We have four inches of fresh snow on the ground and I have the day off work! I don't get many oppurtunitys to hunt in the snow and am really looking forward to it. There's just something right about being out in a fresh snow with the bow in hand. There calling for a north/west wind so it will be perfect to still hunt the big ridge behind the house tomorrow! I just love to follow those tracks around in the snow until you can slip up on one!
Good luck brother!!!! I love hunting with fresh snow on the ground!
I know what you mean adeeden, we got 3"-4" of snow today,i have really been looking forward to this. I to,like hunting and tracking the deer in snow. Hopefully i can get up the hill to where i park to hunt. :goldtooth:
Keep us posted on how the hunt goes. The fresh snow is great to hunt with.
Make sure to use the preditor in you.
Tim
DEATHMASTER
Kill one for me I forgot what its like ...LOL
Nothing like stalking in a fresh snow. Good Luck!!
Good luck Buddy! Have a great time!
good luck, nothing but rain here. Guess I could track in the mud!
Go get one Dennis! Hap
I'm going also. We only got a heavy dusting downstate but I need to get out and play. Good Luck to all. Out Door Dan "The Stalken Wanna Be Man" LOL
I was out in it most of the middle of the day!!
Be back at it in the a.m. , more flurries to come!!
If I could just stop the crunching of the wet snow... :help: :banghead: :jumper: It's fun even when they know I'm comin'!!
I hear ya Billy on that crunchy snow! :smileystooges: Thankfully it's pretty cool up this way and the snows all light, soft and drifty!
Good luck. I'm heading to the cabin to do the same for a couple of days.
I'm going out this afternoon. Gonna' look for bunnies mostly. We are getting some flurries but last nights tracks should be easily visible.
Myself and a couple of good friends went out yesterday in the fresh snow we hiked about six miles total in snow (with snowshoes) that was anywhere from 3inches deep to 5 foot deep. We had a total of about 16-18 inches of fresh snow! We did see some deer but no shots.
Well my snow day morning didn't end quite the way I expected it to but it was a pretty good morning all in all!
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/DSCN0189.jpg)
I woke myself up early today around 3:00 A.M. deliberatly with the intentions of wearing myself out as I have to sleep this afternoon and be up and on the road at midnight for a hunt with my Dad in Southern IN tomorrow morning!
So I piddled around until daylightish then took my time feeding all the critters this morning before heading out into the snow.
It had been light for 30 minutes or so before i slipped accross the hollow behind the house and into the little hayfield. I cut tracks right at the edge of the hayfield maybe 100 yards from my bed!
The tracks were heading parrellel to the woods just inside the hayfield heading west, I figured they were made last night right after the snow had stopped and instead of following them I would cross the hayfield, cut down to the creekk then hit the big ridge.
When I got about 3/4 accross the hayfield I cut the tracks of what I assumed was the same group of deer. They were heading east and I figured they would end up at the bottom of the hill down along the creek. The deer really like to bed down there and there's been a group of does and fawns using that area very reguraly.
and....looks like an awful lot of blood on that tree!!
gaff
After seeing the tracks heading back east I hurridly crossed the rest of the field then switched gears as I begin dropping down into the holow. Taking a step, stopping, scanning the area in front of me. I knew if i went slow enough that I should soon spot deer down in the bottom. About halfway down the hill, I spotted a bedded deer about 70 yards from me. I froze and begin scanning for the rest of the group!
Over the next five minutes or so I had picked out six deer bedded at the bottom of the hill between the creek and the hillside I was on. The wind was steady out of the northwest and the deer were north east of me so I felt the crosswind would work fine and I mentaly planned my route to work closer to them.
I knew it would be tough to work down to them, but felt it was possible and slowly one silent step at a time begin closing in.
The first 20 yards went easy enough and I was now about 50 yards from the closest deer a nice plump little fawn doe. As usual all the deer were bedded facing different directions so I was trying to watch all of them to make sure none were looking my way before I took a step.
