Thermal changes, how to benefit?

[idahohikker]

Best $10 then. Lots of quality content.

 

[sandhillhunter]

Best $10 then. Lots of quality content.

Yep. A bargain at $10 for sure!


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[Blockcaver]

The Colorado elk hunters CNelk and Coveyleader have the thermals down pat and are elk killers. Learn thermals and apply those lessons to eat an elk every year!

 

[HookUp]

If you find elk dont rush in on them if you don't have steady wind. Hunt up in the morning and down from the top once thermals change. If the thermals are changing on you unfavorably run out of the area!! Don't ask me how I know.

 

[mfllood3800]

Yep, I have raced to get to a shady part of a draw before the sun got to it to try and intersect elk. Thermals are the key out west, as the wind is what it is but the thermals are what elk utilize. In my pre scout I look for these and know the elk all ready know them and that helps them set their feeding to bedding patterns.
I bought some new (to me anyway) wind checker stuff, cant even remember what it is but it is like silky thin fragments that hang there like spider webs. These allow thermals to be more visible, when the wind isn't too strong. I try to bring this in pre scout trips to see dominate patterns and how much the sun hitting shadows effects a specific area I may want to hunt.

I have seen thermals side hill a draw due to shadowing of peaks behind it causing more shade in areas longer than normal.

I just started packing gar up for the hunts in August. My wife is like, "you have 4 weeks."
Cant help it, got too many good pics on cams already.

 

[Airborne1]

This has turned out to be an amazing bowl of knowledge guys! I appreciate it much. I'm going to make sure my hunting partner reads this as well. I'd like to know what that spider web wind checker is if you happen to remember let me know. Those are some great pics!

 

[cnelk]

Air temps are very similar to water temps as they can vary from place to place.

Anyone that fishes knows what a thermocline is, and the same applies to mountains.
[Thats where a small spot may stay cooler than the surrounding area.]

You've probably all been walking thru the timber and all of a sudden its about 10 degrees cooler?
Yep, thats a thermocline and its very likely there are animals nearby

Most of my scouting finds me looking for thermoclines

 

[FlyGuy]

This has turned out to be an amazing bowl of knowledge guys! I appreciate it much. I'm going to make sure my hunting partner reads this as well. I'd like to know what that spider web wind checker is if you happen to remember let me know. Those are some great pics!

I keep some neon green marabou feathers in a small Ziploc bag tucked inside my bino harness pocket. They are for fly tying. Cheap, extremely light and fuzzy. Tear off a pinch and let it go. You can watch it drift through currents with your binos for quite a while.

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[ElkNut1]

Airborne1, keep it simple & use common sense, it's not a big deal to monitor the wind. As a runner & gunner I travel the best I can with wind in my favor not to spook elk that may or may not be ahead of me, at these times as I call to locate elk I do not have wind checker in hand. If it's been dry I'll kick the ground here & there to see which way dusts heads, it helps. As I make contact with a vocal elk I'll now pull out the wind checker so I can choose a wise course to have the wind in my favor as I approach closer. I generally keep it in my opposite bow hand & check every few seconds or convinced that the wind is stable for that time.

I will hunt from up above or below the elk, it really doesn't matter where distance is involved, you have plenty of time to make contact with elk & then move where needed on approach to get favorable wind. Wind direction is important but don't over-think it! It's fairly easy to monitor & will become second nature to you in time!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[Blockcaver]

I hang a 5" long piece of non-waxed dental floss on the top and bottom of the bow riser. Get it frizzy by running through your finger nails. It is an excellent wind checker that requires no hand movement to puff like the powders. I carry a small sample size of the floss in my pack all the time for wind checkers as well as for sewing thread and even to floss once in a while if my hands are clean.

 

[ElkNut1]

Think of it this way, in general.

1. When you get up in the AM, and hike or drive to your spot, the thermals in GENERAL will be going down slope. As stated above, for how long is the question. If there are any storms, fronts, etc in place, it will mess the thermals up as the wind is overtaking the thermals which will cause unstable winds.

2. When you drive or go to your spot in the evening, it's a good chance the thermals will be coming up slope because everything hasn't cooled off yet. Then, about 2 or so hours before dark, as the shadows overtake some of the draws, valleys, etc. in GENERAL, the thermals will kick in and once again and go down slope. The trick in the evening is you may have to wait longer for the winds to settle before the thermals take over.

3. In general, the darker the slope, draw, drainage (the longer it takes the sun to hit it) the longer you have in the AM to hunt on a steady thermal, and possibly the same in the evening, where you can start working the drainage earlier.

4. Areas above timberline are a totally different beast, and can really be tough as the wind is overtaking the thermals all the time. In my experience, above timberline, or right at it are the hardest areas to hunt due to swirling winds.

