A Thermals Puzzle

[neonomad]

Where are they traveling on that hill from bottom bedding to food? I am wondering if they use or rather avoid those two cuts/depressions in the ridge. They dont look to be steep enough at the top from the topo to form perfect pinch points that the deer will circumvent, but they could be good thermal sinks that will suck your scent down the hill in the evening in a concentrated area like a little stream of scent. If they aren't using those for travel up the hill, you could hunt along the edge of one in the evening and let it pull your scent down and away. This strategy isn't clean or perfect, as you are still blowing you scent down into the bottom, but if you slip in once they are on their feet and have a rough pattern you might be able to get a shooter to work up parallel to you without the falling thermal hitting him.

This is a possible but risky bet… I think there are times they’d be an asset to your back but the evening risk is they also deliver that scent to the river bottom, possibly all the way down to nose level in some conditions, where the deer are queuing. They’re real steep and with waterfalls, impassable without rope.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

(1) I have competing theories here, you may have a point but what I think I experience more is air expanding behind me when I’m near the river and pushing out and into the woods I’m hunting… but if I see it continuing to lift as it blows it’s probably worth a few tries.
(2) Yes, and interestingly that’s the one easiest spot for deer to cross the river to access the woods to the NW. All day sits there starting late Oct not a bad idea, with the thermals pushing up the hill behind you. The downside is you rappel to get there, which I’ve done. In my younger days I’ve gone down it without a rope in the dark with a Summit on my back, which is pure insanity. But I should at a minimum get a camera or two down there to weigh the effort vs opportunity bc you’re right.
(3) these creeks are steep and really pretty, but impassable without pre set ropes… with a stiff wind from the NW this could be very interesting on rut mornings because you’d be looking at prime bedding. Note on these I believe I have to be very careful hunting anywhere near them above in low wind evenings because they flush / suck scent from above down into the valley and I do suspect they could bust you occasionally say 150-175 yards down those cuts and you don’t know it.
(4) I will try this, and on the other hand being at the top of the cliff in evenings for sure vacuums scent off the edge for any stand set near it.

I’m loving the advice thus far and it’s getting the creativity flowing.

Interesting tactical note: See where the primary center river flats ascend the most gently to the east? That’s the highest traffic on ramp, and might be where I need a slope stand. But if the wind is from the west the high probability does exist of scent leaving you heads east, then down slope and collects by the river, and pulls back NW, creating a faint stink wall. In the past the lions share of big deer cross that river in the evenings headed south so I’ve been hesitant with that setup. But we timbered our woods 2 years ago and they’re thickening up, and I think we get more parking on our side through the day then we used to, which makes this a better and better plan.

The buck pic I posted, I suspected that guy beds north / northeast across the river, 1/3 of the way up that south facing bank… I got permission to shed hunt this spring and within 10 mins on that slope I found one of his sheds right where I thought, man that was satisfying.

Kinda what I meant when I said you might be only able to hunt it during an occasional weather pattern. Thermals can be almost non existent when temps are going to remain stable. And a front moving in at dawn or dusk can totally eliminate thermals from forming. But those bucks still feel a sense of habit and security moving where they otherwise travel during "normal" conditions.