Creating a Deer Funnel to your Plot Field

[Mennoniteman]

A first time food plotter may clear and seed a new field, but have difficulty in hunting it because the deer enter the field from all four sides. I thought I'd share some tips on how to narrow down your odds. One trick is to spread your lime and fertilizer heavier around your stand rather than spreading it evenly across the whole field to grow the nicest crops right where you hunt. Another method is to cut and hinge trees around the field perimeter parallel to the edge to create a fence of brush and limbs with gaps where you hunt, which is also often the result when a bulldozer is used to clear land. But by far the best method that works consistently to get deer within range is to clear a finger or strip of land into the woods or brush close to your stand, also considering where the bedding areas are, and seed it with perennial clover. This is almost guaranteed to get deer to enter your field right there. I have strips up to a half acre for this purpose, and they're always consistent in bringing in deer to feed in the evening, creating shooting opportunities, even works well if your blind is in the middle of the field, just put the strip at the closest edge.

 

[DocHolladay]

I have a trail cut for me to walk and drive on that leads to the plot I have locally. I keep where the deer jump fences, by my stand, mowed so that they tend to jump there more often than somewhere else. I would cut the fence if the neighbor didn't have horses, as the deer would use it more frequently. There is a cedar thicket on the property that the deer tend to either bed in or pass through and I brush hog around the edge of it and have it leading to the food plot. If I am hunting a new property and the land owner will let me, I will scout for deer trails and crossings, find a spot for my blind or tree stand, then mow an area in front of it and then cut paths from where they cross the fields/woods right to my blind or stand. Works every time.

 

[SwampCat]

Cut or mash the barbs down on your neighbors fence over an area about four feet wide. Deer will cross through the fence there

 

[Jason Broom]

Another idea is to make long, winding food plots, instead of square or rectangular fields. Deer tend to meander down these fields, giving you a lot more options on where to hang stands. You also tend to get more usage out of the same total acreage because two or more doe groups can feed in different parts of the plot, without being in line of sight of one another.

 

[Elkaddict]

Plot placement can also do it. We have plots adjacent to extensive hinge cuts used as bedding areas. Same with swamps

 

[Chainsaw]

This is an excellent idea for a thread Mennoniteman and some great ideas have been shared already. Narrowing deer travel down is important and I hope many participate in this one. A compilation of methods used on our many properties would be a really super valuable resource for us all.

Here are a couple of things done here that are working for us. A ten ft. wide strip of Miscanthus fully divides one section of a long winding food plot from other sections of the plot with the exception of a tractor size cut-thru located between the open pole stand edge and the Miscanthus. All deer observed to date not counting deer that stay in the woods have walked thru the tractor cut-thru when going from one food plot to the other.

Also narrow chainsaw cut or herbicide sprayed walkways connecting up one winding food plot to another gets regular use as well as walkways connecting a large area of hinges from apple tree releasing and sapling regrowth from logging. A few dropped trees here and there to encourage use of the walkway path when multiple paths are splitting them up are helping as well. Basically the paths work when it is the best way, the safest way and many deer might choose to walk anyway to travel between two points of high interest to them. I pick the path location most in use and then make it better, more convenient, more hidden and "safer" for them to travel on while steering them by our preferred stand locations. Had done some of this before but really ramped it up after Steve Bartylla introduced me to a new level on it thru his book and posts on the old forum.

 

[Weezy]

I use all these tactics plus a water hole goes 20 yards from all my plot stands. But mainly my setups consist of hinge cut travel corridors from bedding to holes cut through blockades on perimeter of plots. The blockades are by default because all my plots where cleared by machinery.

My 1 plot is the shape of a turkey foot. Located at the top of a ravine where it meets a ridge, that's where the stand is (bottom of the foot). Water hole 20 yards from stand and cut bedding areas 20- 30 yards off of each finger.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I use all these tactics plus a water hole goes 20 yards from all my plot stands. But mainly my setups consist of hinge cut travel corridors from bedding to holes cut through blockades on perimeter of plots. The blockades are by default because all my plots where cleared by machinery.

My 1 plot is the shape of a turkey foot. Located at the top of a ravine where it meets a ridge, that's where the stand is (bottom of the foot). Water hole 20 yards from stand and cut bedding areas 20- 30 yards off of each finger.

