Wind and Thermals

[mike perry]

This is great stuff, it should be mandatory reading for any serious Hunter. We could not just get information like this from a article when I first started bow hunting in ‘86 it took years of trial and error for me to realize how to take advantage of water thermals hunting swamps and creek systems, especially slow moving meandering creeks. I told friends years ago to set up close to the water and in the evening when the wind died down you’re scent would pull toward the water behind you, guys thought I was crazy. I didn’t know the why, I just knew it happened, not until I started reading posts on hear and hearing Dan talk about the water temperature warming and the air above that warmer water rising and the air being pulled back in to take its place did it make total sense to me. great thread guys

Hey mike, I have a few spots near water. How close would you set up to it for the thermals to take effect?

What kind of water? It makes a difference, if it’s swamp water let’s say on a beaver levy, it will heat up quick and in the evening you want to be set up on the side of the levy crossing close as you can get for a comfortable shot to the water. If it’s a slow moving creek in a funnel like one of my fovorite setups I’m as close as I can get to the creek. Faster shallow water you need to be away from that creek across the trail. Lots of variables. Most of my best rut setups are in funnels that have water on atleast one side. If it’s stagnant water like on a oxbow lake where there is a old creek bed that is full on stagnant water I’m close as I can get to the water. If I’m on a fast moving shallow creek I’ll be setup on the opposite side of the trail away from the creek. But most of my setups are on bends of slow moving meandering creeks or on beaver levies or along beaver damns so I’m rarely hunting shallow faster moving water.

[amesk31]

I definitely notice more beds lower (half way) on elevation in small more gradual hills compared to beds being high, more on the top third in areas with steeper terrain. I believe that the buck has more of an area he can bed/cruise in more gradual terrain and still be in the thermal tunnel. Which area do you find to be more productive or predictable?

[dan]

I definitely notice more beds lower (half way) on elevation in small more gradual hills compared to beds being high, more on the top third in areas with steeper terrain. I believe that the buck has more of an area he can bed/cruise in more gradual terrain and still be in the thermal tunnel. Which area do you find to be more productive or predictable?

Steep is easier to read...

[mheichelbech]

Do you find that airflow directly impacts how a buck will travel from his bed assuming there aren’t other factors involved such as pressure, etc?

If so, then;
What, if anything, can a hunter do to make a good assessment on how airflow (thermals, wind, whatever) is likely to cause a buck to move in a certain direction on the day he is hunting?

Or is a matter of having experience with conditions in the intended hunt area?

[Wolfofmibu]

This is great stuff, it should be mandatory reading for any serious Hunter. We could not just get information like this from a article when I first started bow hunting in ‘86 it took years of trial and error for me to realize how to take advantage of water thermals hunting swamps and creek systems, especially slow moving meandering creeks. I told friends years ago to set up close to the water and in the evening when the wind died down you’re scent would pull toward the water behind you, guys thought I was crazy. I didn’t know the why, I just knew it happened, not until I started reading posts on hear and hearing Dan talk about the water temperature warming and the air above that warmer water rising and the air being pulled back in to take its place did it make total sense to me. great thread guys

Hey mike, I have a few spots near water. How close would you set up to it for the thermals to take effect?

What kind of water? It makes a difference, if it’s swamp water let’s say on a beaver levy, it will heat up quick and in the evening you want to be set up on the side of the levy crossing close as you can get for a comfortable shot to the water. If it’s a slow moving creek in a funnel like one of my fovorite setups I’m as close as I can get to the creek. Faster shallow water you need to be away from that creek across the trail. Lots of variables. Most of my best rut setups are in funnels that have water on atleast one side. If it’s stagnant water like on a oxbow lake where there is a old creek bed that is full on stagnant water I’m close as I can get to the water. If I’m on a fast moving shallow creek I’ll be setup on the opposite side of the trail away from the creek. But most of my setups are on bends of slow moving meandering creeks or on beaver levies or along beaver damns so I’m rarely hunting shallow faster moving water.

I hunt water that’s stagnant , slow moving creeks and fast moving . But you pretty much covered all those areas . I’ll try it how like you said plus I’ll use milkweed to help figure it out . Thanks for the response mike !

[JoeRE]

Here is a good thread with a bunch of information on the topic of wind and thermal combinations: http://thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34869&start=15&hilit=updraft

As an update to what I posted in that thread, last fall I put a friend of mine on a bench about half way down a steep 300' tall leeward sidehill (well below any "tunnel") on a cold cloudy day (meaning little to no thermals) with a screaming wind coming over the top. The updraft vaccuum effect from that high speed low pressure stream of air coming over the top of the ridge was sucking his milkweek straight UP the tree into the treetops all morning long. Under other conditions that spot would have been very hard to hunt because deer could be both upslope and downslope from him but in those conditions it was literally impossible for anything to smell him, after having several deer come past him undetected he shot a toad of a public land buck. The spot was foolproof because of those conditions.

I would say the title of this thread is spot on: Wind AND thermals. Meaning there is usually both at play, rarely is it wind "or" thermals. Thermals depend entirely on temperature differences between two locations by definition. The bigger the temperature difference the bigger the thermal effect, the less temp difference the less thermals its that simple. Thermals and wind can interact in a million different ways depending on relative speeds of air currents and just directions if they line up similar directions or fight each other. The easiest situations to figure out are where there are strong thermals and little wind....or little thermals and strong wind...unfortunately that seems like it happens about 20% of the time the rest of the time we get both to deal with