Favorite hill country terrain features

[JMAR85]

I want to hear from all the hill country gurus as to what their favorite hill country terrain features are during the rut.

[BigHunt]

Inside corner feild edges, high side of a deep cut or wash out, saddles, thick brushy draws over looking doe bedding set up on one side or the other

[pewpewpew]

I'm no guru, but I've found that large rock outcroppings (cliffs, rock bluffs, ect) on the side of hills that meet with the military crest, funnel deer. They can travel above to cliff or go below the cliff. If you believe they travel the upper 1/3, they will take the high ground to get around bluffs.

[flinginairos]

I'm no guru, but I've found that large rock outcroppings (cliffs, rock bluffs, ect) on the side of hills that meet with the military crest, funnel deer. They can travel above to cliff or go below the cliff. If you believe they travel the upper 1/3, they will take the high ground to get around bluffs.

I hunt several spots like this where there is a straight drop from the top of a ridge to the bench below. The benches below these dropoffs are usually covered in laurel and are perfect bedding/travel cover. I have great luck in these spots all year!

[Josh_S]

I'm certainly not a guru...But I will mention a particular combination of terrain features that caught my attention this fall during the rut, and that is a deep cut that was timbered at the high side of the cut. (I will say "timbered" rather than "clear cut" to avoid confusion with 2 different types of "cuts" with different meanings) Obviously the deep cut created a natural funnel from 2 directions, with doe bedding ideally located in the timbered area positioned directly at the pinch point.

This combination of terrain features is on a small piece of public within a county park full of human activity nearby. I identified the small clear cut as doe bedding during pre-season scouting, with rubs present along the trails on the top 1/3 on both sides leading to the timbered area. I hunted it 3 times between late Oct and mid Nov.

Sit #1 late Oct evening: I heard a grunt from a buck nosing around in the doe bedding. I hit the grunt tube and a very young buck came within range.

Sit #2 early Nov morning: I watched doe and fawns return to timbered bedding in morning. I was positioned on side of cut downwind of timbered bedding hoping to catch something scent checking. This was NOT the leeward side. Well I should have paid attention to what I learned here and hunted the leeward side, as a buck I would have been content shooting traveled the top 1/3 nose to ground. This buck had no interest in the doe I had just seen who was not in estrus, after passing thru the pinch point he continued with a purpose along the top 1/3 leeward side of the ridge going away from me. If I had set up on the leeward side I may have had an opportunity.

Sit #3 mid Nov morning: Only had first couple hours of daylight to hunt before leaving for another state. This time I did hunt the leeward side, but did not see a buck in the short time I was there. However within the timbered bedding I did witness up close a doe trying to run her fawn off after they returned to bedding. She must have been going into estrus. Needless to say I regret not staying, I was too excited about leaving for a "big buck state."

Although did not get the outcome I wanted, 3 sits adjacent to this terrain feature put me in favorable circumstances all 3 times. I made a couple mistakes in terms of positioning myself that I certainly learned from. In the future I will look for this easy to distinguish combination of terrain features that should be ideal for hill country rut hunting.

[bwwma]

Benches

[bwwma]

I missed the part about gurus. I am no guru, but benches.

[Twenty Up]

Guess I'll add that I'm not a guru either

BUT something that I have noticed and continue to notice around "hill country" is bedding in relation to rock outcroppings. I put hill country in quotations because this is relative, in my opinion. To me elevation changes of 100-200' is "hilly" whereas a guy in Colorado would probably call that average. Throw in some 40' contours and these quartz rocks and I always seem to find a buck bedded within them. The 40' contours can be seen on CalTopo. Below is a picture of the rocks I'm reffing to..



These spots seem to work best when the buck can tuck into the rocks, where they cannot be seen from the upwind side or sometimes close to 180*.

[SaddleMaster]

Saddles will always be my favorite (hence my username) but benches are a close 2nd. Saddles were the first feature I hunted after reading Mapping Trophy Bucks and was pretty amazed to watch deer filter right through them. And sometimes you'll find a place where multiple features converge. I hunt a couple saddle/bench combos where the saddle leads to a bench on the other side.

[jwilkstn]

Benches in the mountains, points in the hills

[rfickes87]

Saddles will always be my favorite (hence my username) but benches are a close 2nd. Saddles were the first feature I hunted after reading Mapping Trophy Bucks and was pretty amazed to watch deer filter right through them. And sometimes you'll find a place where multiple features converge. I hunt a couple saddle/bench combos where the saddle leads to a bench on the other side.

Can you elaborate on why saddles produce so well for you? I feel like they're really common for me and perhaps I've been overlooking their significance. Now i will say just this weekend I walked along this long skinny corn field with a peak at each end and notice most of the tracks in the middle on the saddle and on the leeward side of the saddle. With Beaten down trails leading into thick bedding down over the leeward side down to the military crest. But anyways, Please continue on! Would love to read on about that kind of hill feature.

[pewpewpew]

Inside corner feild edges, high side of a deep cut or wash out, saddles, thick brushy draws over looking doe bedding set up on one side or the other

I'd like to hear more about your experience with inside corner field edges. I just put up a trail cam on the point of a hilltop field, expecting to get mostly night pictures. I got quite a few bucks in shooting light.

[Crazinamatese]

All of them. The steeper the hills are, the better.

[Franny]

By far my favorite terrain feature to hunt during the rut is a saddle or crossing on a ridge as far away from human access as possible. It's no secret that bucks run the ridges during the rut. If you can find a water hole nearby (no matter how small) that is even better. Especially for those warm, early November days. And if you can find a ridge that runs any direction except east and west and set your stand up over that water in that saddle for an east wind, you will have venison on the grill in no time. In my area of the country (Western Wisconsin), when you get an east wind in early November you will generally get a storm the following night or day which will get the deer on their feet and increase your odds even more. After that, all you need a patience and the ability to shoot straight. Having a couple buddies willing to help you get that big nasty out of the woods helps too.

[Divergent]

Not all saddles are created equal.

A saddle connecting two doe groups is better than a saddle connecting two hunting groups. Try to find a benefit of using a particular saddle.