Hill Country Thermal Shift?
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Hill Country Thermal Shift?
How long after daylight and how long before closing time do thermals generally shift? Do you just pack up your stand and sticks and move accordingly?
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- DaveT1963
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
That depends on sunlight, terrain, canopy, north/East or south/west facing slope, water, steepness, wind, temp, etc... best thing to do is float a lot of pod seed this Fall and document the times for each area in a log book to use for seasons to come.
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
DaveT1963 wrote:That depends on sunlight, terrain, canopy, north/East or south/west facing slope, water, steepness, wind, temp, etc... best thing to do is float a lot of pod seed this Fall and document the times for each area in a log book to use for seasons to come.
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Ok will do
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- DaveT1963
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
The generalized movement is when the sun hits the lower ground the air will start to heat and rise..... the thermals will kick in. But the factors above will all effect the exact time that happens.
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
I'm still curious as to what most do when it shifts...do y'all stay put, move trees, or pack up and head to the truck?
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
Yea as Dave suggested south and east slopes warm up the fastest obviously. On a day that is warming up fast, as soon as the sun hits that slope you can see it within half an hour or an hour of sunup. If its cloudy and cool it can happen much later on north and west slopes - mid morning...and when its cloudy thermals are much lighter, meaning even a light wind can have as big or bigger of an influence on air movement. The start of falling thermals in the evening don't seem to vary as much just from my observations, usually just before sundown up to an hour before. Lots of variables, you really have to experiment and get a feel for it in your hunting area.
I handle the influence of thermal a couple ways. Before rut cruising, I may set up and hunt just for falling thermals in the morning and evening if I am pretty sure movement will be at first and last light. This works well for some of my ground hunts as thermals are most consistent right next to the ground and I just slip in and sit down, then slip out. If I am going to stay on stand through that period I prefer to get high in a tree, trying to get a consistent breeze above most of the thermal activity - that I would look to do more during the rut. I personally have never climbed down, moved a little ways up or down a hill and set up again just for the thermal switch - seems like too much disruption. If I am climbing down I probably am done, or going somewhere else completely, maybe a mid-day cruising spot. By either just setting up high in a tree to keep a consistent breeze or knowing when to expect action and just hunting that time period you can usually make things work.
I think when thermals switch and start falling in the evening, that has busted a lot of hunters over the years myself included. We test out the air currents in the spot during the day sometime months earlier, probably during the day with rising thermals, then forget that prime time usually means falling thermals. When wind dies down to nothing at sunset, I have seen my scent go right down my tree when I was 25 feet high, probably would have if I was 35. A lot of times, I know my scent may be pulled across a buck's expected path in that last hour if he is coming past down slope of me....I just need to get the shot before he hits it. Another benefit of hunting mobile, if it doesn't work try somewhere else tomorrow.
The thing to remember, its not a perfect science. You will never be the complete master of wind and thermals in hill country - but try to study them and equally important how they effect each other and your frustration level should go down some, trust me! When blown hunts become the exception, not the norm, that feels good.
I handle the influence of thermal a couple ways. Before rut cruising, I may set up and hunt just for falling thermals in the morning and evening if I am pretty sure movement will be at first and last light. This works well for some of my ground hunts as thermals are most consistent right next to the ground and I just slip in and sit down, then slip out. If I am going to stay on stand through that period I prefer to get high in a tree, trying to get a consistent breeze above most of the thermal activity - that I would look to do more during the rut. I personally have never climbed down, moved a little ways up or down a hill and set up again just for the thermal switch - seems like too much disruption. If I am climbing down I probably am done, or going somewhere else completely, maybe a mid-day cruising spot. By either just setting up high in a tree to keep a consistent breeze or knowing when to expect action and just hunting that time period you can usually make things work.
I think when thermals switch and start falling in the evening, that has busted a lot of hunters over the years myself included. We test out the air currents in the spot during the day sometime months earlier, probably during the day with rising thermals, then forget that prime time usually means falling thermals. When wind dies down to nothing at sunset, I have seen my scent go right down my tree when I was 25 feet high, probably would have if I was 35. A lot of times, I know my scent may be pulled across a buck's expected path in that last hour if he is coming past down slope of me....I just need to get the shot before he hits it. Another benefit of hunting mobile, if it doesn't work try somewhere else tomorrow.
The thing to remember, its not a perfect science. You will never be the complete master of wind and thermals in hill country - but try to study them and equally important how they effect each other and your frustration level should go down some, trust me! When blown hunts become the exception, not the norm, that feels good.
- DaveT1963
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
Depends on how you set up. If you are playing the early morning wind on the downwind side then yes you would need to move and get above the entry trail once thermals over power the wind. But, I usually tried to set up in a place where a natural barrier (header, creek, step ridge, etc) would give me a wind advantage and negate the change of the thermal change. These have to be searched out but there are there. The other option is to get high and catch the wind over the thermal .... for me that was seldom an option. There are places where the deer will forgo wind advantage (usually traveling cross wind or quartering into it) this is where I prefer to set up but they are tricky so use a lot of wind detectors to verify during scouting.
