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.

 

[Skerhunter]

It is more stable than you think, just have to use the terrain/thermals/prevailing wind to your advantage. Most of the areas I hunt have a west prevailing wind - on north/south ridges it’s almost guaranteed to be pushing up on one side and down on the other (N vs S) Certain spots (saddles/benches) it will vary more in a short distance.

Sometimes you have to go higher sometimes you have to go lower. But it should be consistent in that spot and for archery that’s all you need.

Late morning/noon is the worst as thermals switch. Usually a good time to sit down/slow down until things stabilize. I have been successful multiple times by backing out to a safe spot during this time and then moving in tighter once things stabilize. It’s a great way to get tight to a herd up milling around mid day.

The last hour of the day is usually frustrating if winds lay down. Much harder to predict vs the rest of the day.

 

[TaperPin]

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.

I wanted to work a long skinny bench, but the wind was changing a lot. I made it to the bench, could even smell elk for a minute and with changing wind they could probably get a whiff of me. Had to leave and hunt other spots as the wind changed, then it changed again and I was back at the bench, then it changed again so we hunted some other areas. At the end of the day we passed by the far end of the bench on the way to the pickup and I got another whiff of that barnyard smell. A hundred yards in we jumped the herd and I took a bull. Nothing about that day was predictable and it probably drove the elk nuts as well, but it turned out.

Your odds drop to zero if you stay home, or hunt down wind, so think about areas that provide the most flexibility in multiple directions - zig and zag, reposition, go into the beds, watch the escape routes, have one person work up a drainage while the other works down, or travel up a drainage with a partner on the opposite side, travel towards the top of ridges where prevailing wind is more likely to carry off scent and hunt down in the bottoms when you can. The elk are reacting to the changing winds, but they aren’t running around randomly like chickens with their heads cut off.

 

[Gerbdog]

make those 2-3 hours in the morning with steady wind count - be at a place with elk before sun up and if the wind wont cooperate the rest of the day - back out and glass elk from a distance - put them to bed in the evening through the glass and be there when the sun comes up and the winds steady