1/3 elevation question

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Mibowhunter91
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1/3 elevation question

Unread postby Mibowhunter91 » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:53 am

Hey guys I was sitting in a tree this morning and I started wondering when talkin about the bucks cruising about 1/3 down the ridge is their an elevation change that encourages this more than others. I got to thinkin a spot I hunt has a lot if smaller ridges running on it I wouldn't call this anything close to hill country. There are some bigger steeper ridges and hill but the majority if them from the too to the valley floor is somewhere between a 30-60 foot change in elevation.

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Re: 1/3 elevation question

Unread postby dan » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:04 pm

The elevation your looking for is the one where the gradual down slope from the top suddenly drops sharper. Its here that the air current and thermal collide.
If its hard to determine, look for rub trees, old or new, they generally mark this elevation.
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Re: 1/3 elevation question

Unread postby 62kodiak » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:22 pm

That rubline tip is a good one Dan.

I think the OP was asking how big a hill has to be before you start seeing travel on the military ridge. I have been wondering the same thing. I found a spot that is just like Dan described. The thing that got me though, was that the hill was only had about 30' of elevation change from the marsh edge to the crest. I would have thought that the hill would have to be bigger for this type of travel pattern.

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Re: 1/3 elevation question

Unread postby dan » Sun Oct 19, 2014 12:03 am

62kodiak wrote:That rubline tip is a good one Dan.

I think the OP was asking how big a hill has to be before you start seeing travel on the military ridge. I have been wondering the same thing. I found a spot that is just like Dan described. The thing that got me though, was that the hill was only had about 30' of elevation change from the marsh edge to the crest. I would have thought that the hill would have to be bigger for this type of travel pattern.

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I have seen them use a 10 foot elevation in otherwise flat terrain... In a couple spots, I could drop milkweed over my head standing on ground and it would catch the wind and blow away from the hill, but let milkweed go at your knee and watch it suck up to the hill.
It don't take much of a hill to have an effect... But, bigger/steeper hills, have bigger effect.
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Buckfever
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Re: 1/3 elevation question

Unread postby Buckfever » Sun Oct 19, 2014 12:14 am

I think third from the top was just a guideline to simplify the presentation in the Hill country video. Like Dan pointed out the contour and the topography are going to dictate the wind currents and that's the extra consideration in the hill country hunt. It still comes down to identifying the bedding/staging and everything gets built off that. For the rut they did a beautiful job on the funnels in that video.
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Re: 1/3 elevation question

Unread postby Mibowhunter91 » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:49 am

Thanks! I was just not sure of how big the hill needed to be before it started work. Thanks for clearing that up for me

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Bigb
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Re: 1/3 elevation question

Unread postby Bigb » Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:07 am

dan wrote:The elevation your looking for is the one where the gradual down slope from the top suddenly drops sharper. Its here that the air current and thermal collide.
If its hard to determine, look for rub trees, old or new, they generally mark this elevation.


Never thought of this but it really makes sense. Going back to the mental pictures I have of where we have a lot of rubs, if they aren't on field edge they are close to this top 1/3 to top 1/4 area.
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Re: 1/3 elevation question

Unread postby Arrowbender » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:56 pm

Absolutely agree with the 1/3 from top trail/activity.
But in farm country that is not necessarily hill country I think transitions trump elevation.
If a fair to good size ridge borders a marsh; I find the trail, activity to favor the transition more than the upper 1/3 of the ridge.

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