Ep. 36: When Thermals Go Wrong and How to Beat the Wind
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As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days in the field. This show is about translating my hard-won experiences into tips and tactics that'll get you closer to your ultimate goal, success in the field. I'm Remy Warren. This is Cutting the Distance. Everything is right as you planned it. You executed this stalk to the tee. You snuck in on a bedded mule deer, and now you're just waiting for your shot.

Right now, this is that point where your mind starts to go to visualizing success mode. You've pretty much already taken a picture of this deer. You're visualizing packing that out, maybe cooking some steaks over the open fire that night. And as soon as you think everything is good, the wind swirls or switches, the buck catches your scent and just bolts off.

I would probably say that if I think back to blown stocks, no matter what I'm hunting or blown opportunities, I would probably wager that 90% of blown stocks or opportunities are due to shifts in the wind.

Now wind can make or break your hunt. It can be your best friend or your worst enemy. And if it's not on your side, you probably aren't going to be successful because it's very hard to fool the nose of an elk or deer or other big game animal. So this week I'm going to help you understand how to read and predict the wind, especially in the mountains, and then get a good grasp on thermals. I

I also want to go over the idea of scent control and how to execute proper stalks or even tree stand locations and setups based on your knowledge of thermals and wind currents. But first, I'm going to share a high country mule deer hunt with a bow where the thermals caught me once, but not twice. It's early August in central Nevada, opening weekend of mule deer season.

Now the area we're hunting is high mountain, pretty high altitude. Some of the spots we're at are over 10,000 feet in elevation. So it's pretty big mountain hunting. Now the deer are bachelored up this time of year. They're in velvet and the days can really heat up. But in the high desert, especially at that altitude, you might be talking about near freezing temperatures at night or

high 30s, mid 40s at night, and then can be 100 degrees in the middle of the day. So huge temperature swings. Now, this time of year, we also get pretty erratic wind currents, some lightning storms, and just some pretty crazy weather. On this particular hunt, a friend of mine, Ben, came over from Australia, and it was his first mule deer hunt. So my plan was to kind of be his eyes and ears and do the scouting and the glassing until he got a buck, and then I would hunt for myself.

He made some pretty good stocks on deer. The first part of the first day, we got out there early, did some scouting, located quite a few bachelor groups of deer. And he was just looking for a nice, mature representative mule deer. I think it was maybe the second or third day, somewhere in there. He ended up closing in on a buck in the evening, making a great shot and taking his first mule deer. So now it's pretty much my turn. I'm up to bat.

And I decided the first day that I was hunting, I kind of was figuring, okay, I'll maybe go after the same group of deer that he got his out of because they were still kind of hanging out in that same location. Where we were camped, the deer were pretty much at the top of the mountain. It was a pretty solid climb up there at pretty good elevation. So I started off midday. I'd seen where the bucks went that morning and just decided, okay, I'm going to get up there midday and try to get into position.

So I made my stock, but unfortunately the wind was really weird and just blowing the wrong direction from the way that I started hiking up the mountain. In the valley, it was one thing, but when I started getting up toward the top, the wind had kind of shifted. So I dropped over the backside, down the kind of mountain, a lot of extra legwork to try to circle around the deer and get the wind right.

as i climb back over the top the winds are still kind of acting a little strange but i've got good wind in my favor the deer are up above me and the wind is kind of blowing pretty much up the mountain so i decided to come in from one side and parallel into the deer the best option for the wind plus the cover that i had so i start crawling in crawling in there all bedded

well the crawl is taking a while there's very very little cover so i have to move slow i have to position myself so none of the deer can see me there's probably like eight or ten bucks in the group at this time including one or two really nice bucks that i was targeting and then a couple other smaller bucks that you know if they were in range i'm not sure if i would have taken or not but i figured okay i'm just going to try to get in there as close as i can and then see what happens well as the day drug on i kind of had to keep changing my stock based on the wind

i finally got to within position and then the deer decided to start getting up and feeding the good thing was is i was where i kind of expected them to feed to so i'm set up crawled in laying there and the deer start moving my way at this point i'm just like okay i stalked in i'd say i think i got to about 150 160 yards now i kind of ran out of cover but the wind was still good and they were feeding below me

The only problem was I knew time was not with me because this is in the afternoon now. And I knew as soon as that sun started to go away, it would switch the thermals and my wind would start going downhill. So I just needed them to feed up above me the whole time thinking, okay, stay, please stay high, please stay high. A couple of the smaller bucks, they're still nice bucks, but when you're in a group with some really good bucks, I'm like, all right, I can wait for these better bucks. I think everything's going to be fine.

