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Question regarding thermals..

B

BHC

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
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915
Location
Wayne Co. , Tennessee
1st Scenario: Late nov. afternoon, sittin on a west facing hillside wind is out of the west at about 10 mph and steady. Clear skies air is cooling, thermals are falling. Where is your scent going? Bacically wind is going one direction, and thermals are trying to fall another.
2nd Scenario: everything is the same except there is no to light wind... Where is your scent traveling?
 
you scent should be being pulled to the mouth of the hollow down from my personal experiences. On afternoon hunts I prefer to be down lower towards the point of the hill, but pardon the pun it's sometimes "pointless". I try to make sure my scent is traveling where the deer aren't.
 
Hollars are hard to hunt do to swerilling winds and surrounding terrain. Thermals fall in the evening and rise in the morning but in hollars you really never know till you get there a lot of times its hard to get a consistent wind direction down in the bottom. That's why I generally try to stay more towards the top which seems to be more consistent for me.
 
Too much depends on surrounding terrain. If another parallel ridge-line exists to the west, that will change much of what the wind will be doing, both the predominant wind and the thermals.
 
Hills can be tricky. Even when you think conditions are perfect. You may think your scent is dropping in the afternoon to relize that 50 yards away it is actually rising. I think mountain deer are the hardest to hunt but can be very rewarding.
 
Very steep and narrow hollars will concentrate your scent, these can be very difficult to setup in. If thats the case I would have two set-up sites one low and one high. If its an open hollar then it will be more foregiving as far as scent dispersion goes, but still having alternate set-ups is a plus and then adjusting for calm days as opposed to windy ones
 
Poser said:
Hollar Hunter said:
Hollars are hard to hunt do to swerilling winds and surrounding terrain. Thermals fall in the evening and rise in the morning but in hollars you really never know till you get there a lot of times its hard to get a consistent wind direction down in the bottom. That's why I generally try to stay more towards the top which seems to be more consistent for me.
Click to expand...

Reckon you should change your name then, eh? ;)
You new name is "More towards the top of the Hollar Hunter"
Click to expand...

HA!
 
I see your curiousity on the question, but there are so many variables when dealing with thermals.

The best thing to do in a situation (if you are considering hunting areas like your scenarios) is to go there well before season begins. Go when the wind is blowing in the direction you are considering... Sit there in the morning with some wind indicators...not powder but some floaters (whichever type you prefer) When the thermals begin to rise in the AM toss some floaters and watch how the floaters react.
Same thing goes for the evening when the thermals begin to fall.

Keep in mind, not everyday will the thermals rise and fall the same time etc... very weather dependant on how thermals rise and fall as well.
 
Frances E. Sell in his book of Deer hunting explained it very well. Basically though i follow the direction of the prevailing wind...however in the last scenario of light or no wind the thermals always fall in the evening because they are cooling.....
 
In over 30-years experience in hunting TN hills and hollows, all I will say is this. Forget the thermals. They do not act as they do out west in terms flowing up or down. Just pretend you never heard of thermals and you will do just fine.

I canonlty speak from my own experience. I have killed a flat ton of TN deer with bow, crossbow, mzl. and rifle. Not once have I seen a THERMAL mess me up.

Elk and mule deer hunting out west, you bet, know,understand and use thermals. But in the hills and hollers here, they are of no concern whatever. In ridge and holler country, even the wind is not dependable, let alone a thermal.
 
In the hills around where I hunt a thermal will make or break you....if I ignore the thermals I just need to ignore the wind all together
Thermals where I hunt will actually change the prevailing wind as the morning heats up...and as the last hour of daylight cools.
 
If you hunt anything but ridgetops in the terrain around here, you will absolutely be dealing with constantly changing/swirling wind direction!
 
Unless you have hunted out West a great deal or are a pilot, it is pretty hard to understand thermals. They are not carved in stone and do not just go up and down, they also travel sideways and are just about totally unpredictable in hill country around here.

Watch a hawk or buzzards some hot day or on a cold but warming morning. They do understand thermals. If you tie a light feather on piece of string and tie the other end to something stationary like youor stand. You'll get an idea of how worthless it is to worry about thermals around here.
 
I understand thermals pretty good I think. I agree thermals are A LOT more than rising up and falling. I have seen things such as big rocks alter thermal patterns, big trees... I have seen the weather effect thermals... but at the same time in the areas around NE Tennessee...if you ignore thermals and just hunt, might as well ignore the wind too.

If you are hunting somewhere other than an open ridge top, go set on your stand (during a normal prevailing wind) with some floaters...not the powder puff bottles....release those floaters, then release them again as the thermals start rising and watch where they go compared to the first hour you were on stand, or in the evening when the thermals begin to fall.

People who hunt the hilly regions in East Tn probably know exactly what im talking about.
 

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