Big Woods hunters: That ONE spot: Does it exist for you?

[NBK]

I used to have permission to hunt some property on the west side of Wisconsin (bluff country) and I found one "hard" funnel in that deer had no choice to pass through.  It was a boulder strewn washout ravine slicing down a steep hillside.  Too wide to jump and too deep with rock for deer to cross they were forced to go up over the head just below the top of the ridge.  I would see upwards of five to six shooter bucks on a good day during the rut pass through here.  To say I miss that place would be an understatement.

Virtually all of my hunting now is in far north/central Wisconsin.  "Big woods", no agriculture to speak of and relatively flat topographically.  There are no "hard" funnels, just what I refer to as "soft" funnels consisting primarily of transitional edges of cover, spruce swamps and the occasional creek.  Deer can and will bed literally anywhere.  High, low, close to the roads doesn't matter, it's all thick cover.  Food sources are some food plots and corn baiters.  
I feel in my gut that there HAS to be that ONE tree out there where bucks pass the most consistently during the rut.  Whether its preferred canopy, easiest travel, converging wind currents, whatever, there theoretically should be that ONE tree.
So my questions to you all:  does that tree exist or is it too subject to seasonal change? and What sign leads you to finding that spot?  (i.e. rublines vs. cluster rubs vs. scrape lines etc.)

Please keep this to big woods hunting with little elevation change as that's where I hunt.

[Michael Arnette]

Congrats!!
Yes!! They are there, sometimes it takes years to find them but that are there...

[YosemiteSam]

I have little real experience in flat country (one hunt in AR a few years ago).  But out here in CA, our mountain deer are migratory and can be as transient as a passing storm.  One day, they're everywhere, the next, they're gone.  No reason, no explanation, just gone.  Then they're back.  Or somewhere slightly different.  Seasonally, they'll overwinter in the foothills at about 1-4k feet and be up at 10k+ feet by late May so forget about sheds or even spring scouting where you actually hunt (it's all snowed in anyway).  I've never bothered to setup blinds, tree stands or anything permanent.  I figure if the deer are mobile, then I have to be as well.  

Coastal deer are different and I have some deep woods spots there that have been fun for turkey and I plan to go back for a late season hunt this fall.  I've seen deer there but they're REALLY ghosty -- hardly any sign, you'll see branches twitch where a deer was but is now gone (still hunting).  I know I can get one but I need to spend a couple days down there to do it right.  But it's not flat either.  And it's thick with poison oak so the deer have the run of the place while I am far more limited.  Such is CA.

All I can say is get out as often as possible and hope that you'll eventually get lucky enough to find them.  Just like in business, it's a numbers game.  You have to get unlucky enough times to eventually have the odds work in your favor by sheer, dumb luck.  Your skill is there to make sure you don't screw up the few chances you get.

Obviously, I'm not much for pep talks.

[ron w]

Many times in the big woods funnels are not all that visible. I have found in the Adirondacks many time edges seem to be the same as funnels. By an edge I mean where spruce and hemlock change to hardwoods, old beaver flows that change to conifers and so on. Creeks seem to be a highway also. It may take several years to figure out where you need to be but to me that's half the fun of hunting the BIG woods. I also like saddles between hills.......have fun.

[Pointer]

I stumbled across that tree years ago while scouting a 17,000 acre state park. There was a scrape line back there about a mile from where I parked the truck. I hunted it and took a small buck that year and had a bunch opportunities at other deer over the next 5-6 years. Some I passed up, others may or may not have met the antler requirement that the park was using at the time so I didn't chance it. THat scrape line was hit every year...always the same trees. Eventually it went cold and stayed that way. Still I check it every season.

[DarkTimber]

Great thread Mike.  I'll be watching this one because I hunt exactly the same type of terrain.

The area I hunt is 160,000 acres of flat river bottoms.  There probably isn't 10' of elevation change over the entire area and for the most part, all the woods look the same.  It is littered with sloughs, ditches and oxbows which are about the only thing to create much of an edge or "funnel". Overall, deer densities are low compared to other parts of the state, but it has produced some of the largest bucks in the state for decades.  When you combine big woods, little topography and low densities it can sure make finding "The" spot seem like the proverbial needle in a haystack.  

In my experience from hunting there for the last 15 or so years, those spots definitely are there, they are just extremely difficult to find.   After 15 yrs I have 3 trees that I would put in that category. All 3 have been found by hunting a stand and watching the deer movement, then moving the stand based on the movement and in some cases fine tuning it again.   I hunted the original stand based on sign (rub lines generally) but I've probably hunted dozens, if not hundreds of other stands with as much sign and not found anything fruitful. So unfortunately, after 15 yrs the only pattern I've found is that there doesn't seem to be much of a pattern. The good news is, once you find a great spot they seem to produce year in and year out, or have for me at least.  Good Luck!

[Michael Arnette]

I hunt this type of topography in Oklahoma big woods...like dark timber said, I have only found 6-7 good spots on here different WMAs. The best advise I can give someone is to not sit in a spot that doesn't produce. My rule is 3 strikes and out for a stand unless the rare occasion where I think other factors may have played a role in a proven set up.
My best tactic so far has been to scour the areas in December January and February for rut sign. I'm looking for scrapes, rubs, any type of rut sign and when I find it I typically hang a camera. Sometimes it will be great ...other times nothing. I never leave my cameras out for more than a week and I've only had a couple stolen (those were left out for more than a week when I got lazy)

I have generally set up the next year with good success.