All great ideas here, Reading them tells me I need to pay more attention to opening existing paths through thick stuff at strategic locations. The clover finger method I mentioned is used more on big area fields of four to eight acres. Small plots and long narrow fields are in a sense their own funnel, or part of a more extensive funnel system. Bigger, more square or rectangular fields needed to successfully and efficiently grow corn and beans in high deer density areas are where the hunting difficulties often arise. Ideally it's often better not to hunt those big fields, but sometimes you may not have many other options, or just have a desire to hunt where the big herd is feeding. On a big field some of the methods used for small shooting plots aren't practical anymore, and that's where a secondary perennial funnel shaped planting, what I would call a "peripheral plot" jutting off the edge a square field becomes a honey hole. This a planting that's something low maintenance like chicory and clover, generally not farmed with the big field, maybe just mowed and sprayed once a year. On the ones I have the deer do most of the mowing for me, and I spray grass once a year.

 

[DocHolladay]

The field with the cut strips is 14 acres and I have a 2 acre plot down in the bottom(the lines lead to it). The picture is from back in February, when I had cut strips in it to rabbit hunt(you can see the squiggly lines from driving the atv through it). It has fully regrown and is head high or more now. It is approx. 200yds from the blind(pink dot) to where the green line enters the plot.

Green line- trail I cut from the cedars to the plot

Blue line- trail/road leading in from parking area(I normally park at the land owners shop because of wind direction. It it the white rectangle above the word "filter")

Yellow line- where deer jump the fence

Pink dot- brushed in blind
Blue dot- ladder stand

ETA: The lines and dots are the best I can do with an iPhone, a photo app, and a big finger tip.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mennoniteman]

The field with the cut strips is 14 acres and I have a 2 acre plot down in the bottom(the lines lead to it). The picture is from back in February, when I had cut strips in it to rabbit hunt(you can see the squiggly lines from driving the atv through it). It has fully regrown and is head high or more now. It is approx. 200yds from the blind(pink dot) to where the green line enters the plot.

Green line- trail I cut from the cedars to the plot

Blue line- trail/road leading in from parking area(I normally park at the land owners shop because of wind direction. It it the white rectangle above the word "filter")

Yellow line- where deer jump the fence

Pink dot- brushed in blind
Blue dot- ladder stand

ETA: The lines and dots are the best I can do with an iPhone, a photo app, and a big finger tip.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great diagram and a great setup. Is prevailing wind from the left /upper left?

 

[DocHolladay]

Great diagram and a great setup. Is prevailing wind from the left /upper left?

Sometimes in the winter, yes. A lot of times, it comes from Dry Fork creek, believe it or not. I park at the shop and walk around through the goat/donkey pasture to get to the stand/blind. I also feel better about walking through goat and donkey smells. Since I started going this way, I have seen more deer. Right now, I would park and walk the blue line in because of winds. If I wanted to, I could use the property behind my stand and blind to park and walk in. My brother leases it for cattle and I could park at his barn and cross the creek right behind the blind. It really depends on how the wind is blowing.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I'm fascinated by the little tidbits of how other people hunt. How do you hunt if the wind is from the creek, your stands are no good? If north is up that would be a prevailing south wind? Looks like one hunter is about the limit for this property?

 

[DocHolladay]

Two can hunt if we share the blind, which is why I put it out there. In the mornings, thermals rise and I can walk in, from the shop, with the wind in my face. I then wait on the sun to come up and the thermals to carry my scent up and away. The evenings can be tricky because the scent will lay down and you have to mind it. So far, I haven't been busted, even when in the blind. Of course, I do all I can for scent control. I also like the HuntStand App. It forecast how the wind is supposed to blow throughout the day. If the wind blows E/W or W/E, I usually don't hunt it, but any form of N/S(NW/NE, SW/SE) I will. I see deer almost every time I hunt, but have shot more in the evening than the mornings.

 

[Berserker]

When cutting down some trees, to get light to plot, I hauled branches to block deer from walking through trees, where I could no see. As I was sweating, I wondered about all we do to out smart a deer.

 

[Mennoniteman]

When cutting down some trees, to get light to plot, I hauled branches to block deer from walking through trees, where I could no see. As I was sweating, I wondered about all we do to out smart a deer.

all we do to outsmart deer? My brother-in-law walks through a fresh cow patty in the pasture on the way to his stand for scent control. Claims it really works.