So actually some of the smaller bucks started feeding above me, which was perfect. But then two of the larger bucks started feeding down at this point. I'm like, man, I'm going to get busted here because they're kind of starting to surround me.

So I just decided to just hold off and wait because the wind was still good. The deer above me were kind of more in front of me and the wind wasn't going to them. So I was just waiting, waiting. And now the sun had dipped like to the point where the thermals were about to switch. The bigger buck was still 90 yards out feeding, but he was coming my direction.

He started moving and he got right into a position where I'm like, okay, I arranged him. He was 60 yards, but he had some tall sage there. I just needed him to take a few more steps out. He would be pretty much in the open, the direction he was going. He's going to be about 45 yards. I thought, perfect. That'll be my shot. So he's moving toward it, moving toward it. I'm like, oh yeah, this is great.

and then I felt it. The thermal switched, went right down to that buck. I mean, I was arrow knocked, sitting in position, ready to draw back, just waiting for him to take a couple more steps. As I felt those thermals switch, I knew it was over. That one buck caught my scent, ran off. All the other deer watched him, and then they ran to him. That deer was snorting, stomping, looking my direction. I think the other deer never winded me,

But as those thermals changed, I got busted because that deer went below me, the thermals dropped and ruined what was an all day stock and seconds away from a sure deal. Now let's fast forward to the next morning. I decided to hunt a little bit different area, give those bucks a break. And I'm glassing as the sun's coming up. I got to think about it. I was actually looking, I guess, south. And there was a patch of aspens in this thick sage pocket on this ridge.

And I saw a nice four by four buck along with maybe two or three other bucks.

So I'm watching them and I'm thinking, okay, I'm going to just play this safe. The thermals busted me the night before. So I'm just going to wait until they get into a position where I can get constant wind and have the advantage for a longer amount of time. So at this point, because they were on the shaded side of the hill, if I were to come in from the top, the wind would be blowing down to them because that was pretty much the way that the prevailing wind was going.

And then if I was to sneak in from the bottom, then as soon as the sun hit it, my scent would go up to the deer and blow it. So instead of rushing in, even though they were in a good spot where I had good cover and could probably get to them, they happened to be below this big rock that I thought would be perfect. I decided to wait and watch. Now the deer bedded and I thought, okay, this is good, but it just was not stable enough winds. And I knew that thermal shifts were coming. So I just waited.

Sure enough, the deer ended up getting up and walking up to the top of the ridge and then down. As soon as they crested over the top, I knew this was my play because the sun was hitting that south face and the thermals would be going up plus the prevailing wind was coming up from the other direction. So even as I'm walking in, I would have good wind and then if they're below me, the thermals would be perfect.

I pretty much tried to run over there to get over there as fast as I could so I could catch them just over the edge or near the top so they didn't get too far out of where I was going. I also knew that there were some trees on the other side, but I was hoping that they would continue kind of feeding instead of just going straight to those trees to bed.

So I did what I would consider just the run and gun method of get to where they were as fast as possible, which I think is about a mile or so away. And then once you get there, take off your pack, slow everything down and hunt and look and be smart about it. I get to that spot. As I peek over, I just start slowly glassing. I get down to where they'd crossed and I didn't see him. So I thought, okay,

You know, I did see their tracks and they were kind of angling around and there was just this one spot I knew I couldn't see, which is this little band of rocks that I couldn't see over. So I thought this has to be where they're at. I slowly crept up to that area to where the rocks were just peeking and doing what I call scrolling, whereas as new terrain is given to me, just looking with my eyes and binoculars and sure enough, spot the antler tips of a buck down below. Perfect. Take off my shoes.

