[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/mapping-whitetails-05-3-must-hunt-funnels\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/mapping-whitetails-05-3-must-hunt-funnels\/","headline":"Mapping Whitetails #05: 3 Must Hunt Funnels","name":"Mapping Whitetails #05: 3 Must Hunt Funnels","description":"The rut is near and soon enough many of us will be sitting our favorite stands, immersed in a frenzy...","datePublished":"2015-10-27","dateModified":"2018-06-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/mappingwhitetails-05.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/mappingwhitetails-05.jpg","height":664,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/mapping-whitetails-05-3-must-hunt-funnels\/","about":["Hunting"],"wordCount":1034,"keywords":["Hunting","Hunting Strategy","Tips"],"articleBody":"The rut is near and soon enough many of us will be sitting our favorite stands, immersed in a frenzy of whitetail activity.\u00a0 It is truly a remarkable time in the woods\u2026that is if you\u2019re in the right spot of course.\u00a0 As with any Mapping Whitetails Blog, we are here to help put you right in the middle of the action.Here are 3\u00a0dynamite locations to search for while you look for your next favorite rut stand.\u00a0 Once you find one, you\u2019re likely in for years of success!The Skinny PinchThis narrow band of cover connecting the two large blocks of cover is an ideal stand location for the rut.Also commonly referred to by hunters as a bottleneck, funnel, or pinch point \u2013 it is exactly that, an area that funnels or condenses deer movement into a small channel.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard them talked about a thousand times over, but do you know how to find them and hunt them with ease?\u00a0 Whether you do or you don\u2019t, skinny pinches are fairly easy to find if they exist in your area.They aren\u2019t as common in big woods country, but they are quite prevalent anywhere ag or pasture land is scattered about the landscape.\u00a0 I prefer using an aerial map to find these pinch points as they are fairly obvious to identify.\u00a0 Keep in mind that not all pinches are created equally.\u00a0 Ideally, a short and narrow band of cover connecting two thick bedding areas is what you\u2019re looking for.\u00a0 By narrow, I don\u2019t necessarily mean tree line narrow, but rather something a deer can stay concealed in.\u00a0 Such corridors are usually around 10-60 yards wide. \u00a0Other pinches can be created by terrain features such as steep bluffs, beaver ponds, or any other thing that may squeeze and direct deer to travel thru a narrow channel.\u00a0 If you find a good pinch, chances are it will produce year after year.\u00a0 I\u2019d recommend hanging stands on both sides of the cover strip so you can hunt it on multiple wind directions.The Open GateOpen gates may be tough to spot on an aerial map, but this one is pretty easy due to the mowed trail through the CRP field. \u00a0I wish every hunter (myself included) had a spot to hunt like this.An open gate can provide tremendous hunting if you can find one to set up over.\u00a0 They don\u2019t typically stick out like a sore thumb on a map like the aforementioned skinny pinch, but can be just as powerful in terms of funneling deer past your stand. Decades of cattle fence are still left standing through much of the country.\u00a0 What was once grazing land for cattle has since been switched to cropland and overgrown brushy thickets.\u00a0\u00a0 If you find a fence running through cover, follow it until you find an opening.\u00a0 This opening may be an open gate, broken fence section, or where a tree fell across.\u00a0 Is there a deer trail running through that opening?\u00a0 My guess will be yes, and it\u2019s a likely a good spot to hunt during the rut.Finding them may be difficult via Google Earth, but occasionally they stick out.\u00a0 Ones in the open tend to not be as hot as ones found within cover.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ll likely need to put some boots on the ground to find the best fence gaps hidden in whitetail cover.\u00a0 One tip may be to follow manmade transition lines in the forest.\u00a0 These stick out on an aerial and give you a good place to start looking on the ground. When you notice an evident line within cover that is as straight as an arrow, you most likely found one.\u00a0 Check it out on the ground as there is a good chance a fence may be running along that line as well.Fencerow FollowerThough it doesn’t look like much, this long treeline likely sees many bucks running along it during the rut.They can be boring, but effective.\u00a0 There\u2019s A LOT of treelines spanning across the country and many times that is all we have to resort to as treestand hunters.\u00a0 Many times these stands are pretty boring as you\u2019re stuck gazing over wide open country hoping a buck will appear out of thin air.\u00a0 However, all it takes is one hot doe to run along the fencerow and you\u2019ll be sitting front row to a parade of revved up bucks.\u00a0 Land is constantly getting more and more fragmented which means these treelines and fencerows are the only band of cover connecting the larger blocks, making them ideal rut runways.\u00a0 There\u2019s no real secret to finding them on the map as they stand out plain as day.\u00a0 The most productive ones are those that provide the lone cover strip between two large blocks of good cover or are along an attractive food source.No funnels? No problem!\u00a0 Check out these 3 PRIME RUT STANDS."},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/mapping-whitetails-05-3-must-hunt-funnels\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Mapping Whitetails #05: 3 Must Hunt Funnels"}}]}]