Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

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Northbound
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Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby Northbound » Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:47 pm

Has this been discussed much? I hunt often along the shores of lake Michigan and there are crazy thermal and wind affects created by that lake. Wish I understood it better to maybe predict days that's worth while to hunt.
More than a few times I've gone over and left right away as the wind wasn't worth burning my spots. It's really a big deal since the deer really trust their nose and eyes in this area. Can get away with noise as the constant crashing of waves is a great cover sound


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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby NYBackcountry » Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:56 pm

I hunt on the shores of Lake Ontario here and there and run into the same thing. I usually take notes on what the wind does in very specific spots. On high wind days the wind almost always comes off the lake so regardless of what the weather says you can count on that. It's understanding how the wind will break on structure like trees and what not that has helped me. The only way to tell is to throw sets at it and take notes.
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Thu Jan 17, 2019 4:36 pm

high wind days i see the deer move out of the wind on lakes. i normally see more deer on lake shores early season and during the summer months. thermal pull too bedding in the evening can get crazy lots of milk weed and pre scouting should do the trick.
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby dirt nap giver » Thu Jan 17, 2019 10:59 pm

My experience on hunting the LM shore is this.

From the pre dawn hours till the prevailing wind of the day kicks in, the off shore breeeze is in effect. Once things warm up, then the prevailing wind takes over till 1hour or 45 minutes before dark, the off shore breeze takes over again.
With that being said, thanks to a member on here the off shore breeze is typically 180 degrees of what the prevailing wind was for the day. So SW wind has off shore breeze coming from the NE.
I have a spot where the bucks come into they’re bed in the morning traveling east. They bed down till about 9-9:30 then once the prevailing wind kicks in, they travel a little further to they’re bed for the remainder of the day. It’s actually quite genius.

The only way I have found to combat this is to hunt 30’ up or to sit back 150-200 yards in the morning while the off shore breeze is in effect, then move over to the beds. Evening sets are probably my best I can go in while the prevailing wind is going, then once my set is up, the off shore breeze takes over and I have more control over my scent stream.

Gives the deer a false sense of security, yet setting up while the off shore transition is happening they are covering ground because the prevailing wind has been blowing at them all
Day.
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby matt1336 » Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:56 am

dirt nap giver wrote:My experience on hunting the LM shore is this.

From the pre dawn hours till the prevailing wind of the day kicks in, the off shore breeeze is in effect. Once things warm up, then the prevailing wind takes over till 1hour or 45 minutes before dark, the off shore breeze takes over again.
With that being said, thanks to a member on here the off shore breeze is typically 180 degrees of what the prevailing wind was for the day. So SW wind has off shore breeze coming from the NE.
I have a spot where the bucks come into they’re bed in the morning traveling east. They bed down till about 9-9:30 then once the prevailing wind kicks in, they travel a little further to they’re bed for the remainder of the day. It’s actually quite genius.

The only way I have found to combat this is to hunt 30’ up or to sit back 150-200 yards in the morning while the off shore breeze is in effect, then move over to the beds. Evening sets are probably my best I can go in while the prevailing wind is going, then once my set is up, the off shore breeze takes over and I have more control over my scent stream.

Gives the deer a false sense of security, yet setting up while the off shore transition is happening they are covering ground because the prevailing wind has been blowing at them all
Day.



That’s really interesting. Thanks for sharing
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby Weezy » Fri Jan 18, 2019 1:23 am

I hunt about 20 miles from Lake Michigan . One thing that I can count on is about an hour before sunset the air currents will shift and pull toward the big lake. Combine this with hunting in a hilly area makes for a hair pulling experience.
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby mauser06 » Fri Jan 18, 2019 1:47 am

I hunted the NE side of lake Michigan for 2 rifle seasons. I never actually noticed the lake effect thermals. I either missed it or there was enough breezy. A few areas I hunted were on the lake or within ear shot of it. Very interesting habitat. I didn't get to spend enough time to figure out such details.
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:20 pm

dirt nap giver wrote:My experience on hunting the LM shore is this.

From the pre dawn hours till the prevailing wind of the day kicks in, the off shore breeeze is in effect. Once things warm up, then the prevailing wind takes over till 1hour or 45 minutes before dark, the off shore breeze takes over again.
With that being said, thanks to a member on here the off shore breeze is typically 180 degrees of what the prevailing wind was for the day. So SW wind has off shore breeze coming from the NE.
I have a spot where the bucks come into they’re bed in the morning traveling east. They bed down till about 9-9:30 then once the prevailing wind kicks in, they travel a little further to they’re bed for the remainder of the day. It’s actually quite genius.

The only way I have found to combat this is to hunt 30’ up or to sit back 150-200 yards in the morning while the off shore breeze is in effect, then move over to the beds. Evening sets are probably my best I can go in while the prevailing wind is going, then once my set is up, the off shore breeze takes over and I have more control over my scent stream.

Gives the deer a false sense of security, yet setting up while the off shore transition is happening they are covering ground because the prevailing wind has been blowing at them all
Day.


I don't know if I could ever pull it off and I am still trying to digest what you wrote, but after reading I just had to comment that you sound like a genius right now. I am now going to print out what you wrote
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby Northbound » Fri Jan 18, 2019 1:23 pm

dirt nap giver wrote:My experience on hunting the LM shore is this.

From the pre dawn hours till the prevailing wind of the day kicks in, the off shore breeeze is in effect. Once things warm up, then the prevailing wind takes over till 1hour or 45 minutes before dark, the off shore breeze takes over again.
With that being said, thanks to a member on here the off shore breeze is typically 180 degrees of what the prevailing wind was for the day. So SW wind has off shore breeze coming from the NE.
I have a spot where the bucks come into they’re bed in the morning traveling east. They bed down till about 9-9:30 then once the prevailing wind kicks in, they travel a little further to they’re bed for the remainder of the day. It’s actually quite genius.

The only way I have found to combat this is to hunt 30’ up or to sit back 150-200 yards in the morning while the off shore breeze is in effect, then move over to the beds. Evening sets are probably my best I can go in while the prevailing wind is going, then once my set is up, the off shore breeze takes over and I have more control over my scent stream.

Gives the deer a false sense of security, yet setting up while the off shore transition is happening they are covering ground because the prevailing wind has been blowing at them all
Day.

Sure enough the 180 degree thing was exactly right this evening. You may have just changed my season
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby Trout » Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:01 pm

Two of my favorite hill country spots are very close to lake M, I can hear waves from the one. I've always had trouble with the shifting winds and thought they were just a product of the hills, never dawned on me to think about how the lake thermals come into play. :idea:
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby dirt nap giver » Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:09 pm

Uncle Lou wrote:
dirt nap giver wrote:My experience on hunting the LM shore is this.

From the pre dawn hours till the prevailing wind of the day kicks in, the off shore breeeze is in effect. Once things warm up, then the prevailing wind takes over till 1hour or 45 minutes before dark, the off shore breeze takes over again.
With that being said, thanks to a member on here the off shore breeze is typically 180 degrees of what the prevailing wind was for the day. So SW wind has off shore breeze coming from the NE.
I have a spot where the bucks come into they’re bed in the morning traveling east. They bed down till about 9-9:30 then once the prevailing wind kicks in, they travel a little further to they’re bed for the remainder of the day. It’s actually quite genius.

The only way I have found to combat this is to hunt 30’ up or to sit back 150-200 yards in the morning while the off shore breeze is in effect, then move over to the beds. Evening sets are probably my best I can go in while the prevailing wind is going, then once my set is up, the off shore breeze takes over and I have more control over my scent stream.

Gives the deer a false sense of security, yet setting up while the off shore transition is happening they are covering ground because the prevailing wind has been blowing at them all
Day.


I don't know if I could ever pull it off and I am still trying to digest what you wrote, but after reading I just had to comment that you sound like a genius right now. I am now going to print out what you wrote

You crack me up.
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Re: Crazy winds and thermals along the great lakes

Unread postby dirt nap giver » Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:11 pm

Northbound wrote:
dirt nap giver wrote:My experience on hunting the LM shore is this.

From the pre dawn hours till the prevailing wind of the day kicks in, the off shore breeeze is in effect. Once things warm up, then the prevailing wind takes over till 1hour or 45 minutes before dark, the off shore breeze takes over again.
With that being said, thanks to a member on here the off shore breeze is typically 180 degrees of what the prevailing wind was for the day. So SW wind has off shore breeze coming from the NE.
I have a spot where the bucks come into they’re bed in the morning traveling east. They bed down till about 9-9:30 then once the prevailing wind kicks in, they travel a little further to they’re bed for the remainder of the day. It’s actually quite genius.

The only way I have found to combat this is to hunt 30’ up or to sit back 150-200 yards in the morning while the off shore breeze is in effect, then move over to the beds. Evening sets are probably my best I can go in while the prevailing wind is going, then once my set is up, the off shore breeze takes over and I have more control over my scent stream.

Gives the deer a false sense of security, yet setting up while the off shore transition is happening they are covering ground because the prevailing wind has been blowing at them all
Day.

Sure enough the 180 degree thing was exactly right this evening. You may have just changed my season

It’s crazy how that works.
Hope this truly does help you knock a big one down.
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