I actually set up my camera to take like time-lapse stills of the stock and I just crept down to the edge. Now the buck was feeding with his head down. So I got right to the edge, raised up when his head was out of sight, 30 yards, just good. Like the sun was just starting to hit this hill and it was just almost like a burst of wind moving up toward me. I got down, knocked my arrow, drew back as I was kneeling,

slowly stood up, bent down at the waist, shot, and the deer was, I think, 35 yards right off the ledge of the rock rim. I hit the buck perfect. He wheeled around, crashed down the mountain, maybe 30, 40 yards.

I tried radioing my buddy Ben to come help me pack out and then worked my way down to the buck to get him cut up and get all the meat cooled down before the sun got too hot because it was going to be on the sunny side of the hill. And it was just pretty awesome because the day before the thermals had busted me, but by being patient and just knowing what was going to happen, if I stalked too early, I was able to capitalize and let the thermals that day work in my favor and lead to some success.

In order to be a successful hunter, you have to trick three things on the animal that you're hunting. Their eyes, their ears, and most importantly, their nose. Animals can smell so much better than we can. I mean, it's in the thousands of times better.

They can smell us from longer distances, from lighter wind drifts. And what it is, is it's probably most animals' main defense. Now, many animals have some kind of weakness. Antelope, you know, they don't hear as well, but they see really good. Elk, they also don't really mind noise so much, but their eyesight is better than their...

hearing. Mule deer, they hear and see really well, but all the animals can smell really well.

And you can trick the eyes, you can trick the ears, but you cannot trick their nose in most instances. The only way to trick their nose is to not be in a position where your scent can reach them. So you can trick the nose, but you have to use the wind to trick their noses. So this week, we're going to just call this Understanding Wind 101.

And we're going to talk about all the facets of how wind moves and things to think about in your stocks. And then that way you can apply that to the situations that you have because it is the thing that's going to get you busted more often than not.

So we're going to start out really basic. I first want to just describe some of the terminology that I'm going to be using. So that way, if you have no clue about understanding wind, you can at least build this picture out based on kind of my definitions. They probably are very similar to dictionary definitions, but these are just going to be like terms that I use and what I'm meaning by that.

So let's start with prevailing wind. So that's going to be the prevailing wind is just the wind direction that's called for the predominant direction that the wind is coming from.

Now, when we talk about wind, you might hear the term like nor'eastern or northern, northerly. So what we're talking about is it's the direction of wind is always where the wind is coming from. So if you were to face the wind blowing in your face, that's the direction the wind's coming from. It's not the direction that it's blowing to. So a north wind is if you're turned, your body is facing north. A northwest wind, your body is facing northwest. A south wind, your body is facing south.

Now, that's the easiest way to think about it. And I know some people get confused. They might hear a southern wind and thinking, oh, it's blowing toward the south. Well, it is, but a southern wind is blowing from the south to the north, if that makes sense.

So then we've got wind speed in there. So that's the average speed at which the wind's blowing. So you might hear a five mile per hour wind. So that's the average over a certain amount of time that the wind's blowing. Then you have gusts. So that's when the wind, a short burst or a max speed of the wind. So wind might be blowing at four miles an hour and then gusting it a

Now, it might be gusting and not really have gusts. So it also kind of tells you how turbulent the wind is as well. It might be blowing 15 and gusting up to 60. So that's very erratic wind speeds and very more violent wind patterns. Those are often attributed to storm fronts and things moving in. Then we have thermals. Now, thermals are huge elements.

as far as understanding for mountain hunting and even tree stand hunting and other types of hunting, because it's pretty easy to understand the wind. It's blowing, it's moving a certain direction, but your scent can also be affected drastically. And the wind can also be affected drastically by a thermal. So thermal is just the rising current of warm air. So as air is heated, it rises as it's cooled, it drops.

And so we'll get a little bit more into that, but that's just the understanding of a thermal. We're just talking about the rising current of warm air or the switching of air temperatures.

Then if I say swirling wind, this is wind that seems to whirl around in many directions or changing winds. It's where there's a sharp change in the prevailing wind or the direction that the wind's going. Or it could even be there might be a strong prevailing wind, but in a certain area, the wind swirls where it doubles back on itself. The wind might be blowing from the north,

But all of a sudden you get into an area and the wind swirls and you've got your current, your scent coming back all different directions.

