This is the first season I’m hunting a few bowls that go up into clearcuts.
The bucks tend to bed on top of the bowl and slightly right or left shifting around wind.
I tried sneaking in and setting up at the bowl bottom I noticed a swirl so I moved and got busted buck at top saw me.
How do you guys set up on bowls correctly?
Setting up in the bowl?
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
Tennhunter3 wrote:This is the first season I’m hunting a few bowls that go up into clearcuts.
The bucks tend to bed on top of the bowl and slightly right or left shifting around wind.
I tried sneaking in and setting up at the bowl bottom I noticed a swirl so I moved and got busted buck at top saw me.
How do you guys set up on bowls correctly?
Are you talking about in hill country? Like a bowl in a valley with multiable smaller ravines coming into one area or you talking about a bowl in a swamp or marsh?
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
Depends on the size of the bowl, but I’ll setup with a just off wind to get me by until the wind dies and dropping thermals kick in. Typical 1/3 from the top looking to catch bucks dropping down to check thermals. Treating it like a low thermal hub with last minute setups.
Too much swirling to hang out there that long. Only have good luck when I know there’s a reason they’ll want to drop in over staying high.
Too much swirling to hang out there that long. Only have good luck when I know there’s a reason they’ll want to drop in over staying high.
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
UofLbowhunter wrote:Tennhunter3 wrote:This is the first season I’m hunting a few bowls that go up into clearcuts.
The bucks tend to bed on top of the bowl and slightly right or left shifting around wind.
I tried sneaking in and setting up at the bowl bottom I noticed a swirl so I moved and got busted buck at top saw me.
How do you guys set up on bowls correctly?
Are you talking about in hill country? Like a bowl in a valley with multiable smaller ravines coming into one area or you talking about a bowl in a swamp or marsh?
This bowl has a clearcut on 3 sides like a half moon at the top rounded the bowl is full of oak trees thick brush and a creek with a large creek at the bottom.
Yes it’s fairly steep hill country.
The bucks are bedding right where the clearcut edge ends and oaks began looking down the hill.
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
Evanszach7 wrote:Depends on the size of the bowl, but I’ll setup with a just off wind to get me by until the wind dies and dropping thermals kick in. Typical 1/3 from the top looking to catch bucks dropping down to check thermals. Treating it like a low thermal hub with last minute setups.
Too much swirling to hang out there that long. Only have good luck when I know there’s a reason they’ll want to drop in over staying high.
This bowl is about 150 yards wide at the bottom rounding at the top. As far as bowls go I think it is large.
The bucks just move around the top of the bowl when wind shifts and can bed in the bowl on 3 wind directions drop down and go up the next slope and all winds are covered.
This bowl holds a tremendous amount of mature buck sign.
Theirs no food or water up high just pine tree clearcut the bucks drop down into the oaks to eat and water. They probably have 400 plus acres of pine clearcut around this bowl. So it’s the only oak trees for a long way.
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
Tennhunter3 wrote:Evanszach7 wrote:Depends on the size of the bowl, but I’ll setup with a just off wind to get me by until the wind dies and dropping thermals kick in. Typical 1/3 from the top looking to catch bucks dropping down to check thermals. Treating it like a low thermal hub with last minute setups.
Too much swirling to hang out there that long. Only have good luck when I know there’s a reason they’ll want to drop in over staying high.
This bowl is about 150 yards wide at the bottom rounding at the top. As far as bowls go I think it is large.
The bucks just move around the top of the bowl when wind shifts and can bed in the bowl on 3 wind directions drop down and go up the next slope and all winds are covered.
This bowl holds a tremendous amount of mature buck sign.
Theirs no food or water up high just pine tree clearcut the bucks drop down into the oaks to eat and water. They probably have 400 plus acres of pine clearcut around this bowl. So it’s the only oak trees for a long way.
Surprised myself early season in Ky when I sent my buddy to hunt a bed on a bowl edge with a NE wind. If the bowl were a clock, with noon being the top center, I expected the buck to be at the 10 bed. He ended up being at 2. Due to thick cover 25 yards above him, no wind over the back from the top. He was facing up hill towards noon, and a thick crp field, catching the swirl from 6, so setup to bed a SW swirl on a NE wind day. Between wind gusts he’d have rising thermals. Exit trail from that bed led to oaks below towards the 5. You’d need to setup below the 5 just before the thermal switch and enter from below.
Thought I had the bedding/wind figured out there until he busted the buck and picked up the exit trail. Buck didn’t blow out, but walked off which helped.
As the foliage drops, the wind and thermals will play out different here. So, I’ve got a September bowl bedding setup locked down but am applying this to similar setups.
Bowls are really tough. Try not to rule any wind bedding out. Biggest takeaway for me here was the mature buck was counting on thermals and using a wind that paired with those thermals and a 5-6mph sunny wind day. Still wind/thermals to back, but facing up hill to a crp transition line.
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
Tennhunter3 wrote:UofLbowhunter wrote:Tennhunter3 wrote:This is the first season I’m hunting a few bowls that go up into clearcuts.
The bucks tend to bed on top of the bowl and slightly right or left shifting around wind.
I tried sneaking in and setting up at the bowl bottom I noticed a swirl so I moved and got busted buck at top saw me.
How do you guys set up on bowls correctly?
Are you talking about in hill country? Like a bowl in a valley with multiable smaller ravines coming into one area or you talking about a bowl in a swamp or marsh?
This bowl has a clearcut on 3 sides like a half moon at the top rounded the bowl is full of oak trees thick brush and a creek with a large creek at the bottom.
Yes it’s fairly steep hill country.
The bucks are bedding right where the clearcut edge ends and oaks began looking down the hill.
I was just curious to the terrian type. JoeRE is the man to look up info on those types of spots there a few good threads he has talked about those conditions. I think he was trying to set up mostly to try to catch them on the edge of the bowls coming or goin out in the rut, cause goin in the bowl was just to much swirling. I wished i could give you some good advice or situations like evenszach7 but i spend more time in swamps. I do know at the end of the first disc in the hill country dvd joeRE has a segment talking about those setups too
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
The buck I spooked yesterday was about the 4 o’clock position.
Seems almost impossible to get within a hundred yards. At 80 yesterday I got busted.
Hunting the bottom and off to the side is probably the best option I’m just not sure he will go that far in daylight.
Seems almost impossible to get within a hundred yards. At 80 yesterday I got busted.
Hunting the bottom and off to the side is probably the best option I’m just not sure he will go that far in daylight.
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
Go in during the AM. Mid morning the wind will get dicey though. I like to hunt them on lower wind days or when the wind is heading towards the mouth or opening of the valley. Its tough sometimes but lower wind mph days can help w swirling. Those days the thermals dominate and can be manipulated a little easier.
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Re: Setting up in the bowl?
<DK> wrote:Go in during the AM. Mid morning the wind will get dicey though. I like to hunt them on lower wind days or when the wind is heading towards the mouth or opening of the valley. Its tough sometimes but lower wind mph days can help w swirling. Those days the thermals dominate and can be manipulated a little easier.
I am hunting a similar spot this year and agree that am hunting might be a better option. The bowl where I am has doe bedding at the bottom, which makes it even more difficult since there is a group of does that face each way. Pretty sure the bucks use this to their advantage and take notice of the does busting out, which makes an am sit the best option.
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