The one thing most gun hunters hope for to give them an added advantage is snow. Snow is a rare occasion anymore in deer season, however that hasn’t been the case so far this season. Deer hunters in the area were blessed with several inches of snow for the opening day of gun season as well as the entire first week.
There are many ways deer hunters can take advantage of snow. Some hunters are good trackers. With snow, hunters can track deer versus having to stand hunt or still hunt. Also, snow creates a tremendous background for spotting deer more easily. Their brownish, gray fur is way more noticeable in the snow than having to find them in a background of leaves and brush. Snow also shows everywhere deer are traveling and living. Every bit of activity will be shown from tracks in the snow.
Despite hunters having an advantage with the snow during the opening week, in some areas there was too much snow. Deep snow adds new challenges to the hunt. In some areas, the snow was so deep that hunters had a hard time driving back into areas that weren’t plowed. I saw several trucks that were stuck, even those that were four-wheel drive. The heavy snow also had an impact on hunters walking through the woods. Knee-deep snow can be difficult to walk through. It can wear you out, quickly. One of the best tactics for hunting in the snow is still-hunting and covering a lot of ground. Putting a lot of miles on in deep snow is a huge challenge. Hunters who planned to walk several miles likely cut their distances in half, due to the deep snow.
Deer also move a lot less in deep snow and cold, wintry weather. The movement really seemed to slow down after the first couple days of the season. Not only did the deer sense the hunting pressure, but they didn’t travel nearly as much once we started to get the heavy, lake effect snowfalls. You also have to keep in mind that this is the post-rut. A time when bucks are recovering from the wear and tear of the breeding season. Local deer processor Tim Bosworth told me that all the bucks being brought to him for processing have had no fat left on them. This is a sign of rutting stress. The combination of deep snow and post-rut recovery can really limit buck movement to a minimum, especially during daytime hours.
I was fortunate to shoot a decent 7-point on the opening day. I also missed a bigger buck prior to the one I got. I spotted both bucks bedded down underneath hemlock trees in the snow. This was definitely a sign that buck movement was not all that great.
Looking at the weather forecast for the last week of the season, we are back to more normal conditions, weather wise. Temperatures look to be in the high 30s and even the 40s, with no more significant snow accumulations forecast. In fact, it looks like potential rain being called for early in the week. What I am most concerned about is the potential freezing temperatures during the nighttime hours. The combination of rain and freezing temperatures can make for an ice crust on the snow which will only make things worse for hunters. For one, the crunching snow will make walking very noisy. Secondly, deer will move even less when there’s deep snow with a crusty ice layer. The added layer of ice on top of the snow makes it difficult for deer to find food on the ground. In areas where there’s still leftover acorns, it becomes a huge challenge for deer to dig through the icy snow to get to food.
No matter what, there’s rarely ever a perfect weather scenario for whitetail hunting. Whether it’s rain or wind, hot weather or heavy snow, there’s always going to be challenges when it comes to weather conditions.
