those types of things are areas where deer are forced into smaller travel areas. I myself, am not the best at spotting them. But for example, you hunt a fence line, and at one point the fence is down...there's a good chance the deer will cross the fence there. Or maybe a narrow strip of woods that runs between two fields. They'll travel those woods instead of walking in the open. stuff like that.

 

in my experiences i have used only two things......understanding that deer are a type of animal that usually will take the path of least resistance. secondly, when out scouting around look for the obvious trails and what not but try to envision yourself as a deer....you're not going to hope a fence if you can walk through a gate, you're not going to walk up a 85 degree hill if you can walk around it. see what i am getting at here?

 

Picture a peice of timber that looks like an hourglass, the thin part would be a pinchpoint or funnel. A real steep ravine could be a pinchpoint, creeks can be picnhpoints as well. Funnels are pretty much anything that forces deer into a smaller area. My best funnel is between a field edge and a step dropped that falls like 200 feet. The deer walk the flat between the field and the big drop off,
Area is maybe 50 yards wide and has been paying off for 10 years

 

do yourself a favor and buy Mapping Trophy Whitetails !!!!! :thumbs_up

 

Best advice yet

 

ppoi

here's one of my pinch points....
the exist the hardwoods or enter from east to west, up a tree line,, the stick to the tree line and it funnels then to the hardwoods or vis vera... trail indicated travel hope this helps....
they have no other choice as to the tree line,,, as it open on both n and s sides

 

here's one of my pinch points....
the exist the hardwoods or enter from east to west, up a tree line,, the stick to the tree line and it funnels then to the hardwoods or vis vera... trail indicated travel hope this helps....
they have no other choice as to the tree line,,, as it open on both n and s sides

What ??? It also helps when there is a foot of snow and you can see exactly where they are walking.

 

funnel, west funnel, middle stand actually sets near where to points of higher elevation create a lower pinch point between them same as island, swampstand. You can use a topo map to locate them

 

I like how you have all these points mapped.

what would you say are your first and second best stands here?

 

If you're in hills it's a whole new game. You have to study both the terrain and the woods vs open. First you need to guess or scout and find where they bed and where they eat. Find where big does groups stay. Then find travel corridors to and from bed/food, where are they most likely to walk, then during the rut, between major bedding areas. I've picked some great spots from topo's, and found some even better spots once you're in there. There are things you're going to miss, but once you see the trails or see the deer traveling there, it becomes obvious why. Some of the best features are too small to pick up on aerial/topos.

 

I like to hunt ditch and creek crossings. If you have some with steep banks, this creates a great natural funnel for deer. The other part of that is that getting to the stand using the ditch is a great way to stay concealed.
As far as fences, another great pinch point is gates. I have a gate right next to a small food plot (and by small I mean not much bigger than my living room. I open the gate just a couple of weeks before the season opens and they make their way right on in. Another thing with fences is where fence lines intersect. Or really where any boundaries intersect. For example, a spot where a creek hits a fence line, or a fence first meets the woods.

 

If you are bowhunting and there is no funnel to influence deer to cross within bow range of your stand, you might as well swap out for a muzzleloader, shotgun or rifle.
The funnel to each stand has all to do with whether that buck passes outside of bow range or presents a shot.

 

funnels and pinch points arent the only things to key in on. edges are hot(where two types of woods or woods/field meet(in the right non pressured areas), inside corners are also a good bet. my god, if I only hunted pinches id have about 3 deer to my roster.

 

Midwest Whitetail just did an offseason episode on this.
http://www.midwestwhitetail.com/gallery/96/media/2848/mwoffseason16-mapping-bucks.html

 

Very informative!

 

i hunt a funnel with alot of rocks, deer want to travel up the mountain but won't step on a ton of rocks so the edge of the rocks is a good trail.

 

Another good trick is to look for blown down trees or similar terrain features that force a deer's trail to change direction. Primary deer trails usually give the deer an advantage with the prevailing wind direction. When a fallen tree forces the deer to change direction it can give the hunter an advantage and thus makes for a good stand site. If it is early enough before the season, you can make your own deer funnel by dragging dead trees around and piling them up to funnel the deer a little closer to your stand or keep them from walking directly under your stand (and putting their nose on your tree peg).

 

Remember; Not all pinch point are created equal. A pinch point between two bedding areas usually is more productive than pinch point between two feeding areas.

 

I like this...also, a pinchpoint between a bedding area and a feeding/staging area is also very productive