paulvallandigham
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- Jan 9, 2006
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YOu have to figure out where the deer will be staying in their day beds. Look for south facing slopes, to catch what little heat might come through from the sunlight that comes at mid-day.
Don't look at the bottom of ravines, because that is where the cold air gathers, and stays the longest.
Don't look at the top of wind swept ridges, as that brings wind chill.
Look for shallow "saddles" along ridge lines, which are out of the wind but high enough to let the cold air settle down the ravine below.
Deer will want lots of brush and trees to cut the wind even more, and if the saddle faces out on the South, even better.
If there are green plants still showing in the bare spots on those South-facing slopes, that is where they will feed during the day, but still early, and late afternoon. ( Their stomachs don't know what the weather is!)
If there is a blow down area from storm damage, that is several years old, in the woods, check there to see if the deer are not making use of the downed timber as wind breaks, and the new shoots and grasses that grow up in the exposed( to sunlight) forest floor that is opened to the sky after the blow down opens the canopy. Dark Bark hold heat, too, Rotting bark, and tree limbs, and sticks( compost piles) create warm spots on which to lie.
Don't be looking for full body images of deer. Look for "parts and pieces." I have seen massive bucks laying next to the roots of a deadfall tree, where their rack is concealed among those exposed roots, and their bodies are hidden behind the tree trunks. They will often remain hidden, and just wait for you to go past them, before they sneak away out a " back door."
Accept the fact that you may not see a deer within shooting range this year. Use the time to scout the territory to find out where the deer are. FOLLOW any deer tracks you do find, and see where they go. Then, turn around, and go back to follow them back to see where they came from.
The sharpness of the edges of the tracks in snow will tell you how old the tracks are. No matter how cloudy or overcast the day is, there will be a slight melting or " burning " of the north edge of a track. Each day, the sun will be hot enough differently, and at a different time of the morning, to begin burning that edge. Where it begins to burn is the same for all tracks, so look at your tracks from yesterday, to see where the burn begins and ends( as the sun risesin the SE, and falls in the SW). You can use these burn sites as a clock to tell you how old any track made in snow is.
The presense of Kick-out snow on top of the crusted snow from yesterday, or before, tells you the tracks are fresher, made at least today.
You will know the kick-out snow is freshly deposited if you can blow on it, and it blows away easily. (like blowing sawdust off a table saw.)
Even when we think we Know the ground we are hunting, until you have traveled that same ground through the eyes of a deer, coyote, fox, etc., you haven't really seen the ground as they do. You will learn lots more spending this time exploring their world during the winter, when tracks are easier to find and see, than at any other time of year. :thumbsup:
Don't look at the bottom of ravines, because that is where the cold air gathers, and stays the longest.
Don't look at the top of wind swept ridges, as that brings wind chill.
Look for shallow "saddles" along ridge lines, which are out of the wind but high enough to let the cold air settle down the ravine below.
Deer will want lots of brush and trees to cut the wind even more, and if the saddle faces out on the South, even better.
If there are green plants still showing in the bare spots on those South-facing slopes, that is where they will feed during the day, but still early, and late afternoon. ( Their stomachs don't know what the weather is!)
If there is a blow down area from storm damage, that is several years old, in the woods, check there to see if the deer are not making use of the downed timber as wind breaks, and the new shoots and grasses that grow up in the exposed( to sunlight) forest floor that is opened to the sky after the blow down opens the canopy. Dark Bark hold heat, too, Rotting bark, and tree limbs, and sticks( compost piles) create warm spots on which to lie.
Don't be looking for full body images of deer. Look for "parts and pieces." I have seen massive bucks laying next to the roots of a deadfall tree, where their rack is concealed among those exposed roots, and their bodies are hidden behind the tree trunks. They will often remain hidden, and just wait for you to go past them, before they sneak away out a " back door."
Accept the fact that you may not see a deer within shooting range this year. Use the time to scout the territory to find out where the deer are. FOLLOW any deer tracks you do find, and see where they go. Then, turn around, and go back to follow them back to see where they came from.
The sharpness of the edges of the tracks in snow will tell you how old the tracks are. No matter how cloudy or overcast the day is, there will be a slight melting or " burning " of the north edge of a track. Each day, the sun will be hot enough differently, and at a different time of the morning, to begin burning that edge. Where it begins to burn is the same for all tracks, so look at your tracks from yesterday, to see where the burn begins and ends( as the sun risesin the SE, and falls in the SW). You can use these burn sites as a clock to tell you how old any track made in snow is.
The presense of Kick-out snow on top of the crusted snow from yesterday, or before, tells you the tracks are fresher, made at least today.
You will know the kick-out snow is freshly deposited if you can blow on it, and it blows away easily. (like blowing sawdust off a table saw.)
Even when we think we Know the ground we are hunting, until you have traveled that same ground through the eyes of a deer, coyote, fox, etc., you haven't really seen the ground as they do. You will learn lots more spending this time exploring their world during the winter, when tracks are easier to find and see, than at any other time of year. :thumbsup:
Combine that with all the ice storms we had here, made for a crummy season. The highlight was last Tuesday when my wife accompanied me in the afternoon. :grin: We shared a tree, and just before dark she spotted deer aways off, moving through the woods. Good for her! Anyway, we have plenty of meat in the freezer from the earlier seasons. Next year, I'll have the .54 smoothie to hunt with. :thumbsup:
