Understanding Thermals

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dan
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Re: Understanding Thermals

Unread postby dan » Wed May 06, 2015 11:45 am

semperfidelis wrote:
dan wrote:Yes, I would hunt lower in the early morning if I was planning only hunting the spot for an hour or two, but I would likely not hunt down in the valley unless it was a very large valley or had a cross wind cause of the swirling... My lower morning sets are usually at the bottom 1/3


Dan, why r your sets at the bottom 1/3? I would have assumed if u were bed hunting your set would have been in close proximity to the bed. I would have assumed u would be higher, even in the morning.

Can u elaborate?

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Bucks tend to come into there beds from below and J-hook up at some point below the bed. When I think back to the hills we scouted together in Indiana, your probably itching your head... Most of the hills I hunt are steeper than yours and offer a better set up than what we looked at...
I have noticed bucks walking the hill bottoms on a few occasions before thermals kick in... One particular ridge I hunted the top 1/3 for many years and started noticing that I often saw bucks on the bottom 1/3 untill thermals kick in then up by me later in the morning and until thermal drop... Its been a big benefit there to set up low then scoot up the hill when the air starts rising.


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Re: Understanding Thermals

Unread postby Harvestor » Wed May 06, 2015 2:23 pm

dan wrote:
semperfidelis wrote:
dan wrote:Yes, I would hunt lower in the early morning if I was planning only hunting the spot for an hour or two, but I would likely not hunt down in the valley unless it was a very large valley or had a cross wind cause of the swirling... My lower morning sets are usually at the bottom 1/3


Dan, why r your sets at the bottom 1/3? I would have assumed if u were bed hunting your set would have been in close proximity to the bed. I would have assumed u would be higher, even in the morning.

Can u elaborate?

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image

Bucks tend to come into there beds from below and J-hook up at some point below the bed. When I think back to the hills we scouted together in Indiana, your probably itching your head... Most of the hills I hunt are steeper than yours and offer a better set up than what we looked at...
I have noticed bucks walking the hill bottoms on a few occasions before thermals kick in... One particular ridge I hunted the top 1/3 for many years and started noticing that I often saw bucks on the bottom 1/3 untill thermals kick in then up by me later in the morning and until thermal drop... Its been a big benefit there to set up low then scoot up the hill when the air starts rising.


Dan, when you are noticing this movement at the bottom 1/3, is it your opinion that they are coming up from below to bed higher because they were merely in the valley feeding at night or are they utilizing the lower elevation to scent check the hillside. I understand the concept of them coming to their beds into the wind...my question would be if they are utilizing a food source that is on top of the hill, above the bed, will they still work down to the lower 1/3 in the dark and then enter the bed from below, hopefully in gray light on a moon day perhaps?

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
dan
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Re: Understanding Thermals

Unread postby dan » Wed May 06, 2015 9:21 pm

Dan, when you are noticing this movement at the bottom 1/3, is it your opinion that they are coming up from below to bed higher because they were merely in the valley feeding at night or are they utilizing the lower elevation to scent check the hillside. I understand the concept of them coming to their beds into the wind...my question would be if they are utilizing a food source that is on top of the hill, above the bed, will they still work down to the lower 1/3 in the dark and then enter the bed from below, hopefully in gray light on a moon day perhaps?

I am seeing bucks feeding up on top dropping down and then following the lower contour for a short distance then hooking back up.

Before the thermals kick in bucks are a little less predictable. Some will still travel the top 1/3 and some will wander elswhere. On the particular ridge I was refering to its bananna shaped and I think when there is no thermal its simply easier for them to drop down and cut the corner as a short cut... But once thermals kick in there up top checking wind streams for does.

Also, I have noticed bucks seem to bed at 1st light during rut like they do out side of rut, but they get up later in the morning or afternoon once they know all the does are bedded and start cruising. So my 1st hour set up is often to catch them J-hooking up to the bed.

The j-hook puts the wind in there nose before thermals kick in so they can smell the bed before arrival in case there is a human or predator waiting. Once thermals kick in they can also smell anything following there track.

If you don't have my Hill country DVD its a must have for hill hunters. Its pretty cheap (price wise) considering its a few hours long and covers hill hunting in depth with visual examples... its available on this site in the store.
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Re: Understanding Thermals

Unread postby Harvestor » Thu May 07, 2015 1:06 am

Thanks for the great information. I do have the Hill Country DVD (and Marsh Bucks DVD). The J-Hook diagrams help a lot. I was uncertain if the concept of the buck coming from below to bed more pertained to a buck feeding low or was also relevant to one who fed at night on the top of the hill as well. Thanks for the detailed answer; I believe I will need to reevaluate some of my morning stands after reading through this thread, especially for rut hunting.
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Re: Understanding Thermals

Unread postby stash59 » Thu May 07, 2015 1:12 am

Great topic. Guess I need To get the "Hill Country" DVD.

I'm definitely not a thermal expert but will share what I came accross while hunting elk in the mountains of Montana.

The morning thermals would go down and across the slopes toward the larger creek bottoms/valleys. Then when the sun hit the southerly facing slopes they would go up and across. There would be an unsettled "mixing" time with swirling, wind changes. The north facing slopes continued across and down until the air temps evened out the went through the same process as the south facing slopes. After this happened there was less of a cross slope pull. This is of course what happened in calm conditions.

Since I had never heard of a wind tunnel at the top 1/3 until joining the Beast about 6 months ago I don't know how all that relates. Just know when the wind got srong enough all kinds of different things occured.

This larger scale might not be anything like what anybody has seen here back east. The dryer air of the west might make a difference also.
Wish I would have known about milkweed thistle back then.

Thermals!! So much to learn. Maybe a thermals DVD Dan. I know "Hill Country" must help alot but with the mention of water thermals in flat ground it's alot to keep track of.


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