And then we have also jet streams, which don't necessarily affect what we're talking about as much, but that's just high upper atmosphere, fast cold air currents. So when you're, you can kind of see that sometimes when you're out hunting where you look up high in the sky and the clouds are moving one way and then down below where you're at, the clouds are moving off opposite directions. So that's the jet streams going one way, but then the lower air current is going a different direction.

to fully understand how wind moves, it's a thing of fluid dynamics. So if we're talking about it, wind moves essentially like water. It's a fluid. That's why we talk about wind in currents, the same with water. Water moves in currents. Electricity also moves in currents. But wind and water have effects like terrain affects wind and water very, very similarly.

So your prevailing wind would be like a river flowing in a certain direction. Now, I think the best way to understand and describe how wind moves, because you can't, I mean, wind, you can't see wind, you can see the effects of wind, but you can't actually see wind. However, you can see water and you can see the effects in water.

So for me, the best way that I describe wind currents and the way that it's affected by topography in the mountains is think of it like a stream. The flow or current of the river would be the prevailing wind or the current of the air movement.

Now, I'm really big into fly fishing. I fly fished my entire life. And so I'm very, very familiar with the way water moves in a river. Now, if you aren't as familiar with it, if you just go to a river and look at the way the water moves, it'll help you understand the way that wind moves through the mountains. Let's just start by understanding the way water and wind both move and talk about some of the functions and things that might get you if you're trying to plan based according to the wind.

Let's think about a river first. Now, you've got your water flowing in one direction, but what else is there? So there's maybe some rocks in this river. So we aren't even going to go with a fast river. We'll just go with like a fairly slow moving trout stream, pretty level, not a lot of drop. And then in this trout stream, there's a few large boulders and some banks. And then there's some different height boulders. So there's some boulders that are sticking up out of the water. And then there's some boulders underneath the water.

So let's think about how the water is reacting to these boulders. So what are some things that we're going to see? Well, we're going to see what are called eddies. Now, if you're a fisherman or especially if you fish dry flies, you're really familiar with eddies because what that is is the river is moving one way, but in an eddy, the current circles and actually goes back upstream the opposite direction. So if I'm throwing a fly into a cut bank,

I might be in the current and my fly line is going to float down, but my fly sitting in the eddy will be going upstream or the opposite direction. The water is circulating in these eddies. Same if you're rafting, if you've ever gone in an inner tube or whatever, and you hit this spot where you kind of aren't going downstream and you aren't going upstream, you're just holding, you're holding in an eddy. So what's happening is as the water moves around the object, it kind of creates this turbulence.

Now in that turbulence downstream, because the current's moving, if you kind of really think about it or look at it, it almost creates like a V shape where the water goes around the rock and then that turbulent current

pushes down until it hits again below it at some point. And then along that turbulent area, that causes the water to swirl back. And as it swirls back, it pushes back up against itself and then toward whatever was creating the eddy. So it's actually causing the water currents to go back against the grain of the main current, the main flow of the river.

Now you can also think about maybe there's something in the river. So like that happens, say you could see that behind a big rock. You can also call it like a pillow in a bed. If there's a rock that's just where the water is just going over the top. So it's just pouring over the top of the rock.

It's hitting down right below. And then there's that smooth water behind the rock where the top might be real turbulent. It's creating a pillow. But then after that, it's just smooth water. And on the edges, it's turbulent as well. Now think also about something where...

There's a deeper rock and the water is going over it and it creates like a wave. It pushes the water up and then back down, but it's not necessarily turbulent. It's just changing the flow of that river. Instead of just being flat and smooth, it's creating a wave in the river itself.

So now let's translate that to the mountains and understanding the wind. When I think about planning a stock or thinking about what the wind's going to be doing where, I like to kind of step back and look at the mountains and the topography and then visualize now what would happen if there was a massive flood, like the direction that the wind's coming? What if we just pushed billions and trillions of gallons of water through this mountain like a flash flood? What would happen? Well,

The topography of the earth would act very similar to rocks in the stream. So you're going to have your main current one way, but over each area of topography, you're going to get variations in that current. Things are going to happen on the edges. You're going to get more turbulent, possibly swirling winds and then below.

below that bed or pillow in the slack of that area, you're going to get smoother water. Now in valleys and canyons, you're going to get faster currents, but on the top of, as plateaus drop off, it might create that wave effect where it goes up a little bit over a rise and then back down.

