Deer traveling N and S, not E and W.

[jklahre62]

I hunt a large piece of public in Central PA. The location is two medium sized mountains (elevation max 1700') with a swamp in the middle. The mountains run parallel, West to East. In my 14 years of hunting there (mostly with a bow) I have noticed the mature bucks (and does), more often then not, travel in a direct path over the top of the mountain and down the other side. Sometimes they will angle depending on the wind but by-in-large, the travel is up and down. I've heard so much talk about the military crest, the wind tunnel, etc... but my question is, How does that apply to deer who seem to travel N and S as opposed to E and W?

[dan]

Not all places are created equal... In some areas they bed in the bottoms and not the hills... But, with that said, most talk about wind tunnels and crusing is around the rut only, and even then you see feeding patterns going up and down. I would say if you have bedding in the hills, you have cruising during pre rut at the wind tunnels

[WV Bowhunter]

The travel I see in up and down terrain, typically coincides with going from point A to point B. Walking a certain elevation doesn’t do them any good if it’s not in the direction of their destination.

[dan]

The travel I see in up and down terrain, typically coincides with going from point A to point B. Walking a certain elevation doesn’t do them any good if it’s not in the direction of their destination.

The walk the elevation to find does by smelling them from above and below based on wind and thermals...

[Andr3wxmma]

I hunt a large piece of public in Central PA. The location is two medium sized mountains (elevation max 1700') with a swamp in the middle. The mountains run parallel, West to East. In my 14 years of hunting there (mostly with a bow) I have noticed the mature bucks (and does), more often then not, travel in a direct path over the top of the mountain and down the other side. Sometimes they will angle depending on the wind but by-in-large, the travel is up and down. I've heard so much talk about the military crest, the wind tunnel, etc... but my question is, How does that apply to deer who seem to travel N and S as opposed to E and W?

Do they travel like this during the rut and outside of it? Is it thicker where the deer are moving up and down the mountain and they choose that route due to the security cover on it.

[WV Bowhunter]

The travel I see in up and down terrain, typically coincides with going from point A to point B. Walking a certain elevation doesn’t do them any good if it’s not in the direction of their destination.

The walk the elevation to find does by smelling them from above and below based on wind and thermals...

Totally agree and have seen this movement during the rut. I was thinking outside of the rut, just didn’t type out what I was thinking.

[jklahre62]

Do they travel like this during the rut and outside of it? Is it thicker where the deer are moving up and down the mountain and they choose that route due to the security cover on it.

I would say between you and I, if we can somewhat agree that 'The Rut' is a short period of time where movement is completely random and dictated by doe movement alone then this 'up and down' movement I see is 99% of the movement I see and I would say that it occurs "outside" of the Rut... knowing that that rut is unpredictable. Sure, a cruising buck might make a horizontal movement to check an area, but through my first hand observation and thousands of trail cam photos, most of that horizontal movement occurs at night and it is along the bottom.

This movement seems to be in and around thick vegetation such as mtn. laurel and immature pines.

With that said however, this property has many old logging and coal mining roads and interestingly enough these bucks don't seem to mind moving on these wide open trails throughout the entire year.. But, so do other hunters.

[jklahre62]

The travel I see in up and down terrain, typically coincides with going from point A to point B. Walking a certain elevation doesn’t do them any good if it’s not in the direction of their destination.

Great point. I can't believe all of these years of racking my brain over this place I never slowed down to think of that. I also think the bucks avoid the low areas because of hunting pressure and that may explain why alot of the trail cam photos I get, in the swamp is at night. They are coming in after the hunters leave...

[jklahre62]

The travel I see in up and down terrain, typically coincides with going from point A to point B. Walking a certain elevation doesn’t do them any good if it’s not in the direction of their destination.

The walk the elevation to find does by smelling them from above and below based on wind and thermals...

So then does it make sense for me hunting this location before the rut really kicks into gear, say mid-october-ish, to expect the mature bucks to be moving in and out of the property vertically (up and down) because they are not actively seeking does. When they are seeking the does, it would make more sense to setup in a location where the bucks travel along the elevation lines.... Would you agree?

[Horizontal Hunter]

This movement seems to be in and around thick vegetation such as mtn. laurel and immature pines.

With that said however, this property has many old logging and coal mining roads and interestingly enough these bucks don't seem to mind moving on these wide open trails throughout the entire year.. But, so do other hunters.

