What caliber do you use hunting on traditional snow shoes ?

[john12865]

What caliber gun do you guys use when hunting on traditional snow shoes ( wood and rawhide ) and what style of snow shoe do you wear ?
I use bear paws with my .54 and M/L 12 gauge.
My bear paws offer great handling in the woods and brush and are very stable when aiming and take the recoil from a 12 gauge without me ending up making snow angels.
So what do you guys use for the topography of the area you live in?

 

[longcruise]

I hate walkin on snow shoes!! :cursing:

I keep readin about snow shoeing as a "sport". :shocked2:

That's nuts! I have two pairs in the garage that have not been on snow for over thirty years. The snow has to come up a few inches over my knees before snow shoes make the walkin any easier but OTOH, when the snow gets that deep I just go across the canyon to the sunny side. We can do that out west but aroun NY it's probably impossible.

Did I ever tell ya how I used to snow shoe five miles each way to school when in Kindergarten in the UP? :wink:

 

[Mad Professor]

I've used my 58 cal lyman plains rifle and 54 cal Renagade, the 50 cal might get a workout if we get snow ( please God before mL season is over....). I think the shoes are more important than the gun in this case........

The shoes I use are old LL Bean "maine" style and\or similar Fabers. Not as handy in the brush as bearpaws but I can "run" in them if needed and some of them are very large for flotation in DEEP snow. I was on the AT\LT trails where the trail markers are ca. 7 ft above the trail (in summer), some were buried under the snow.......would have been in deep $#!t without the big shoes......

For binding the traditional style sold by Beans has served me .well

 

[bigbore442001]

I use a pair of Norway snowshoes that I had relaced. I learned from a snowshoe collector that had I not relaced them, they'd be worth around 1500 bucks.

They belonged to my grandfather back in the 1920's and so I use them now. A bit small for my size but they do the job.

I use the ubiquitous .50 caliber for my snowshoe hunting. When we have enough snow to warrant it.

 

[Mountainman56]

My snowshoes are hangin on the wall in my mother's basement in Canada. I live in West Texas now....not much use for them here. I doubt any of my friends here have ever seen a pair.

 

[playfarmers]

I love snowshoeing and do quite a bit every winter. I use a traditional sport style and have carried my .50 Deerstalker or my .54 Trade rifle. Most often I carry a modern rifle to reach out and touch coyotes.

 

[markinstettler]

I snow-shoed to my range a few times last winter. That was just to play with my new GPR, so I wasn't really hunting.

The game is going to determine the caliber. Around here, there isn't much for winter hunting other than coyotes. (As of yet, I see no point in shooting them.) If we had rabbits, I'd probably do more hunting on snow-shoes and I'd be carrying my 40-caliber (which I don't quite have yet).

If we ever get a heavy and early snow, then I might do some deer hunting on shoes. In that case, my 54-caliber GPR would be at hand. Hunting deer on snow-shoes with a flint-lock would definitely be something I'd remember.

 

[BrownBear]

We've got lots of brush, so it's bearpaw shoes for me.

I used them all the time when using my 12 ga ML double for snowshoe hares, especially when hunting with dogs.

A few fine-tuning notes:

Don't drop anything heavy on powder snow. You're not going to be real good at digging for it if you land crotch deep any time you step off the shoes.

Plan on using ski poles or trekking poles in deep snow unless you're willing to use your gun for a prop when you fall and try to get back up on your shoes. If the snow is deep enough to require the shoes, rather than just barely deep enough so you can use them, it's not pretty when the shoes are no longer under you where they belong.

You'll kill for a sling by the end of your first day in deep snow without one.

Cover the bore. If you fall and jam some snow in there, your ramrod is only going to drive it deeper and pack it harder. I made a "worm" for my rod that was bore size for "wormin" out packed snow. Shoot with snow jammed in the bore, and the best you are going to salvage is a short barreled rifle or shotgun. After paying to have the jagged end of the barrel hacked off and a new crown turned in.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I hunt on Ojibwas wile using a blueridge rifle with a custom 36cal Greenmtnbarrel

 

[Robert Egler]

When I lived where we had enough snow to use snowshoes (which we don't here in NC) I hunted on bear paws with a 30-30, or I carried a 22 on trapline. Oddly enough I never hunted on snowshoes with a muzzleloader.

