Deer avoiding funnels, setup adjustments

[Motivated]

This is a topic that has been on my mind since Magicman's podcast, which was great by the way. Todd was tracking a buck who avoided a frequently hunted funnel. A few days ago I was rereading "Mapping Trophy Bucks" and the same topic came up on page 59, when a buck Brad was hunting avoided a saddle by going through a patch of greenbrier.

I had a mature buck pass through an open area to avoid a funnel a couple of years ago, but he did not seem like he knew I was there at the time. He just stolled slowly through. It seemed like his standard route. That was in late November on public land. He may have been tracking a doe and not concerned about safety, but he successfully lived through that season.

Another spot I hunt with Dad is a super funnel, and we do two man drives there in early season. I noticed that deer approach this funnel in one of two ways. Either from the top of the nearby hill, where they stand and watch the funnel for a minute before they commit. The second way is through the tall grass (5-6 foot) which is just northeast of the funnel, with the predominantly west winds for this area.

So to me it seems like they avoid funnels by using a visual or scent check while standing in cover. Or maybe for mature deer it is just standard practice. I wonder if others have seen the same and have adapted setups to hunt their approach to the funnel rather than the funnel itself.

I mostly hunt bedding areas, but for these drives with Dad and during rut I like to hunt some of these funnels. Have you seen other strategies bucks use, and what are your strategies to counteract them?

[PK_]

You are spot on with hunting the approach. Andrae spoke about it in the old hill DVD I believe and I have observed exactly what he talked about.

[Boogieman1]

This is a topic that has been on my mind since Magicman's podcast, which was great by the way. Todd was tracking a buck who avoided a frequently hunted funnel. A few days ago I was rereading "Mapping Trophy Bucks" and the same topic came up on page 59, when a buck Brad was hunting avoided a saddle by going through a patch of greenbrier.

I had a mature buck pass through an open area to avoid a funnel a couple of years ago, but he did not seem like he knew I was there at the time. He just stolled slowly through. It seemed like his standard route. That was in late November on public land. He may have been tracking a doe and not concerned about safety, but he successfully lived through that season.

Another spot I hunt with Dad is a super funnel, and we do two man drives there in early season. I noticed that deer approach this funnel in one of two ways. Either from the top of the nearby hill, where they stand and watch the funnel for a minute before they commit. The second way is through the tall grass (5-6 foot) which is just northeast of the funnel, with the predominantly west winds for this area.

So to me it seems like they avoid funnels by using a visual or scent check while standing in cover. Or maybe for mature deer it is just standard practice. I wonder if others have seen the same and have adapted setups to hunt their approach to the funnel rather than the funnel itself.

I mostly hunt bedding areas, but for these drives with Dad and during rut I like to hunt some of these funnels. Have you seen other strategies bucks use, and what are your strategies to counteract them?

Sounds to me like is the funnels are in a fairly open area, bucks will always stop and check things out at the edge of a thin area b4 committing. As far as walking through the open area. Is it a outside corner? If so it's simply quicker and easier for em then to walk all the way around to the funnel. If the wind is in there favor I have had good luck on outside corners. I would try blazing them a trail through that tall grass to encourage them to use it. Cut afew shooting lanes and play the hand u r dealt! But that's just me

[Motivated]

This is public, so no altering it. Not looking to change their approach, just understand it and take advantage of it.

The deer drive spot is a pinch between water on both sides, and we have had deer jump in the water to avoid the stander if he is not ready, hidden and still. Other times they have backtracked and avoided me on my drive. Dad had a big doe do a backflip within five yards of him last year, which was a pretty fun encounter. Ultimately, I am looking to understand deer movement and intercept. Not just on drives. This was just one example of a funnel we try to take advantage of while hunting.

[dan]

Gun deer hunters historically hunt pinch points and funnels to get bucks pushed by other hunters. Yet, do you see many of these guys shooting big bucks year after year with this approach? Ive done well hunting the down wind thick brush of funnels, or spots frequently hunted. For really huge bucks of a mature age you need to keep moving cause they find travel wroughts that people don't use and they move very short distances in daylight. I am always amazed when I follow a mature bucks track on heavy pressured land. I would think you could not find a way across the land without going past a hunter but the trails often find a way to do just that. Funnels are good for shooting 1 and 2 year old bucks consistently. They work occasionally on older bucks if you don't over hunt them and your there the right day when the buck makes a mistake.

