Cedar swamps and bad wind

[PredatorTC]

I have been hunting cedar swamps from the beggining and have always noticed something funny with the wind in these swamps and I am wondering if anyone else has ever seen this. Say the weather man says there is a west wind.... And every time there is a gust of wind you throw a milkweed seed out and its a west wind as expected. But, when the wind seems dead and you throw a seed out it goes a completly different way. Often the wrong way!

The wind doing this has screwed up my hunt so many times. Anyone else ever notice this? What can you do about it? Why does it do this?

[BigHunt]

i wonder if thermals have somthing to do with it is there any water near by besides the swamp

[dan]

he wind doing this has screwed up my hunt so many times. Anyone else ever notice this? What can you do about it? Why does it do this?

yOUR NOT ALONE... Its a thermal effect. The water or wet ground is cooler than the high ground causeing a thermal effect drawing scent/air towards the cool area.

[RaisedByWolves]

good info!

[BackWoodsHunter]

he wind doing this has screwed up my hunt so many times. Anyone else ever notice this? What can you do about it? Why does it do this?

yOUR NOT ALONE... Its a thermal effect. The water or wet ground is cooler than the high ground causeing a thermal effect drawing scent/air towards the cool area.

So if that buck is bedding on the bend of a river, edge of a pond or in some water your scent is likely being drawn towards him if he is between you and the water? In a swamp would it just draw your scent down ward?

[PredatorTC]

he wind doing this has screwed up my hunt so many times. Anyone else ever notice this? What can you do about it? Why does it do this?

yOUR NOT ALONE... Its a thermal effect. The water or wet ground is cooler than the high ground causeing a thermal effect drawing scent/air towards the cool area.

Interesting.. So it sounds like the only thing i can do is learn these spots and how the wind works in each of these spots?

Its interesting because the wind will do this and to deer dont seem to wind me until they are inside 40 yards. I spose the prevailing winds keep my scent away from them until they get close.

Dan have you ever used these wind currents to your advantage in any way?

[BigHunt]

he wind doing this has screwed up my hunt so many times. Anyone else ever notice this? What can you do about it? Why does it do this?

yOUR NOT ALONE... Its a thermal effect. The water or wet ground is cooler than the high ground causeing a thermal effect drawing scent/air towards the cool area.

good guess......

this is very good to know

[Hunter74]

My guess would be the cedars are thick and dense enough that the wind doesn't completely cut through them but blows around them, therefore on the lee (down wind) side you get a swirl... The cedars are actually splitting the wind then on the downwind side the wind collides back together creating a swirl or sometimes a backdraft... Sorta like how the wind often acts with a hill to a lesser extent... I would try hunting it cross wind and also keep a journal of what the dominant wind and wind speed is for that day and of what you actually encounter on stand... You should eventually figure out a wind direction and speed you can effectively hunt that spot...

Just my thoughts on it... I have never hunted a cedar swamp and I could be way off... But some land that I hunt is basically 80 acres of big thick pines and I encounter what I described when I hunt on the edges where the pines meet open fields

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[bowhunter15]

This is interesting, seeing as how I usually get a couple hunts every year on the edge of a ~1000 acre cedar swamp. I guess I have never notice this effect, however, when I usually hunt it, it's very cold. Either the swamp is frozen, or covered in snow, or both. In those cases I'd almost expect the cedar swamp to retain a little more heat than the dry ground, possibly reversing the effect. Correct me if I'm wrong. And typically, in my case, the cedar swamp is surrounded by cattail marsh. So there's water everywhere.

[headgear]

Like mentioned above I think it might be a water thing or the wind swirling around the trees. I got to finally experience the water effect muzzy season. I was moving through a bedding area near a frozen lake really slow with a little cross wind in my favor. Well when the wind died down I could feel the thermal pull my scent twards the lake, pulled the milkweed out and sure enough my scent was getting sucked over toward the cooler lake.

[tim]

this is why i have experimented many times in many of my go to areas, you might think they arent great spots but they might be on a different wind than you expect. you could always go in the off season and use your milkweeds to see what happens on different winds if you dont wanna burn em out in hunting season you just never know what is going to happen in lots of spots just because of the trees and how they are situated. . a valley is so notorius for swirling winds but once you learn that exact spot you wanna hunt you can hunt it and feel pretty good about what it will do. but just ten yeards over might be totally different.

[dan]

So if that buck is bedding on the bend of a river, edge of a pond or in some water your scent is likely being drawn towards him if he is between you and the water? In a swamp would it just draw your scent down ward?

Its not something that I SEE IN EVERY SITUATION... In the case of my bear hunt last September it was warm out and the swampy area was connected to a large pond that was spring fed and very cold.... I have never noticed this effect when in the middle of a sawmp or marsh, but have on the edges ( both in water and on land ) . Water tempature has a lot to do with it.
Most people don't know it exists because in a lot of cases you can't feel it, you only feel the occasional wind gust, but when it feels dead calm, thats when your milkweed will change directions...

[dan]

Dan have you ever used these wind currents to your advantage in any way?

Your major advantage is to know it exists, prdict what it will do, and set up your position accordingly.

[KLEMZ]

this is why i have experimented many times in many of my go to areas, you might think they arent great spots but they might be on a different wind than you expect. you could always go in the off season and use your milkweeds to see what happens on different winds if you dont wanna burn em out in hunting season you just never know what is going to happen in lots of spots just because of the trees and how they are situated. . a valley is so notorius for swirling winds but once you learn that exact spot you wanna hunt you can hunt it and feel pretty good about what it will do. but just ten yeards over might be totally different.

I like this idea.