Coldest Day of a Kill
Whitetail Deer
Playing off of Brotsky’s thread - what is your coldest day with a kill? I used the whitetail icon, but this can be anything.
I will start with an old warrior whitetail at -17 in northern MN. Not much of a breeze that day (thank God).
January 6th 2017. Temperature was -12 with a -25 windchill. My best ever buck. Scored 191”. I hit him perfectly and got to watch him go down about 150yds away from me.
Twenty below with a stiff wind in 2003., from the ground. 1969, just out of the service, on over 6 feet of snow, I walked up to a doe I had tracked on snowshoes and shot a big doe in her bed. Felt bad but that deer was doomed. Found over one hundred dead deer that spring doing a deer survey in a big deer yard with wardens and biologists. That was the end of Northern NH’s deer herd for years and I don’t believe it ever totally recovered as feeding led to our traditional yards being clearcut.
31 BELOW ZERO in ND. Had to take a break in the middle of field dressing to warm my hands.
Not exactly sure how cold it was the day I shot the ram but we had temps below minus forty on my Canmore Bighorn hunt in Nov. 2010. Breaking him down and skinning for a life size was an all day ordeal. God was it cold.
Screw that! Mine is probably around 30 degrees F, maybe a little colder! Cold Sucks! Really F'n Cold Really F'n Sucks:)
-31 below 0???? I'm in a heated hotel, watching HBO drinking a beer in my 70 degree room! LOL... As I said in other posts, living in the AZ desert has made me a total cold sissy! You guys that do this are amazing! Truly, you have my utmost respect! I could not do that uless I was in a heated blind with warm beverages! .
-65 windchill / temp -39
Thanks for loaning me the gear Jake.
two years later the effect of global warming had kicked in and it was a balmy -25 with light winds for a -41 windchill
I remember back in the winter of '76 it was so cold the thermometer busted so I don't know how cold it was. I know ducks were freezing in mid-air and falling to the ground and we just walked around picking them up. One morning I sneaked up on a big buck and shot him but the broadhead only went in about an inch.
I shot him again, same thing happened. Then I noticed his eyes were glazed over so I walked up to him and that bugger was froze solid right there where he stood. Took three days for him to thaw out in the kitchen.
I swear on my pappy's grave its true.
Kota man, that is a big deer. What did he weigh?
Now that’s cold Jaq, that’s flippin cold there bud!
It showed -22 when I got back to the house about 30 minutes after I shot this one. 1983
Lawdy...He was a big, old bruiser but I never weighed him.
My Polar Bear was taken at around minus 30 as well...
-17 when in Alberta when I got this guy.
Prolly in the teens maybe single digits not sure
But no where near what you guys are talking about!!!
Freakin awesome man!!!
Not sure I could do it but wow much respect!!! ??
Killed a mule deer in western Kansas at 10 below. When I got back to town some locals laughed at me for hunting in such cold weather.
That old 10 point was chasing does at -17 when I shot him. Not sure I ever chased the ladies at that temp!!
Good lord! You guys are just placing a bigger hot dog on top of another. I thought I was all big and bad for killing a 140" whitetail in January, in 16 degree weather with 5 degree windchill. I'm a wuss.
-22 doe in mn The first doe that came in heard my arrow scraping against those white Teflon prong coverings. I drew back early on the next one and waited at full draw for a long time. It worked as it did not know I was there. This was quite a few years ago when I was using a bear kodiak and the flipper style rest.
Right around 0 F. had the hardest time maintaining control of the knife with everything freezing on my hands and knife handle.
Cold enough for me... 5 degrees
I remember reading Bustas story, that is friggin cold!
-7 when shot, -15 when we got him out...
January 24, temperatures floated around zero to a few degrees below that day...
Once killed a doe with a muzzleloader on an organized drive during January with temperatures in double digits below zero... I was a driver so finished out the drive and by the time a couple of us went back (less than an hour) to drag her out she was frozen stiff and we had a heck of a time getting her gutted...
I almost killed 2 immigrants from south of the border today that cut me off the road and almost put me into a guardrail....does that count.
-39 F was -55 with windchill. Was afraid my longbow might shatter but it held up. Had to go hunt it was the last day of SK season!
Can't find a picture, but twice killed deer when the temps were in the low to mid -20°s F. I think at that point, it becomes kind of a mental/physical challenge....especially sitting in a stand....its not like you can do a lot of moving to keep your blood circulating.
I was Doe hunting (PA old school) back in the late 1980's and it never got above -5. Dad and I both tagged out and ran out of there.