Most guys are playing a numbers game... They hunt the same way everyone else does and there success is based on having lots of tree time. They hunt scrapes, rubs, funnels, and over food. In order to get consistent on giant whitetails you need to be where they move consistently in daylight.

If they do make a mistake and move in daylight longer distance in the rut, they know better than to walk thru funnels where they have smelled people in the past and will hug a thick edge, go thru open terrain without trees around it, or I have even seen them run thru the danger area.

Big bucks often have there own travel wroughts that are separate from the 1 and 2 year olds who are still learning some hard lessons. A 2 year old is like a totally separate species of animal than a 4 or 5 year old.

[Stanley]

Old mature bucks are way less likely to move during daylight at all. They also move less in the dark. So getting an old mature buck to go through a pinch point is tough. I know the whereabouts of an 9.5 year old buck. He doesn't move much at all. I have not laid eyes on him for 2 years now. My cameras have though. I honestly think he will die of old age. He just doesn't move around at all.

[Jlars]

I used to hunt a land funnel between two long lakes. Would get plenty of young bucks and does crossing here. One day i caught a glimps of a bigger buck crossing a narrow section of one of the lakes. They are not afraid to go swimming to avoid a pinch point.

[JoeRE]

My 2 brothers and I have killed mature bucks by bumping them, usually late season after they have been chased around for 2-3 months. Just about every single one of them was killed heading into the wind. I really don't know if we could get one with a bow doing that....its easier with a gun, we set up 200 yards off to one side of their escape route, with our scent blowing parallel or ever so slightly angled away and shoot them when they cross the "T" so to speak.

They rarely if ever travel through tight funnels when bumped. They also avoid permanent stands like the plague. I follow their tracks in the snow as they take a path that stays just out of sight from where I know a stand is located, happens all the time. They are either moving wind to face or using terrain and vegetation to stay almost completely concealed while they move. Rarely do they move with many other deer. They like to travel a few hundred yards behind a younger buck and seem to use him as a decoy. Often this younger buck is not exactly small, might be a 130 class 3 year old that 95% of guys will shoot. And then they will never see the 150 class 5 year old that was following 200 yards behind.

These are all things I have noticed doing these nudges. I see big bucks skirt tight funnels just when moving naturally too. They know they have to avoid funnels or tight inside corners or they would be dead already.

So yea, my advice is don't bother hunting the big bottlenecks that are easy to spot from aerial photos or topo maps. The kind you see TV hunters talk about. The only places where that works are hunting estates where a mature buck literally has no other hunters after him. The saddles that I have had the best luck with are the ones that have such a slight dip you can't even see it on a 10 or 20 foot contour map. You can hunt some of those tight funnels - but not in them. Try to find the sign, tracks or maybe a rub, to see how a big buck skirts it and set up there. But like both Stan and Dan said, fully mature bucks aren't moving much period. Those setups still better be on a preferred travel route close to his bed.

[Bigb]

Old mature bucks are way less likely to move during daylight at all. They also move less in the dark. So getting an old mature buck to go through a pinch point is tough. I know the whereabouts of an 9.5 year old buck. He doesn't move much at all. I have not laid eyes on him for 2 years now. My cameras have though. I honestly think he will die of old age. He just doesn't move around at all.

Isn't that the truth! We have a 190"ish buck that lives on the farm next to us. He only gets spotted a few times a year when someone is driving. He lives in a couple shallow ditches that are impossible to hunt. I think there is only one or two camera pictures of him in existence because the stays in the same small area where he is safe. He has food, water and cover so he doesnt need to move much. Like you said, I think this buck is going to die of old age, he is very smart.

I hunt funnels during the rut and have a fair amount of success. I think the key is that I hunt private land the the funnels are only hunted in the ideal conditions and once or twice a year, that is it. I keep a camera on a couple of these funnels and both are the cameras we tend to get every mature buck on camera once or twice during the year but many of these pics are only during the rut. Since I live so far from where I hunt and have now have a second young son, the rut is my main time to hunt so thats what I concentrate on. I will say, the funnels that pay off also have something going for them like no other way to get from point A to point B or connect two doe bedding areas and alternate routes to check downwind would be much longer and put them in danger. Funnels that I hunt are in ridge country do have some sort of barrier that cause that funnel which I think helps.