So you have to kind of really just visualize it as the topography is very similar to the rocks in the stream, and that's how it's going to affect the wind. Now, I say that to say, when you're hunting, it's really good to understand where wind might swirl based on the type of setup that you're going to have. But you also really just need to key in on the types of...

topography that are around, but really keeping the wind in your face and planning your stock toward the prevailing wind. On days where there's very little wind, the winds change a lot. And you're going to notice that there's a little more swirl and a little more change in those areas that cause turbulent winds. Or even if you have good wind, there's places where you can sneak up and the wind's going to be swirling or a little less consistent like

going over ridges around the, where that wind would be turbulent blowing around the mountain, kind of wrapping around the mountain. So it's blowing one direction. You think it's good, but as you turn the corner, the wind's kind of wrapping around that formation of the mountain causing swirls in the wind. So your wind might be coming back the wrong direction and

from the prevailing winds. And I hope that that makes sense. But if you want to understand it more, literally just go to creeks and rivers and just watch the way that the water moves. And then think about that when you're out there, as you see winds, kind of make mental notes of that stream analogy, and then apply it to places where you find some more swirling winds. And you'll start to pick up places that are more turbulent for the wind, depending on the wind direction.

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Go to fishingbooker.com today. That's fishingbooker.com. Now we're going to talk about thermals. So thermals are extremely important. And I think that people know about thermals, but I don't think that everybody fully understands thermals.

the importance or impact that thermals play. The times that animals move most are mornings and evenings. So that's the time that you're probably spotting them, the time that you might be making most of your plays are mornings and evenings. And that's the time that the wind is most likely to change. However, you can predict to the change if you have a really good understanding of thermals. So here's how thermals work.

Let's start in the morning. It's dark. The temperatures have dropped. It's always colder at night because there's no sun out. Now, as the sun comes up, you've got your prevailing wind, which will be going one direction, whatever direction. Let's say it's coming from the north. Okay. So we've got our wind and it's just a light wind. It's not, it's just a light breeze coming from the north. So if I was to hunt starting out in the morning, I would want to be walking from south to north. That way my face is in the wind.

So here's the other thing that we have to think about is this thermal. Now as the sun rises in the east, it's going to start heating up the ground. As it heats up the ground, we're creating this air change. So hot air rises, just like a hot air balloon. If you lit a fire under a balloon, that balloon shoots up into the sky. The same thing that eagles soar on or glider planes stay in the air is they're riding thermals or rising temperatures of heat in the air.

The same thing happens every day when you're out hunting and it happens where it can actually change not only the prevailing wind, it doesn't necessarily change the prevailing wind, but it changes the direction of your immediate where you're at. So as the sun heats up, now the thermals start to rise. What that causes is it causes your scent to draw up the hills with the heat.

Now, a thermal can be good and it can be bad. In certain instances, once it heats up to a certain point, if there's very little prevailing wind, it might just draw your scent straight up into the sky, in which case it really helps you and gives you an added benefit. Now, the opposite thing happens in the evening. As the temperature starts to cool, then the thermals start to fall.

the cool air starts filling back in after the heat of the day, and that draws your scent downhill. It draws it downhill or down valley. Now in valleys, they're actually more susceptible to temperature changes. So they're actually affected more drastically by thermal. So the thermal may overpower the prevailing wind at any given time. What this causes, it causes struggle in the air currents. It causes turbulence in the air. It causes swirling winds and unpredictability.

Now, the time that the thermals change and the time that where your scent will go kind of depends on the day, the temperature, a lot of different things. It could be cloudy one day and change the time. You might have more time to beat the thermals than you do the next day when it's sunny out.

So as the hill heats up, you also have to think about certain faces are going to get sun before others. So on those ones, your scent might be going up. But now on the opposite side of that, even in the morning, as it's still cool, your scent or the thermal will be drawing down those cool canyons. So it might be rising on one side, but pulling down another. This is something extremely important to think about because there's so many times where I'll be

planning a stock or trying to get into position in the morning. And if I go on one side of the hill, it's no good. But if I drop around the other side, I can kind of hedge my bets and hope that the thermal switch on that side later, allowing me to maybe get into a position or to get into a better spot for later on.