5. Sometimes, you will find if a slope is facing the East into a large valley, the thermals will be coming up hard in the AM on the top, but change as you drop down into the shadows.

So, early AM you normally have a couple hours of good steady thermals going down, and again in the evening, 1.5 to 2 hours before dark, thermals going down slope. The rest of the day, well, it can be tricky.

I've elk hunted 7 states, this info here would apply to all of them. Good post bud!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[bwlacy]

Curious what to do if your camp is above the elk? Do you not hunt the mornings? Or do like Paul and run and gun and worry about the wind once you locate elk? Where we are thinking about camping this fall there is a few finger ridges that we can check, we can get to a few drainages from one spot, but it will most likely be above the elk.

 

[FlyGuy]

Curious what to do if your camp is above the elk? Do you not hunt the mornings? Or do like Paul and run and gun and worry about the wind once you locate elk? Where we are thinking about camping this fall there is a few finger ridges that we can check, we can get to a few drainages from one spot, but it will most likely be above the elk.

Can you glass from up on that perch? (I am nowhere near Paul's level of knowledge, but...) If you can glass them up from your camp/vantage point as they are moving up towards bedding, then you can move in on them, just don't approach them from directly above. Move in to intercept them from an angle, or put them to bed and wait for the thermals to stabilize and then get set up on them once they are all settled in for their nap.

If you can't glass from there, then locate with your bugle and essentially follow the same plan.

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[Maverick940]

Whenever possible, I always camp high --- meaning, above the big game animals I'm hunting. It's just easier that way. I prefer to setup my camps on ridges, mountain tops or in high saddles. For me it's just easier to be above animals, than to be below them.

 

[mfllood3800]

Here is the wind checker I'm gonna try this year in some situations

Its not as convenient as micro balloons, but will help in still air

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[bwlacy]

Can you glass from up on that perch? (I am nowhere near Paul's level of knowledge, but...) If you can glass them up from your camp/vantage point as they are moving up towards bedding, then you can move in on them, just don't approach them from directly above. Move in to intercept them from an angle, or put them to bed and wait for the thermals to stabilize and then get set up on them once they are all settled in for their nap.

If you can't glass from there, then locate with your bugle and essentially follow the same plan.

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Yes we can glass several areas from the camp site, or if we move about 1/4 mile. We plan to try and put them to bed in the morning and try to set up for the afternoon. Depending on where we find them we may have to drop down 1000 feet to get on them.

 

[Coveyleader]

Can you glass from up on that perch? (I am nowhere near Paul's level of knowledge, but...) If you can glass them up from your camp/vantage point as they are moving up towards bedding, then you can move in on them, just don't approach them from directly above. Move in to intercept them from an angle, or put them to bed and wait for the thermals to stabilize and then get set up on them once they are all settled in for their nap.

If you can't glass from there, then locate with your bugle and essentially follow the same plan.

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Elk don't always move up to bed, and I'd venture to say many or most of the areas I've hunted they move down to bed.

Example 1. Sage, and oak brush ridge tops. The elk will feed in these all night, and at first light, they drop from there into the timber below.

Example 2. Above treeline, elk will feed all night in the tundra and then head down into the trees mid morning. Sometimes they don't head down and just bed right above timberline in the wide open no matter how hot.

If your camp is high, it isn't a problem as any elk seen will need to be approached based on time of day and thermals. If you get up in the AM and see the elk higher than you off in the distance, in general you need to approach from below.

If your camp is high and you see elk below you in the AM, in general you need to work down and around them to get the thermals right but it is all really based on how much time you think you have to close the distance, and where you think they're going.

There is a spot I hunt where I could dump off the road an be hunting elk in 5 minutes in the AM. Instead, it takes me an hour to circle way around and come up at them from below. By doing this, I can hunt those elk a few times before they know whats up. If I just came down at them in the AM it would be a one shot deal.

I know this is long, but one final note that can pay off is when you see those elk whether it be AM or PM (better in the AM for me) try to get in between where they are, and where they want to go wind permitting. I think you will see your close range encounters will increase. For this reason, I like hunting elk where there is visibility vs a sea of dark timber.

 

[Boxerboxer]

Here is the wind checker I'm gonna try this year in some situations

Its not as convenient as micro balloons, but will help in still air

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That looks an awful lot like milkweed. I can get just about an unlimited supply of the stuff later this summer in western MN.


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[mfllood3800]

That looks an awful lot like milkweed. I can get just about an unlimited supply of the stuff later this summer in western MN.


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Send me some
Lol

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[Boxerboxer]

Send me some
Lol

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Not kidding, remind me in a month or so and I will.


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