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Scouting Hill Terrain

@slonstdy , I really appreciate the insights. Especially in relationship to your height and getting busted after the deer was higher up the hill. Is that a typical experience? I've been wondering how high to climb on steep incline.

Would anything change if there's a river/creek at the bottom of the hill with wide, dense marshy band to the south? My ridge also runs east-west and the lower part of the hill is to the be south. There's also tons, and I do mean a lot , of blowdowns. Mixed oaks/pine. Tons of deer sign and turkey tracks in there.

Thanks again for sharing your insights guys
 
Thermals are nothing more than warmer air rising and cooler air falling. That's the simple answer. Now there will be features of the terrain that affect how thermals flow and in my situation the geography is a relatively steep hill in a hardwood forest so the thermals were easy to learn. Throw in a body of water, whether its a creek, marsh, full on lowland swamp or a raging river and all bets are off on what the thermals are doing at a particular time. The only way to know for sure is by good old fashioned trial and error with boots on the ground at various times of the day, in different weather conditions, and time of year. Drop milkweed and take note of the wind direction and weather while watching how the milkweed flies. On still days with minimal to no wind will help more to understand thermals than a blustery fall afternoon with swirling winds. Thermals are not difficult to understand or figure out but most guys get hung up on wind direction only and that's why they have a difficult time scoring on hillsides.
 
Thermals are nothing more than warmer air rising and cooler air falling. That's the simple answer. Now there will be features of the terrain that affect how thermals flow and in my situation the geography is a relatively steep hill in a hardwood forest so the thermals were easy to learn. Throw in a body of water, whether its a creek, marsh, full on lowland swamp or a raging river and all bets are off on what the thermals are doing at a particular time. The only way to know for sure is by good old fashioned trial and error with boots on the ground at various times of the day, in different weather conditions, and time of year. Drop milkweed and take note of the wind direction and weather while watching how the milkweed flies. On still days with minimal to no wind will help more to understand thermals than a blustery fall afternoon with swirling winds. Thermals are not difficult to understand or figure out but most guys get hung up on wind direction only and that's why they have a difficult time scoring on hillsides.

I completely agree. Thermal activity is going to reign supreme which allows them to continue to use the same areas regardless of the predominate wind direction for that day correct? So have you noticed in your situation, are they still using your side of the hill when the wind direction is say from the south instead of the west for the predominate wind direction? That's why when I read some of this stuff in magazines and see these channels on bucks and bedding, where they are saying a deer is using a completely different side of the hill that may or may not be true. In your situation, if the wind is gusting from the south and there are no terrain features to block the wind that day, they may move to the other side of the east west ridge for that day but what have your observations been with that @slonstdy ?
 
Brown is a buck I bumped which was bedded
The top is a clearcut
Wind was reported out of the North West that day
The red marks was turkey sign

I was walking an old logging road around that clear-cut and picked up his track. Followed it for roughly 300 yards checking wind every couple yards because it was going a different direction every time I checked. There was a slight bend in the road and I heard him get up, run and come across the trail I was on to go in the clear-cut. I never laid eyes on him but that deer was on that side of the clear-cut for a specific reason.

It amazes me time and time again something like this happens with a buck. Where I think he’ll be isn't where he is in some cases in the mountains. He knows those winds, thermals and area way better than I do!CA47CCE9-1613-4E41-8CA2-FB33BA0143C3.pngCA47CCE9-1613-4E41-8CA2-FB33BA0143C3.png
 
Brown is a buck I bumped which was bedded
The top is a clearcut
Wind was reported out of the North West that day
The red marks was turkey sign

I was walking an old logging road around that clear-cut and picked up his track. Followed it for roughly 300 yards checking wind every couple yards because it was going a different direction every time I checked. There was a slight bend in the road and I heard him get up, run and come across the trail I was on to go in the clear-cut. I never laid eyes on him but that deer was on that side of the clear-cut for a specific reason.

It amazes me time and time again something like this happens with a buck. Where I think he’ll be isn't where he is in some cases in the mountains. He knows those winds, thermals and area way better than I do!View attachment 63878View attachment 63878
I wish we could truly truly understand how animals like deer, coyotes, bears and others that rely so heavily on their olfactory senses actually use them on a minute to minute basis. We are visual and sound, I do use my nose a lot in the woods too, always have..... but obviously its not my primary sense. And sometimes I think we would be many times more successful hunters if we shut down our brains sometimes and just used our senses and intuition more in the woods.
 