 

[markinstettler]

Ojibwas remain my favourite style of snowshoe. Ordered my pair from a trapping catalog in the late eighties. I might make a pair in the not too distant future.

I have a modern (aluminum framed and plastic webbed) set of "bear-paws" by Tubbs. They are long and have a raised round toe and round tail. On soft snow, they're fine, but if there is much of a crust and they break through, the nose catches. This doesn't happen with the Ojibwas. Comes in handy when your feet get cold and you need to run a bit to warm up.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I grew up in VT using traditional Bear paws made by Tubbs back when they were still the canoe factory, in fact I have three generations of family who worked there. I switched to Ojibwas when I started competing in MT man biathlons now that I live in CO in a little more open country I truly see their benefits for moving easily over open terrain in deep snow . :thumbsup:

 

[longcruise]

I like the look of the Ojibwas. Truth be know, I don't know what the proper name for my two sets are. I'll post a pic and see if anyone knows what they are called.

That poor dog has gotta be fighting the impulse to wolf that white snowshoe down!

 

[Bountyhunter]

I dont get to get up in the snow as much as I used to or I like to, but when I'm out, I'm always loaded for the most that I would encounter, and therefore, my .53 Santa Fe is along, since it packs the most wallop of what I have to choose from.

I hunt on Yukon style shoes, since I hunt fairly open country, but they still work well in moderate brush, because they are narrower than the Cree or Michigan styles and they let me move my feet straight ahead without clacking the shoes together or paddling to take a step.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I like the look of the Ojibwas. Truth be know, I don't know what the proper name for my two sets are. I'll post a pic and see if anyone knows what they are called.

That poor dog has gotta be fighting the impulse to wolf that white snowshoe down!

:haha:
No, in fact I have won a bet wile drinking beer with my buddies that I could put a elk steak out to thaw on my coffee table wile we went out to the deck to enjoy the afternoon and not one of my three cow dogs would touch it. Nothing like a smart well behaved, well trained border collie.
:bow:
I by no means am what you would call a snowshoe expert but I have been around and used them all my life. Post your pics and maby I can tell you what you got.
I should Take pics of my great grandfathers bear paws from the 1800 and post them, really neat and am very grateful to have had them past down to me.
:bow:

 

[Halftail]

My snowshoes are hangin on the wall in my mother's basement in Canada. I live in West Texas now....not much use for them here. I doubt any of my friends here have ever seen a pair.

Not much need for snowshoes in West Texas I don't suppose.Snowshoeing is one of my favorite winter sports.Usually I Shoe into my camp and spend the night.Only thing I pack is a Bottle of "Fireball" or some other form of Anti freeze.

 

[bigbore442001]

I'll second the antifreeze. I make my own blueberry cordial with pure grain alcohol. It will mellow anyone out really well.

 

[Halftail]

I'll second the antifreeze. I make my own blueberry cordial with pure grain alcohol. It will mellow anyone out really well.

Nothing like a long "stomp" on Shoes and then a warm campfire and an even warmer Drink of the goodstuff on a cold winters day. :thumbsup:

 

[bigbore442001]

With a couple shots of my blueberry special, you really don't care how long or cold the day was. :haha:

I have to get another pair of snowshoes. I had someone who is a collector tell me that the shoes I am using will one day break. They are at least 75 years old and were made for someone who weighs 100 lbs less than I do at the present. :shocked2:

 

[Halftail]

With a couple shots of my blueberry special, you really don't care how long or cold the day was. :haha:

I have to get another pair of snowshoes. I had someone who is a collector tell me that the shoes I am using will one day break. They are at least 75 years old and were made for someone who weighs 100 lbs less than I do at the present. :shocked2:

That's the problem I got.I seem to have outgrown the snowshoes that I bought over 20 years ago. :grin: Maybe they shrunk. :hmm:
We only get snow enough for shoeing every few years or so but I do enjoy the hike back to camp(3.5 kms) when it does snow enough.According to the weather experts we are supposed to get a cold snowy winter this year so maybe it will be a good one for shoes.