Finding the thermal tunnel

[hunter10]

In hill country while scouting or hunting how do you determine when you are in the thermal tunnel for sure? is it a tight playing field or big enough area to get away with being in the tunnel vicinity?

Once you find the tunnel are you usually setting up to shoot these 1/3 trails or setting up on the benches often found in this area of the hill?

Before watching the hill country bucks I noticed many of the trails in the 1/3 area of the hill but not always. This is a new learning piece to add to the puzzle.

[PK_]

To make it easy, focus on some hills that have a steep drop off below the top 1/3rd. Walk down from the ridge line with the wind at your back, when you stop feeling the wind on your back, start looking around. There should be a swath of deer sign along the ridge from that elevation down to the drop off. If there is a bench, i would pay attention to it. My two biggest archery bucks came from benches in the top 1/3rd right above a drop off.

[mheichelbech]

What velocity of wind does it take to create the tunnel effect?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Ryan]

What velocity of wind does it take to create the tunnel effect?

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From studying up on it Any velocity will, even the slightest bit

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[TN Whitetail Freak]

In TN I haven't noticed any tunnel effect. TN hills are more rounded however I've noticed the beds I have found on the ridge sides have been more slightly above the bottom third in some cases

[ Post made via Android ]

[JoeRE]

In TN I haven't noticed any tunnel effect. TN hills are more rounded however I've noticed the beds I have found on the ridge sides have been more slightly above the bottom third in some cases

[ Post made via Android ]

I agree there is a lot of variability in how air currents go over various topographic features. Often it is not exactly like the Hill Country DVD describes it but I do think that description is a great starting point to better understanding how deer bed and move in relation to wind and thermals. Its just something that should be customized to every situation. Not every one's hunting property is 200 foot bluffs where the bottom 2/3 is steep and the top 1/3 is more rounded.

Changes in gradient (how steep a slope is) also has an effect on how deer use a hill or ridge. Deer like to bed on a flatter area right above a steeper part even if it is a low bench not 2/3 up but if there is good bedding up higher they tend to go with the higher stuff ...but sometimes there isn't, I've seen that quite often.

[stash59]

In TN I haven't noticed any tunnel effect. TN hills are more rounded however I've noticed the beds I have found on the ridge sides have been more slightly above the bottom third in some cases

[ Post made via Android ]

I agree there is a lot of variability in how air currents go over various topographic features. Often it is not exactly like the Hill Country DVD describes it but I do think that description is a great starting point to better understanding how deer bed and move in relation to wind and thermals. Its just something that should be customized to every situation. Not every one's hunting property is 200 foot bluffs where the bottom 2/3 is steep and the top 1/3 is more rounded.

Changes in gradient (how steep a slope is) also has an effect on how deer use a hill or ridge. Deer like to bed on a flatter area right above a steeper part even if it is a low bench not 2/3 up but if there is good bedding up higher they tend to go with the higher stuff ...but sometimes there isn't, I've seen that quite often.

Nice to learn this. Probably will help to understand how things work out in the mountains out west.

[dan]

In TN I haven't noticed any tunnel effect. TN hills are more rounded however I've noticed the beds I have found on the ridge sides have been more slightly above the bottom third in some cases

[ Post made via Android ]

Thermals occur on the rounded hills in TN... If you don't believe it, stand at the top of a hill on the Leeward side. Then go down to the bottom and you will see a 180 degree different breeze... Where that breeze meets the wind is where the thermal tunnel is.
It varys a lot more on rounded hills in its positioning than in the Bluffs that have military cresting, and makes it hard to determine exact position day to day.

I hunt swamp and farm country a lot too... And some of the faerms I hunt have rounded ridges that are only 15 feet high or so, and you can drop a milkweed at your feet and watch it go up the hill till it hits the wind from above, tumble a cbit and then shoot back over me...

[dan]

In hill country while scouting or hunting how do you determine when you are in the thermal tunnel for sure? is it a tight playing field or big enough area to get away with being in the tunnel vicinity?

Once you find the tunnel are you usually setting up to shoot these 1/3 trails or setting up on the benches often found in this area of the hill?

Before watching the hill country bucks I noticed many of the trails in the 1/3 area of the hill but not always. This is a new learning piece to add to the puzzle.

Drop milkweed to know for sure, but in most cases the thermal tunnel area has deer trails and rubs going along the tunnel marking it well.

[BHC]

I hunt Tn as well, which Tn hills very greatly across the state.
But I find points that have the military crest are have much more predictable bedding. But some times that's 1/3,1/2,2/3 up the hill. But basically with out exception a major deer trail wraps around our ridges at a certain level. This is your thermal tunnel usually in my opinion. These don't always carry you straight to the beddin on points, duet to the shapes of points and ravines to their sides... Sometimes I find the beds just above or below this trail due to cover or where a flat spot exists. I find rub lines on the tops of points that lead to the beds often...

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[hunter10]

Drop milkweed to know for sure, but in most cases the thermal tunnel area has deer trails and rubs going along the tunnel marking it well.

Thanks for clearing that up Dan. Before hill country DVD and reading here I always thought the majority of trails in the 1/3 area were because often times in my hunting farms, it is the easiest travel route along the ridge system.

[cdeam]

I have quite a few spots where the tunnel occurs closer to halfway down. The 1/3 is a starting point. Without that information in the DVD I would still be trying to piece it a) together.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Stanley]

Great thread.

[dan]

I have quite a few spots where the tunnel occurs closer to halfway down. The 1/3 is a starting point. Without that information in the DVD I would still be trying to piece it a) together.

[ Post made via Android ]

Yep... And in some terrains its more at the top. adapt to your situation and hill shape.

[TN Whitetail Freak]

i forgot to mention that in those cases where the beds were located midway to the low side, the differentiating factor in that was cover for example i had cyber scouted this ridge side and made my guess from the computer. when i got in the area the spot i had in mind was just too wide open for the winter time....i continued to walk the elevation until i got to some heavy deer trails that followed down the ridge until it came to a mess of bamboo on the ridge side....the cover was there and so were 12 deer beds....i found a doe bedding area fresh with droppings enough to fertilize a small garden. so when the beds arent where you'd expect look at factors like cover.