Funnels
Funnels are terrain features that restrict travel for animals.
Funnels are created in a lot of ways, as they can be places where it’s easy to cross an obstacle like a stream or ravine. The base of a mountain or steep hill can be a good spot, especially the point of a ridge that sticks out into more level ground. Thick cover that cuts across more open terrain is another common one.
Most of the funnels I use are places where animals cross streams. This shallow riffle is a popular place to cross because above and below for a good distance is deep, slow moving water, and sometimes animals just don’t want to swim. As a bonus, it is a fairly popular fishing hole for bear and eagles, plus the lush vegetation attracts deer year round.
This is an easy place for animals to cross a steep ravine, and as a bonus, the stream at the bottom gets a small run of pink salmon which attracts bears and eagles; I also see a lot of otters and mink here.
Another type of funnel can be created by a strip of thick cover that crosses more open areas. In this case, a creek and its brushy banks cutting across more open muskeg gives animals a more sheltered way to travel through the surrounding terrain.
Decent sized streams usually have trails paralleling both banks, and it can take two cameras to really cover them. I followed the creek in the previous picture until I found a spot where the 2 main trails came together, and set this camera there. The buck is on one of the trails, and if you look carefully, you can see second trail heading down to the creek on the left.
Beaver dams can be great; there is a large photo gallery dedicated to this one under the Alaska Trailcam Misc menu.
Joe's Trailcams 