Now, when I'm thinking about, you know, if you're thinking about the way animals operate, you might kind of see some patterns of, it seems like elk, especially deer in the morning, they might be in one spot on the mountain and then you'll see that they move faster.

in the morning and then they kind of move down in the evening. Well, you would think to yourself, "Oh, that's really simple. They go with the thermals, so I should be fine. If I just get above them in the morning, I'll be good because they'll be moving up. And if I get below them in the evening, they'll be moving down." So theoretically, that sounds great. Yes. But here's what is generally happening that I've found is that in the morning,

Before the thermal switch, the wind is often going down because it's still that cold there. So what's happening is you would get above them, your scent would be going to them. And then the thermal switch... So what they're doing is they're actually moving up generally before the thermal switch. So you'd be below them trying to catch up and then your thermal switch and then move up to them. So it really puts you in a bad position either way. You're racing against the clock, which isn't very predictable.

So what I like to do is I like to try to anticipate where the thermals are, play the prevailing wind, and then know that you have a limited amount of time on either side for it to rise and fall, whether it's morning or evening. When you're planning a stalk or an ambush or an execution of getting in close to an animal, you have to really factor in and pay attention to, okay, in your area, where's the sun going to hit? When's that thermal going to change? Where can you go to get away from that thermal?

Is there a way you can stock where you'll keep the prevailing wind in your face? And then when the thermal changes, it's not going to disrupt your stock. Now, it might mean that you have to wait until the winds get more stable later in the day. Midday, they're actually the most stable. The thermals get to a certain point. The ground might be heating at a regular rate.

You know, it just depends on where you're at and the type of weather you're encountering, but it's probably most stable in the middle of the day. You just have to have a scenario where you can plan that stock in the middle of the day, which isn't always the case because they might go into cover, they might go into timber, you might not have as many options, especially with elk, you know, you might, they might be calling and active in the morning.

and then shut up. So you really have to just factor in what are the thermals going to do? When are they going to switch? What's the prevailing wind going to do? And where are areas that I should avoid if I can, because I'm going to get disturbances in air based on the current and the topography. It's a lot, but if you just start thinking about it critically like that, you're really going to start understanding it. And you'll understand it more when you have that in your mind and you're out in the field paying attention to that.

So now let's throw that into the hunting application. When I am out in the field, one thing I am always doing is I am constantly checking the wind. So you might think checking the wind is like, you know, you can lick your fingers, stick it up in the air. The cool side is the direction that the wind's coming from. While that does tell you where the wind's coming from, I like to try to understand both the thermals, the wind direction, and then areas of turbulent wind visually.

So here's some things that I carry to check the wind. I always have a lighter in my pocket, like just a standard Bic lighter, whatever. One of the reasons for that is, I mean, if I'm ever off or separated from my pack and other things, I can start a fire and I have fire starter on me.

I use it probably more often than not to check the wind, especially in the mornings and evenings when I'm moving in before daylight. I can use the lighter to really gauge which way the wind's going and how erratic the wind is, you know, in the night when you can't really see anything else. It's a great indicator for wind direction because I try to, I don't want to blow things out before the game's even started, before I can even see.

Now, as I'm moving, people that hunt with me are like, wow, you are, I mean, I'm, I'm checking the wind like constantly. So you think, well, what tools do I use to check the wind?

for the most part, me, as I'm walking, I know certain pieces of certain types of grass and other things that are great indicators of the wind. So I'm kind of like pulling things off, whether it be the tops of some grasses, uh, some grass itself, like constantly as I'm walking, moving and dropping and just seeing how the winds are moving almost constantly. Now, the other thing that I like to carry is just like a puffer bottle, which is

A wind checking device that's got like baby powder in it or something. They've got all different ones. I've made my own with just like baby powder, talcum powder kind of stuff. It's a little bit better than the grass, but I use the grass more regularly or even just like picking up dirt and letting it fall and watching it. It's just that the powder is a little bit lighter, but it's in limited supply. Like you can't just be using it all the time.

