Hunting the Falling Thermal

[Divergent]

That makes perfect sense and I actually see the same thing when it comes to fields on top of ridges. The deer gravitate to low spots in fields because of the falling thermal advantage in the evening.

Exactly, anytime they can smell what is up ahead of them they will do it, a lot of the staging areas I hunt have a thermal effect so I am alwasy planning my sets for wind and thermals. Sometimes that puts me in not perfect hunting situations but it has to be done that way or they will bust you. It could be similar in hill country where a buck drops off a point down low so they can smell everything up on top of the ridge, they just love those thermal mixing zones or thermal hubs because everything they can sniff a large area. I even see them in overlooks spots next to the road or parking, there will often be a thermal there that they stage into, it doesn't take a lot of elevation to create one so they can come info play just about anywhere.

Yeah, I see the same thing. JoeRe and I had an extensive conversation about thermal hubs in the old autumn ninja thermal hub thread

[xpauliber]

This is definitely a chink in the armor of my hunting strategy. I've gotten pretty good at finding buck bedding areas, watching my access route, setting up with off wind, setting up silently but man have the thermals been kicking my but this season! I've had 2 setups that I thought were guaranteed kill nights with the way the wind was until 20 minutes before dark and the wind quit and the thermals took over and blew 180 degrees different.

I've been thinking about how to setup differently in these spots but it just feels like I will be giving up way too much ground to hang a stand in a spot where the thermals won't bust me. But then again, if I'm not going to see any deer anyway, I need to stop ignoring the thermals and take them into account more seriously.

I LOVE hunting when the wind is a sustained 10mph+. When it's this windy, it generally lasts through evening and the thermals don't get a chance to take over. Additionally, it seems like the wind is more steady and even if a gust blows towards the bedding area, I feel like they won't be able to pinpoint you the way they could if a 2-3mph wind blew towards them.

[Twenty Up]

Something to add.. I’ve noticed after watching THP videos and their Public Land Challenge was how windy it gets in the Midwest. I’m an East coast guy, so this is merely speculation but I’m thinking our deer bed based more so off thermals than Midwestern deer. Not saying our deer don’t Bed wind to back, but they pick specific spots with microclimates and thermals/wind swirls that cater to them for low-no wind days. *

Take GA’s 10 Day weather forecast, even with a Hurricane hitting our highest wind speed is 18MPH but with an average around 5-7.

Madison Wisconsin’s 10 Day also hits 17 but has multiple double digit days bringing their average wind speed closer to 10-11

Just my speculation here but I’m really curious to hear other East Coast and Southern Beasts experiences and input on this.

[Ahawk116]

That’s my experience as well. When I find a place with a micro climate like your talking about it’s almost always a big one. My hunting my hunting buddy and I were talking this evening about the lack of wind in our area being the hardest part about killing mature bucks consistently. Thermals almost always overpower the winds that we have day in and day out. There are advantages to that if you can find the hole in their armor.
I began grasping this last season. After I had killed a couple of good ones I just went on a learning mission even though I had another tag in my pocket, but I was always confused why I kept bumping bucks that were bedded, but not on leeward hillsides. I think that’s the answer. The heads of ditches especially seem to funnel the thermals down and I find a lot of beds in those spots.

Don’t get me wrong I still find them on leeward ridges, but more often than not i find them in areas that are funneling thermals.

Have you tried banking on that and staging in an area until the thermals shift? I have on accident aka running late from playing with my boys or something, but I’ve never had the guts to try setting up an hour before dark in the evening on purpose. I think I’m going to try it a lot this season using a tree saddle because I think I can move quicker with less noise than I can with my lone wolf. (Less metal)

Something to add.. I’ve noticed after watching THP videos and their Public Land Challenge was how windy it gets in the Midwest. I’m an East coast guy, so this is merely speculation but I’m thinking our deer bed based more so off thermals than Midwestern deer. Not saying our deer don’t Bed wind to back, but they pick specific spots with microclimates and thermals/wind swirls that cater to them for low-no wind days. *

Take GA’s 10 Day weather forecast, even with a Hurricane hitting our highest wind speed is 18MPH but with an average around 5-7.

Madison Wisconsin’s 10 Day also hits 17 but has multiple double digit days bringing their average wind speed closer to 10-11

Just my speculation here but I’m really curious to hear other East Coast and Southern Beasts experiences and input on this.

[Twenty Up]

That’s my experience as well. When I find a place with a micro climate like your talking about it’s almost always a big one. My hunting my hunting buddy and I were talking this evening about the lack of wind in our area being the hardest part about killing mature bucks consistently. Thermals almost always overpower the winds that we have day in and day out. There are advantages to that if you can find the hole in their armor.
I began grasping this last season. After I had killed a couple of good ones I just went on a learning mission even though I had another tag in my pocket, but I was always confused why I kept bumping bucks that were bedded, but not on leeward hillsides. I think that’s the answer. The heads of ditches especially seem to funnel the thermals down and I find a lot of beds in those spots.

Don’t get me wrong I still find them on leeward ridges, but more often than not i find them in areas that are funneling thermals.

Have you tried banking on that and staging in an area until the thermals shift? I have on accident aka running late from playing with my boys or something, but I’ve never had the guts to try setting up an hour before dark in the evening on purpose. I think I’m going to try it a lot this season using a tree saddle because I think I can move quicker with less noise than I can with my lone wolf. (Less metal)

Something to add.. I’ve noticed after watching THP videos and their Public Land Challenge was how windy it gets in the Midwest. I’m an East coast guy, so this is merely speculation but I’m thinking our deer bed based more so off thermals than Midwestern deer. Not saying our deer don’t Bed wind to back, but they pick specific spots with microclimates and thermals/wind swirls that cater to them for low-no wind days. *

Take GA’s 10 Day weather forecast, even with a Hurricane hitting our highest wind speed is 18MPH but with an average around 5-7.

Madison Wisconsin’s 10 Day also hits 17 but has multiple double digit days bringing their average wind speed closer to 10-11

Just my speculation here but I’m really curious to hear other East Coast and Southern Beasts experiences and input on this.

I know Divergent and Autumn Ninja both have spoke a lot of setting up in anticipation for thermals and staging in thermal hubs. I’ll let one of them answer your question because I’m still learning

Something I noticed with bucks bedding in ditches and draws is also how much cooler they will be. This past summer I was walking in to hang cameras and I hit the bottom of a draw, temperature dropped close to 20F. So I stopped to catch my breath only to look over and make eye contact with a bedded buck. Mid day, maybe 1-2PM.. Bedded wind either to his face or him looking uphill, he was standing up by the time I saw him. Thermals rose up from fields on Left & Right then at the top they seemed to catch the creek and the cool air follows the stream down. Nearly 360 degrees of scent checking in a really overlooked area.

Earl season these beds really seem to shine here

[Divergent]

This is definitely a chink in the armor of my hunting strategy. I've gotten pretty good at finding buck bedding areas, watching my access route, setting up with off wind, setting up silently but man have the thermals been kicking my but this season! I've had 2 setups that I thought were guaranteed kill nights with the way the wind was until 20 minutes before dark and the wind quit and the thermals took over and blew 180 degrees different.

I've been thinking about how to setup differently in these spots but it just feels like I will be giving up way too much ground to hang a stand in a spot where the thermals won't bust me. But then again, if I'm not going to see any deer anyway, I need to stop ignoring the thermals and take them into account more seriously.

I LOVE hunting when the wind is a sustained 10mph+. When it's this windy, it generally lasts through evening and the thermals don't get a chance to take over. Additionally, it seems like the wind is more steady and even if a gust blows towards the bedding area, I feel like they won't be able to pinpoint you the way they could if a 2-3mph wind blew towards them.

Yeah, those kind of winds are great aren’t they?! I wish we had more of them in the early season. I’m starting to think you can get away with more,in general, even if they daytime winds are blowing into bedding. I don’t think they tolerate near as much once they’re on their feet, light is fading, and they run across your concentrated scent from falling thermals.

[Divergent]

Something to add.. I’ve noticed after watching THP videos and their Public Land Challenge was how windy it gets in the Midwest. I’m an East coast guy, so this is merely speculation but I’m thinking our deer bed based more so off thermals than Midwestern deer. Not saying our deer don’t Bed wind to back, but they pick specific spots with microclimates and thermals/wind swirls that cater to them for low-no wind days. *

Take GA’s 10 Day weather forecast, even with a Hurricane hitting our highest wind speed is 18MPH but with an average around 5-7.

Madison Wisconsin’s 10 Day also hits 17 but has multiple double digit days bringing their average wind speed closer to 10-11

Just my speculation here but I’m really curious to hear other East Coast and Southern Beasts experiences and input on this.

I can tell you this for certain...Deer move more and spook less with moderate winds. Nothing is worse in my opinion that to have 10mph winds that drop to less than 5mph for the last hour of daylight.

The bedding still appears to be consistent with hill country bedding for me. I will say that they tend to drop in elevation for most of the summer. I think it’s because of the temps mostly. I find bedding to be more along the base of bluffs and along creeks and rivers in grasssy cover during the summer months. You might be onto something though. It could be because of the lack of wind...never actually thought about it. I just assumed it was temp related.

[Divergent]

That’s my experience as well. When I find a place with a micro climate like your talking about it’s almost always a big one. My hunting my hunting buddy and I were talking this evening about the lack of wind in our area being the hardest part about killing mature bucks consistently. Thermals almost always overpower the winds that we have day in and day out. There are advantages to that if you can find the hole in their armor.
I began grasping this last season. After I had killed a couple of good ones I just went on a learning mission even though I had another tag in my pocket, but I was always confused why I kept bumping bucks that were bedded, but not on leeward hillsides. I think that’s the answer. The heads of ditches especially seem to funnel the thermals down and I find a lot of beds in those spots.

Don’t get me wrong I still find them on leeward ridges, but more often than not i find them in areas that are funneling thermals.

Have you tried banking on that and staging in an area until the thermals shift? I have on accident aka running late from playing with my boys or something, but I’ve never had the guts to try setting up an hour before dark in the evening on purpose. I think I’m going to try it a lot this season using a tree saddle because I think I can move quicker with less noise than I can with my lone wolf. (Less metal)

Something to add.. I’ve noticed after watching THP videos and their Public Land Challenge was how windy it gets in the Midwest. I’m an East coast guy, so this is merely speculation but I’m thinking our deer bed based more so off thermals than Midwestern deer. Not saying our deer don’t Bed wind to back, but they pick specific spots with microclimates and thermals/wind swirls that cater to them for low-no wind days. *

Take GA’s 10 Day weather forecast, even with a Hurricane hitting our highest wind speed is 18MPH but with an average around 5-7.

Madison Wisconsin’s 10 Day also hits 17 but has multiple double digit days bringing their average wind speed closer to 10-11

Just my speculation here but I’m really curious to hear other East Coast and Southern Beasts experiences and input on this.

I know Divergent and Autumn Ninja both have spoke a lot of setting up in anticipation for thermals and staging in thermal hubs. I’ll let one of them answer your question because I’m still learning

Something I noticed with bucks bedding in ditches and draws is also how much cooler they will be. This past summer I was walking in to hang cameras and I hit the bottom of a draw, temperature dropped close to 20F. So I stopped to catch my breath only to look over and make eye contact with a bedded buck. Mid day, maybe 1-2PM.. Bedded wind either to his face or him looking uphill, he was standing up by the time I saw him. Thermals rose up from fields on Left & Right then at the top they seemed to catch the creek and the cool air follows the stream down. Nearly 360 degrees of scent checking in a really overlooked area.

Earl season these beds really seem to shine here

Sometimes you have to stage if you don’t want to get busted. Lots of my staged hunts setup like this...you have a creek splitting two ridges that run north to south. When the sun is up, thermals push up each side of the creek in opposite directions. I stay on the side, opposite of the deer. Once the sun starts to dip, the east facing slope(side the deer is on) starts cooling. The falling thermals and shade initiate the deer to drop to the thermal hub. They’re usually near, where multiple draws funnel into a central location. My side is facing west and is still in sun, so my thermals are still being drawn up my hillside. You only have about an hour or a touch more of hunting time. The deer are usually right on time. If you start hearing the blue jays cut up and their bedding area has been in the shade for a few minutes, you better be on your toes. I’ve even had two bucks drop in from opposite sides to the hub. The one on the shaded east side dropped about 20-30 minutes before the buck behind me.

I don’t typically run into bucks bedded in the draws where I hunt...unless it’s in the summer. If I do see them it’s usually at the base of the draw in a cooler area and the wind is swirling. It seems to be more of your typical hill country bedding for me. I do run into a good bit of does at the heads of draws. It makes perfect sense on those low wind days for a buck to get in the middle of one though. The thermals are always a bigger player it seems around where I live in the south. I’m definitely going to pay more attention to them this year, since you mentioned it. Whet elevation are you guys finding them in the draws and what time of the year?

I would really like to see this setup on a map if you have one...it sounds like a killer setup for the deer.

[xpauliber]

Sometimes you have to stage if you don’t want to get busted. Lots of my staged hunts setup like this...you have a creek splitting two ridges that run north to south. When the sun is up, thermals push up each side of the creek in opposite directions. I stay on the side, opposite of the deer. Once the sun starts to dip, the east facing slope(side the deer is on) starts cooling. The falling thermals and shade initiate the deer to drop to the thermal hub. They’re usually near, where multiple draws funnel into a central location. My side is facing west and is still in sun, so my thermals are still being drawn up my hillside. You only have about an hour or a touch more of hunting time. The deer are usually right on time. If you start hearing the blue jays cut up and their bedding area has been in the shade for a few minutes, you better be on your toes. I’ve even had two bucks drop in from opposite sides to the hub. The one on the shaded east side dropped about 20-30 minutes before the buck behind me.

So in this setup, you are setup on the eastern side of the creek, expecting the deer to come from the west correct?

And I'm following your description of the creek splitting the two ridges but where does the "hub" come into play? Do you have a map/example you could share?

[Ahawk116]

Sounds good to me. I’ll send you an email of a couple of examples if you dm yours to me.

I’ve got to put that late setup into practice this year. I think it’s the ticket. I’ve been doing it for years in the mornings, but never had the boldness to do it in the evening. Most of my morning hunts I take the kids to school and go setup afterwards. So it hasn’t been by choice, but still fruitful.
Setting up with an hour of daylight left seems crazy, but it’s got to be the best option for a bunch of these beds. Especially when the conditions aren’t great.

Do you have any experience as to when you would time those setups? Meaning based on weather patterns?
If it’s a cold, high pressure day it would be really hard to pull off because of other deer already being on their feet, or that’s my guess.

That’s my experience as well. When I find a place with a micro climate like your talking about it’s almost always a big one. My hunting my hunting buddy and I were talking this evening about the lack of wind in our area being the hardest part about killing mature bucks consistently. Thermals almost always overpower the winds that we have day in and day out. There are advantages to that if you can find the hole in their armor.
I began grasping this last season. After I had killed a couple of good ones I just went on a learning mission even though I had another tag in my pocket, but I was always confused why I kept bumping bucks that were bedded, but not on leeward hillsides. I think that’s the answer. The heads of ditches especially seem to funnel the thermals down and I find a lot of beds in those spots.

Don’t get me wrong I still find them on leeward ridges, but more often than not i find them in areas that are funneling thermals.

Have you tried banking on that and staging in an area until the thermals shift? I have on accident aka running late from playing with my boys or something, but I’ve never had the guts to try setting up an hour before dark in the evening on purpose. I think I’m going to try it a lot this season using a tree saddle because I think I can move quicker with less noise than I can with my lone wolf. (Less metal)

Something to add.. I’ve noticed after watching THP videos and their Public Land Challenge was how windy it gets in the Midwest. I’m an East coast guy, so this is merely speculation but I’m thinking our deer bed based more so off thermals than Midwestern deer. Not saying our deer don’t Bed wind to back, but they pick specific spots with microclimates and thermals/wind swirls that cater to them for low-no wind days. *

Take GA’s 10 Day weather forecast, even with a Hurricane hitting our highest wind speed is 18MPH but with an average around 5-7.

Madison Wisconsin’s 10 Day also hits 17 but has multiple double digit days bringing their average wind speed closer to 10-11

Just my speculation here but I’m really curious to hear other East Coast and Southern Beasts experiences and input on this.

