Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

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justdirtyfun
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Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:38 am

I suspect rain will cool an area and start the thermals falling. Does anybody have firsthand knowledge or stories related to that idea?


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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby PK_ » Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:14 am

It makes the thermals rise faster in certain situations.
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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:15 am

I remember a hunt two seasons ago in early November it rained steady all morning and midday it stopped. There must have been a temperature differential soon after because a thick layer of fog was forming and rolling up the hillsides. Only thing I could think of is rising warm moist air on the ground was interacting with the cool rapidly sinking air. Sometimes you will see patches of fog right above tree tops in hill country during the rain too. That is thermal related.
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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Wed Feb 22, 2017 2:22 am

PK I imagine you have those midday showers to deal with down there. Is that the timing of what you described?
Speeding up thermals?
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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby PK_ » Wed Feb 22, 2017 5:21 am

Yea sorry I was in the middle of replying to this then Had something come up and had to cut it short.

Exactly. If it's warm out and rain rolls through it will drastically drop the air temp and then the rain soaked ground will be much cooler than it was before the rain. If the rain passes any amount of time before sunset the air and ground temp start to rapidly warm back up and you can visibly see the 'steam' rising.

I would imagine if it is cool or cold out and some rain moves in and lasts close to sunset or after and the air temp never has a chance to warm back up then I would expect the thermals would switch and start falling with the onset of the rain (or temperature drop as it clouds up) and continue to fall after sunset. Basically just making that thermal switch earlier like you were eluding to. But I have never really confirmed that with milkweed.
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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby BigHunt » Wed Feb 22, 2017 6:06 am

I agree with PK
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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Wed Feb 22, 2017 9:22 am

Nice to hear/see this. I don't recall much said about this exactly.

Like most of this stuff here on the Beast...it depends. Lol.
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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby JoeFranchise » Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:05 am

The short answer is it depends on many factors. Keep in mind each hunt/setup is different...

Having a detailed understanding of how the specific terrain you are hunting is impacted by various conditions, and how the deer respond to those conditional changes, can certainly be a deal breaker.

In regard to a post-rain hunt, a few questions you might ask yourself which may/should impact your setup;
1) Has it been getting progressively colder throughout the day or days prior?
2) How warm has it been in the hours or even days preceding the rain (cooling 60 degree soil is more difficult than 40 degree soil)?
3) Is the sun shining after the rain?
4) Is there a nearby water feature (swamp, marsh, creek, etc.) that would impact - push/pull the thermals?
5) Slope in relation to terrain and aquatic features.
6) Wind/speed/direction in relation to terrain and aquatic features.
7) Has it been raining while the air temp is dropping throughout the day?
8) Probably others I am missing...

Story:
The day I killed my 2016 archery buck was following 3 days of heavy rain. Intermittent cooling rain throughout the day, combined with an ~15 degree F temperature drop, lead to falling thermals from at least the time I got in to the stand until my buck hit the ground at approximately 6:50 PM. Watched the milkweed fall against the wind, once dropping below the wind tunnel, from the time I got set up... The factors that contributed to the falling thermals;

- 3 days of prior cloudy/rainy days (cooling the soil to a consistent temperature)
- Cloudy day of hunt (almost no additional solar radiation hitting/warming soil; Note: only ~10% solar radiation penetrates through clouds on 100% cloudy days)
- Significantly cooler day of hunt (again ~15 degrees F temperature change in less than 12 hours)
- Cool rainfall (cooling surface soil temps throughout the day)
-- IN SUMMARY: previous cloud cover, current cloud cover, cool rainfall, soil temp change, and air temp change trumped solar radiation that day

Everything was nearly perfect for both the buck and I. The buck bedded with the wind in his face (just how that bed sets up with that specific wind - took me a couple of years to figure this spot out...), falling thermals and thick cover at his back, slightly more open in front of him (subtle transition from post-successional logging). My wind would have been blowing directly at him if not for the terrain feature used to redirect my scent. Additionally, falling thermals are needed with the specific wind I was hunting to make the terrain feature work; if thermals are rising, even with the same wind (in the same spot), they go up and over the terrain feature and fall in/near the bedding and I don't see any deer (thanks to a milkweed epiphany I had in 2015). A meticulous, calculated, access route is also essential to the success of this setup, especially with the falling thermals.

Back to the hunt; the buck could see, and hear, the intended food source from his bed but could not see my stand (although I was set up right over the food, the aforementioned terrain feature prevented me from being seen from his vantage point). Three days of constant heavy rain kept him, or any other deer off this seasonal food source while high winds from the previous days deposited a large amount of the seasonal sustenance on the forest floor. At 6:45PM he walked from his bed (found in the winter of 2014-2015) ~80-100 yards, with the wind in his face, falling thermals covering his rear, to the point where I shot him - 8 yards from the tree.

With the right conditions thermals can certainly fall following an afternoon, or all day, rain...

Joe
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Re: Does afternoon rain knock out thermals?

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Wed Feb 22, 2017 2:55 pm

Great minds think alike. I hope to use falling thermals in a "wrong" wind situation as well. On a hunt this year, my "right" wind pulled my scent in an unexpected direction.

The idea is coming together and would love to put it together like your success Joe.
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