mountain hunting - hill country tactics?

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sk1
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mountain hunting - hill country tactics?

Unread postby sk1 » Mon Aug 28, 2017 3:18 pm

so i lived out west for 9 years, i already had what i thought to be a decent concept of wind thermals while hunting in the mountains. dans hill country video makes me wonder how a person can maybe use this to further their success? my biggest question is how dan uses the prevailing wind to decide what side of a hill/slope to hunt on. while i imagine this can apply at times in mountain country, i am guessing maybe not quite as consistent?

maybe an even dumber question, is how do you determine the prevailing wind direction while in the mountains, i swear it seems to come from all over

anyone have any experience with mountains or thoughts to add?


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brancher147
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Re: mountain hunting - hill country tactics?

Unread postby brancher147 » Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:16 pm

Mountains are all I have ever hunted. That being said, it has taken me until now (about 15 years) to really feel like I can predict the wind/thermals and use it to my advantage. Where I hunt it is big mountains, over 1000 ft elevation gain and some of the mountains are over 4000 ft tall. For years I thought the wind was just unpredictable and didn't consider it when hunting. Needless to say I had very poor results. Then I realized I can hunt the tops of the ridges or near the top and have a more consistent wind. Once I learned about using milkweed and using the thermals I realized I could hunt the tops and have a completely consistent wind depending on the forecast wind direction. But I still wondered, how can I hunt lower down or at the bottom of the ridge with a consistent wind?

All of our mountains run north-south with flat valleys in-between. I began to realize that hunting low down on a north-south running ridge with an east or west wind was impossible to predict. This is because as east or west wind coming over the top of a north-south running ridge will swirl when coming over the top of the ridge, then combine that with rising or falling thermals and the wind low down just blows every which way. But hunting low down on a north-south running ridge with a north or south wind the wind is consistent, unless you are tucked into a draw going up the ridge which will cause the same effect as stated above. So I have learned to hunt the tops on an east or west wind, and hunt lower down (preferably on a point or rise of a finger ridge) or at the bottom of the ridge/valley with a north or south wind. When I learned this my success rate really improved and I started to figure out how to hunt other spots. I do hunt some other ridge type areas where the ridges run every direction with no pattern and the wind is harder to predict, but you can still use this same philosophy.

I hope to this year to figure out hunting (as Dan says) the leeward side of a ridge just above the thermal wind tunnel. I have pulled that off a few times before I heard of Dan or this site, and I must say I saw some really good action when it worked, and almost got a shot at a huge buck last year but he winded me.
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PK_
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Re: mountain hunting - hill country tactics?

Unread postby PK_ » Tue Aug 29, 2017 12:46 am

I know that guys count on mulies and elk bedding pretty much exactly how hill country bedding is described here. Leeward, top 3rd, unless there is a cliff or cover or structure on the hillside that makes them safer at a different elevation.

The guys who get it done stalking to their beds rely on thermals and circle above, for the most part.

So no I don't have first hand experience in western mountains but I have done a lot of research.

I believe Alex Slosser is a member here and in a recent podcast he mentioned snow tracking a bull elk to his bed(twice) and the bulls entry and bedding sounded just like a whitetail buck to me. J-hook and bedded up on points....

Though in more open mountains without much timber, I have heard guys say that shade is priority #1. At least during bow season...
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Re: mountain hunting - hill country tactics?

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Tue Aug 29, 2017 2:07 am

For prevailing wind direction, look which way the grass is leaning. Hunt high in the morning, low in the evening
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Re: mountain hunting - hill country tactics?

Unread postby jwilkstn » Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:42 am

sk1 wrote:
anyone have any experience with mountains or thoughts to add?


I have a little experience, but still piecing it all together...here is what I have learned.

I hunt primarily on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, which is essentially mountains. 800 to 1100' elevation change between bottom and top, very rugged, and access points limited to either the top or the bottom. The difference between here and true mountains is the plateau tends to be somewhat flat on top, and can be miles wide. Because of this, the deer don't move from one slope to another if the wind changes say from North to South. What they will do, instead, is utilize the ridges and especially the secondary points that extend from the ridges to keep the wind in their advantage and still utilize that thermal tunnel that forms within that smaller portion of the overall mountainside.
Say the overall slope runs down to the north, and you have a North wind; instead of moving across the mountaintop to get on the lee side, they'll seek a smaller spur ridge/point that extends E/W and bed on the lee (South) side of this point. Bucks will cruise these areas when the time is right also.

Like you said, the concept of a prevailing wind is somewhat of a misnomer at times depending on the weather. The most predictable time I've noticed the high pressure immediately following a front.

Glad to see more mountain hunters hunting beast style 8-)
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