I know Divergent and Autumn Ninja both have spoke a lot of setting up in anticipation for thermals and staging in thermal hubs. I’ll let one of them answer your question because I’m still learning

Something I noticed with bucks bedding in ditches and draws is also how much cooler they will be. This past summer I was walking in to hang cameras and I hit the bottom of a draw, temperature dropped close to 20F. So I stopped to catch my breath only to look over and make eye contact with a bedded buck. Mid day, maybe 1-2PM.. Bedded wind either to his face or him looking uphill, he was standing up by the time I saw him. Thermals rose up from fields on Left & Right then at the top they seemed to catch the creek and the cool air follows the stream down. Nearly 360 degrees of scent checking in a really overlooked area.

Earl season these beds really seem to shine here

Sometimes you have to stage if you don’t want to get busted. Lots of my staged hunts setup like this...you have a creek splitting two ridges that run north to south. When the sun is up, thermals push up each side of the creek in opposite directions. I stay on the side, opposite of the deer. Once the sun starts to dip, the east facing slope(side the deer is on) starts cooling. The falling thermals and shade initiate the deer to drop to the thermal hub. They’re usually near, where multiple draws funnel into a central location. My side is facing west and is still in sun, so my thermals are still being drawn up my hillside. You only have about an hour or a touch more of hunting time. The deer are usually right on time. If you start hearing the blue jays cut up and their bedding area has been in the shade for a few minutes, you better be on your toes. I’ve even had two bucks drop in from opposite sides to the hub. The one on the shaded east side dropped about 20-30 minutes before the buck behind me.

I don’t typically run into bucks bedded in the draws where I hunt...unless it’s in the summer. If I do see them it’s usually at the base of the draw in a cooler area and the wind is swirling. It seems to be more of your typical hill country bedding for me. I do run into a good bit of does at the heads of draws. It makes perfect sense on those low wind days for a buck to get in the middle of one though. The thermals are always a bigger player it seems around where I live in the south. I’m definitely going to pay more attention to them this year, since you mentioned it. Whet elevation are you guys finding them in the draws and what time of the year?

I would really like to see this setup on a map if you have one...it sounds like a killer setup for the deer.

[Steelhead125]

For my all day sits this year I plan on moving down below the trails I am watching before the thermals kick in after gaining a better understanding of them.
It’s going to be challenging for me because I hate getting out of a tree during the rut when I am seeing good deer movement. Will be worried about spooking anything close by and also putting down ground scent.
At the same time it’s worth the risk compared to having something bust me the last hour because of the evening thermals.

[eric1986]

Thermals...Do you really understand the importance? Over the past few years of ground hunting I’ve been trying to perfect my sets. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and boy have I made my fair share of mistakes. I’m starting this post because I feel like we need to expand on the thermal portion of the tactical thread. So, I’m hoping that this will be more of a conversation starter than anything. I will add some of my experiences as well.

I’m always reading about how to play the wind...hunting an off wind, wind in your face, wind just right for the buck etc. There are times when the wind plays an important role, but I strongly believe that a falling thermal is the single most important piece to a great setup.

How many times has a deer blown at you in late morning or early evening? I can only think of a couple of instances that I’ve been busted after the thermals were rising. I’ve seen them walk right by, never knowing I was in the area unless they crossed the path to my stand or natural blind.

Now, how many times has a doe or buck blown at you just at dark or at first light? I can name a million where I’ve been busted by a falling thermal. The air becomes more dense as the air temps cool and your scent becomes concentrated. This is especially important in the early season when you’ll see a huge swing in daytime highs and lows.

Your scent begins to pool up in certain topographical features once the sun starts to disappear behind the horizon. The greatest amount of deer movement comes around the rising and setting sun. Wind speeds will generally be lower at these times. This is why it’s so important to setup according to a falling thermal. Your setup for a 5-10mph NW wind during the day might be great for the three hours in early afternoon or late morning when the buck is in its bed. However, you might think otherwise when the thermals kick in and start pulling your scent back towards his exit trail at peak movement in evening or as he enters his bed on a j-hook trail in the morning.

The easiest way to understand a falling thermal is to follow the path from your location down to the lowest elevation. Imagine standing at your hunting spot, holding a water hose, and letting the water run for a solid hour. Where would it go? Is it going to cross a deer trail 20 yards away, leading from bed to food? Will it flow down a ditch, take a sharp right once it hits the main creek and flow down to a crossing 200 yards away?

