The significance of a topographic saddle
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The significance of a topographic saddle
Ive always heard of people mentioning saddles between two hills and them being beneficial to hunting bucks, but I never understood why. What significance does a saddle play in terms of buck movement?
- Noreast10pt
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Re: The significance of a topographic saddle
Its the easiest place to get from one side to the other.
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Re: The significance of a topographic saddle
a saddle is a natural place for crossing along a ridge when moving perpendicular to it. it often offers better concealment, being a lower spot on the ridge, and often requires less of a climb (path of least resistance). all saddles are not automatic for deer movement. factors such at the vegetation, hunting pressure, and proximity to bedding or food often have major impacts on the quality of the saddle. I would suggest finding as many as you can on your topo, and then go walk them and see how they look to you. i'm sure others here will have more complete answers, but this should get you started. I look forward to learning from the answers also.
- Drenalin
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Re: The significance of a topographic saddle
Saddles are a natural travel corridor for deer in general, and help to funnel movement of deer traveling both perpendicular and parallel to the ridge. How productive a saddle will be depends largely on pressure. Saddles are one of the easiest terrain features to pick out on a map, so in lot of areas they get pounded by hunters and become basically useless during daylight hours. Saddles that are remote, overlooked, or so subtle that they don't show up on topo maps can still be productive. I usually do not find much sign in saddles, so when I'm scouting one I'm thinking more about cover and the reasons why they would pass through it than I am about finding deer sign. Sign is nice, but it isn't always there.
All that said, I've killed a pile of deer out of saddles, but never a mature buck. I have an uncle who pretty much exclusively hunts saddles, and he generally shoots 2 year olds (or younger) with an occasional 3 year old thrown in. Not saying you can't shoot a mature buck in a good saddle, just that I see them as more of a place to gather meat than bone.
All that said, I've killed a pile of deer out of saddles, but never a mature buck. I have an uncle who pretty much exclusively hunts saddles, and he generally shoots 2 year olds (or younger) with an occasional 3 year old thrown in. Not saying you can't shoot a mature buck in a good saddle, just that I see them as more of a place to gather meat than bone.
- Uncle Lou
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Re: The significance of a topographic saddle
A saddle basically means not as much relief as the two surrounding hills, so it can be a natural pathway with some other things factoring in as well. It could be a path of least resistance, why walk up a steep hill when you could more easily walk between two steep hills would be the general reasoning. I used to love to fish sunken saddles for bass.
- cspot
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Re: The significance of a topographic saddle
As mentioned above not all saddles are created equal. Many of the "classic" saddles tend to get hunted hard. Here are some observations I have about saddles in no particular order and I am far from a deer hunting expert so take with a grain of salt.
1. It is usually good especially in steep hill country that there are benches that empty into the saddle. Any deer traveling along that bench will tend to get dumped into the saddle.
2. They still need to be located in close proximity to bedding or between bedding or close to food. The deer have to have a reason to be traveling there.
3. My best saddle locations have some other features. One of my best saddle locations has a pasture field fence that makes a corner right in the middle of the saddle. This helps funnel deer and eliminates the 1 leg of the saddle. When you look at it I would barely call it a saddle. It is just a very slight depression in the ridgeline and doesn't show up on a topo map. Saddles that also have transitions of cover type tend to be good too.
4. Some saddles are so wide that you can't effectively hunt them especially with the bow. I try and find narrow saddles so that you can cover most of it. Ideally you have steep ravines that run up on each side so that deer tend to basically cross the saddle in an x. If it is narrow enough then you can basically cover a deer that approaches on any of the 4 paths.
5. I tend to have less issues with wind in saddles as compared to hunting sidehills.
1. It is usually good especially in steep hill country that there are benches that empty into the saddle. Any deer traveling along that bench will tend to get dumped into the saddle.
2. They still need to be located in close proximity to bedding or between bedding or close to food. The deer have to have a reason to be traveling there.
3. My best saddle locations have some other features. One of my best saddle locations has a pasture field fence that makes a corner right in the middle of the saddle. This helps funnel deer and eliminates the 1 leg of the saddle. When you look at it I would barely call it a saddle. It is just a very slight depression in the ridgeline and doesn't show up on a topo map. Saddles that also have transitions of cover type tend to be good too.
4. Some saddles are so wide that you can't effectively hunt them especially with the bow. I try and find narrow saddles so that you can cover most of it. Ideally you have steep ravines that run up on each side so that deer tend to basically cross the saddle in an x. If it is narrow enough then you can basically cover a deer that approaches on any of the 4 paths.
5. I tend to have less issues with wind in saddles as compared to hunting sidehills.
- funderburk
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Re: The significance of a topographic saddle
I agree with all of the above. Saddles produce deer. They are my go-to terrain feature when I’m going in blind without a ton of time. And most often, you at least get eyes on a deer. If you can find a saddle with other great terrain features within close distance and it’s low-pressure, that spot could be dynamite.
“I’ve always believed that the mind is the best weapon.” John Rambo
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