This is an example of one of these funnels. I can only hunt this spot once, maybe twice a year but some years not at all. I had a good encounter last year but couldn't close the deal. Great funnel that is downwind of doe bedding and has a drainage area that deer can't cross unless they use this funnel (its an old tractor trail that was made and has a culvert for drainage.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29746&hilit=Not+checking+a+trail+camera

I like what was mentioned above about people killing that 130" deer and thats why they don't see a bigger buck 200 yards behind. Best sit I had in 2016 was November 11th in the AM on a leeward side that had a funnel due to a steep drainage. I think I saw 10 bucks that morning and passed a young 125" 10 point early on. After that I had many more bucks come through and missed a 155" 8 point at 8:30. I tried to thread the needle and it didnt work and just nipped branch. At 11:15 I had to get down to go site in my slug gun and head back to Chicago. I lower my bow and make it half way down the sticks and look over and 25 yards away is a 160" 10 point I was after. I watched helplessly as he trotted away. If I would have say another 10 minutes I would have had a 15 yard shot.

[mheichelbech]

Gun deer hunters historically hunt pinch points and funnels to get bucks pushed by other hunters. Yet, do you see many of these guys shooting big bucks year after year with this approach? Ive done well hunting the down wind thick brush of funnels, or spots frequently hunted. For really huge bucks of a mature age you need to keep moving cause they find travel wroughts that people don't use and they move very short distances in daylight. I am always amazed when I follow a mature bucks track on heavy pressured land. I would think you could not find a way across the land without going past a hunter but the trails often find a way to do just that. Funnels are good for shooting 1 and 2 year old bucks consistently. They work occasionally on older bucks if you don't over hunt them and your there the right day when the buck makes a mistake.

Most guys are playing a numbers game... They hunt the same way everyone else does and there success is based on having lots of tree time. They hunt scrapes, rubs, funnels, and over food. In order to get consistent on giant whitetails you need to be where they move consistently in daylight.

If they do make a mistake and move in daylight longer distance in the rut, they know better than to walk thru funnels where they have smelled people in the past and will hug a thick edge, go thru open terrain without trees around it, or I have even seen them run thru the danger area.

Big bucks often have there own travel wroughts that are separate from the 1 and 2 year olds who are still learning some hard lessons. A 2 year old is like a totally separate species of animal than a 4 or 5 year old.

When you talk about "have smelled people in the past" is that current season odor or past seasons? If a mature buck hadn't had a negative event associated with an area other than human scent I.e., he didn't get shot, or spooked real bad, AND he is somewhat used to smelling human scent in the woods...is he still most likely to use a different area altogether for travel..even if other deer are using it?

[dan]

When you talk about "have smelled people in the past" is that current season odor or past seasons? If a mature buck hadn't had a negative event associated with an area other than human scent I.e., he didn't get shot, or spooked real bad, AND he is somewhat used to smelling human scent in the woods...is he still most likely to use a different area altogether for travel..even if other deer are using it?

Im saying they have a knack for finding the spots where people go the least. On low pressure managed property, or even on no hunting properties they still seek the over looked spots out. They just let there guard down more often.

I can't stress this enough, most of the true mature bucks I have had interactions with came from over looked spots... Spots most people would never dream a deer would be. In a lot of cases you wouldn't want anyone to see you hunt there cause its almost embarrassing. They don't come from the big square woodlot surrounded by crops, or the funnel connecting hour glass wood lots. They come from the small patch of brush off to the side where nobody bothers them...

[Boogieman1]

Lmao! Dang it don't tell em that there gonna shoot my dang deer. Why don't u just offer em some form of gadgetry and quit giving the good stuff away I depend on that. Guess I'm gonna try over hunting some areas now thanks a lot.

[Bigb]

I agree with what Dan said. The biggest bucks like the smallest spots. In my time rabbit/quail/pheasant hunting w/o a dog in college at Southern Illinois and University of Kansas, I would see a fair amount of big mature bucks. The spot that I saw these bucks the most were the small acre or two pond either next to a road or ponds that had about 10 to 20 yards of CRP around them. That and small "islands" in the middle of ag fields that had fence rows running into them. I didnt really deer hunt at school because taking care of a deer would have been tough but if I did, I think I would have had a lot of luck, especially during gun season. I always knew where a couple big bucks were hiding. Like I said above with that big buck on the neighbors property, they know where to sit and stay to grow old and not be bothered.