How to hunt a thermal tunnel/buck cruising route

[Chuck B]

So I don't hunt hill country (yet anyways), so I haven't learned thermals, etc. I am going to buy Dans hill country dvd though and start to learn this stuff. Thanks for posting this for us though Jeff, its helpful.

So my question; even though the wind is pushing up the hill (where all of the doe/buck bedding is), the thermals are bringing the scent down the hill towards the bucks cruising pattern? And how about your scent? Where is that going? Are the bucks hitting yours when they get close to you? But, you don't mind because your crosshairs are already on them by the time they hit it?

[Jeff G]

I find the access interesting, my first thought is that your wind blows right to the bedding and I would go from the south. I suppose that knowing the bucks are cruising from the south negates this concern. Thanks for the writ up and images. lots of food for thought.

gotta take into property boundaries. that limits and dictates how we access. We only own 80. our scent does not make it to the nobs where the great bedding is. most of the access is an old 2 track that deer are use to smelling humans.

[Edcyclopedia]

[Jeff G]

So I don't hunt hill country (yet anyways), so I haven't learned thermals, etc. I am going to buy Dans hill country dvd though and start to learn this stuff. Thanks for posting this for us though Jeff, its helpful.

So my question; even though the wind is pushing up the hill (where all of the doe/buck bedding is), the thermals are bringing the scent down the hill towards the bucks cruising pattern? And how about your scent? Where is that going? Are the bucks hitting yours when they get close to you? But, you don't mind because your crosshairs are already on them by the time they hit it?

thermals go up in the morning and down in the evening. wind pushes over the ridge, where the 2 meet dictate where the cruising takes place on the hillside. Sometimes we set up lower and sometimes we set up higher on hillside.

i set the stand at 25 feet up. the wind catches my scent and carries it out of the area. very rarely get busted there due to scent being carried up and away. milkweed tells me that.

The bucks are cruising in that thermal tunnel and when they get to the spot the stand is set up on, they make a hook and cut up to get to the nobs which are where most of the bedding areas. in the bottom of the ditch there is an easy spot to cross for them.

[Jonny]

My situation here is long ridge lines that run for miles. Hardly any good points or knobs like shown here. Benches work OK but not all the time. I hunted all season this year and had deer sightings all but a few sits so I know I'm pretty good at finding deer. Only one really good buck was seen this year and it was textbook for what info I have studied here over the years. My big problems are...1, I overthink EVERYTHING! I get into a spot that I feel is good but second guess it. 2, I never really know whether I should walk the ridge top out and then drop down to the top 1/3 or if I should access from the bottom and climb up the hill. So much stuff to think about and it's frustrating but very rewarding all the times it does pay off! Thanks for all the info!!

I always enter from the top. They bust you so fast if you walk to the bottom. You also leave an awful scent trail that will last all night, and when they cruise and your not there, the big boys remember.

A family I know well used to own 600 acres in buffalo county. They leased a couple smaller pieces at high dollar prices strictly to access theirs. Without the leases, they never shot nice deer. Once they got access on top, they put down some insane bucks. Like first year, hunting the exact same stands

[Jeff G]

added the property borders, helps show why i access the way i do.

[trapper57]

Great post Jeff!
The buck cruising trail on the north hillside,
Do you find the bucks running that on a northerly wind ?
Or are they cutting through the valley and up that slope checking in the rut with the southerly winds also?
I was thinking there’d continue down along the same slope and check the other side with northerly winds.
Thanks

[Jeff G]

Great post Jeff!
The buck cruising trail on the north hillside,
Do you find the bucks running that on a northerly wind ?
Or are they cutting through the valley and up that slope checking in the rut with the southerly winds also?
I was thinking there’d continue down along the same slope and check the other side with northerly winds.
Thanks

Yes, the bucks cruise the northern hillside/ nobs with any north wind. they bed there also on the north winds. the hillside i hunt for rut is not good on a north wind. we sometimes access the top north bedding areas, and have killed bucks as they leave there beds. accessing that and hunting it is very tricky without blowing buck out. they have a huge advantage up there.

[Kraftd]

Jeff.
Curious about the west wind being bad for cruising, seems like it would be just as leeward as the S wind given the angle of the ridge, if not more so. Is this just observation that the specific topography doesn't allow for a good thermal tunnel to establish, is it that the west wind impacts where the does bed and the cruising routes change?

[flinginairos]

This stuff is great. Thanks for posting!

[Buckshot20]

I find the access interesting, my first thought is that your wind blows right to the bedding and I would go from the south. I suppose that knowing the bucks are cruising from the south negates this concern. Thanks for the write up and images. Lots of food for thought.

Also, hunting cruising bucks is different. He's hunting bucks that aren't necessarily bedded there. Good stuff

[Buckshot20]

Awesome visual. Quick question, could you post another with access route? I think that burns more people than we could even know. Thanks.

Thanks

[WV Bowhunter]

Great post Jeff. I’m wondering how much elevation rise you have on these hills? Your example is almost identical to what I have here in my area of WV. We normally have 3-500 ft of elevation rise in the hills around where I live and hunt.

[Dewey]

Good stuff Jeff. Thanks for putting this together.

[Hatchetman]

Thanks for posting Jeff.
I understand your first statement about not needing a direct 90 deg. over the top ,so even 45 deg off is ok , so why then is the straight west wind bad for your kill stand? You say bad for thermal tunnel , why is that?

I assume you have stand sites on the north side of your property as well. Do you have better luck with the high cruising trail or the lower one?
Also, I notice a few cuts on that north face, do you have any set ups right by those cross -over spots or do you stay more out towards the points of the down slope ridges?
I think That's were I screwed up my hill country hunt this year...
I hunted those cut cross-over trails and the winds where really swirling in there.I think I should of got out of there??

By the way,
Nice bucks!!