Thermal tunnel night???

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Divergent
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Thermal tunnel night???

Unread postby Divergent » Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:29 am

I'd be interested in seeing if a lot of the hill country guys are seeing something I've been seeing. I've just started scouting/hunting beast style this season, but I've been noticing a pattern that I thought was random movement before now. A lot of you more experienced hunters have talked about the thermals and predominant wind creating a funnel. This tactic would only work at the upper 1/3 if there was a rising thermal.

I've been noticing that in the evening, the deer are coming from the textbook, beast style bedding. I've attached pictures because I'm not the best at describing things. My idea/question is this...Wouldn't deer use this same theory at night or while there's a falling thermal? I've noticed deer coming off of the leeward side(from bedding. They'll usually cross the creek/valley floor and start feeding on the opposite lower 1/3. I work nights so I might not get around to some of the replies til later tonight. Thanks
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Re: Thermal tunnel night???

Unread postby dan » Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:53 am

I have not noticed it...
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Re: Thermal tunnel night???

Unread postby Redman232 » Sat Oct 24, 2015 7:20 am

The thermal tunnel exist because the air from the thermal is warmer than the surrounding air(less dense) therefore it rises, following the slope of the land and then interacting with the wind coming from the opposite direction, creating a vertical rolling effect (thermal tunnel). In the evening the ground surface stays warmer longer than the air, so there is still radiant heat rising a little bit, but it quickly cools (becoming more dense) resulting in a "falling thermal" down the slope. This air would 1.)either match the wind temperature and join the wind current or 2.) in a low area be unimpacted by the wind resulting in scent pooling(this is why even on calm days, low areas are cooler). This is why bottoms are tough to hunt even in the evenings because you've either got swirling winds from topography or falling thermals from multiple directions. The lowest point would theoretically give the deer the best advantage because it would have the greatest "vacuum" pulling in the most scent. This is one of the reasons why it is common to see deer drop down off a point in the evenings or even if they decide to go up hill, lets say to a food source they enter at a low spot. I do like hunting low in the evenings because it give the deer a lot of advantages and I think they prefer it, but it takes trial and error and lots of milk weed to figure out where the deer will go to "scent check" the surrounding area and where you need to setup so the wind can over power the falling cooler air. One spot I hunt, a difference of <10 yards is all it takes for me to be safe and allow the deer to still feel safe. I hope that makes sense and I'm not off base, but that is how I understand it and what I have observed. And in a long winded way, I am saying I have not observed what your drawing describes, it would not give the deer the biggest advantage and I would guess they are showcasing the movement you depicted because there is food source or preferred travel corridor slightly up the opposite ridge. Every spot is slightly different.
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Divergent
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Re: Thermal tunnel night???

Unread postby Divergent » Sat Oct 24, 2015 11:14 am

Redman232 wrote:The thermal tunnel exist because the air from the thermal is warmer than the surrounding air(less dense) therefore it rises, following the slope of the land and then interacting with the wind coming from the opposite direction, creating a vertical rolling effect (thermal tunnel). In the evening the ground surface stays warmer longer than the air, so there is still radiant heat rising a little bit, but it quickly cools (becoming more dense) resulting in a "falling thermal" down the slope. This air would 1.)either match the wind temperature and join the wind current or 2.) in a low area be unimpacted by the wind resulting in scent pooling(this is why even on calm days, low areas are cooler). This is why bottoms are tough to hunt even in the evenings because you've either got swirling winds from topography or falling thermals from multiple directions. The lowest point would theoretically give the deer the best advantage because it would have the greatest "vacuum" pulling in the most scent. This is one of the reasons why it is common to see deer drop down off a point in the evenings or even if they decide to go up hill, lets say to a food source they enter at a low spot. I do like hunting low in the evenings because it give the deer a lot of advantages and I think they prefer it, but it takes trial and error and lots of milk weed to figure out where the deer will go to "scent check" the surrounding area and where you need to setup so the wind can over power the falling cooler air. One spot I hunt, a difference of <10 yards is all it takes for me to be safe and allow the deer to still feel safe. I hope that makes sense and I'm not off base, but that is how I understand it and what I have observed. And in a long winded way, I am saying I have not observed what your drawing describes, it would not give the deer the biggest advantage and I would guess they are showcasing the movement you depicted because there is food source or preferred travel corridor slightly up the opposite ridge. Every spot is slightly different.


What you say makes complete since. I knew it would be a long shot.. I'll have to keep a longer record of movement. I feel like there's a lil something extra drawing them there. anybody else seen this type of movement at least?

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Re: Thermal tunnel night???

Unread postby trapper57 » Sat Oct 24, 2015 1:02 pm

I've seen it in narrow valleys, say less than 100 yds wide.
They drop down,stage and then take the thermals up the other side to feed in the ag fields.
Tough to hunt because the valley can also have a thermal flow.

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