Lets talk funnels and pinch points and how they can put a whitetail in your lap.

[RedShaft]

Since everyone is out either scouting or already hunting and it's getting our blood going lets talk about one of the most popular methods to get ourselves in position for a shot at a whitetail.

Not only for me but others here, post aerials or pics showing funnels and how you find them or locate them and pick that perfect tree.

I for one have been using google earth or acme mapper that Dave Mullins showed me. You can find these areas using terrains feature or topo features. You are looking for areas that force a deers movement through a narrow swatch of land. It could also be railroad bed, cliff edge or river, even a highway. . Anything that squeezes deer through a narrow area. That will concentrate deer movement. And you capitalize on this to take advantage of them ESP bucks when they are at there weakest and most vulnerable. The rut. I'm guessing more big deer have been killed by guys sitting in a good funnel location during the seeking fase of the rut than just about any other method. Only other method that is probably close second is near know doe bedding areas. I bet some of you have stands or particular trees that is a kill tree every year and never realized why. Is prob in a funnel in a prime spot! This may help open the door to you and find other funnels or spots in your funnel to capitalize on that perfect spot. Have at it guys.....

[Knawbone]

Excellent Thread Redshaft, Pow Wow should be more about hunting subjects such as this. I commend you.I'll be back!  

[wetfeathers]

Well, I read this and instantly thought of 2 of my best stand sites.  Both were on top of a ravine and at the head of a drainage heading into the larger ravine, forcing deer to walk around an uneccesary obstacle.  Always saw alot of deer and always within range.  The wind was the only thing I had to think about.

[NoCams]

Might get the opportunity to hunt one of the best funnels we ever got to hunt in my hunting career this year again..... It is what is known as a "SMZ", Stream Side Management Zone where the loggers are not allowed to log within 50yds of either side of a creek or small stream. Deer are just like we are and given a choice of walking thru nice open hardwoods to get from point A to point B, or trying to walk thru a jungle of a young clearcut, well you get the picture. We killed 6 deer in 2 years out of that spot and easily played the wind against them too. This is a great subject for a thread and I too will be back to learn more from the " Gang".....  

[bretto]

I love finding the secluded ditch or hump in the woods. Anything to make animals " Funnel"  Your way.

One of my best spots from years past was a uprooted Oak about 60' tall that fell perfectly towards a clump of 3 Oaks that I placed my climber in. Once that Oak was on the ground the Deer passed within 10 steps of My set up. I killed 3 deer there before I lost that hunting spot.

Great topic!!

bretto

[Knawbone]

I wish I had some sky to ground photos of some of my best pinch points to share and to help explain why and how these are pinch points and not just funnels. I consider a funnel a swath of land where deer are drawn to travel, were as a pinch point is a more specific point of travel " The hour glass effect if you will". These pinch points are a more narrowed spot of travel within a funnel. These " spots" are not always obvious by any means and can be right under your nose without realizing it. Pinch points can be used by deer some of the time or all of the time as deer pass threw a funnel depending on various factors, but the ones I'm interested in, are those used by mature bucks during the seek phase of the rut mainly. The best pinch points are the ones that restrict a deers travel the most of course, but those points are not always available. If you find one then you have the goose that laid the golden egg. Sometimes certain places draw deer travel for no obvious reason, although of course the deer know. I suspect it can be a combination of things, including of course air and/or wind currents for detection of threat or female. I'm sure others can add to this list, but Iv' rambled on enough for now.

[RedShaft]

Like bretto said. It don't have to be this huge feature of land. Simply having a downed tree moved deer around it while feeding through an area keep the deer from going over the tree making hem have to walk around it and into his lap! Perfect example of a funnel that is not very much thought of!

[Bayou Buck]

Originally posted by NoCams:
Deer are just like we are and given a choice of walking thru nice open hardwoods to get from point A to point B, or trying to walk thru a jungle of a young clearcut, well you get the picture.

Piggybacking on what NoCams said: Deer are just like us in that, when it's safe, they always take the path of least resistance. They survive by conserving energy and moving quietly & efficiently as much as possible. Mapping software is great for getting you in the right ballpark. Once you're there, there's no substitute for puttin boot to ground--just plain walking in the woods.

