North, south, east and west-facing slopes all hold deer; however, they don’t all hold bucks during the same time periods. Each slope has its own window to offer whitetails quality food and bedding. (Photo by Ryan Yoder)
October 16, 2024
By Steve Sherk
In over 25 years of hunting mountain whitetails, I’ve learned that each face of the mountain and every creek bottom has its own benefits for deer. From food sources to bedding cover, each area has something to offer. In my lifetime, I have found that deer use all these areas of the mountains, but not often on a daily basis. Understanding seasonal shifts related to sunlight, food sources and weather are the key to having consistent success hunting mountain whitetails.
NORTH SLOPES I love hunting north slopes. North slopes generally have a lot to offer whitetails. Here in Northwest Pennsylvania, we get a lot of south winds, so north slopes tend to hold a lot of leeward buck bedding and deer bedding in general. Mature bucks often bed on the upper portion of the ridge where there’s wind coming from the south and thermal currents coming from down below. This gives bucks a scent-checking advantage from almost any direction.
Outside of winter, deer prefer cooler areas that get less sunlight. North slopes get the least amount of sunlight compared to the other three faces of the mountain. On hot days, deer tend to move less, but you can almost always find movement on a north slope since it will be several degrees cooler.
While scouting prior to the opening of New York’s 2021 gun season, the author only found concentrations of sign on north slopes. So, when the season began, he focused entirely on north faces and tagged this beautiful 9-point on just the second day. (Photo courtesy of Steve Sherk) North slopes tend to host more bedding than feeding, but on a year when no acorns are available, north slopes will also produce the bulk of the feeding activity. One of the most sought-after mountain food sources later in the fall is fern roots. Ferns grow best on north slopes, because they are shade lovers. After the first two or three frosts, you’ll notice a shift in feeding areas. This is when a lot of green browse sources start to dry up, and if there’s no mast available, deer will seek fern roots and other bulbs from plants.
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I hunt both Northwest Pennsylvania and Southwest New York, and we have not seen acorns in the past two hunting seasons. In 2021, I harvested a beautiful 9-point on the second day of the New York gun season. I had scouted several days in a row prior to the season and was finding minimal sign. However, it seemed like every time I checked a north slope, I was seeing deer or finding fresh rubs and scrapes. That was the key for me in killing that buck. When the season opened, I put all my focus on north slopes and tagged out on the second day.
North slopes can be deer magnets during drought years, too. You can almost always find water on north slopes. Not only do they hold water, but most of the browse is full of moisture. This makes north slope browse a great combo for both food and water. Anytime a mature buck can find a situation where he can get food and water, yet preserve energy, he will tend to hold tight to that area.
SOUTH AND WEST SLOPES I grew up on a south-facing ridge in the Allegheny mountains. During my early years of hunting, the majority of it was done out my back door. It seemed like back then we would have a bumper acorn crop every fall, and when the acorns began dropping, those south slopes would be loaded with deer in October. However, I didn’t see this abundance of deer outside of fall and winter.
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South and west slopes are probably the least preferred side of the mountain for whitetails, outside of a good acorn crop. Most oaks prefer a lot of sunlight, which makes south and west faces great places to hunt when you have a good acorn crop. White oaks flourish on south slopes, and we all know how much deer love white oak acorns. During a good acorn year, deer will relocate from miles away to take advantage of falling acorns. I swear Mother Nature has a way of telling deer that there is better food available in a new area, sometimes miles away. I’ve seen individual bucks shift their entire homerange when acorns were available somewhere else.
Early in the fall, there’s a lot of new browse still available and much of that is located on southern slopes that receive full sun. South-facing clear-cuts can be deer magnets in early autumn, especially select cuts that have standing trees available for shade. You’ll find many clear-cuts in the northeastern part of the country that have standing evergreens within them. These evergreens make for great bedding, as they produce much needed shade for whitetails. If you don’t have shade trees on a south-sloping clear-cut, you won’t find deer bedding within them unless there’s unseasonably cool weather.
You have to keep in mind that most wild plants need at least 4 to 6 hours of sunlight per day, so the bulk of quality browse during the early season will likely be on south slopes. But like I said before, once the weather turns colder, a lot of green browse will die off and deer will change feeding areas.
The author found this mature buck bedded on a south-facing slope in near-zero-degree conditions. He tried to shoot the buck, but his firing pin was frozen, causing him to squeeze the trigger three times unsuccessfully. Ultimately, after walking a mile back to his truck to try and thaw the firing pin with the vehicle’s heater, he killed the deer in the same south-face bed where he had left it. (Photo courtesy of Steve Sherk) South slopes are also very attractive during the winter months. I’ve had a lot of success hunting and guiding on south slopes during gun season. If it’s brutally cold or we have heavy snow, deer instantly shift to south-facing points and ridges. Southern slopes always have less snow and produce warmer temperatures because of sun exposure.
Several years back, I shot a mature 8-pointer on a south slope bedded with a doe in near-zero-degree temperatures. It was so cold that my firing pin froze on me. I had pulled the trigger three different times on the buck and the firing pin never moved; it was frozen solid. I ended up leaving the buck bedded there and walked close to a mile back to my truck to try and thaw the gun out with my heater. As I walked back, I had also unloaded the gun and tucked it inside my coat under my armpit to help thaw it out. When I got to my truck, I dry fired the gun and the firing pin sounded off. Miraculously, I hiked all the way back to the ridge where the buck and doe were bedded and shot the buck just as he stood up from his bed.