 

[Tap]

I would cut the fence if the neighbor didn't have horses, as the deer would use it more frequently.

You don't have to cut the fence, manipulate it. You can "raise" the fence on either side of where you want them to cross. Lash on some sort of cheap or easy fence posts on to the existing posts and then run a strand of rope, surveyor tape, or something else visible. This will give the illusion that the fence is higher there with a low spot in the fence in the exact spot you want deer to cross. You can improve the illusion by pinching down the top strand of the real fence. Even though it'll only be a few inches lower than before, it'll make that spot appear even lower when it's adjacent to the artificially raised fence.
Fence manipulation is an old trick used by some of the most well known bowhunters. The Wensel boys do it.

 

[Mennoniteman]

You don't have to cut the fence, manipulate it. You can "raise" the fence on either side of where you want them to cross. Lash on some sort of cheap or easy fence posts on to the existing posts and then run a strand of rope, surveyor tape, or something else visible. This will give the illusion that the fence is higher there with a low spot in the fence in the exact spot you want deer to cross. You can improve the illusion by pinching down the top strand of the real fence. Even though it'll only be a few inches lower than before, it'll make that spot appear even lower when it's adjacent to the artificially raised fence.
Fence manipulation is an old trick used by some of the most well known bowhunters. The Wensel boys do it.

Just when I thought I had heard about everything possible about deer. Tap, creating a fence crossing funnel is such a great addition to this thread, the idea could've had a thread of it's own so more people read it. Thanks for bringing it to the table.

 

[Tap]

Just when I thought I had heard about everything possible about deer. Tap, creating a fence crossing funnel is such a great addition to this thread, the idea could've had a thread of it's own so more people read it. Thanks for bringing it to the table.

Thanks, but I can't take credit for the idea.
There's a lot more ideas and concrpts like this one...those Wensel bros are pioneers in the world of whitetail hunting. There's a wealth of knowledge and creativity in their books and articles.
And btw, never manipulate a fence you don't own without getting permission 1st.
Another fence trick is to restore an existing fence that's falling down. There are miles of old fence that are crushed by trees or are falling down and gobbled up by mother nature. Prop them back up or remove the trees and "rebuild" the fence where you DON'T want deer to cross.
Most of the fence material is already there to use. It just needs a little effort to make it a fence again instead of rusting away on the forest floor.

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[DocHolladay]

You don't have to cut the fence, manipulate it. You can "raise" the fence on either side of where you want them to cross. Lash on some sort of cheap or easy fence posts on to the existing posts and then run a strand of rope, surveyor tape, or something else visible. This will give the illusion that the fence is higher there with a low spot in the fence in the exact spot you want deer to cross. You can improve the illusion by pinching down the top strand of the real fence. Even though it'll only be a few inches lower than before, it'll make that spot appear even lower when it's adjacent to the artificially raised fence.
Fence manipulation is an old trick used by some of the most well known bowhunters. The Wensel boys do it.

I'll be going out there to check on the plot since it has rained and pull trail cam pics. I'll take a pic of the spot. I mow what the deer don't keep trampled down, it seems to make a difference. Of course, it is the only open spot along the fence row that isn't grown up, so cutting it isn't necessary. If I get permission from land owners, I'll cut a fence so they don't have to jump it. They are lazy like us. Would you rather jump a fence every time you wanted to enter a room or would you rather walk through an open door?

I used to hunt a property and it had a little island in the corner of the field. The island was just big enough for me to see up a blind and be concealed. The deer jumped the fence about 30yds to my left, but there was also a hole in the fence about 100yds away that they would come through at times also. I got permission to cut the fence, because they were going to rip it out anyway and the deer almost quit using the open hole 100yds away. The only draw back was, as soon as they came through the fence, they would turn and go behind me where I couldn't shoot because of a neighborhood. There was a big cedar tree by the hole in the fence and I cut it down and had it fall towards my blind to block their original path. The deer would then walk out in front of me, to go around my blind, to get where they were going behind me. It was game over then. I killed so many deer in that field, it should have been a crime.

 

[DocHolladay]

Here is the fence where the deer cross(the yellow line in my pic above). I also included a picture of the trail on the other side of the fence. As far as I know, it is all deer since I rarely see the horses back here because of how thick it is. The third pic is the fence row. The far right of the picture is goat/donkey pasture.

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