Examples of super funnels?

[checkerfred]

I know the focus here is on bedding, but I'd love to see some examples of some ultimate super type funnels that are worth sitting for rut. Especially any that involve creeks. I'm talking hills and more than the obvious saddle. There was a thread on here about creek funnels but the pics were deleted so it's hard to understand it now.

[magicman54494]

I probably sound like a broken record but the best funnel is one that a good buck is using. There are funnels everywhere. Just because you find a spot that necks huge areas down doesn't necessarily make it good. Bucks (especially older ones) have their travel routes established from years of traveling the same areas. Often times the funnels that jump out at you from a topo or aerial photo are over hunted. The best funnels are the ones along his trail AND close to his bedding. Also funnels between doe groups are great. You have to do your homework to find these spots.

I have noticed over the years that older bucks don't use the same trails as the other deer. Rub lines and tracks are good things to look for. Trail cameras can help pinpoint them as long as you don't end up ruining the spot by pestering it too often.

Bucks like to use edges and edges are a bottleneck because of this. Look for sign along edges. Don't worry if you don't find big well used trails.

[magicman54494]

An example of this is a buck I tracked this year. He was heading in the direction of a "super funnel". This spot just jumps out at you when you look at an aerial photo of the area. Low and behold he cut right by the funnel and crossed a swamp instead. I would bet that he will cross that same spot EVERY time he goes thru that area. I also believe he avoided the funnel because of the annual hunting pressure at that spot. So in this instance I would consider the swamp crossing spot to be the super funnel.
I would post a map of his trail but I'm still hunting him.

[JoeRE]

Wise words from Magic, everything he said. I have followed big buck tracks in the snow that skirt tight funnels just like that too. I have watched quite a few of them do it as well. That was one of the first things I noticed big bucks did differently years ago - they usually skirt tight bottlenecks.

In hill country, the best funnels for killing a big old buck are not the obvious huge ditch crossings or inside corners. They are just little pinches on buck travel routes that they repeatedly go right through. The kind that a buck does not feel penned in going through.

I am certain anywhere there is decent hunting pressure the oldest bucks learn super tight bottlenecks are not safe - otherwise they wouldn't survive till old age.

For instance, I really like barely noticeable saddles on long ridge complexes. The kind that might not even show up on a contour map. That is because really big saddles draw lots of hunters and bucks notice all that scent. If there is something on each that the buck wants to see, he will probably cross right in that little dip. It still has to be on a route connecting A to B for a buck.

Another example, I target a lot of ditch crossings on buck travel routes as well, but often they are NOT the heaviest crossing on that particular ditch. I 100% agree with Magic older bucks have their own travel routes. Look what the sign is saying - big tracks and rubs. After tagging out early this year I put a cam over a faint crossing 80-100 yards further down slope than the only other crossing of a long steep ditch between two big ridges. I did not see that faint crossing last year and had a cam on the upper one and got only does and small bucks after leaving it thru the rut. This year the cam, parked on the lower crossing all November, got multiple big bucks using that faint crossing. This spring I found a couple rubs pointing down toward that lighter crossing and that keyed me in to it.

The best bottlenecks for catching a rutting buck often don't have much sign because little else uses them.

[mainebowhunter]

And I am going to sound like a broken record.

I hunt the mother of all "funnels" in KS. But its not really your normal typical narrow funnel. My entrance is phenomenal. Boarded by a creek on the North, doe bed begins 60yds from edge of the creek. When the creek starts to pinch down to the doe bed, there is an old barbwire fence that is broken in 2 places that runs North South. When deer move E and W, they always choose to go through the breaks in the fence, pinch down by my stand than fan back out into the bed. Every year, I see multiple bucks use this funnel. And at some point, with patience, a good buck will use the same funnel. He may use it exactly as the other deer...or a bit different. Last year, killed mature buck in this funnel. This year, passed a pile of deer, one 130" 3.5 and 4.5yr old following a doe. Had a 5.5 or 6.5 yr old that saw in the same funnel last year, come through 5 minutes 2 late. And killed 5.5yr old buck 150yds from the funnel on a creek crossing.