Pick hot day in the off-season, get off of the road/path, and walk all over a prospective area. You will find that the terrain will begin to funnel you, and you'll start seeing tracks.

Great thread!

[arrowbuster]

I love overgrown logging roads. I look for where they intersect with other roads, deer trails or a hollow or ridge. This strategy has worked very well for me. I also cant resist a ridgeline saddle if you can find a good pinchpoint in it.

[Shawn Leonard]

I have several but the best one I call the Golden triangle it is a creek bottom that has open hardwoods on one side that is a steep slope and the other side is another hillside that is so thick with wildrose the deer avoid most of it. I call it the Golden Triangle because I placed 3 stands about 60 yards apart and they form a triangle. I have killed over 35 deer from this spot over the last 10 years or so. Shawn

[Knawbone]

Shawn, did you say "golden"  

[Marc B.]

One of our best is about 3900' on one of the bigger mountains here: A 60 yard wide flat bordered on one side with a very steep slope and cliff dropping off about 30' on the other side.

[Knawbone]

I believe that's called a "bench" Marc  

[SKITCH]

Good stuff guys. Thanks!  Keep it up.

[Marc B.]

quote:Originally posted by Knawbone:
I believe that's called a "bench" Marc    

As arrowbuster said saddles have been very good to me too    

[The Night Stalker]

I have several spots,  stand 1 is in a 40 yard strip of woods that borders a power line on one side and a pasture on the other. Deer travel through this strip because of location and it is the highest elevation on the farm. Rut Stand for bucks visually looking down the hill for does while he is scent checking over his back.  Stand 2 &3 focus on a high point coming from a  hole in a wove wire fence I purposely cut. I have taken several deer from different stand locations in a NW wind. It is a good set up but old does have learned to look for me in this area. I passed several bucks in this area. Last year I hinge cut some trees to funnel them past my stand and offer them some comfort through thick ground cover. Stand 4 is set up at the end of a fence on a power line plus a food plot . Deer funnel  down the power line or around the end of the fence. The stand is in a big pine with great cover. The pinch point is only 20 yards across.  Hope to take several does at this location. Stand 5 is in the woods on an edge where old tree growth meets new thick growth and and old barb wire fence.  The new growth is square with deer traveling that edge come around the corner.  Also took some old woven fence and stretched it in the open part of the woods to steer the deer towards the corner. The stand is in a large pine. The deer traveled last year just out of range. Solution is to pile lines of old brush towards the stand. Hope to do some shooting at this stand late in the season.

[ChiefStingingArrow]

I have been just learning about funnels and pinch points for the last two years...Manly because I bought a book called...Mapping Trophy Bucks by Brad Herndon. A great book on this subject. Any way last year I tried some of these techniques. In my favorite spot, I hunted it four times. All together I saw nine deer. Three of them were bucks. If you were sitting with me in my tree stand facing north below me about twenty yards  was slight hill that had pine trees along it and a dirt road. to my bottom left about was a field ( The reason the deer go around the field and by my stand is because it is very steep around the field and it is easier to walk around and then down) If you look straight North there is bench after bench that go up the side of the mountain. off to my right are some benches that funnel into  were my tree stand is. Also, to my right is an old power line that is over grown and runs up and down the mountain...One off the bucks had a rub line and would walk up and down the edge of it....I love this stand!!!

[Brianlocal3]

Pretty much all I hunt. I have found my spots from google earth, and was going to post but you can't tell anything from them.
I'm a huge fan of river or creek bottoms and the low side of ridges that border fields. All have served me well

[PUDDLE JUMPER]

I tend to hunt this type terrain in the early stages of the rut also. Suburban and farms near town can be some of the best hunting of the year.

This really kicks into gear the  last week of October in Ky.

Before this I want to be close to where they are bedding. Once they pair up, heaviest cover usually. Google Earth is a huge aid.

[wapiti792]

I have several good funnels and pinches. I tend to connect food and bedding with a pinch or hourglass. I also look for inside corners where a small strip of timber runs along a creek or ditch and crop fields.

I find that funnels flat work prerut for trollers and when the does are in season they tend to stick to the travel corridors of pinches, funnels, hourglass woodlots, and inside corners. My two largest bucks came through a narrow woodlot of only a few acres on their way to food source where the does where already feeding.