So as I'm moving, walking, whatever, if I see something, I'm checking the wind. Before I even see something, I'm checking the wind. I'm always checking the wind. I'm constantly cognizant of what the wind's doing, how it's moving. And if you're constantly getting those data inputs over the years, you're going to develop just this innate sense to understand wind, wind movements, wind directions, and thermals.

but it takes years of doing that. So one habit you want to get into is just checking the wind. And I think when people hunt with me, they, that's one thing that they pick up right away is just how often that I'm like checking what's going on with the wind, because it is the thing that will bust you. And it's the hardest thing to predict. Like you can really understand wind currents and you can still get swirls in the wind or

erratic changes. It's something that you can't control, but having a vast understanding of it and then really constantly not doing something stupid when you can make a better play is going to tip the scale into your favor.

Now, the third thing that I like to do, so I've got the puff bottle. And the good thing about the puff bottle is that that powder is lighter than grass or dirt that you're using. So what it does is it kind of allows you to see the thermals as well. If that smoke kind of rises, then you've got an up thermal. If it starts to drop or if that smoke starts to spin, you can kind of see that, okay, the winds are changing.

Now, the third thing that I like to do is I'll keep like a feather in my pocket and I'll pluck like a few pieces of the down of the feather off and let it go in the wind. Because if there's a really good up thermal, it floats and you can watch the way that the current in that wind moves.

over a longer distance than the smoke or the grass or anything else, especially in lighter winds. So what that does is you'll see in the mornings when you do that as the thermal is going up, drop that feather and it almost shoots up into the sky. It goes up to a knob and then instead of going over the hill, it goes around the side of the hill. So you think, okay, the sides are going to be more turbulent because that's the way that my sense going. But if I walk this direction, okay, my sense tracking that path,

So what I like to do is understand those longer distance movements in the current, what they do as they go over the top of something. If I've got a deer bedded below me, you know, how is that wind changing? And am I going to get caught into a bad situation?

Once you have those wind checks, you kind of understand the wind direction. It basically comes down to not having the animal downwind of you, you know, keeping the wind in your face, but it's not always possible. I mean, that's, I like to think of it like this. There's so many animals that I hunt that if I get a consistent wind,

It's no problem. You know, you're going to be successful that day, but very rarely do you get these consistent wins or do the animals go into a position where you can sneak in with the wind? They're looking one direction and,

It's very hard to gauge. So you might have to come in like perpendicular to the direction that the wind's going. And that's where these turbulence and wind, these wind swirls come into play. You can kind of pick and choose the direction that you're going to go based on the area that's going to have the most consistent wind if you can't have it perfect every time, which is very rarely. Now, you might understand the thermals and you just got to make your moves based on predicting what's going to happen next.

If I'm going after these elk and I'm trailing them and the wind's in my face and I'm below them, I got to know that at some point that thermal is going to switch and cause the opposite reaction. So just having a foresight into what's going to happen later is really going to help you plan your stock and try to be two steps ahead instead of one step behind. Because as soon as you're one step behind, the jig's up, the game's over, you're done.

Now, there's many times you might not have everything just right, and you might not have the time to wait for things to be just right, or where you're at, it's just not going to be right. So sometimes you just have to deal with the hand that you're dealt. You got to go into it knowing, okay, there is a possibility of getting winded, but you just kind of have to step up

be bold, and then constantly adjust. Like get in there, start making your moves, keep checking the wind, and then keep adjusting your play as you're going along and get what I would consider the best opportunity out of a lot of bad options. You're still probably going to get winded in many scenarios that you aren't expecting it. But if you have a little bit of foresight and really just keep taking the best option available, you're going to be more successful over a long period of time.

Now, there's a couple of things that just kind of go against the grain, some random ways that they don't smell you. There's been times where I think, oh man, the wind is wrong. And now all of a sudden there's this deer here or whatever. And I'm like, how are they not smelling me?

What's happening in those instances is probably either there's very light wind and it's not catching your scent, like it's not moving your scent fast enough where your scent's dropping to the ground before it's getting to that animal or the thermal's working in your favor where it's pushing the scent up and over the animal.

There's a few times where I've seen, say, deer bedded below a ledge. And I think that that can be one of the easiest ways to be successful. If I think back how many times I've gotten shots just like right off of a ledge, they can't really hear you. The site's obstructed. I've even stalked with the wind straight at my back, but...

