I never even heard of them before reading about it on this site. And I still didn't/don't really understand them fully. But I went out for my first hunt of the year last Saturday morning. There was a slight North wind. I set up on the edge of a field, just inside the woods, downwind of a pretty good trail. Nothing went the way I wanted it to. I got into the woods later than I wanted to, it was already light out. And I made a lot of noise getting my climber set up, so I didn't think I would see anything at least not right away. But of course as soon as I get settled into the stand I see a nice doe that snuck up on me (it was also wet so I couldn't hear her coming). Well by the time I saw her she was already well within bow range (~25 yards). So I just watched her. She got a little nervous. And she kept looking at the edge of the woods to the left of me. She never even looked in my direction. But then she started stomping, gave out one long snort and trotted away. Now I don't think she could have winded me, she was definitely upwind of me, walking North to South. But I was sitting at the bottom of a small hill. She was coming down the hill towards me. Could this be the thermals rising that got me busted? Or maybe there was a coyote or something I didn't see on the edge of the field? I don't know so I thought I would ask. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to try to get as many of the details as I could. And even though I didn't get a shot and nothing really went smoothly for me, it was still awesome just to get back out into the woods.
My first thought is, did she cut your track from where you walked in??? Thermals, they rise in the morning and fall in the afternoon.
I don't think so, she never got close to the path I took to my tree. I came in from the opposite direction from where she was standing. That's why I was thinking thermals because she was walking down the hill towards me.
