Hunting deer in deep deep snow...
General Topic
FOOD SOURCE....and they won't bed far from one!
I always enjoy picking up a set of tracks and still hunting in deep snow, as long as its not crunchy or squeaking.
GG
Snow shoes and food source.
Also I once read that Pope & Young wont count deer taken in deep snow. I never checked to verify if that was true!!!
Kelly- Some of your most recent threads and commnents lead me to think that Miller has upped your monthly allotment quite a bit and you are taking advantage of it:) My best to the gang!!!!!!
Chip
I read a good book on deer and deer movemnts in extreme weather.
The results were deer will feed before these conditions and unles pushed will bed down and wait for conditions to improve.
Obviously if conditions do not improve over certain time they will feed.
I agree that they will likely be close to food srouces and will not move far from them.
I am assuming we re talking about several feet of snow.
One thing, pushing deer in deep snow really stresses them. If you are bumping deer all over the place, be prepared to find a lot of Winter kill in your area. I don't know where you are hunting, but unless the deer have had an opportunity to put on Winter fat after the rut, they are running at a deficit as is. Add stress from getting pushed around, you'll end up killing them, without killing them.
Here in NNY, the Winters come early and stay late. Hunting ends the first week of Dec to let the deer recover before the real cold sets in. They normally drop antlers by the end of the second week.
If you are hunting an area where the snow is sort of a fluke, hunt close to food sources. If the snow stays long, hunting them now may kill a lot more than you kill.
Just some thoughts. Jay
Chip- ????????? Not sure what your talking about?????
Looks like buckkiller knew the answer!!!
Hey Morgan loved her calendar of the monkees!!!!
She just got her 1st scans of the year today we get results in a few days I will keep ya posted....
-on a day like that,deep snow,soft,-i leave my compound at home and consider myself a pretty decent judge of tracks,so i head out with my snowshoes and my trusty ol black widow recurve.-take some bino's and put on some miles.
alot of times in December we get deep snow in Northern N.H.(though not lately.When it gets deep I forget the blinds and go tracking with snowshoes and my longbow. Several years ago I took the track of a big buck and spent the entire day on his track. We had over 2 feet of snow and snowshoes were in order. I really pushed him and was down to a tee shirt by afternoon. I saw him 5 times. The last time I saw him he was about 15 yards away but in heavy brush. I never got him but I had a great time. He gave me the slip at 3:30 in the afternoon when he got in with a bunch of other deer and I lost his track. I came out of the woods about 6 miles from my truck and hitched a ride back. At least I made it out by dark. Sometimes I don't get out until 10 or 11 PM if I am up in Parmechenee country and I get stupid and stay on the track until dark. I never enter the woods without my rucksack as I have spent several nights in the woods with my hounds.
-thats awesome,lawdy.-i could almost picture myself right there trackin with ya.-love the deep snow time of year here in wis.
Serb is that your photo???? Its just a little deep!!! LOL
That photo was taken in Maine in a backyard. There were 2 years of snow like that which destroyed the deer heard in Northern Maine. I have been told by friends in Maine that this year was so bad very few deer were in the area I used to hunt. They figure it is down 50% of 2007! I will not hunt Maine for deer again. JJ
WOW you gotta feel sorry for them when things get that rough.
Virginia had a deep snow last winter - twice, actually. Christmas, it was 20" and February 30". I hunted through both, and both times I saw deer herds move.
It was very educational, starting with orange deer pee in snow - look it up if you don't know what it is - finding deer beds in cedar thickets and overall great time in woods. Saw a buck flying through the snow in full speed, amazing animals they are.
Hunted hard, didn't kill a thing:)
