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Some advice please

MrKillebrew

New Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Messages
26
A quick question from a newbie. I found a trail only about 3 foot wide that goes for a couple miles about 1/4 mile on it there is heavy sign of deer activity that goes for a bit then disappear. On each side of the trail is heavy thickets with only a few trees along the way. The trees also have thickets that surround the trees nearly 6 feet highs. Should you hunt the start of the trail, the middle, or by the deer tracks? What would the best way to do it? From a tree or the ground. What time would you have to get setup on this trail? Since you never know what time they are using it...... sorry for the long question just been hunting a bunch and never see a deer.... starting to think they are a figment of my imagination!



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I am no expert ,but I would find a place ,if I had the time , to glass from a place I could see most of the area . Try to find out where they are coming from and going then set up . If I did not have the time, I most always hunt close to the thick stuff. If you where the deer where would you go and what would you do to keep from being killed? A lot of hunters on here are better than me for sure and should chime in with some good Intel . Good luck
 
Sounds like the trail is manmade? Hunt the sign. Deer are using it there for sure. If there's a spot the trail goes through a feature that will funnel them, even better. They'll use the path of least resistance when they think they can get away with it. If you can, for sure get into a tree. If I had to hunt it for the first time cold I'd go in the early afternoon and sit there till dark. Get the wind figured and set up accordingly. Also think about what's in the area for them to want to go to,food,water, a field, their going some where?
 
Can you post an a map shot & outline what you have access to? Don’t post anything that gives up your spot....

I don’t mind posting a pic! I want to learn how to read these maps and find out what I am looking for. Because there is an additional spot about a miles north of this area...... where there is little apparent foot traffic but a bunch of deer activity with fresh droppings but I don’t know how to attack it.
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I don’t mind posting a pic! I want to learn how to read these maps and find out what I am looking for. Because there is an additional spot about a miles north of this area...... where there is little apparent foot traffic but a bunch of deer activity with fresh droppings but I don’t know how to attack it.
9a03de7f4f0a6e90497f5f43bfa2cf20.jpg




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The two waypoints are the two spots on the trail that i noticed deer activity. The trail entrance is to the right and the end of the trail goes on further a bit and ends in a thicket.


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Looks like you may have found a bedding area off the trail? Do you notice depressions in the foliage where deer could've layed? Is there food/browse close? Could it possibly be a funnel/transition area? 6 ft tall trees could be used to hang from if they allow you a clear shot opportunity. If the trees won't work, set up on the ground with a clear shot to the deer trail. Kurt has good tips above! Keep wind direction, sound, etc. in mind when setting up. The only way you'll know for sure is to sit or maybe hang a trail cam high enough out of view of people/deer for a better idea of what is going on. Good luck!
 
Looks like you may have found a bedding area off the trail? Do you notice depressions in the foliage where deer could've layed? Is there food/browse close? Could it possibly be a funnel/transition area? 6 ft tall trees could be used to hang from if they allow you a clear shot opportunity. If the trees won't work, set up on the ground with a clear shot to the deer trail. Kurt has good tips above! Keep wind direction, sound, etc. in mind when setting up. The only way you'll know for sure is to sit or maybe hang a trail cam high enough out of view of people/deer for a better idea of what is going on. Good luck!

Hey I am so appreciative!! I am trying to learn how to read these maps. How to identify funnels and food/bedding areas. The trees are super tall the foliage around the trees are like thick and 6 foot tall. So the tree is climb able but the tree is surrounded by undergrowth


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What is in the "field" looking area to the west? As Kurt said hunt the sign. Sounds to me like whatever that field is to the west they are either coming from it or visiting it.
 
Done a little marking. Red spot is somewhere to look. Corners are a deadly spot if was to guess if you can get to that.red.spot youll see sign that may help show some travel. It creates a pretty solid edge there. Cant tell what that is but that inside corner is a good spot to start.

The purple lines are what I marked as edges or seems to be. Notice the yellow circle and the darker coloration of the timber compared to its surroundings. Possible bedding there depending what the timber is. Any of your dark spots in timber couldn be possible bedding.

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Done a little marking. Red spot is somewhere to look. Corners are a deadly spot if was to guess if you can get to that.red.spot youll see sign that may help show some travel. It creates a pretty solid edge there. Cant tell what that is but that inside corner is a good spot to start.

The purple lines are what I marked as edges or seems to be. Notice the yellow circle and the darker coloration of the timber compared to its surroundings. Possible bedding there depending what the timber is. Any of your dark spots in timber couldn be possible bedding.

28f75c3363f16b09ee83bd670503427b.jpg


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Wow thank you so much. I try to understand TOPO and aerial veiw maps but to me it’s really hard to find funnels, bottoms, and the other things. Even when I am walking the woods I find it difficult to correctly identify trails by deer or humans unless their are deer signs all over. So thank you so much for the help


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If you can overlay the aerial map with topo lines it will help you to see the relief better. Helps to define the funnel areas.
 
Tap the button that says ‘sat’ in lower right corner. It will display satellite image with topo overlay. Tap again, and it will display topo only.
 
So here is TOPO view. I added the lines to be easier to see what we are looking at but how does this map help you?

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It doesn't haha. I dont know anything much about Onx. Hadnt used it in a couple years. I didn't like it then

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Looks like a topo form areas I hunt a lot. Skillet flat. That spot where BlinginPSE put the red dot at the corner of the field would be where I would key first. Between there and the trail intersection I would expect to find sign. Like was mentioned too, if it is open enough to see a little bit you could hang off to the east side 75-100 yards and watch the area for a sit or two to pin point where the kill spot is.
 
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