When I setup on the ground I like to position myself below a trail or food source so my scent is pulled away from where I anticipate the deer to approach. I will also consider wind direction and where my scent might blow. This will help me decide which side of a draw I might setup on. I find that a perfect setup would be in a draw where the wind direction and the direction of draw both line up. This will keep the wind and thermals funneling up and down the draw.

There are certain times when I might tweak my sets. During the rut, I see a lot of early morning and then late morning movement. I typically see younger bucks move at daybreak trying to get first dibs on a doe. I would setup according to a falling thermal in these situations to avoid getting busted. Once the does make it back to bed I see more mature bucks start cruising for does. The does usually filter thru by 9-930am where I hunt. The thermals will have shifted by around this time. This is when I’ll move further up hill to catch him cruising. The other time is if it’s early season and I’m hunting a food source where a buck will drop down from his bed. On a calm day, you don’t want several hours of thermals to pull your scent up the hill to his bed. So, if there’s sufficient cover I’ll wait til a falling thermal and quickly setup for only the last hour or so of light to decrease my chances of him catching my scent.

In some cases your thermals might not matter very much at all. Thermals will have little effect with strong fronts with high winds.

I know there are far more knowledgeable hunters on here. So, please feel free to add anything to this thread.

This is a great post, and one I think most people dont consider as they should. I myself fall victim to this more often than I want to admit, especially looking for hot sign in new areas on 1st time sits. Thanks for starting this and getting so much intel to come in the following replies - its an overlook topic for most of the shows/podcasts.

[d_rek]

Not hill country, but had falling thermals illustrated to me the other evening on a flat land / farmland hunt.

I sat a stand over a heavy trail used in a small finger of woods connecting two adjacent fields - one was thick pheasant habitat and the other was a recently cut bean field. The only tree I could sit was on the upwind side of the trail. I sat with the wind hitting me in the back for almost 2 hours, verified by watching milkweed blow directly onto trail and even out into adjacent field.

When the sun got to about the treeline the thermals started to drop and even though I could still feel wind at my back a little I watched the milk weed funnel to my left and out the opening of the trail that went to the field behind me, effectively taking my scent the opposite direction.

I did see deer (way out of range) but had one come in after the thermals dropped I think I could have gotten away with not getting scent busted. Unfortunately I think I may have mucked up my hunt in other ways (took the wrong access in, but that's a different conversation).

[Divergent]

Sometimes you have to stage if you don’t want to get busted. Lots of my staged hunts setup like this...you have a creek splitting two ridges that run north to south. When the sun is up, thermals push up each side of the creek in opposite directions. I stay on the side, opposite of the deer. Once the sun starts to dip, the east facing slope(side the deer is on) starts cooling. The falling thermals and shade initiate the deer to drop to the thermal hub. They’re usually near, where multiple draws funnel into a central location. My side is facing west and is still in sun, so my thermals are still being drawn up my hillside. You only have about an hour or a touch more of hunting time. The deer are usually right on time. If you start hearing the blue jays cut up and their bedding area has been in the shade for a few minutes, you better be on your toes. I’ve even had two bucks drop in from opposite sides to the hub. The one on the shaded east side dropped about 20-30 minutes before the buck behind me.

So in this setup, you are setup on the eastern side of the creek, expecting the deer to come from the west correct?

And I'm following your description of the creek splitting the two ridges but where does the "hub" come into play? Do you have a map/example you could share?

Yeah I’m going to throw up some examples so everyone can see. I’d really like to do a video on a dry erase board. It might be later tonight if in the morning.

[Divergent]

Sounds good to me. I’ll send you an email of a couple of examples if you dm yours to me.

I’ve got to put that late setup into practice this year. I think it’s the ticket. I’ve been doing it for years in the mornings, but never had the boldness to do it in the evening. Most of my morning hunts I take the kids to school and go setup afterwards. So it hasn’t been by choice, but still fruitful.
Setting up with an hour of daylight left seems crazy, but it’s got to be the best option for a bunch of these beds. Especially when the conditions aren’t great.

Do you have any experience as to when you would time those setups? Meaning based on weather patterns?
If it’s a cold, high pressure day it would be really hard to pull off because of other deer already being on their feet, or that’s my guess.

