Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group

Scouting Breaklines that Are
Used for Cover and Staging Areas

Breaklines are the edges between two adjoining types of cover with varying heights such as a clearcut grassy field or burned area with fallen trees located next to a mature section of forest with tall trees and dense clumps of smaller trees near draws and drainages where like animals to bed down.

Breaklines are found in both hilly and flat regions and can be seen best on satellite aerial maps. Most grassy fields or pastures are noted on toporgaphic maps as big white areas. The problem is that the majority of topographic maps were produced back in 1964 and do not show accurate forest growth. Downloading Microsoft Virtual Earth program will allow you to see pictures that are very recent. Not only can you get updated images for the pastures you locate with the topographic software, you can actually fly over the top of whole unit. This one step will save you hundreds of hours stomping through the woods to find good spots to hunt.

The satellite aerial images make it easy to locate the big grass fields as well as smaller patches of grass throughout the forest. They also make it easy to find every single water source in a given area fairly easy. Sometimes you can even see the game trail that will approach popular tanks from every direction.

The first step in scouting a pasture or burn is to walk its perimeter. On these walks zig zag into and out of the woods 10 to 20 feet. You should also walk cross the field at least once. You will be scouting for these 10 main landscape items:

1. Green grass and flowering plants
2. Game trails or drainages that empty into the open pasture
3. Any draws or creek beds that might cut through the middle or the corners of the field
4. Fingers of grass that dog leg back into the woods
5. Fingers of trees that almost touch in the middle of the field
6. Signs of grazing, which looks like someone mowed the grass
7. Signs of fresh elk and deer dropppings
8. Signs of rubs/scrabes just inside the tree line
9. Signs of beds in the grass where animals bed down at night
10. Scan the hillside or points or benches that level off up on top

Most breaklines will contain numerous trails that dart in and out of the grassy fields, but there will also be a heavier main trail located 10-20 feet inside the heavy cover that runs parallel to the breakline. These main trails are usually easy to spot because there will be a lot of rubs and scrapes, which are great places to hunt during the rut.

Try to locate an area where the main trail has two or more smaller trails that wander out into the meadow. Many times animals will stage in this area to wait for the sun to go down. If so, there will be lots of droppings and the grass and bushes will be heavily grazed. When darkness arrives they leave the protective area and venture out into the open field to feed.

In big fields, look for fingers of trees that seem to almost touch in the middle of the field. Many times these fingers are the result of small stream beds that cut across the field, where trees seem to grow really well. When faced with walking all the way around a large field to stay inside the treeline, many times deer and elk will take the short cut across the field if there is a line of trees that will conceal their travel most of the way across. The cover funnels are great ambush spots.

Many times scouting the perimeter of big pastures will reveal fingers of grass that penetrate back into the heavy sections forest. In the figure below, there are two square fingers of grass that penetrate deep into the woods. Finding fingers of grass like these that are 50-100 wide and jut several hundred feet back into the woods are great areas for animals because they still enjoy forest cover on several sides and can feed in the open grass. If the fingers curve or make an L shape, hunt the back portion of the L that provides an obstructed view of the animals on three sides.

Since most of Arizona was used for raising cattle at one time or another, most pastures also have a stock tank nearby. You should already have all waterholes programmed into your GPS. When you are walking the fields, always know how close and where the water is located.

Last, but not least, look for pastures where the grass is green and there are lots of flowers growing. The greener the grass the more elk and deer you are likely to find nearby. Lots of green droppings will confirm that you are very close to the herd.

1. Stock Tanks
2. Ridges
3. Ridge End Points
4. Game Trail Hubs
5. Saddles and Dips in the Ridge
6. Hillside Benches
7. Forest/Pastures/Burn Breaklines
8. Field Saddles/Creek Beds
9. Hilltop Field Funnels
10. Forest Inside and Double Inside Corners
11. Natural Funnels/Chokepoints