No eyes were looking my way so I stepped from behind the maple I was behind to try to work my way towards a hickory a maybe 8 feet away. On the second step towards the hickory I lost my footing with my right foot and went down in ball of snow sliding about 5 feet down the hillside!
By the time I was able to look up all I could see was a bunch of white tails wagging as the headed up the bottoms heading north.........
Well crap........ I decided to just go on down to the bottom of the hill, and set there for awhile to let things settle down. The deer had ran right towards where I had planned on going so that I could get to the far east side of the big ridge. I decided to sit and relax so that hopefully they would move away and relax and I wouldn't start the blowing stomping game when I headed that direction.
After sitting a bit I noticed movement about thirty yards away and it wasn't long before the stalk was on again!
At 20ish yards I saw the oppurtunity I was looking for open up and nocked an arrow and quickly came to anchor and the shaft was away!
I knew the shot looked a little low but was still suprised to see the critter run uphill.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/DSCN0188.jpg)
I couldn't believe it when as I was watching #1 run through a pile of brush and roots on the hillside that a second shot about ten yards away materilized! Arrow #2 was on it's way.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/DSCN0190.jpg)
#2 went down in sight, but #1 had dissapeared into the brush, so i begin slipping along the sign of my first shot.
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/DSCN0187.jpg)
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/DSCN0186.jpg)
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/DSCN0189.jpg)
Things were looking promising!
looking good so far!
10 yards away I soon seen #1 expired at the base of an uprooted tree.
So I headed over to claim my two prizes from the snowday!
:clapper:
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/DSCN0192.jpg)
Yeah I know, I get side tracked easily!
I'm a sucker for a squirrel!
I still can't believe the first one made it as far as he did around 20 yards. I had hit him low right where the front leg connects to the body with a bear razorhead. And he was moving along real well even with a big gash. First time I think I have ever tracked a squirrel!
Anyway the rest of the morning for deer was a wash but I did manage to miss 3 more squirrells and lose 2 arrows! I'll have to go back for them after the snow melts!
Thanks for all the early morning suspense.Thats great!
Congratulations on a Fine Hunt,2 Squirrels,you did Good,you had me going on the Deer Story,Happy New Year,
Kurt
Great story and real suspense there--no matter, deer or squirrel it''s all good!
Congrats for a magic day,thanks for sharing pics are always welcome.
Great story. You had me.
Great story and pics. Submit that to TBM, its a winner!
Thats great Adeeden. I just about fell of my chair when I read how you sliped and fell. Great story, good ending.
Take care.
Gilbert
KEr ...unch skaw..eek. pop..
was what i heard for about two hours this morning.. (My boots on the still wet, packable snow) though I had to listen over the wind.
At least I was not on the road!!!
Congrats on a fine morning, Dennis!
Great story man! thanks for taking us along
Dennis....you had me all along...I thought that slip and fall only happened to me....congrats on a couple nice squirrels.
Great story, nice pics too.
Congradulations-Hap
Nicely told. Sounds like a great day.
tease! nice day in the woods!
i remember hunting in burns oregon one year...i was puttin the sneak on a spike bull and some cows.the sky was dark and threatening rain or snow,all of a sudden it started hailing big ones and lots of them.golfball stuff almost,i was takin hits left and right so i darted under a big juniper.those elk were freekin out and were running to beat hell.as they passed by me i cow called to them and they turned as one like a flock of birds and ran right under the same tree i was under but on the other side.there we were,mexican standoff.i moved just a hair and they blew outta there doin sixty.i'll always cherish that time.
Very cool!
Great story had me on the edge of my chair there for a while.
Okay...I got T-Boned at the end of that one.
Thanks...great story!
Kevin
Thanks for sharing.
you reeled me in on that one Dennis! Congrats on dinner :D
Great story and pics. Thanks.
Glad to hear I'm not the only human snowball out there. We got about six inches of the white stuff here, but my little girl is sick, so maybe tomorrow.