That’s my experience as well. When I find a place with a micro climate like your talking about it’s almost always a big one. My hunting my hunting buddy and I were talking this evening about the lack of wind in our area being the hardest part about killing mature bucks consistently. Thermals almost always overpower the winds that we have day in and day out. There are advantages to that if you can find the hole in their armor.
I began grasping this last season. After I had killed a couple of good ones I just went on a learning mission even though I had another tag in my pocket, but I was always confused why I kept bumping bucks that were bedded, but not on leeward hillsides. I think that’s the answer. The heads of ditches especially seem to funnel the thermals down and I find a lot of beds in those spots.

Don’t get me wrong I still find them on leeward ridges, but more often than not i find them in areas that are funneling thermals.

Have you tried banking on that and staging in an area until the thermals shift? I have on accident aka running late from playing with my boys or something, but I’ve never had the guts to try setting up an hour before dark in the evening on purpose. I think I’m going to try it a lot this season using a tree saddle because I think I can move quicker with less noise than I can with my lone wolf. (Less metal)

Something to add.. I’ve noticed after watching THP videos and their Public Land Challenge was how windy it gets in the Midwest. I’m an East coast guy, so this is merely speculation but I’m thinking our deer bed based more so off thermals than Midwestern deer. Not saying our deer don’t Bed wind to back, but they pick specific spots with microclimates and thermals/wind swirls that cater to them for low-no wind days. *

Take GA’s 10 Day weather forecast, even with a Hurricane hitting our highest wind speed is 18MPH but with an average around 5-7.

Madison Wisconsin’s 10 Day also hits 17 but has multiple double digit days bringing their average wind speed closer to 10-11

Just my speculation here but I’m really curious to hear other East Coast and Southern Beasts experiences and input on this.

I know Divergent and Autumn Ninja both have spoke a lot of setting up in anticipation for thermals and staging in thermal hubs. I’ll let one of them answer your question because I’m still learning

Something I noticed with bucks bedding in ditches and draws is also how much cooler they will be. This past summer I was walking in to hang cameras and I hit the bottom of a draw, temperature dropped close to 20F. So I stopped to catch my breath only to look over and make eye contact with a bedded buck. Mid day, maybe 1-2PM.. Bedded wind either to his face or him looking uphill, he was standing up by the time I saw him. Thermals rose up from fields on Left & Right then at the top they seemed to catch the creek and the cool air follows the stream down. Nearly 360 degrees of scent checking in a really overlooked area.

Earl season these beds really seem to shine here

Sometimes you have to stage if you don’t want to get busted. Lots of my staged hunts setup like this...you have a creek splitting two ridges that run north to south. When the sun is up, thermals push up each side of the creek in opposite directions. I stay on the side, opposite of the deer. Once the sun starts to dip, the east facing slope(side the deer is on) starts cooling. The falling thermals and shade initiate the deer to drop to the thermal hub. They’re usually near, where multiple draws funnel into a central location. My side is facing west and is still in sun, so my thermals are still being drawn up my hillside. You only have about an hour or a touch more of hunting time. The deer are usually right on time. If you start hearing the blue jays cut up and their bedding area has been in the shade for a few minutes, you better be on your toes. I’ve even had two bucks drop in from opposite sides to the hub. The one on the shaded east side dropped about 20-30 minutes before the buck behind me.

I don’t typically run into bucks bedded in the draws where I hunt...unless it’s in the summer. If I do see them it’s usually at the base of the draw in a cooler area and the wind is swirling. It seems to be more of your typical hill country bedding for me. I do run into a good bit of does at the heads of draws. It makes perfect sense on those low wind days for a buck to get in the middle of one though. The thermals are always a bigger player it seems around where I live in the south. I’m definitely going to pay more attention to them this year, since you mentioned it. Whet elevation are you guys finding them in the draws and what time of the year?

I would really like to see this setup on a map if you have one...it sounds like a killer setup for the deer.

My setups are always on the ground, so I’m a lot more mobile than most. Everything I usually do is on the fly. You can get a rough estimate though. They’re pretty consistent in morning and evening. In the evening, I usually get ready when I see their suspected bedding area go from sun to shade. The creeks in my area usually act as a buffer zone and if you stay on your side the thermals will flow back up the hill behind you or if the creek is cold it will flow down with the creek.