Am I right with the basics here??

[Blakebry123]

1) Thermals rise in the morning and fall at night. So am i correct to assume you could ignore thermals in the morning? Unless setup in a valley, where the thermals could rise to the top of a ridge? And in the afternoon, you would have to setup far enough off the trail in order for the falling thermals not to spread over onto the deers path? And not setup high so your thermal doesnt flow down into the valley.

2) Deer have multiple beds on a point dependant on wind correct? So if the wind is blowing from the east, they will setup on the west side of the hill with the wind blowing over their backs? So if i know the wind direction for the day, i could sneak in and setup on whichever side of the hill the wind should be blowing over later that morning?

3) Buck beds in swamps. For some reason I have been having a hard time figuring out how to approach the bed in the swamp. So lets say you have trails entering a swamp/thickett heading in a north direction. Deer enter bedding areas with the wind to their face to smell danger in the area. Would they J hook from the East or West, then walk in? The J hook has confused me. Also, in order for me to setup in the bed, I would need to figure out which direction they are J hooking from, and setup on the opposite side of that trail so they dont catch my scent going in?

4) Bump and Dump. Im assuming this tactic is best used for bedding areas in swamps? I dont see this tactic working good for hillside bedding areas since theyre more wind dependent.

Thanks in advance for the replies!!

[Blakebry123]

5) When scouting bedding areas, to determine if its a buck bed would I mainly look for rubs and big tracks? Or is there something else I should keep an eye out for. Also, if you accidentally walk into the bedding area, do you think that one time is fine and you would still be safe to sneak back in at a later date to setup on the big boy? I scouted a bedding area yesterday and didnt see a single rub. Could assume this is just heavy doe bedding/staging area for food? it was about 100 meters from a tilled corn field. Also, Im assuming deer have different summer and fall bedding areas? I know this is all situation dependent, just trying to get a better idea of things!

[justdirtyfun]

I can't answer for all that you posted but want to warn you.

THIS TAKES TIME.
I felt like two years went by getting comfortable with basic bed hunting. And higher level things like bump and dump I still haven't tried two years after that.

What is super important for anyone to learn first is smart, big bucks pick spots for a reason. AND

We can find them with some effort. Boots on the ground in season and off season. Certain terrain is simple to find bedding from maps at home on a pc.

What terrain do you hunt?

Exact location is not necessary and leaving out names,roads etc is preferred to keep lurkers off your spots.

[Blakebry123]

Right now Im hunting in pretty flat public ground with a ton of pines. Theres one pretty big swamp that Im almost positive not many people venture into that Ive had my eye on. The terrain is so flat, any saddle on a map is a couple small hills without much funnel effect to them.

[pfrizelleSC]

I can't answer for all that you posted but want to warn you.

THIS TAKES TIME.
I felt like two years went by getting comfortable with basic bed hunting. And higher level things like bump and dump I still haven't tried two years after that.

What is super important for anyone to learn first is smart, big bucks pick spots for a reason. AND

We can find them with some effort. Boots on the ground in season and off season. Certain terrain is simple to find bedding from maps at home on a pc.

What terrain do you hunt?

Exact location is not necessary and leaving out names,roads etc is preferred to keep lurkers off your spots.

x2
Would def take a lot of time in the woods to answer those questions.

[Buckshot20]

Right now Im hunting in pretty flat public ground with a ton of pines. Theres one pretty big swamp that Im almost positive not many people venture into that Ive had my eye on. The terrain is so flat, any saddle on a map is a couple small hills without much funnel effect to them.

How flat is flat? If you've got some hills you could have deer funneling through. The funnel might be bigger but they will still do things based off the topography.

[Blakebry123]

For a wider funnel how would you attack that? Just sit in the middle so you could drop him either route he takes? And probably the biggest hill Ive seen on the ground is 20 foot. Average 5-10 foot hills. Its almost so little that is has me questioning if it has any funnel effects on the deer.

[justdirtyfun]

What is your most common wind direction during hunting season?

Looking for edges of pine and swamp or edges of clear cut can be a good starting point. If the thick areas are upwind and open areas are downwind for common wind you will find deer sign on that edge

[JoeRE]

Yes, time time time is what it takes to learn these things. Its all situational. None of us have all the answers.

For me it was at least 3 years into a laser focus on bedding before I felt like I was answering many of my own questions. And I still come up with tons of questions, always will. The deer have to teach you, as great as the hunting beast forum is, it can't come close to in the field experience. The details are all situational....

Just a note about thermals. Thermals fall when the air is cooling, and rise when the air is warming. I encourage everyone to think of it like that.

Usually when the sun is well over the horizon, air is warming and thermals are rising. Just to throw very general numbers around this would be from 1-2 hours after sunup to 1-2 hours before sundown. BUT IT DEPENDS A LOT ON WEATHER. You can have cooling air and falling thermals at different times of the day with dense fog or clouds or rain or a big cold front rolling through. Again, think of it as Thermals fall when the air is cooling, and rise when the air is warming...not always a specific time of day

[Blakebry123]

So how would you use a thermal for hunting then? That really confuses me.

[Buckshot20]

For a wider funnel how would you attack that? Just sit in the middle so you could drop him either route he takes? And probably the biggest hill Ive seen on the ground is 20 foot. Average 5-10 foot hills. Its almost so little that is has me questioning if it has any funnel effects on the deer.

There is a place near me I grew up hunting with hounds. I always saved the places the deer would cross on my GPS. The waypoints eventually stacked up in the same places over and over. When I matched those waypoints up with a topo map they either followed a contour line or were in relation to a point on the ridge. The deer run where they walk. You see what I'm saying. We are only 25' or so above sea level so there is not much change. In these types of areas it is extremely difficult to bow hunt.

Water will funnel deer as well. Its one of the best funnels in my opinion. Hard edge

[justdirtyfun]

https://youtu.be/DINchyvKHxs

Watch this from dan and you will be on track with basic thermal ideas.

[Tennhunter3]

Yes your correct as far as hunting low in morning and high in afternoon.

Wind swirls way to much to hunt low in afternoon it can be done but it takes a perfect spot that funnels wind and thermals a certain way.

On your swamp question you never said what wind it is only the bucks travel direction.

He will j hook differently depending on wind which changes slightly daily sometimes even hourly. Setting up on j hooks is not easy.

Bump and dump in hill country is hard I usually get picked off. Did let a 2 and a half yo walk on one of my last bump and dump hunts.

[Divergent]

JoeRe and justdirtyfun have given you solid advice. With little elevation, I would focus on the transitions. I don't find many deer bedding deep in pines. Usually, they'll bed on the downwind edge of pines if they're young enough. Sounds like your swamp might hold more beds, but they'll use the pines for travel.

You can hunt at different heights with thermals. You can hunt low while thermals are still falling(daylight-8am or so depending on thermal shift) then move up high once thermals start to rise. You can do the reverse setup in the evenings.