I’m not a big fan of west slopes, unless they hold a food source or bedding cover. I do have a couple good bedding areas that I hunt on west faces that are consistent, because they have good bedding cover. When cover is limited, deer will bed wherever it’s available. So you can’t always put your focus on any side of the mountain, especially with mature bucks. Security and cover are almost always their main priority. If limited bedding cover is only available on the west side of the mountain, it’s likely a good buck will be using it.
I will say, I’ve noticed a lot of mature bucks traveling down the west sides of the mountain during the late afternoons when thermals start to drop. As the sun starts to set in the west, thermals start to drop dramatically on west slopes. Deer love to move with the thermals at their backs. They use their eyes to see ahead and the thermal currents to protect them from behind.
Also, if red oaks and white oaks fail to produce, keep an eye out on the chestnut oak crop. Chestnut oaks tend to be very common on west slopes. The chestnut oak produces one of the least favored acorns, but when other preferred food sources aren’t available, they will become a highly preferred source of food.
EAST SLOPES The upper portion of an east slope is probably my number two location for mature buck bedding in the mountains. The east part of the ridge is another common leeward sign, because a lot of wind tends to blow from the west. I also pay close attention to east slopes during and before weather fronts.
In the eastern part of the country, the majority of storms come from the west, which will typically push deer to the east side of the mountain. Also, the first place a mature buck will often bed in the morning is on an east-facing ridge. As the sun rises, the east side of the hill usually has the best thermal currents, and bucks will often set up their bedding to take advantage of those early-rising thermals.
The east side of the mountain usually gets the least amount of wind, because eastern winds are extremely uncommon here in Pennsylvania. That being said, they can be tricky to hunt. Minimal to no wind is a tough hunting situation for whitetail hunters trying to control where their scent goes. I’ve set up on east slopes in the past, and it seemed like my scent was spraying slowly in all directions. It’s much easier to take advantage of a consistent wind and to hunt with the wind in your favor than to have no wind at all. No wind does not mean you are going to be undetected from a whitetail’s nose. In the mountains, there are always thermal currents passing from different directions throughout the day. However, wind will override those currents when it blows consistently from one direction. Consistent wind is a huge advantage for hunting mountain whitetails.
I don’t often find a lot of quality browse sources on east slopes, unless they are more southeastern-facing. But in the northeast part of the country, beech brush is very common on east slopes, and it provides tremendous bedding cover. Beech will hold a lot of its leaves right until spring before it starts growing again. When all other brush and cover has dropped its leaves, the woods start to really open up, and deer will feel less secure in those places. However, the beech brush will still be holding leaves, and it tends to really attract mature bucks later in the fall for security cover.
CREEK BOTTOMS This past season, during the early part of November, the only place I was seeing rut activity was down in the creek bottoms. We were dealing with both drought conditions and extremely warm weather during the early part of our rut. When the upper mountain springs dry up, deer will concentrate down low closer to water sources, especially the does. Does always stick close to food and water.
I’ve also found that water is a huge factor during the rut. When green browse starts to fade, deer get less water from what they eat and spend more time around water sources. You also must consider that during the rut bucks drink more water, because they are burning more energy than normal. Throw in warmer than average temperatures, and water becomes a huge factor on locating deer during this time.
The author likes using creek bottoms for gathering intel and buck inventory in areas. Since mountain deer travel creek bottoms and don’t commonly use them for bedding, you can get away with checking cameras in these areas more often. (Photo by Blake Garlock) Whenever I’m dealing with warmer than average temperatures, I always start checking creek bottoms. Not only do deer seek bottoms for water, but they tend to hold cool air as well. I can’t emphasize enough how much temperature plays a role in deer activity. Deer always look for cool air when they are dealing with warm weather.
Another situation where creek bottoms can produce is when there is increased hunting pressure. Creek bottoms are often overlooked in the mountains. They also hold a lot of cover, such as green briar, red brush and cattails. These are the kinds of areas most hunters don’t want to hunt. In the mountains, the average hunter prefers to find road access up high, so they don’t have to climb up from the bottom. They also stay up high so they can eliminate a tough hike out. Older bucks catch onto this and know that creek bottoms become safe havens when hunting pressure starts to increase.
Creek bottoms might not be my all-around go-to area, but at the least they are great places to get intel on mature bucks. Mountain deer naturally gather and socialize in creek bottoms during the night hours. I have a lot of success placing trail cameras on primary scrapes down in creek bottoms when trying to locate areas that have big bucks. The creek bottom is often the starting point on narrowing down a mature buck’s travels and patterns. These areas rarely host bedding, so you can get away with going in often and checking cameras to get intel since a lot of the activity is at night.
IN CONCLUSION Mountain bucks are in their own league in the world of whitetail hunting. There’s a time and a situation for hunting each side of the mountain or down in the bottoms. If you’re able to adapt and understand mountain deer, along with accepting the ultimate whitetail hunting challenge, you can find great joy and success hunting mountain whitetails.