Hunting Low

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checkerfred
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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby checkerfred » Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:44 am

dan wrote:
checkerfred wrote:
dan wrote:Mornings with rising thermals... Stay away from tight areas, try to find areas out and away from the ridges. Wind blowing towards the ridge will be more predictable (windward side) than hunting the Leeward side low....


Thanks Dan. What about wind blowing parallel to a valley? I've read it's more predictable than wind quartering or perpendicular to the valley.

If parralel is relitivly flat and consistant, then yes... If it ends in a rising bowl or the side walls narrow and turn, your fighting fate.



So in that case a relatively long valley that is straight and doesn't end for quite a ways? But not with multiple fingers coming off? In my mind what I said would apply to say a long, wide river valley


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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby JoeRE » Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:30 am

X2 on testing out winds while scouting down low. You will learn a lot. I like to sit in a spot half an hour or so putting out milkweed every so often to see how a wind changes. You will observe some low spots to be hunt-able...some are not.

As a general rule the longer and straighter a wind can blow (visualize water) without hitting a terrain obstruction the less it will swirl so a parallel wind up or down a long straight valley is your best bet. A moderate or greater wind will over-ride thermals most of the time but that depends on weather - sunny days obviously mean more thermal activity.

I actually prefer a hard wind for hunting down low, the harder and colder the better. It overrides thermals and more importantly to me concentrates deer in the most protected areas - down low. Its still tricky.
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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby Jphunter » Sat Jan 24, 2015 11:07 am

I have permission to hunt a small pice of private land that covers part of a ridge and small valley and the deer bed on on the other ridge most of the time,( the ridge I don't have permission to hunt). It's a tough place to hunt because of wind swirls and thermal activity. The bucks seem to stay high until after dark most of the time. There is one area where they prefer to cross the valley and there's usually a good rub line crossing the valley. I have Had some luck setting up down wind of the crossing with a strong wind running parallel to the ridge. (I think thy are sent checking the valley when they are crossing this). And I've Also seen bucks come off of the ridge right before dark when thermals were falling, all of this is during the rut . Outside of the rut I haven't had much luck. I have pretty much stopped hunting this area outside of the rut Because I can't get close enough to their main bedding.

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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby PK_ » Sat Jan 24, 2015 2:16 pm

I would save it for the rut. When the bucks start running the does hard, they get tired and eventually run down to the bottoms. They like to run up and down in the creeks to try to lose the bucks off their scent trail.
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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby checkerfred » Sat Jan 24, 2015 2:46 pm

PalmettoKid wrote:I would save it for the rut. When the bucks start running the does hard, they get tired and eventually run down to the bottoms. They like to run up and down in the creeks to try to lose the bucks off their scent trail.


Thanks guys. That's what I've done. I don't have access to bedding so I don't hunt my private land until rut. I'm gonna run some cams too and try to pinpoint the best travel routes

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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby tim » Mon Jan 26, 2015 9:58 am

Dead calm or outrageous strong winds.if the wind is howling low.can be effective

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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby checkerfred » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:50 am

tim wrote:Dead calm or outrageous strong winds.if the wind is howling low.can be effective

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At what wind speed would you say... I hunted up on a Ridge yesterday and they said 10 Mph wind.. It felt more like 20 Tho... The trees were swaying good.

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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby Zona » Mon Jan 26, 2015 12:37 pm

I have noticed in my area, the deer will bed in typical thermal/wind fashion but in the evenings will "dip" out of the beds into the valley to wind check as much valley area as possible before moving off to feed. Kind of like a reverse "J" hook that bucks use for entering their bed. If you know where they are crossing the valley to head to feeding, hunt the crossing downwind the last hour of light during the last week of October. Just my 2c.
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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby dan » Mon Jan 26, 2015 10:09 pm

checkerfred wrote:
tim wrote:Dead calm or outrageous strong winds.if the wind is howling low.can be effective

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At what wind speed would you say... I hunted up on a Ridge yesterday and they said 10 Mph wind.. It felt more like 20 Tho... The trees were swaying good.

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Actually, hard winds seem to make valleys even worse in my opinion... You get swirls and deflection all over the place. Especially if its gusty.
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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby tim » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:54 pm

When I hunt a valley in extreme winds 30 mph it seems less swirling. But I've been in the valley with 30mph and it was dead calm.the deer are on their feet down there .u gotta know their travels and your land.I caught a big one but blew the shot.when I hit him too far forward.it was 30+mph and was set up right at the base of an east facing bluff.the wind was sw and the buck came from the north walking fast to the south.I thought he was gonna walk right under me and he hooked up the hill right before he walked by me and I quickly adjusted and shot him forward.he never knew I was there.

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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby tim » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:58 pm

I was directly below a known point that bucks bed. I don't go in my valley to often cause when I do its super strong winds.and I like to be at the base of a known point deer bed on .u can catch them as they hook up to bed.

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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby seeds » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:58 pm

dan wrote:Mornings with rising thermals... Stay away from tight areas, try to find areas out and away from the ridges. Wind blowing towards the ridge will be more predictable (windward side) than hunting the Leeward side low....


Leeward side of treelines too. ...Grrr....Do I need to learn EVERYTHING multiple times before I really get it?
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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby bowhunter » Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:07 pm

I hunt down in a holler just between two ridges over a creek but I am fortunate that the creek runs right into a lake and i set my stand up with my back to the lake and only hunt that stand when the wind will be blowing my scent out across the lake and not into the woods where deer would cross. I hunt there in hopes of deer walking across the worn out deer trail in front of my stand which goes from one ridge to the next. I would suggest trying to set your stand up with your back to a position you know deer would not come from i.e. a lake and only hunt with a good wind.
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Re: Hunting Low

Unread postby tim » Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:04 am

I just want to add that.I'm hunting bluffs.not.gently rolling farmland.the elevation from top of my crop fields to bottom of my valley is 300feet.I haven't hunted low on smaller type.hills.

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