When do thermals switch?

[TheHammer]

They shift when you are drawing your bow. Elevation, weather/overcast - sunlight are all factors. Early to Mid morning, then typically just as the sun is starting to go behind the next peak.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Thermals are different on every hill, sun, shade, creeks, all can have effects. I’ve been on hills where thermals are different 50 yards apart. Had the mans opposite of wind to,


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[mobohunter]

For most areas 10-11am the wind gets squirrelly (still trying to pull down in dark timber but ripping up open faces the sun has been on for a few hours) by noon usually things have stabilized. Every day will be slightly different, sometimes I sit down for a short break for things to stabilize. It’s my favorite time to call in a bull because I can use the thermals to my advantage to get in tight.

In the evenings it’s a lot less predictable, especially if wind dies down at sunset you can go from being OK to thermals pulling your scent in a wild direction super fast.

This is what I have found from my short time chasing elk... Use that scent checker as much as possible

 

[sheajeff]

There are a lot of variables… like what time the sun hits a particular spot, which way the mountain is facing, but here in the San Juan’s, I would say the average time is 9:45 to 10 am

 

[Boone-In-Wall]

I'm generally hunting east facing slopes (terrain drops to the east).
And I typically have pretty strong winds from the west.

When do thermals switch?

In the morning, it seems like they would switch pretty early when the sun really hits the hill. So does it start going uphill within an hour or two of daybreak?

In the evening, I'm pretty confused. The hillside with be in the shadows quite a while before sunset. Are the shadows enough to start the thermals going downhill? Or does it take until sunset and full darkness for the thermals to start going downhill?

So, it kind of depends. Typically, its mid-morning; however, sun exposure plays into it a lot too. If you are on a north facing slope (i.e., a slope that won't get full direct sunlight until later in the morning), then it may be later in the morning. If you are on a south facing slope that gets sun first, then those thermals could switch before 9am.

 

[Jaquomo]

So many variables. When I hunted broken basins on the Continental Divide about 1000 feet above the valley floor, the thermals would start mixing and blowing every direction around 9 a.m. stayed that way all day. Then in the evenings it often wasn't workable until the sun went behind the range to the west.

Now I'm hunting higher, around 10K and more than 2000 feet above the major valley floor, and it sometimes doesn't switch in the a.m. until 10:30-11:00.