Hunting in the snow

[Derwood]

Snow hunting is my absolute favorite.

The game seems to always want to move whenever the weather shifts slightly, such as when it goes from actively snowing to a few minutes of calm. Identifying fresh tracks suddenly becomes an elementary exercise. Blood tracking a wounded deer can go from a three hour pursuit to a simple procedure. Large tracts of public land are often deserted.

As long as you've got the appropriate clothing and boots, there is no reason to be uncomfortable.

The only thing to worry about is getting there and back safely. Roads can be slippery and there always seem to be other motorists going just a little bit too fast for the conditions.

So...who is going out tomorrow?

It's probably going to be a great day to be a waterproof animal like a duck! I wish I was going duck hunting but my waders failed me on my last trip so I'm going to wait until next weekend when I can get to a place where they're not needed.

I plan to go for small game tomorrow and can't wait.

Sound off below if you look forward to "bad" weather hunts as much as I do and share what you enjoy hunting when the weather is cold, snowy or wet.

 

[wilcam47]

Good luck!

 

[BigSteve57]

I particularly like a not too deep to impair hiking snow covered ground for deer hunting.
It makes the deer stand out like ink-dots against the snow.
If you can get a spot looking down or across a valley to an opposing hill it's even better.
Plus, if you have to track you can spot the blood very easily.
Snow's the best & rain's the worst IMHO.

 

[outrider58]

Snow deer hunting is the absolute best!

 

[namrelio]

They sure drag out easy on it.

 

[Derwood]

Snow's the best & rain's the worst IMHO.

My thoughts exactly. I won't take a bow shot while it's raining. But if it stops and I don't think it will rain again...that's one of the best times to be in the stand since the deer seem to emerge then.

 

[Chris]

The best I have killed every time it was snowing or on the ground. Chris

 

[Mike3888]

Love me some snow hunting. Last week in Dorchester killed a doe on Monday with bow.s seen 19 total that day. More then I seen all year on this farm.

 

[BigSteve57]

My thoughts exactly. I won't take a bow shot while it's raining. But if it stops and I don't think it will rain again...that's one of the best times to be in the stand since the deer seem to emerge then.

Yep! FOLLOWING a rain I have observed deer as active and I can make it to my stand silently with no crunching of leaves on the forest floor.

 

[SRD]

If it's not a "too cold" type of snow,I love it.Got caught in Green Ridge or Sideling Hill (can't remember since my brain froze) in a squall that dumped like 6-8" in an hr.on top of 10-12" from the day before and was blowing 30-40.If my fingers weren't frozen I would have shot myself it was so cold.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Woods lit up like a neon sign on a moonless night.

Right there with ya OP. If the good Lord made anything better than deer hunting just after a light snow, he kept it for himself!

 

[budman93]

I love hunting with snow on the ground. Makes everything so much easier to see. I shot a nice doe last weekend during firearms and I'm out of practice with my bow so I'm not going any more this year.

 

[Doco Overboard]

Before and after yes, but my observation has been little movement in big woods during periods of heavy falling snow. Rain I feel is a little different, however if there are a lot of others hunting nearby during a snow which is usually the case because guys like to get out in it, odds are certainly better.

 

[j_h_smith]

Snow is great but what they're calling for tomorrow is a good candidate for disaster. If you do go out, make sure a few different people know EXACTLY where you'll be hunting. Be ultra careful when climbing. Stick to a schedule so your loved ones know when to expect you home.

Good Luck!

 

[remrug]

I was driving out a small wood lot towards a friend of mine.There was about 4 inches of snow on the ground.I saw some deer running across the field and my bud took a shot.I went out in the field to see if he hit any thing.It looked like someone took a can of red spray paint and walked along spraying the snow here and there.There was no big drops of blood at all.Just a fine mist of blood.We followed it for about 200 yrds til it hit the woods .About 50 yrds in we found the deer.Come to find out,the deer must have been running towards him and he hit a raking shot.The bullet hit on the outer part of the ribs and exited.A small piece of the rib must have splintered into the lung.Even tho this was an easy deer to recover,if it werent for snow,we would never have known this deer was even hit at all.

 

[Adolph Oliver Bush]

I plan to head out tonight. I like hunting in all kinds of weather, although my wife recently asked why I could hunt when it was cold and miserable out, but not do outside house chores.....

Specifically hinted that snow shoes would make a great (summer) birthday present, so I'd have them before the start of hunting go season.

Screw those expensive and lesser used snow camo outfits. I put on my favorite real tree camouflage coat, felt lined jeans, went to the nurse uniform store, and bought me a white nurses jacket and pants that fit over my normal hunting gear. That way I'm on paying for the color, not the insulation that I already have, and it does add another layer.

 

[Adolph Oliver Bush]

.....and I put never wet on the nurses uniform ( like the rest of my hunting clothing) so that melted snow doesn't soak in.

As for cold trigger finger, my modern sporting rifle has a storage compartment in the grip. Makes a great place for a chemical hand warmer.

Speaking of which, I also make ample use of stick-on body warmers. What's $3 each time you go hunting to keep from getting cold?

 

[lazarus]

Snow deer hunting is the absolute best!

Unless it is a blizzard. Then they don't want to move, you can't see, scope or sights get clogged with snow or scope covers slow you down, tiring as heck slogging through it and getting a deer out with motorized vehicle is grueling.

Snow on the ground or light snow falling might be good.

A covered stand/blind might work great if they move.

Still hunting just stinks. Not super cold, but parts of you are definitely going to get wet.

Edit to say I love hunting with some snow on the ground (up to about 4") and with light flurries coming down, but more than that tends to suck.

 

[lazarus]

If it's not a "too cold" type of snow,I love it.Got caught in Green Ridge or Sideling Hill (can't remember since my brain froze) in a squall that dumped like 6-8" in an hr.on top of 10-12" from the day before and was blowing 30-40.If my fingers weren't frozen I would have shot myself it was so cold.

Sounds a little like last weekend when I was at Nanticoke. Though not quite as much snow. 6-7" in 5 hours, 20-30mph winds IN the woods (30-40 on the fields) about 23F outside.

Actually wasn't super cold. By the time I left at noon my fleece gloves were wetted through, my liners had been soaked for a couple of hours but my hands were still warm. My wool hat had soaked through, but also still warm. My multicam ACU pants were damp, but hadn't soaked through the two layers of long underwear I had on underneath, they were both dry. My parka and everything else on top was dry as a bone.

Missed a couple of Sika I bumped because it took too long to open my scope caps, take it off safe and shoulder my rifle. Those scope caps slowed me down the crucial couple of seconds or I absolutely would have gotten a couple of shots off from my AR-15. My neighbor didn't have scope caps and he lost a chance on a Sika he bumped because he lost a couple of seconds trying to clear snow off his rear scope lens.

My irons kept getting clogged with snow and would have also taken a couple of seconds to clear.

:-(

 

[GodOfVice]

Pluses and minuses, obvious tracking and stalking advantages BUT wet snow and percussion caps have cost me deer. I can only imagine what it was like in the olden days. >click<