Transitional Hubs

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rhagenw
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Re: Transitional Hubs

Unread postby rhagenw » Wed Jul 29, 2020 5:51 am

Great post Trout thank you


mbone1327
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Re: Transitional Hubs

Unread postby mbone1327 » Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:02 am

Thanks for this Trout. The city analogy helped me understand better.
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Wolfofmibu
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Re: Transitional Hubs

Unread postby Wolfofmibu » Thu Jul 30, 2020 1:18 am

Has me rethinking some areas , good post trout!
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Brad
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Re: Transitional Hubs

Unread postby Brad » Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:12 pm

Thanks for this post! I have an area that I will be hunting sept 15th-27th that I know has a load of deer including a good number of big bucks. I haven't been able to find any specific buck that I know where his beds are, and haven't found any buck beds that I could say are being used during that time period, so I've been beating my head against a wall trying to figure out a good strategy. This looks like it could be a good way to find an area to see what I can find.
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funderburk
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Re: Transitional Hubs

Unread postby funderburk » Tue Sep 08, 2020 2:15 pm

Fantastic post, Trout! Visuals are so helpful :clap: :dance:
“I’ve always believed that the mind is the best weapon.” John Rambo
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PApublic1187
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Re: Transitional Hubs

Unread postby PApublic1187 » Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:14 am

Trout wrote:When I first started learning about beast tactics, I was confused at first when you guys would call edges transitions. One of the first things you learn about deer is that they’re edge creatures. I knew that, but never thought about an edge as a transition, so when guys would talk about transitions in posts, I would think they were talking about one cover type transitioning into another. Yeah, that’s an edge, but my brain overthinks things a lot of the time and it didn’t click that it was an edge. Then one day it clicked, and I started to try to figure out a way to quantify edges. Here is an example.

transitional hub metaphor.jpg

This map shows major highways. Check out the transitional hubs- Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, etc. Those highways are just like edges and where a bunch of them intersect is where you’re going to find the most human activity. In the deer woods, those areas with a higher number of edge intersections (transitional hubs) are where you’re going to find the most deer activity.

Like I said, I tend to overthink things, I can’t just do it a little, I have to go overboard. So I developed the system below to help me find what I’ve started to call transitional hubs. A transitional hub is not a new idea, I didn’t invent it. Dan and other successful hunters have talked about places where multiple edges/transitions meet as being good hunting spots for decades. But a transitional hub sounds really cool. Here is how I find these transitional hubs, its really simple and I’ve been able to repeat this a few times now to identify overlooked spots or to refine stand locations with good results.

aerial.JPG

Here is an aerial view of one of my favorite hunting spots. I’ve observed a lot of deer activity over the years and had some great buck encounters. It would be your classic transitional hub.

transition mapping.jpg

Here is the topo view. The black lines are edges/transitions. There are 5 primary edges. I’ve simplified them into straight lines. One for the field edge, one for the ridge line, one for travel route past the north end of the waterbody, one that navigates through the cliff faces, one that follow the treeline funnel across the field. These lines intersect one another 8 times.

transitional hub with core square.jpg

7 of those intersections are inside the red square. That red square is fairly small- 150x150yds. That’s the transitional hub.

I’ve got a lot to learn still, but from my experience so far, the best time to hunt a transitional hub is during the early rut phases when deer are on their feet covering ground. They’re also great when you don’t have a specific target deer located, but just want to be in the game and have an encounter or two or a starting point. Another trend I’m starting to see is that in my best transitional hub spots, its that there isn’t a crazy amount of sign like you would think there should be. For example, the one I’ve been hunting the longest- about six years now- I’ve never seen a well defined deer runway, rub or scrape. But every time I hunt it, I have deer all over me. The spot in the screenshots above is similar in that there isn’t a bunch of sign, but I have seen a couple scrapes where bucks are running that ridge. Another key factor in a good transitional hub vs others is that my best ones are in close proximity to bedding areas. I also think this is a great strategy to use when you’re hunting deer, not a deer.

So I do my cyberscouting pretty much the same as everyone else here does, then get on the ground and find the sign and edges/transitions you don’t see on a map, and then I draw these transition lines over top of everything. The area with the highest concentration of lines is my hub. THe best hub in an area might be three instersection points, it might be 12. If I’ve never hunted the area before or I don’t have hot sign somewhere, I’m going to make my first sit or observation sit somewhere in that best transitional hub I can find there.

Hope that helps someone!


That one was explained perfect! Thanks Trout
Nothing beats some tree therapy. Deer sightings or not


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