Not only is it a funnel, its an edge. Bucks run the edge, checking doe bed. Bucks run through the doe bed checking for does. The beauty is in the timber, the weeds are shoulder height. Ground level, deer cannot really see all that well. Once in a tree, I can easily see it all of the weeds. Only time I ever go into the weeds is recover a buck.

Very few times in a lifetime do you ever find a piece of deer ground that works quite this well. And to top it all off, in 2009, 2010 it was public WIA ground. We ended up getting permission to hunt it once they took it out of the program.

[mainebowhunter]

Wise words from Magic, everything he said. I have followed big buck tracks in the snow that skirt tight funnels just like that too. I have watched quite a few of them do it as well. That was one of the first things I noticed big bucks did differently years ago - they usually skirt tight bottlenecks.

In hill country, the best funnels for killing a big old buck are not the obvious huge ditch crossings or inside corners. They are just little pinches on buck travel routes that they repeatedly go right through. The kind that a buck does not feel penned in going through.

I am certain anywhere there is decent hunting pressure the oldest bucks learn super tight bottlenecks are not safe - otherwise they wouldn't survive till old age.

For instance, I really like barely noticeable saddles on long ridge complexes. The kind that might not even show up on a contour map. That is because really big saddles draw lots of hunters and bucks notice all that scent. If there is something on each that the buck wants to see, he will probably cross right in that little dip. It still has to be on a route connecting A to B for a buck.

Another example, I target a lot of ditch crossings on buck travel routes as well, but often they are NOT the heaviest crossing on that particular ditch. I 100% agree with Magic older bucks have their own travel routes. Look what the sign is saying - big tracks and rubs. After tagging out early this year I put a cam over a faint crossing 80-100 yards further down slope than the only other crossing of a long steep ditch between two big ridges. I did not see that faint crossing last year and had a cam on the upper one and got only does and small bucks after leaving it thru the rut. This year the cam, parked on the lower crossing all November, got multiple big bucks using that faint crossing. This spring I found a couple rubs pointing down toward that lighter crossing and that keyed me in to it.

The best bottlenecks for catching a rutting buck often don't have much sign because little else uses them.

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.

[magicman54494]

And I am going to sound like a broken record.

I hunt the mother of all "funnels" in KS. But its not really your normal typical narrow funnel. My entrance is phenomenal. Boarded by a creek on the North, doe bed begins 60yds from edge of the creek. When the creek starts to pinch down to the doe bed, there is an old barbwire fence that is broken in 2 places that runs North South. When deer move E and W, they always choose to go through the breaks in the fence, pinch down by my stand than fan back out into the bed. Every year, I see multiple bucks use this funnel. And at some point, with patience, a good buck will use the same funnel. He may use it exactly as the other deer...or a bit different. Last year, killed mature buck in this funnel. This year, passed a pile of deer, one 130" 3.5 and 4.5yr old following a doe. Had a 5.5 or 6.5 yr old that saw in the same funnel last year, come through 5 minutes 2 late. And killed 5.5yr old buck 150yds from the funnel on a creek crossing.

Not only is it a funnel, its an edge. Bucks run the edge, checking doe bed. Bucks run through the doe bed checking for does. The beauty is in the timber, the weeds are shoulder height. Ground level, deer cannot really see all that well. Once in a tree, I can easily see it all of the weeds. Only time I ever go into the weeds is recover a buck.

Very few times in a lifetime do you ever find a piece of deer ground that works quite this well. And to top it all off, in 2009, 2010 it was public WIA ground. We ended up getting permission to hunt it once they took it out of the program.

I think hunting pressure has a lot to do with if a older buck uses a funnel or not. I would't be surprised in low pressure areas that older bucks would go right thru tight funnels. I have never been able to hunt low pressure spots but I see this on the hunting shows all the time. I know that old bucks will always chose the path of least resistance as long as they feel safe. I'm not sure how much pressure your area gets each season.

