GMMAT

Here's my question.....

If it's widely accepted that deer use the cover of the ridges for travel.....why would we think that a flat spot dissecting a ridge would be a good spot for them to travel in a seemingly perpindicular path to the one the ridge is on?

Serious question.

Kid

Unless i misunderstood the original post, he is saying the flat spot in question is something of a "bridge" between one ridge and another. That having been said, they will use the flat spot as you describe above(I call them saddles) to get from one side of a ridge to the other as opposed to walking up and over or out to the end and around. After years of hunting steep "hills and hollows" habitat, it is my experience thatyou can count on deer using certain terrain features for ease of travel without fail. To the point where if I'm looking at a brand new spot that is steep hills and hollows, I'll pick a spot based solely on certain terrain features.

TEmbry

You lost me, deer use wooded ridge tops much more than the bottom of the ravines for travel, atleastat my farm thats what they do... the area he is describing is somewhat like an H...hunting that middle cross segment would allow you to catch all the deer going from oneridge to the other.

GMMAT

OK...maybe I wasn't clear, then ......

My question stems from conversations I've had in PM with someone here I trust in reading topos. HE is telling me that they use the terrain features to travel from place to place. Look at the map he marked up here and tell me where he has the probable travel routes. It's IN the "ravines" (using that term loosely). So I guess I'm asking if you agree with him on that.

I'm (we're) not discounting that they use ridge tops for travel.....but they use the "ravines", also (based on how this was marked up.....and I can vouch for it being a damned good read for someone who's never been here).

Does anyone disagree with this, so far?

Kid

Let me qualify what I'm about to say by confessing thatI'm not all that well versed in reading Topo maps. That having been said, it looks like most of the key routes on this map are at or near the top of the ridges or along side ridges that run perpendicular to the main ridges,and not in the ravines. My understanding of Topo maps is the closer the lines are together, the steeper the terrain. In my experience Deer rarely run in the bottom of ravines unless they are fairly wide and flat at the bottom. Most big ridges will have a bench somewhere on them, usually somewhere in the upper half, that deer will travel on as opposed to the top, but they will certainly run the top if it is fairly flat. The saddles and bridges come into play when a deer's travel route takes him perpendicular to the direction of the main ridges in an area. Note how many of the travel routes he has marked run perpendicular to the contour lines on the map. Most are in areas that are relatively flat as opposed to the surrounding terrain.Deer will basically take the easiest route that will eventually get them where they are going.In short, based on my limited skills reading Topo maps, I agree with the illustration. As with all things as they relate to Deer, nothing is carved in stone.

Chuck7

Yes sir..in FLorida funnels are my #2 best spots..they pay off..

My number 1 spot is deep in the swamp where there are acorn trees and palmettoes to hide in with a thick sunny spotfor the deer to bed in..