Swamp Bedding - Thermal Mixing Zones

[headgear]

Ok this is kind of a spin off on my Lowland Thermal Tunnel thread (link below). Clearly there isn't a lowland thermal tunnel per say but more of a possibility for a thermal mixing zones where a buck could take advantage of higher ground surrounding a swamp bedding area and use the thermals to his advantage. Like Dan said in the following link a lot of times the wind will die down that last hour of shooting light so these bucks might even depend on these thermals to kick in for them just before dark.
http://thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6776

These swamps aren't so much marsh but cedar swamps, or floating bog areas with thick brush for cover. The same could apply for other types of swamp bedding but I am not sure. Here are 3 examples of buck bedding areas I have scouted, the bucks appear to use these swamps for bedding because they offer good cover and often good sight lines to catch anything down wind of their bed. What I find interesting is the topography around the bedding areas. It seems like the terrain features might allow the buck to stage in an area where falling thermals off of higher ground are mixing or allow the buck travel routes in multiple directions and still be able to catch a thermal so he has the advantage. Now on windy evenings these thermals might not play a role but during calm evenings they would be in play.

Now I don't know if you could call these buck bedding tendency's or if it's just one big coincidence but after finding 3 similar beds in these areas it might be something to look into. At the very least if you have a very large transition line/swamp with similar bedding optionis, these thermal mixing zones might give that buck the extra incentive they need to use one area over the other.

I'd love to hear what you guys think or if you know of any similar areas.

Yellow=Buck Bed - Green=Prevailing Wind - Orange=Falling Evening Thermals

[JRM6868]

Your first and third pic I don't see very much thermal activity to the east of the beds. You'll have some from the west where your wind is coming from because it is a little higher elevation change but the east there really isn't enough slope there to cause a evening down thermal from the pic to hurt you in a hunting situation. The middle pic we covered in the other thread.

[headgear]

See now I am not so sure you need to have steep terrain to get a thermal effect, no doubt the thermal would be stronger in steep terrain but I don't think it just shots off. I have been busted by deer on dead calm evenings when the elevation change was a little as 15 feet. I was setup on the edge of a swamp and a group of does came in just before dark, they were on a small ridge that dumped into the swamp in front of me. They moved in and fed for a while on that ridge and nothing happened, well as soon as they moved down off the ridge into the swamp one of them picked up my scent and all broke loose.

[JRM6868]

See now I am not so sure you need to have steep terrain to get a thermal effect, no doubt the thermal would be stronger in steep terrain but I don't think it just shots off. I have been busted by deer on dead calm evenings when the elevation change was a little as 15 feet. I was setup on the edge of a swamp and a group of does came in just before dark, they were on a small ridge that dumped into the swamp in front of me. They moved in and fed for a while on that ridge and nothing happened, well as soon as
they moved down off the ridge into the swamp one of them picked up my scent and all broke loose.

I don't think the thermals shut off either but the area east is mostly flat with a west wind there's nothing there for him to get winded in those situations. In yours it sounds like the thermal settled on the ground and remained stagnant with no breeze which held your scent there allowing you to get winded. Another thing to watch is when it's dead calm it usually isn't. It might be in the area your in but out 20-30-40-50 yards in front of you there could be a breeze that you can't tell is there. If your in the trees you could have been protected but out over the swamp there could have been a slight breeze you never knew about carrying your scent.

Milkweeds are important.

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