[mainebowhunter]

And I am going to sound like a broken record.

I hunt the mother of all "funnels" in KS. But its not really your normal typical narrow funnel. My entrance is phenomenal. Boarded by a creek on the North, doe bed begins 60yds from edge of the creek. When the creek starts to pinch down to the doe bed, there is an old barbwire fence that is broken in 2 places that runs North South. When deer move E and W, they always choose to go through the breaks in the fence, pinch down by my stand than fan back out into the bed. Every year, I see multiple bucks use this funnel. And at some point, with patience, a good buck will use the same funnel. He may use it exactly as the other deer...or a bit different. Last year, killed mature buck in this funnel. This year, passed a pile of deer, one 130" 3.5 and 4.5yr old following a doe. Had a 5.5 or 6.5 yr old that saw in the same funnel last year, come through 5 minutes 2 late. And killed 5.5yr old buck 150yds from the funnel on a creek crossing.

Not only is it a funnel, its an edge. Bucks run the edge, checking doe bed. Bucks run through the doe bed checking for does. The beauty is in the timber, the weeds are shoulder height. Ground level, deer cannot really see all that well. Once in a tree, I can easily see it all of the weeds. Only time I ever go into the weeds is recover a buck.

Very few times in a lifetime do you ever find a piece of deer ground that works quite this well. And to top it all off, in 2009, 2010 it was public WIA ground. We ended up getting permission to hunt it once they took it out of the program.

I think hunting pressure has a lot to do with if a older buck uses a funnel or not. I would't be surprised in low pressure areas that older bucks would go right thru tight funnels. I have never been able to hunt low pressure spots but I see this on the hunting shows all the time. I know that old bucks will always chose the path of least resistance as long as they feel safe. I'm not sure how much pressure your area gets each season.

Bow season, pressure is low, both in KS, NE and Maine. Just not a ton of population where I live and hunt. Outside of that, not sure. Quite a few bucks disappear the next season...so not sure what the pressure is like during rifle. Maine is low pressure during bow, still see very few mature bucks moving broad daylight. I attribute a lot of that to lower mature buck numbers.

[matt1336]

Look for water and the terrain around it- you'll often find funnels there. Open fields and pastures that but up to woods or water. Houses and woods that are able to keep deer out of sight. Fence openings. Look for travel routes through properties and you'll often stumble into them. Sometimes they are to obvious.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[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.

[headgear]

The only map funnels I found that have worked for me are extremely remote and get almost no pressure other than myself. Like magic said the better funnels are the ones that aren't obvious and the bucks are there for a reason. Low pressure areas with doe bedding or a series of doe/buck bedding seem to work the best and the tracks confirm that. I see tracks hitting the regular funnels too but it is not as consistent. Any pressure in the area seems to wipe out daylight movement so take that into consideration.

[SEMObowhunter]

I like the tops of draws on the sides of ridges. Theses channel deer and cruising bucks around the heads of them. A lot of times there are saddles on the ridgetop but I like to be down the hill around that 1/3 elevation mark. A lot of bucks will skirt the heads of these draws and never reach the top of the ridge when cruising along the ridge. I find bucks don't cross in the lowest elevation of a saddle either, but more about half way up the slope on either side when on normal cruising routes. When chasing a doe it's anyone's guess.

[PK_]

If you find a creek deep enough they have to swim and has steep banks, if there is one spot where the creek is shallow and the banks aren't as steep for them to cross.

You will get tons of activity crossing there but also get the movement parelleling the creek. It is a double funnel.

If the crossing trail looks something like this you are probably in the right spot:


[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Southern Man]

I have never been able to hunt low pressure spots but I see this on the hunting shows all the time.

Is this because there are no low pressure spots where you hunt or you have a problem with them? Just curious.

[JoeRE]

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.