rut stand" thread. Had a bunch of great encounters there the two years I got to hunt it.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[checkerfred]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm gonna read this a few times. I like pictures too even if they are hand drawn. I understand about posting maps and then other people end up finding them.

The ones I'm interested in are more than the obvious saddle of field corners. I understand that the best ones are the ones the bucks use. The land I hunt is big woods hills. Some really steep. I also hunt flat swamp/hardwood bottoms. The creeks interest me in hills because i see them but up to a ridge or make oxbows and join other creeks and they just look like good transitions. I've also found steep bluffs to funnel movement at bluff crossings or at the ends of the ridges. I haven't hunted these enough to pin down the good ones yet though.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[wickedbruiser]

Places like MASS with suburbia hunting, pinches and funnels are huge. I know guys that hardly see a deer...until the cruising stage and bucks are cruising behind houses in broad daylight. So guys with little scouting time have banner years just sitting behind their house.

Statement makes it sound like cake work in the suburban pockets but in reality mature bucks are a different breed than big woods or larger tracts. They have to be hunted differently in my opinion. When statistics show only 20% of tags are filled in MA, just sitting a funnel in your backyard isn't gonna cut it. Guys do get lucky shooting a nice buck here and there in tight backyard funnels but I rarely see them doing it over and over again.

[mainebowhunter]

Places like MASS with suburbia hunting, pinches and funnels are huge. I know guys that hardly see a deer...until the cruising stage and bucks are cruising behind houses in broad daylight. So guys with little scouting time have banner years just sitting behind their house.

Statement makes it sound like cake work in the suburban pockets but in reality mature bucks are a different breed than big woods or larger tracts. They have to be hunted differently in my opinion. When statistics show only 20% of tags are filled in MA, just sitting a funnel in your backyard isn't gonna cut it. Guys do get lucky shooting a nice buck here and there in tight backyard funnels but I rarely see them doing it over and over again.

No way am I saying it was easy. Just funnels in suburbia are a big deal, probably a bigger deal than I have seen elsewhere. I have buddy down there that hardly sees a buck until sometime around the first to mid part of November. Maybe he just gets super lucky. But he shot 2 bucks this year, 1 was 3.5yr old. Couple years back, shot a 148" 8pt. Couple years before that, missed a giant. Its really hit or miss...and your right, he is not doing it every year. It just surprises me he does it at all.

He only had 1 buck on camera up until he killed 2 bucks this year. Little to no preseason scouting.

When I hunted there outside the rut, you can see the pinches where if deer are going to move from point A to B they HAVE to move through a certain pinch around a swamp, around a lake. Especially when they are up on there feet and moving. And, 4.5yr old+ bucks are not a dime a dozen either.

Mass has it right for the bowhunter. Only state in Northeast with no rifle hunting during the rut.