Swamp Thermals

[headgear]

Just wanted to touch on this one again. Its seems I find consistent swamp bedding in and around any thermal activity. I might find good swamp/marsh bedding but the best of the best seems to have a thermal advantage. It really has become something I look for on a map, think of it as marsh bedding but there is some kind of thermal kicker nearby or a body of water to draw in the scent. Seems to happen to me far too often to be chance, most of the times its cedar and tamarack swamps that hold the bed and the hills or nearby water sources are pulling the thermal to the bucks. We've talked about this before as thermal mixing zones. I really feel the bucks prefer areas where they can stage before dark where they can get some kind of thermal protection.

Here is one example, thermals coming off the high ground and pulling everything towards the buck, the pond (not shown) also grabs the scent. Had a few buck encounter in this spot but never sealed the deal.


This is a new spot I found this year, two small humps of brush littered with beds and rubs. Water on 4 sides, high ground surrounding the beds pushing thermals their way. A small lake sucks all the scent right past the bucks.


Here is a spot I have posted before, cedar swamp in a V with ridges pushing thermals towards the buck in the evening. Generally a wind out of the west so he can smell his backside but still catch thermals before dark if things are calm.


Another new spot, many rub lines with various ages of rubs in all directions deep in a bigwood cedar swamp. This place is littered with blowdowns so its hard to see and access, in the evening when a buck gets up to stage he has thermals coming in almost every direction.

[Jackson Marsh]

Kinda makes a guy wonder how, in those situations, anyone can kill a buck from those beds. I thought the last map you posted looked the toughest. Did you find a kink in the armor for a possible plan of attack?

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[headgear]

Ya there are a few head scratcher as far as hunting these kinds of beds, my plan of attack in the past has been get both downwind and downthermal and get as close as you can to catch them off guard. Worst case scenario you blow the bed and are stacking the next bed hunt.

The buck I shot last year was in a similar situation, he was bedding off a remote point but there was a large hill pushing thermals to the base of the point, had to get both downwind and down thermal.

[dan]

Great post... As far as a kink in the plan, calm is our enemy. You set up wind to your advantage during the day before the evening water thermals kick in and you get high enough to keep your wind over the bedded or in coming bucks. Certainly not full proof. But thats how you do it.

[whitetail007]

great topic, its got me thinking now because I have a couple spots just like that. now that I look back I killed one buck in the area and I did it with 100% dumb luck

[dan]

Just wanted to explain a couple things about water thermals... The sun heats still water especially shallow water all day while the sun is over head. Water holds that heat well, and when the air cools in the evening the warm water is warmer than the air so it has a thermal air current that rises straight up. When this happens the surrounding air when its calm will get sucked towards the water to replace the air that rose upward. So a smart animal will either bed or stage where he can use that to his advantage.

[BassBoysLLP]

All those appear to be perfect examples of springs or shallow groundwater. The grounwater table from the high ground immediately adjacent to these areas feeds these swampy areas causing a steady, upwelling supply of cold water. These areas do not warm much, if at all, during the day. They are perpetual sinks until the air temperature is below the groundwater temperature. When you walk through the locations and "punch through" you should immediately feel the cold water. If you stick a piezometer (tube used to measure hydraulic pressure) you can visually see the "upwelling" of water.

Areas like these are very common in the northwoods and based on my experience they are very difficult to hunt, especially if he a visual advantage (i.e. small island). My only recommendation is to hunt during a steady favorable wind or take advantage of an adjacent area of hydraulic downwelling (opposite of case above).

[BassBoysLLP]

Spots like the above are also common in northwoods hill country. I call these types of spots frost pockets as they are perpetually cold and serve as a sink. They are common bedding areas in the north country.

[BassBoysLLP]

Northwoods frost pocket example

Buck beds in red. Staging area in yellow.




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[Edcyclopedia]

Nice thread and good examples!

[Terry]

Great thread! I am pretty clueless when it comes to this, so I am going to sit this one out. But, I will be keeping an eye on this thread to learn what I can.

[headgear]

One more thing I forgot to mention in the original post, take any of the examples above and add swirling winds and those bucks just seem to love those areas. It can drive a hunter crazy but those hard to hunt spots seem to hold the oldest bucks.

[Dewey]

Northwoods frost pocket example

Buck beds in red. Staging area in yellow.




[ Post made via Android ]

Great example.

When I bow hunted the northwoods much more years ago I tried hunting spots just like that before I knew better. Saw some dandy bucks hunting at the edges but fickle thermals got me busted every time. When hunting evenings the thermals would rush down the hills and pool up in the "kettles". Wish I would have had the Hill Country video back then.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[headgear]

Northwoods frost pocket example

Buck beds in red. Staging area in yellow.




[ Post made via Android ]

Great example BB I see a lot of this as well and of course I hunt all Northwoods. If a buck isn't using these areas they fill up with does so they can be great rut spots.

[semperfidelis]

All,

Great info here. This understanding will help me this fall. Thanks for sharing!