15 below Zero when we started this cat hunt in Colorado., 2001. A few hours later, it warmed up to 1 above. My face was "frozen". A good day.
15 below Zero when we started this cat hunt in Colorado., 2001. A few hours later, it warmed up to 1 above. My face was "frozen". A good day.
I killed a late season doe a couple years ago when the truck thermometer read -19, not much wind to speak of though so it wasn't terrible. Just had to throw on a light jacket! Ha!
I don't bow hunt much in really cold weather. I think my coldest bow kill was probably lower 20's
-17 F in Nodak years ago. Light wind made it tolerable
I killed a whitetail buck in Montana last year and the temps were somewhere around -20...so cold that my camera/cell phone wasn't working. (That's how I know several posters in this thread are lying about the temps...their phone was still working! :) )
December 31, 2009. 10 degrees with a 15mph wind. Went down in sight in the cattails.
-28 ambient -57 with windchill in ND. My truck started gelling on my way out to hunt. Had to turn around and grab some 911. It was just a little 3x3 muley. I waited until my boy got out of school to skin it and that was a big mistake. If its cold I'll take care of them asap from now on.
I'm a wimp. I've shot a few with temps in the 20s. But nothing colder. I've sat in colder temps but not much.
Missouri had a firearms antlerless doe season that used to be around Christmas each year, we also had unlimited antlerless tags statewide back then 4 years ago or so. Usually it was pretty cold, but one year in particular it was right around the zero mark during antlerless season, with highs about 5 degrees. We would always take a trip up north that weekend and in 1.5 days 4 of us killed 18 does. After that trip I decided I would never meat hunt in weather that cold again. Not that hunting in it sucked, but field dressing a deer when it's that cold is absolutely brutal, let alone field dressing 18 of them... Sharp knives and numb fingers are a dangerous combination.
Not as cold as some of you guys, but it was a challenge keeping my 12 year old warm in 1 degree weather the day after Thanksgiving. Shotgun kill, but a mile in on public land, on the ground with no blind. He was a trooper and his first deer, which was even more special.
My daughter's first "youth deer hunt". By far colder than any days that I've harvested. Snow/ice and a stiff wind. It was around -7. I couldn't believe how calm she was. I was shivering laying down next to her, and she made a great shot. Probably my quickest field dressing job ever. It was miserable, but she's been hooked ever since!
Last season 1-3-2018, it was 3 degrees when I shot him, not sure what the windchill was but I was about half frozen and really happy he showed up!
Last night SE Ohio. -4 with wind chill -21.
You guys are some tough nuts. There isn’t a buck big enough to make me got sit in the woods as cold as it is right now.
No idea on Archery. -10 one year early 80's for rifle season. Shot a buck and a doe that day... Saw one of the biggest mulies I have ever seen on the hoof at 200 yards(Whitetail only tag) and I missed a 150" Whitetail in the same drainage about an hour later. Running shot, but hate to admit I walked within 10 yards of him and never saw him till he busted out and I was 150 yards away. Only got one shot as the fog was so thick in the riverbottom (water was still pretty warm as it was early november). Ended up shooting a smaller 4pt(western) whitetail later in the am and a monster mulie doe that day as well.
Robear, great , late Ohio Buck! Congrats!
Sometime back in the 80's -44 WT Deer
a last day rifle hunt, -15 ish, Son had wrestling practice in the afternoon so we did a morning hunt, with about 6 inches of fresh snow. figured we needed to be on the road home by 10 is a.m. we hiked about 2 miles back in, and he shot a nice forky horn. We headed down the hill without gutting it, easy downhill drag in the snow. We got to the road and had about 2 miles to go, when he said dad I gotta go or I am going to be late. So he hiked out and took the truck to wrestling. He called my dad on the way out and had him drive up to the gated road to pick me up.
I proceeded to bone out the deer in a gutless method. Then wrap all the meat in the hide real tight, and hook my drag rope to it. pulled real easy, but by the time I started hiking I was real cold. then I got to the gate to find I didn't have a ride yet. So I just kept hiking, didn't figure I would be able to sit very long without getting too cold. I was thrilled to see dad's truck coming around the corner a couple of miles later.
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Not a kill, but my brother-in-law and I floated the snake river from Moose to Jackson in December of 1984 for moose. It was -36 and we were stupid. We had extra clothes in garbage bags in case we flipped the raft. We would have frozen before we could change. I still remember all the ducks flying upriver in the fog. We could have swatted them with paddles.
My buddy shot a lion here in WY that we chased for a couple of miles at 30 below. Man did that suck taking pictures without gloves.
