The struggle is real!

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Jdaukontas
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The struggle is real!

Unread postby Jdaukontas » Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:08 am

I hunted my first bed of the season. Had observed the buck coming out of the bedding area, with does, every night leading up to the hunt. Bedding was in a very tight valley, that ran North to South, off a field edge. He would come out around 640 every evening like clockwork, work a scrape under a hedgerow apple tree, browse, before moving off right at dark. First night of bow was a North wind, so I set up just down wind of the apple tree in a cherry in the hedgerow. Checked my wind all evening and the setup was perfect, milkweed was taken out to the valley and straight south away from bedding. Once the sun set around 645, I heard deer working up the valley in front of me. All of a sudden, one blew twice, and they all busted out. Couldn't figure out what happened, so I pulled the milkweed. Wind had died, and thermals were falling away now in the opposite direction, directly to the bedding area.

Big time learning experience! Never forget about Thermals!!!

Does the wind always usually die off right at sunset, and why is that?


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MDSikajunkie
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Re: The struggle is real!

Unread postby MDSikajunkie » Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:56 am

In my limited experience the wind often changes/ slows at sunrise and sunset. There is a Phenomenon called Thermal reversal that happens. As the sun actual breaks the sight plane in the evening the heat from the sun is no longer strong enough to keep air rising. IF the prevailing wind is GUSTY or not strong enough to overcome this thermal change the air will drop to a low point. and often times the entry trails of deer are in these low spots.

I have not had great success Predicting these changes myself. It has taken me many blown hunts and time sitting in areas to really determine these trends in the places I hunt.

Hope you get back in there at the right time and get it figured out.
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headgear
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Re: The struggle is real!

Unread postby headgear » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:53 am

You will find the deer prefer areas to bed with some thermal activity if they can find it, so many of the beds I hunt have thermals coming into play and or swirling winds. You just have to find ways around them and plan ahead for that thermal shift. This is why it can be so critical to know exact bed locations because you need that pinpoint accuracy to beat them sometimes.
mainebowhunter
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Re: The struggle is real!

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:10 am

Jdaukontas wrote:I hunted my first bed of the season. Had observed the buck coming out of the bedding area, with does, every night leading up to the hunt. Bedding was in a very tight valley, that ran North to South, off a field edge. He would come out around 640 every evening like clockwork, work a scrape under a hedgerow apple tree, browse, before moving off right at dark. First night of bow was a North wind, so I set up just down wind of the apple tree in a cherry in the hedgerow. Checked my wind all evening and the setup was perfect, milkweed was taken out to the valley and straight south away from bedding. Once the sun set around 645, I heard deer working up the valley in front of me. All of a sudden, one blew twice, and they all busted out. Couldn't figure out what happened, so I pulled the milkweed. Wind had died, and thermals were falling away now in the opposite direction, directly to the bedding area.

Big time learning experience! Never forget about Thermals!!!

Does the wind always usually die off right at sunset, and why is that?


One thing you can always count on. If its a sunny day and the wind dies is thermals. Sometimes you also get a backdraft where there is a thermal like pull but there is no hill. Could be an opening. I have experienced with no water around. And no hills. Happened on Friday night. Called for NE wind was perfect. Wind died off. Immediately I felt it hit the other side of my face. 100% wrong direction. Meaning, if buck came out of bed the way the does did. There is no waiting for him to go through my lane. I will have to shoot at my first available shot.

And yes. Wind will typically die off at sunset. Any hill on a sunny day will have thermal action when the wind dies. Sometimes, you are only going to figure this out by hunting an area a few times.

Once you do this for awhile and pay attention to the wind, its a constant thing you check the whole night. I also don't get down when the wind shifts around. I am there. Unless wind TOTALLY means I get no shot opportunities, I sit tight.


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