[Michael Arnette]

...I might add that I do this every year because it generally pays off. The rut sign is not there consistently year after year but it represents a pattern in some but not all cases. Many times in my proven stands I have gone years of productive hunting without seeing a single sign of rut activity in the funnel even though it was such activity that tipped me off to the area in the first place.

[MnFn]

I found one a few years ago.  A little ridge that ran between two sloughs.  The deer travelled that ridge from a bedding area in willows to an alfalfa field.

A gold mine for a bowhunter.  Then one day the farmer told me enjoy it while you can because I am soon turning the cattle loose in there. And that was the end of it.

I do have one spot on my field that if there is a mature buck in the area, he will almost always use a  little draw to enter the alfalfa field.  I've left a ladder stand in there year round for about five years now.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

In your situation NBK, i feel your woods lack the terrain features to make funnels (for the most part) although I did have one good hilly Funnel near Bass lake outside of Elcho.

its not like hunting mountains here though.  One thing that has changed there since I last hunted was the increase in wolf population.  I think that will vary your spot the most from year to year.

[Orion]

Welcome to the big woods.  Been hunting it in NW Wisconsin for about 30 years.  To answer your question, does that tree exist, my answer is maybe, but unlikely.  But you can come close.

I haven't really been able to pattern mature bucks in my neck of the woods. Their circuits seem fairly large, particularly during the rut. They can and do bed and feed anywhere.  That being said, I have been able to determine favored travel routes and funnels over the years. And, sometimes, there's even a tree positioned appropriately.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of logging going on here as well.  Most of my best stands/trees, have been logged over the past half-dozen years.  I'm continually looking for new areas.

Just spent four days grouse hunting/scouting, and it doesn't look good this year. The deer population is way down in my area of Northern Wisconsin, and sign in the woods confirms it.  Going to be another tough one.

I do still have one stand that is pretty good.  Though I primarily hunt the thousands of acres of county/public land in my area, I have one stand on my own 80 that has produced several nice bucks over the past 8 years or so.  It's a travel corridor, funnel that is as close to a honey hole as I've been able to come.  Had one other stand like that on public land, but it was logged. I won't be logging mine.

Regardless, I enjoy the challenge.  Wouldn't have it any other way.

[NBK]

Originally posted by Cyclic-Rivers:
In your situation NBK, i feel your woods lack the terrain features to make funnels (for the most part) although I did have one good hilly Funnel near Bass lake outside of Elcho.

its not like hunting mountains here though.  One thing that has changed there since I last hunted was the increase in wolf population.  I think that will vary your spot the most from year to year.

Hear ya on the wolves. Saw two on Saturday night cruise through a smaller food plot I was siting.  Noticed that my usual tactic of "going deeper" for bucks has changed over the last few years as the deer tend to bed closer to the roads. Maybe they feel safer dealing with us!  
In 2012 we had 17 different bucks on cameras throughout the season and at least six early season. This year we have 1 pic of one basket six pt so far. Right now there is no sign. Spent the weekend scouting and hunting. Not a single rub or scrape in two days of walking.
If I didn't have so much money invested in land Id remind myself of the Wensels first rule of deer hunting; "hunt where big bucks are".
Appreciate the input so far fellas.

[9 Shocks]

I hunt fairly big woods in Missouri.

I have ag land to hunt but its far from home so usually I am hunting timber.  I dunno if it is statewide but my usual timbered haunts have the worst acorn crop I have seen in 6 years.  September is usually dynamite due to the plentiful big white oaks...this year...NADA! ZIP!  The deer are almost non - existent where I have access.  I am hoping things change come rut time but its not looking good!  In the past though, I have found THE SPOT!  They do exist.  This year though THE SPOT has changed and I cant seem to locate it.

Good luck! Scout Scout Scout.

[bucknut]

I hunt big woods public land buck the majority of the time. The answer to your question is yes and no. Yes there is always a weak spot. However due to food and cover changes throughout the year, the deer travel different routes. they also change due to mast or lack of it from year to year. I look for cover first and foremost. then I look for any little ditch or depression where they can slip through undetected. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box and if you see a big buck travel a certain route ask yourself why and the answer will often lie right in front of your eyes. I also use Jan-Feb-Mar to locate travel routes. Its usually not the beaten down trail that you are looking for though. It will be the more subtle one using the terrain features to their advantage.  Hope this helps. Just what I've picked up the last 30 years.
JOHN

[Terry Green]

Yes ...they did...

Took a while for this rolling hill ga boy to figure out the flatland in south ga...but I did.

The funnels are still there....and obvious once you realize what you are looking at...which is a scaled down version....WAY scaled down.

Funnels, pushes, transitions and corridors.

Took Rob DiStefano to one once and 19 deer came by him all in one morning hunt.

[Michael Arnette]

Originally posted by Terry Green:
Yes ...they did...

Took a while for this rolling hill ga boy to figure out the flatland in south ga...but I did.

The funnels are still there....and obvious once you realize what you are looking at...which is a scaled down version....WAY scaled down.

Funnels, pushes, transitions and corridors.

Took Rob DiStefano to one once and 19 deer came by him all in one morning hunt.

19 deer in one sit!! Nice!!

[Terry Green]

Yeah....it was really fun listening to him tell the story to the rest if the gang at lunch.....

Here's Rob on a SC flatland blackberry push....  

And two he got one night on a tri-transition corner....

[Rob DiStefano]

mr terry really knows how to read the flatland.  and he sure got me into some spots that were busier than new york city grand central station at rush hour.  :D

down at the bacon strip, i was gonna set up on feeder, but terry sure knew it'd be better if i paid more attention to a swamp crossing.  man did that pay off, two pigs in less than 10 minutes down for the count.

ah, good memories of great hunts with terry!