-21 (not counting wind chill) north of Bemidji, MN. Hunted all day long. I killed a 42lb. Bobcat in the afternoon after my dad missed him in the morning.
Can't be sure of exact temperature but with the 40 mph winds blowing in off the Bering Sea right behind me in this photo, it was well south of 0. Luckily there was 4 of us to break him down quickly and get back to the shack. Cold doesn't bother me much, but when you add in wind it is a whole other story.
Weekend trip to Wisconsin for late season opener 1965. Not sure but extremely windy & at least 5 below without wind. Lots of snow. Shot this 6 at 10 feet, on the ground, wood arrow, Pearson recurve & watched him fall at about 40 yds. I had forgotten my knife & gutted him with a Bear Razorhead. PIc is in front of my shop/lanes after I got back to Illinois.
cool pics...JSW...that recurve buck is awsome...
wind chill in teens...barley got the bow back. Halloween. Couldnt climb down even though I could see him dead
My coldest kill was probably a coyote at 4 degrees. The sun was shining with no wind and I was hunting in very little clothing. I’ve killed animals in 20-30 degree weather that was much colder.
Great topic! Especially with the temps many of have had the last few days. And the -est topics are always interesting.
My coldest, was also my latest into deer season - Jan 16, probably closing weekend of antlerless only that year. Temp was around 8 - 10 degrees and there was certainly some wind. Hunt was pretty memorable for a few things; a) the barrel of my muzzleloader had contracted enough that it took every ounce of strength I had to ram the bullet/sabot down the barrel, b) I had talked my coworker/landowner into going that Friday after work - he didn't have nearly enough clothes and left with about 30 minutes of shooting light left and I couldn't help but think, 'Yes I'm sure he is frozen, but man these deer gotta come out and take in some calories soon' and c) a few does did maybe 15- 20 minutes after he left; I got a nice mature one.
As some have pointed out, it doesn't get all that cold until deer season (at least) is over or almost over for a lot of us. I've only killed a few in late December or January and the temps have been nothing like what some of you all have hunted in. For some, any temps in the positive range and less than 20 mph winds is downright balmy!
My most memorable cold weather hunt was also my best stalk ever - and I didn't get a deer!
Probably had some cabin fever, after too many cold days in a row. There was a spot I knew deer bedded and it occurred to me that the wind was just right to stalk it. Again around 10 degrees, 15-20 mph wind with light snow falling on a few inches of still soft (quiet) snow from the night before. I knew I could get to about 100 yards of the bedding area without being seen and did. Got the binoculars up, and there were 3 does bedded and mostly facing away. With basically perfect stalking conditions and plenty of trees to hide behind on the approach, I was able to get to about 20 yards & they had no idea I was there. At that distance I was more than ready to shoot the closest bedded doe. Came out from behind the last tree, drew the bow, aimed and watched the arrow fly right towards exactly where I aimed........And 10 feet from the doe, arrow hit a vine I hadn't seen! In the dirt. The does all shot to their feet and pranced around like 'what was that?' They saw me but didn't seem to understand what was going on. I knocked another arrow, tried to aim around that dang vine, released and hit another vine or limb. At that point the does trotted off 30 or 40 yards. I waited and curiosity got the better of them and they came back to pretty much the same spot. By now I had realized that the does had bedded in a spot that was simply too thick to get an arrow though. I didn't try a third shot. We watched each other for a little bit, I got cold and thought 'well played ladies, once again you're better at this game than I am'. Oh well it was a fun, good stalk and it was still warm at home. There is probably some monster buck bedded in that spot right now!
I shot 2 very late season does on 2 separate occasions that were -5 days. One I will never forget. I learned later that my lighted nock seperated from the arrow during the shot. Hit her right in the sweet spot... with the nock. Watched her looking back and couldn’t believe there was no blood. She came back to me looking for whatever stung her. I got another arrow nocked and hit her with the arrow this time. Went back in the spring and found my arrow where the 1st shot was. Not sure if the arrow was high or low.
18 below 0 spot and stalk Eastern plaines Colorado
18 below 0 spot and stalk Eastern plaines Colorado
Don't really know, but I know it was below 10°, pretty sure it wasn't below zero but the wind chill could of been
-35 with a -52 wind chill jack rabbits. Several deer below -30 in November.
Late season moose hunt here in Manitoba about 10 years ago. It was -45c but at least there was no wind. Only way to keep hands warm were to keep field dressing it. Note to self next time don't take a diesel truck for late season hunting. We left it run for two days. The truck was warmer than the cabin we stayed in
-40 two hunts. Muskox and Alberta whitetail.