I'm high enough above the deer that I know with a strong wind, it's going to be turbulent enough that my scent probably won't get to something right below me. So those are the few instances that you can kind of think, okay, the wind sucks, but it's in such a good position right now. It's worth risking or trying because there's no other approach. And

I'll probably get lucky with a good thermal coming up from the bottom and a prevailing wind going the other direction. It might just shoot it right over the top of the deer. If they're further down or it's a light wind and no thermal or a down thermal, that's not going to work. But there are certain instances where you can kind of buck the wind and have it in your favor. Now, I hope that that gives you a little bit more understanding of just the way that wind currents work and thermals work.

If you have any more questions on it, feel free to reach out via social media, especially, or remyatthemeateater.com. And then we'll try to answer some questions at the end of some episodes and then also in our Q&As every three or four weeks, whatever.

I know these are kind of like crazy times right now. A lot of things up in the air. Everybody's getting a little antsy and itchy and what have you. You know, just keep doing your part. I really appreciate everybody that's listening to these podcasts. You know, if you can, subscribe to it. Give us a comment or a rating. Really appreciate that. You know, while we're all in this little bit of limbo, we're starting to get itchy and feel penned up.

I'll be doing some cool stuff over on my Instagram. So if you're bored and wanna check that out, feel free to jump over there and just like check some stuff out, interact with me. I really appreciate that. Now talking about interacting, before I did this, I get so many questions that I just kind of can categorize as I'll answer that question all at once.

And it has to do with wind, especially. I get a lot of people that might be not Western hunters, but mostly tree stand stationary hunters. And they're talking about scent control products. Like, should I use scent control, this, that, and the other thing? Here's the standard message that I say with that. And I think when you talk about wind and thermals, this is going to come up. If I'm talking about scent control, so what that might be, it might be like carbon clothing, certain sprays, scent eliminator sprays.

If you're hunting in a stationary stand, that makes a lot more sense because you cannot move with the wind. Now you got to think like how mountain hunting spot and stock hunting works. It's generally quite physical and you're moving. As soon as you start moving, your body creates heat that creates sweat. That sweat creates scent.

Spraying your stuff down, having scent-proof clothing is gonna last for a very, very, very short period of time. So essentially it renders itself ineffective as soon as you start moving around, which you need to be more mobile and be able to move. So the best scent control you can have is using the wind right. I mean, think about even if you're in a situation where you've got a deer coming up and you could just magically pop into that spot, fully sprayed down with all the scent control stuff,

that animal will probably still smell you. You just have to have the wind right where it might give you the edge as if it's a slight swirl and not a direct wind. It might give you that edge, but if you're moving around, it kind of renders that edge ineffective. I have noticed that earlier in hunts when you're cleaned, you've just got freshly cleaned clothes, you aren't as sweaty. It's harder for animals to wind you as the weeks progress as you're backpacking, you know, your clothes start to stink and

they can smell you easier and rightfully so you can smell yourself easier. Um, but I don't think that scent control products are as effective in Western hunting. Like it's just more waste of money at that point. Now, if you're tree stand hunting, it can be effective, but you also want to play the wind more than trusting in some scent control products.

If you had the option to buy another tree stand or scent control stuff, I'd probably just go with another tree stand and get it in positions based on the winds. And then if you can add a little scent control stuff to that, great. I know there's a lot of products out there that do help and do work, and I've used them as well. But I think for most Western hunting applications...

You know, I used to carry scent spray and right before every stock spray down. And I'll do that every once in a while. It's not a bad idea. It might give you a little bit of advantage, but there's a certain point in it when I just don't know if I've seen the actual difference because I'm keeping the wind right and using the wind more than anything. So if I just use the wind as the tool, I don't really have to worry about carrying that other stuff or wonder if it's working or anything like that. I'm just using the wind and that's my main tool.

So I hope that that helps everyone. Like I said, feel free to find me on Instagram if you guys want to see some stuff. Maybe I'll throw out from the story today. I'll maybe do like a rehash of that story that I told. Maybe throw up some pictures for that and my story on there. Might be kind of cool. I know it's fun to see like some visuals for the audio story that goes down. So I appreciate it. Hey, everybody stay safe out there and keep the wind in your face.

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