Are Deer Trails Overrated?

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brancher147
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby brancher147 » Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:24 am

Lopedog699 wrote:
brancher147 wrote:For me, a trail has to be combined with another feature like a really good pinch point, terrain feature, convergence in cover, or multiple trail intersection. And they HAVE to be close to bedding. Just hunting a random trail is not productive for me, and I do not have the patience or confidence to do it.



My original question was just that. Or statement
Its why i asked and have the same trouble i responded to the other forum member. I find trails and follow to where i think bedding (away from the food ) but it always putters out for me cant seem to find the trails going to bedding or close to bedding.


In the mountains I hunt I can (after years of practice) usually identify bedding based on terrain once a trail putters out. Every year I get a little better at tracking on dry ground also, and can follow tracks pretty well once a trail ends. If a trail ends you may be getting very close to bedding, again based on terrain. Combine this with old (or new) deer sign, trail cam and personal observations to find bedding.


Some do. Some don't. I just might...
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby tgreeno » Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:31 am

I think terrain makes a big difference. In marshes all deer use the mostly the same trails. Maybe they branch off way at the end near the beds. Hill country or farmland can be totally different sometimes. It also depends how think the areas are. I hunt some seas of thorny brush where deer use the same trails, because those are the only trails.

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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:33 pm

HighNtree wrote:
Lockdown wrote:Hearing some of you talk about not killing deer on a trail leads me to believe these “wandering” deer (apply that term very loosely ;) ) are doing such in an area where movement is not impeded by tall grass. For example hill country with leaf litter covering the forest floor. In that situation I can understand killing a big buck that wasn’t on a defined trail. Or possibly a CRP field where they tend to roam.

I had to think on this before I posted, and I can’t come up with a time where I’ve found good buck bedding and there weren’t defined trails leading to and from the bed. I can usually see the trail walking right to the bed itself. I’m by no means calling BS to your guys’ findings, I just think this is mainly due to the fact that I hunt really thick areas with tall canary grass, cattails and such. The trails go through the path of least resistance every time, unless it is a J-hook in the cattails. I’ve seen that a few times.

The Beast has opened my eyes up to faint trails. A faint trail with buck sign coming off a bed is money to me. If I can tell the trail is there, that’s all I need to see. If I can’t make out a trail, to me that bed isn’t going to be used much and is too low odds for me to throw a stand at.

The only thing I can think of would be if I found a bed in a classic bedding terrain feature, and it appeared the buck(s) were filtering through cover away from it. But I have yet to come across that situation.


Maybe I’ll learn something and change my opinion on this in the future, who knows. But for now, there has to be some clear evidence of buck travel or a very well used bed in order for me to hunt it.


In hill country terrain, at least where I hunt, there are no cattails. Most of the terrain is high and dry. The soil is hard and rocky and I don't typically find the kind of dense undergrowth (like cattails) where trails can be easily seen, even if deer are using the area daily. I have watched deer pass through an area regularly from year to year and gone back and tried to follow their "trail" . The well beaten path is just not there. Wish it were though... I can see how this would be a little hard to understand for a guy use to hunting in marsh terrain.


No I'm with ya. And I wasn't insinuating there were cattails in the hills ;) I was more or less pointing out the fact that ignoring trails would be a situational thing.
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:51 pm

HighNtree wrote:I notice that a lot of hunting shows, books, and videos emphasize keying in on deer trails when bow hunting. In the areas that I hunt, deer trails are not that abundant or easy to follow from point A to point B. The trails may be clear for a stretch, but then they become faint and eventually fade out completely. Maybe it has to do with deer numbers in my area, but I have had far better success setting up on terrain features. Most of the time there are few, if any, trails in the places that I hunt and yet I still take multiple deer each season. What has been your experience with deer trails?

deer trails tell you where travel is concentrated normally thickness in woods trails can key you on preferred bedding areas in areas with low deer numbers not all trails are used year round some trails are taken on certain winds if your on a trail and it runs out its normally because the woods opens and allows the deer to move around freely but once something causes it to pinch down terrain wise the trail will start back up I hunt trails after I know why they take it then they are worth your time.
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby Rob loper » Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:50 am

tgreeno wrote:I think terrain makes a big difference. In marshes all deer use the mostly the same trails. Maybe they branch off way at the end near the beds. Hill country or farmland can be totally different sometimes. It also depends how think the areas are. I hunt some seas of thorny brush where deer use the same trails, because those are the only trails.
So true bro so true
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:10 am

Dewey wrote:Rut cruising trails downwind of doe bedding are huge for me. I know exactly where they will appear every season right around Halloween. These trail are for the most part invisible the rest of the year but once a few hot does are ready the marsh peat will have a beaten down trail almost overnight from bucks pounding the cruising trail. It’s my cue to hunt it NOW and has payed off multiple times.

that happened to me in a river bottom last year I set up on a shallow sand bar with heavy track deer were bedding on one bank then crossing river to get to a bean field 12 deer played the game at 20 yards. well guess what the big buck swam across the river a 100 yards down wind lol
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:18 am

ghoasthunter wrote:
Dewey wrote:Rut cruising trails downwind of doe bedding are huge for me. I know exactly where they will appear every season right around Halloween. These trail are for the most part invisible the rest of the year but once a few hot does are ready the marsh peat will have a beaten down trail almost overnight from bucks pounding the cruising trail. It’s my cue to hunt it NOW and has payed off multiple times.