I would also pay particular attention to saddles for crossing points. Deer will often take the path of least resistance as they can be just as lazy as us humans.

Bob

[PK_]

Could be a number of things.

It’s pretty normal for mountain and hill deer to be low at night and high during the day. So the vertical movement pattern is pretty common. But why they are going up and over the top of each mountain in different directions away from the swamp is a bit puzzling.

Typically in the mountains, different slope orientations grow different vegetation types and can also differ in steepness. So, my guess is the movement you are seeing is deer moving from the vegetation/topography that is more ‘bedding’ to and from the slopes that are more ‘food’, or down to the swamp to feed? Idk, just thinking out loud.

Yes the east/west movement is much more of a rut thing. High during the day, Low at night. (Speaking in generalities)

[OldFarmBuck]

My question would be what’s on the other side of the mountains that they’re going to? What’s the topography of the north and south side of the opposing mountains? Mature deer travel based off safety and ease of travel. If they are comfortable in open woods they’ll travel in it. If not they’ll figure a way around it. Have you checked the wind conditions on the tops during different wind directions?

[jklahre62]

My question would be what’s on the other side of the mountains that they’re going to? What’s the topography of the north and south side of the opposing mountains? Mature deer travel based off safety and ease of travel. If they are comfortable in open woods they’ll travel in it. If not they’ll figure a way around it. Have you checked the wind conditions on the tops during different wind directions?

The wind conditions are very random but you can predict the randomness after paying attention for awhile. On a straight North wind, the wind hammers the north side of mtn 1, then rolls over the top, hits the swamp floor and half of it barrels back up mtn 1 on the south side, and the other half of the wind ripples into the north side of mtn 2. It seems at times the only wind you can count on not changing is the wind thats on the tops of the mtn. Sometimes it is down right unbearable to sit there in that wind all day in a tree stand so more often then not I will set up my hunting locations (I hunt mobile) where the wind breaks just for my own sanity.

The land outside of the public is all private and mostly owned by Mennonite families. The interior is not hunted by many hunters during archery season due to the roads in general being rough. The one thing i've noticed over the years is there is a small group of 4-5 retired guys who hunt this place ALOT. They walk around with crossbows and seem to just be content with being in the woods.

I believe that the bucks are moving to avoid hunting pressure first, then foods, then does.

[dan]

The travel I see in up and down terrain, typically coincides with going from point A to point B. Walking a certain elevation doesn’t do them any good if it’s not in the direction of their destination.

The walk the elevation to find does by smelling them from above and below based on wind and thermals...

So then does it make sense for me hunting this location before the rut really kicks into gear, say mid-october-ish, to expect the mature bucks to be moving in and out of the property vertically (up and down) because they are not actively seeking does. When they are seeking the does, it would make more sense to setup in a location where the bucks travel along the elevation lines.... Would you agree?

Yea, I pretty much agree with that. I generally hunt the horizontal 1/3 elevation about mid October thru mid November. with some exceptions. I have seen a lot of cases where mature bucks dont get up and just drop right away, but rather stay at the 1/3 elevation or drop slightly lower into the rising thermals and move to the side to stage until its closer to dark when on a dropping feeding pattern. Often the only spot they are vulnerable in daylight in at that elevation, close to the bed where they make that short sideways move before dropping.

[Bperdue21]

Sometimes it is down right unbearable to sit there in that wind all day in a tree stand so more often then not I will set up my hunting locations (I hunt mobile) where the wind breaks just for my own sanity.

Don't do that. Hunt the brutal wind because it is the best friend you have. In my experience, a hard wind is most of the time going to push your scent way up into the atmosphere rather than down the other side of the mountain. I have had experiences where it isn't the case, but it was the exception, not the rule. I have dropped milkweed and watched it blow off one side of the mountain and then blow back up the other side of the mountain like 5-10 minutes later, so you have to be paying attention to it. I find the prime time to hunt tops is when you are getting a wind shift during daylight hours. So if you got a north wind going to a south wind, that's a good day to be up there. The ridges I have been hunting run E-W, so I am looking for a north to south. If your ridges run N-S, you probably gonna want to look for a E-W wind. Our mountains also run in the 2800-3600 elevation, so the wind dynamics on 1700ft may be a lot different. It is just my experience where I hunt.