Constantly Swirling Wind

[GunsAreFun]

The bulk of our 8 day Colorado archery hunt had swirling winds. I’m talking wind going all four cardinal directions sometimes in a 10-20 minute period. It was only stable for 2-3 hours in the morning. Once the sun came out, it was all over the place. Didn’t matter if we were in dark timber, Aspen groves, meadows, or open/brushy hillsides from 8,500-10,600’.

My question is how do you hunt these conditions? The area wasn’t conducive to glassing.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

I’m guessing you’re hunting elk. I’m no expert but I would say locate the herd then only call when you are right on top of them. Hope the wind holds for the time you need. I’ve found the elk like to hang out in these areas that wind swirls a lot. Sure makes it frustrating.

 

[shootnrun]

Valley of a thousand winds.. Just gotta keep at it. Try to find pockets where the wind is blocked by a ridge or topography to get a consistent thermal. Or find a valley where the prevailing and thermals mesh up better. But then, the elk where we hunt tend to find spots where the wind always swirls. Just another weapon in their arsenal. If you can't relocated then just keep hunting. Eventually it'll come together... Just know you're gonna have a lot of blown opportunities. But maybe one won't be

 

[GunsAreFun]

So what I’m hearing so far is:

We eventually just decided we were going to go where we wanted to go and hope for the best.

 

[ozyclint]

I used to have access to a private property for pigs and fallow deer that was like that. I stood still and the wind would blow from each point on the compass in a 5 minute period.
Drove me crazy. It would be like that every time I went there. In those conditions it became unhuntable and I went home.

Animals love it as they can move around in complete security

 

[GunsAreFun]

The crazy part is this just wasn’t one spot. We went up different mountains every day, most were 5+ miles from each other. A couple were 20 miles away.

 

[TheHammer]

This has been my experience for the past handful of seasons. I slow play it. 3-4steps and check the wind. I went through 4 bottles of code blue smoke this season… but also got in on a bull every day. Try to use topography to your advantage when stalking in. The topography bends the wind and can really help close the distance. I rarely call and have been quite successful getting within bow range doing this. It took a couple years to figure out. Typically mid day in the timber it is most predictable.