Other option is to wait until the shift to hunt which is why some guys prefer evening hunts. But evening thermals are just as tricky.
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Other option is to wait until the shift to hunt which is why some guys prefer evening hunts. But evening thermals are just as tricky.
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
Ive noticed evening thermal switch right at prime time. When everything goes queit, the wind calms n the sun sets. This usually gives me about a half hr of legal light left. Ive also noticed that the deer seem to move as soon as the thermals switch. Im not sure if they are waiting for the switch to happen but they definitely coincide alot.
Mornings I like to get on ridges during the rut. The thermals seem to act like a chimney. If you can find a hill top with bedding it can be super hot. By hunting on top nothing seems to catch my scent.
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Mornings I like to get on ridges during the rut. The thermals seem to act like a chimney. If you can find a hill top with bedding it can be super hot. By hunting on top nothing seems to catch my scent.
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
Not trying to still the thread but got a question I've been wondering about maybe some more experience hill country guys could answer. This would be only certain situations. I been think on finger ridges or Spurs in rolling hill country that don't have a high point behind them where bedding could be far up I could get in the low spot between ridges in the morning with the right tree an high enough I could hunt longer. The elevation would be 200-350 maybe as much as 450. But with the right terrain an right weather conditions I feel like I could hunt at the tip of the point high enough that all I would worry about would be where the falling thermals would pool up. But I feel like when I figure out how the Bucks approach to hook this area if I set up right if I have to I can get them on there approach before they get to where I feel my scent would be. So I'm I crazy or does this seem possible?
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
If you are climbing high in the tree on a leeward ridge within the top 3rd, you can pretty much ignore what the thermals are doing unless there is absolutely no wind. Just my opinion.
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
Has soon has the area is shade by the dropping sun. The hills in my area are nothing like western Wisconsin or southern Ohio. They definitely have thermal activity tho. I see a lot of rubs in some low areas or thermal hubs where the bucks must spend a lot of time scent checking. In the morning last year I was seeing a lot of bucks changing locations between 9am -11am
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
PK_ wrote:If you are climbing high in the tree on a leeward ridge within the top 3rd, you can pretty much ignore what the thermals are doing unless there is absolutely no wind. Just my opinion.
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How high are we talking? 30 feet?
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
The place I'm thinking of is a regrowth clear cut south facing slope. I have trees prepped above and below the trails. It's typically pretty windy here, very rarely calm. I was kinda thinking of going in at grey light and hunting above the trail, til dark, but mainly wondering about making the commotion to move in prime time. I kinda like what jore says about shooting him before he hits your scent stream
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
JoeRE wrote:Yea as Dave suggested south and east slopes warm up the fastest obviously. On a day that is warming up fast, as soon as the sun hits that slope you can see it within half an hour or an hour of sunup. If its cloudy and cool it can happen much later on north and west slopes - mid morning...and when its cloudy thermals are much lighter, meaning even a light wind can have as big or bigger of an influence on air movement. The start of falling thermals in the evening don't seem to vary as much just from my observations, usually just before sundown up to an hour before. Lots of variables, you really have to experiment and get a feel for it in your hunting area.
I handle the influence of thermal a couple ways. Before rut cruising, I may set up and hunt just for falling thermals in the morning and evening if I am pretty sure movement will be at first and last light. This works well for some of my ground hunts as thermals are most consistent right next to the ground and I just slip in and sit down, then slip out. If I am going to stay on stand through that period I prefer to get high in a tree, trying to get a consistent breeze above most of the thermal activity - that I would look to do more during the rut. I personally have never climbed down, moved a little ways up or down a hill and set up again just for the thermal switch - seems like too much disruption. If I am climbing down I probably am done, or going somewhere else completely, maybe a mid-day cruising spot. By either just setting up high in a tree to keep a consistent breeze or knowing when to expect action and just hunting that time period you can usually make things work.
I think when thermals switch and start falling in the evening, that has busted a lot of hunters over the years myself included. We test out the air currents in the spot during the day sometime months earlier, probably during the day with rising thermals, then forget that prime time usually means falling thermals. When wind dies down to nothing at sunset, I have seen my scent go right down my tree when I was 25 feet high, probably would have if I was 35. A lot of times, I know my scent may be pulled across a buck's expected path in that last hour if he is coming past down slope of me....I just need to get the shot before he hits it. Another benefit of hunting mobile, if it doesn't work try somewhere else tomorrow.
The thing to remember, its not a perfect science. You will never be the complete master of wind and thermals in hill country - but try to study them and equally important how they effect each other and your frustration level should go down some, trust me! When blown hunts become the exception, not the norm, that feels good.
spot on!!!
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- Dewey
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Re: Hill Country Thermal Shift?
Good stuff Joe. I just copied this to my Hill Country notes.
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