I completely agree. Thermal activity is going to reign supreme which allows them to continue to use the same areas regardless of the predominate wind direction for that day correct? So have you noticed in your situation, are they still using your side of the hill when the wind direction is say from the south instead of the west for the predominate wind direction? That's why when I read some of this stuff in magazines and see these channels on bucks and bedding, where they are saying a deer is using a completely different side of the hill that may or may not be true. In your situation, if the wind is gusting from the south and there are no terrain features to block the wind that day, they may move to the other side of the east west ridge for that day but what have your observations been with that @slonstdy ?
Yes they still use my side of the hill on a south wind. The top of the mountain is not a ridge top, it's relatively flat with some slight rises and dips for a couple of hundred yards before it drops down on the other side. The north side of the mountain is a very gentle slope downward whereas my side (south) is much steeper. My neighbor and I curse our side because it's so steep but we also love it because that's what keeps everyone else from venturing down it. There's no hunting pressure besides myself and relatively new neighbor on our side, especially during bow season, so the deer seem comfortable to stay where they are.
 
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This thread has jumped off to a good start.thermsls are why hard horned mature blacktails use fainter upertrails in the brush above the main trail in the mornings ,and a lower sparce trail in the creek brush in the evenings.while does and little bucks just walk right across the bench every day on the main trail about 1/3of the time when not grazing.mature bucks typicaly ony do use the main trails in the dark or rairly in the daylight .trophys always seam just out of reach when archery hunting hills.especialy when the wind is swirling.but I will put it together eventually.
I feel like my experience’s are like puzzle pieces that I picked up in the woods and laid out on the table, where I sit and stare at them scratching my head in confusion. You just put all the pieces together for me and now all my suspicions and theory’s are confirmed. Now comes the hard part. I learn things like this from YouTube and sites like this but when “it’s go time “ in the woods, I struggle to make the right choices in the woods. Everyone that contributed to this thread has helped me immensely. Thank you all!!!
 
It is a puzzle my dude .I was sitting in a buck bead thinking to my self .....no one could sneak up on me here.and I don't have big coned nose and ears.to this day the best beds I have found I can't set up on without being seen steep below ,or heard and smelled above and beside.and yet I still love it.they call them Grey ghost of the coast,for a reason.but he will make a mistake eventually.and one of us will hang him on the wall
 
It is a puzzle my dude .I was sitting in a buck bead thinking to my self .....no one could sneak up on me here.and I don't have big coned nose and ears.to this day the best beds I have found I can't set up on without being seen steep below ,or heard and smelled above and beside.and yet I still love it.they call them Grey ghost of the coast,for a reason.but he will make a mistake eventually.and one of us will hang him on the wall
I think you need to go full on John Eberhart style to get him in that bed. Get there 2-3 hours before the sun comes up while he is out for the night. When he comes home, BAM!!!
 
Prevailing winds swirling winds and thermals are perfect right over the bed.i gues I allways try not to go into those spots.but then again I dont harvest those mature bucks eather.i have heard EBerheart mention this but I have been to timid in my approach for fear I might spook them out. I will try some balls to the walls aggression and see how that goes this season.cant hurt .I'm gunna hunt those beds
 
Really appreciate all of the input and observations and experiences. I'm hoping this thread will continue with other input and suggestions. I want to get in early season while the buck is still in the area and capitalize on a bed to feed or feed to bed scenario but I have a lot more work to do. Need to get a camera in there. Pressure is spotty but present too which makes me faulter.
 
When it comes to hunting a known bedding area, how close is too close? Say at my steep hill with the river at the bottom, I know they bed on some of the little peninsulas that the river forms. There are pretty good trees within 20 yards. If thermals/wind are on my side is it wise to be that close or stay back farther in fear of running them out of the area?
 
When it comes to hunting a known bedding area, how close is too close? Say at my steep hill with the river at the bottom, I know they bed on some of the little peninsulas that the river forms. There are pretty good trees within 20 yards. If thermals/wind are on my side is it wise to be that close or stay back farther in fear of running them out of the area?
That's a good question and how stealthy you can be with your set up. In my personal opinion, 20 yards would be way too close but perhaps in the early season when there are 12-15mph winds and still a lot of greenout, you may be able to do it. I like to think more of between 100-150 yards because unless you know for certain they will be in the exact same bed all the time, they bed in areas in my experiences and you risk bumping them.
 
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