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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: PastorSteveHill on October 25, 2015, 07:54:00 PM
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When you guys are posting threads on here, could you explain what it meant by
1. Benches
2. Saddles
3. Ridges
I only hunt swamps but am interested in the terms you guys use..
I know terms differ in parts of the country, so I'd be interested in hearing what you guys are referring to.. Thnx
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Bench- picture a hill, as you start at the top and go down the incline, the slope flattens out (can be any width of flat ground that is easy to walk) then on the other side of the "Bench", it returns to the slope.
Saddle-picture looking from a distance at mountains. Now do you see two peaks with a lower spot in between the peaks? That is the saddle, or cleavage depending on what you are imagining.
Ridge- think of a knife edge. It is a longer elevated narrow piece of land that runs for a distance. It's the top section.
Now find a white oak "ridge", that has a good sized "bench" below that ridge, then look for a slight "saddle" that might connect the ridge to the bench, and you just found a goldmine.
The oak trees drop the acorns, they roll down the hill till they hit the bench and stop. Deer, that follow the path of least resistance, will use saddles so as not to walk all the way up the hill. Instead, they walk the benches to get to the acorns that were left there for them. Just like a feed trough.
Deer are like people. Would you want to walk side hill, or on a bench? Would you rather walk/bed on the ridge and see everything, or down below and see nothing around you? Would you rather walk to the peak of a hilltop just to get to the other side, or find a shorter route to accomplish the same goal?
Hope that helps a little, and gives you a good understanding of the basics.
As for hunting swamps...the slightest topography change will "funnel" animals. You have the same land features no matter where you hunt. Some are just bigger scale than others. You just need to understand how they all work together.
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Great description Mike!
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Great job Mike.
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Essentially, they are the things that swamps don't have. :)
But, seriously, the best way to explain these things is with topo maps. I'll take a shot at it though.
A ridge is the Long (usually) high point of a hump of land. Here in the West, ridges are common and may be small and low or very long high divisions between major river valleys.
A saddle derives it's name from the look of a horses saddle being low in the center and rising to to higher points on each end. A classic saddle is formed between two hills or mountains in proximity with the low point between them being a saddle. A ridge will often have undulations along it's length with the low points being saddles. Saddles can be hotspots as game moves around hills and mountains or between valleys.
A bench is any relatively level zone along the side of a mountain, ridge or side of a valley. They are particularly attractive to elk as day bedding areas that can be secure due to the difficulty of surrounding terrain.
Do I remember you from MLML?
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We hunted with Ray Hammond at Hog Heaven (now Wild Things). Ray talked about the hogs laying on the ridges in the swamp. We hunted for days and never once saw one of these ridges he talked about. Couldn't find one anywhere.
We were from the PA hills with an elevation of around 2000ft. A ridge to us was a whole lot different than the 5ft high banks Ray was referring to.
We all had a good laugh over it.
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I see that your questions were more than adequately answered. I should not take a dinner break in the middle of a response.
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Very informative! Thnx
Mike I really appreciate that pal..
Monterey, I think it must have been someone else.. DOn't think we've ever meet... Not sure what MLML is???
Thnx again guys..
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No problem Steve.
Once you start looking, you will notice the slightest change in topography, and start putting the pieces together to see why animals walk where they do.
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Good description Mike!
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Maybe ALR?
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Mike has it.
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When I moved down to the south I had to learn about hollars, points, flats, ridges, and crossings. And also that a "hawg" didn't necessarily mean pig.....
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Originally posted by Red Beastmaster:
We hunted with Ray Hammond at Hog Heaven (now Wild Things).
We were from the PA hills with an elevation of around 2000ft. A ridge to us was a whole lot different than the 5ft high banks Ray was referring to.
We all had a good laugh over it.
Out here in the west we get chuckles all the time about what your eastern boys call mountains. A lot of places i hunt in oregon the ridges and saddles run between 8 to 10,000 feet and the valley floor is still 3700 feet.... even the coast range mountains are 3300 feet and the ridges run 2500 to 2800 feet ... but the valleys are just above sea level 50-100'
Benches and saddles are great places to find game animals. They love bedding down on those benches to watch for predators. And they use the saddles to cross over from one drainage to the next a lot.