that happened to me in a river bottom last year I set up on a shallow sand bar with heavy track deer were bedding on one bank then crossing river to get to a bean field 12 deer played the game at 20 yards. well guess what the big buck swam across the river a 100 yards down wind lol

after looking it over I found out the big bucks tracks crossed that sand bar going back to bed in dark every day but he swam the river in evening never got a second crack at that buck but lesson learned. now before the season I canoe down that river and check for that pattern
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby HighNtree » Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:17 am

Lockdown wrote:
HighNtree wrote:
Lockdown wrote:Hearing some of you talk about not killing deer on a trail leads me to believe these “wandering” deer (apply that term very loosely ;) ) are doing such in an area where movement is not impeded by tall grass. For example hill country with leaf litter covering the forest floor. In that situation I can understand killing a big buck that wasn’t on a defined trail. Or possibly a CRP field where they tend to roam.

I had to think on this before I posted, and I can’t come up with a time where I’ve found good buck bedding and there weren’t defined trails leading to and from the bed. I can usually see the trail walking right to the bed itself. I’m by no means calling BS to your guys’ findings, I just think this is mainly due to the fact that I hunt really thick areas with tall canary grass, cattails and such. The trails go through the path of least resistance every time, unless it is a J-hook in the cattails. I’ve seen that a few times.

The Beast has opened my eyes up to faint trails. A faint trail with buck sign coming off a bed is money to me. If I can tell the trail is there, that’s all I need to see. If I can’t make out a trail, to me that bed isn’t going to be used much and is too low odds for me to throw a stand at.

The only thing I can think of would be if I found a bed in a classic bedding terrain feature, and it appeared the buck(s) were filtering through cover away from it. But I have yet to come across that situation.


Maybe I’ll learn something and change my opinion on this in the future, who knows. But for now, there has to be some clear evidence of buck travel or a very well used bed in order for me to hunt it.


In hill country terrain, at least where I hunt, there are no cattails. Most of the terrain is high and dry. The soil is hard and rocky and I don't typically find the kind of dense undergrowth (like cattails) where trails can be easily seen, even if deer are using the area daily. I have watched deer pass through an area regularly from year to year and gone back and tried to follow their "trail" . The well beaten path is just not there. Wish it were though... I can see how this would be a little hard to understand for a guy use to hunting in marsh terrain.


No I'm with ya. And I wasn't insinuating there were cattails in the hills ;) I was more or less pointing out the fact that ignoring trails would be a situational thing.


I didn't think that you were insinuating that there were cattails in the hills. Sorry if I did a poor job of explaining what i was trying to say. I agree with what you are saying about there are times when trails should not be ignored. I may situation, what I was trying to say is that the trails don't show up well even when I see with my own eyes that deer are routinely passing through an area.
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Re: Are Deer Trails Overrated?

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:27 am

Lopedog699 wrote:
HighNtree wrote:
Lockdown wrote:Hearing some of you talk about not killing deer on a trail leads me to believe these “wandering” deer (apply that term very loosely ;) ) are doing such in an area where movement is not impeded by tall grass. For example hill country with leaf litter covering the forest floor. In that situation I can understand killing a big buck that wasn’t on a defined trail. Or possibly a CRP field where they tend to roam.

I had to think on this before I posted, and I can’t come up with a time where I’ve found good buck bedding and there weren’t defined trails leading to and from the bed. I can usually see the trail walking right to the bed itself. I’m by no means calling BS to your guys’ findings, I just think this is mainly due to the fact that I hunt really thick areas with tall canary grass, cattails and such. The trails go through the path of least resistance every time, unless it is a J-hook in the cattails. I’ve seen that a few times.

The Beast has opened my eyes up to faint trails. A faint trail with buck sign coming off a bed is money to me. If I can tell the trail is there, that’s all I need to see. If I can’t make out a trail, to me that bed isn’t going to be used much and is too low odds for me to throw a stand at.

The only thing I can think of would be if I found a bed in a classic bedding terrain feature, and it appeared the buck(s) were filtering through cover away from it. But I have yet to come across that situation.


Maybe I’ll learn something and change my opinion on this in the future, who knows. But for now, there has to be some clear evidence of buck travel or a very well used bed in order for me to hunt it.


In hill country terrain, at least where I hunt, there are no cattails. Most of the terrain is high and dry. The soil is hard and rocky and I don't typically find the kind of dense undergrowth (like cattails) where trails can be easily seen, even if deer are using the area daily. I have watched deer pass through an area regularly from year to year and gone back and tried to follow their "trail" . The well beaten path is just not there. Wish it were though... I can see how this would be a little hard to understand for a guy use to hunting in marsh terrain.



Yea but hill country from what ive hear or learned is almost same spots for bedding or swamps
Point ridge fingers. Ridge bowls 1/3 way down the leeward side. Depending on wind its the wind tunnels where bucks like to cruise during the rut
Once again im telling this because i learned this about hiil country on here and some you tibe beast stuff. Good luk br

yep pretty much have to walk around with milk weed and find where the wind is swirling and you will find bucks travel and bed its the "wind funnel"
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