Hunting in the late season, when temperatures run well below the freezing mark can be taxing on both the hunter and his equipment.  When the weapon of choice is a bow and arrow, the challenge is that much more difficult.  Extreme cold means icy bow handles to hold, and subsequent numb fingers, cold feet from standing in one position for hours, and trying to overcome a bulky winter coat with your bowstring.  Equipment failures are more likely to happen as well, when snow clogs a peep or sight, your binoculars won’t stop fogging up from your warm breath or your cable slide squeaks just as you try to draw on a big buck you’ve  been searching for all week.  Few of us would trade the experience though,  and when the season has hardly come to an end, we’re already planning for next year.  The challenge doesn’t end there, a muley buck that has eluded hunters all season long is no pushover either.  By this time, a buck has learned the most secure travel corridors and best escape routes to safety as well as the benefits of late evening or nocturnal movement times.  The same contrasting backdrop that snow provides for spotting deer and makes them stand out, oh so well, can spell our downfall if we choose clothing that is so dark that we look like a wandering  black bear in a scene of white.  In our favor, heavy snowfall offers no alternative to ungulates than migration as deer have little choice but to move to lower elevations or face the prospect of inevitable starvation.  The migratory movement concentrates otherwise spread out  herds and increases  deer density in more accessible areas for the hunter.  If we can find these special winter locales, the experience can be fantastic.  The benefits/difficulties of snowy, cold weather hunting offset each other rather closely, but I think it’s the solitude of low hunting pressure that make this hunt special and in the forefront of my mind each year.   

Preparation for a successful winter outing begins in the garage. Your vehicle may be the only way out when you’re miles back, with no cell service, where few if any hunters will be and logging crews are not active in the area.  Therefore, my truck has to be in tip top shape.  A four wheel drive on winter tires with lots of tread and chains for at least two wheels is mandatory.  I also include 5 gallons of extra fuel,  a short-handled spade,  come a long,  heavy section of rope,  tow strap,  power saw or quality bow saw and axe,  and tarp for laying on when doing my own roadside assistance.  I recently purchased a used Lewis chainsaw winch  from a guy in Montana that I hope will handle any larger recovery problems I may encounter as it will comfortably pull 8,000 lbs when powered by a larger power head and used with a snatch block.  I sure could have used it this last fall when I tipped over a 47″ bull moose and had an all day packing  job to do. ( another blog another time) As I write this blog for our website, the only thing  recovered to date, with the “Lewis” has been several trees from the back of my property that I skid up out of the ravine. Great fun, noisy and smokey.  I can’t wait to break out my portable winch to pull out something with four legs and fur.    

My accomodations for these winter hunts is a homemade wall tent and lined truck canopy.  I like to be ultra mobile and travel as light as possible.  I don’t like a camper on the truck as it is too top heavy and apt to scrape on the trees when driving off road.  Also, I like to camp fairly close to my hunting area and this often involves setting up on small patches of flat ground which would hardly be suitable for a larger rig to turn around or navigate.  My wall tent is a creation of my own design that can be set up by one person and is lightweight and very portable.  I built the frame from round aluminum tubing in a 10′x10′ size.  The walls are 7′x30′ heavy tarpaulin and  the roof is a waterproof gazebo top.   The roof holds out the moisture well enough but isn’t too good at holding the heat in, so I drape two 10′x12′ heavy tarps over the top and this gives me extra waterproofing and insulation.  The reason  I like the tarpaulin is two-fold,  when hunting in snow or rainy conditions,  this material won’t absorb moisture and can be temporarily put away wet and not become mildew laden like canvas.  For heating needs,  a forced air propane heater provides warm,  clean, carbon monoxide free air and I’ve been comfortable in sub zero temperatures with no problem.  To give the place a “homey” feel,  and facilitate slipper wearing, I also lay down a piece of all weather carpet.  Finishing off my list of hunting camp furniture,  is a folding table, chairs, camp stove, lantern and if I can’t live without electricity, a gas generator which adds the bonus of electric lights and power for the DVD player.  The last and most important piece of equipment is my cot, complete with mattress , double sleeping bags and an extra blanket.  The mattress is critical if I want to avoid waking up with a damp sleeping bag as I’ve found that a cot with a nylon skin traps moisture and doesn’t breathe very well, the mattress not only provides extra padding but keeps me dry when it’s cold. 

After my camp is set up to my satisfaction, I’ll take an afternoon drive on some of the access roads to check any new logging activity and get a feeling for game movement in the area.  One of the benefits of hunting the same area for many years is the ability to not waste valuable time in unproductive terrain. I can normally pinpoint some of the best travel corridors in short order and get ready for an evening hunt.  If I find an area that is really ripped up, I’ll spend considerable time looking for a natural funnel or game concentrating feature that I can use to my advantage.  After all,  bucks and especially larger ones,  develop an innate ability to stay out of sight.  It could be a genetic thing developed from years of hunting pressure or a more acute sense of the predator/prey relationship.  Either way,  I try to be cognizant of every detail when trying to close the gap on a wary muley.  I’ve noticed that areas which offer the greatest concealment also offer the greatest opportunity to get close.  When given the choice of crossing or skirting an opening, a buck will normally plunge through heavy cover pausing frequently to look for any signs of movement.  Careful observation of these natural or manmade funnels can make all the difference in reaching the preferred 40 yard or closer range.  For mulies, I like to look for strips of timber flanked by sparse vegetation that join larger areas of cover.  Some can be no wider than 50 yards but to a deer there is a level of invisibility afforded for which there is no substitute.  Exceptions do apply though,  as some spots which might look perfect,  are anything but,  as an area may have too much windfall  or be void for another completely unknown reason.  Adjacent cut blocks can also be good.  Providing that the blocks themselves aren’t  too grown up or too far apart.  There has to be a concentrating effect somewhere between the two logged off areas that funnel game activity or it won’t work.  If the snow is super crunchy,  It can be impossible to hunt any other way than with a treestand in just such a location.   I also choose to scout these areas during the afternoon when most deer are bedded up and there is less chance of spooking game out of the area.  The key to finding the heavily used travel paths,  is lots of walking  with the emphasis on keen observation.  I don’t know how many times I’ve missed lunch because there is another timbered ridge across another valley that I really should check before going home for a bite to eat.  You won’t find them all as I’m sure the natural and altered examples of bottlenecks are virtually endless,  but what better time to find one than when snow blankets the ground showing a myriad of tracks. 

There is a vast amount of information contained in an area of concentrated tracks if you slow down and read the sign.  For example,  if I find an area of heavy deer movement and the tracks show travel in both directions it is probably worth exploring why the deer prefer this route and what the final destinations are at the opposing ends.  Often it is simply a safe route between the right bedding cover and opportunities for browsing in heavy snow.  I also find some very useful information can be learned by walking backwards on a particular set of tracks.  Most people have a tendency to follow a set  of tracks in the same direction of travel but I want to know where that fresh set of big tracks came from so that I can gather a more in depth understanding why the deer like some areas and leave others vacant.  From this unorthodox method,  I learn where beds are preferred, the presence of hidden trails often close to roads,  and valuable micro sites where food sources are.  On a side note, I know of a little spot in my elk hunting area where the elk regularly travel during the daylight hours within 100 yards of a logging road.  The trail is not easily seen due to it’s location and I have seen many elk use it when sitting quietly out of sight with a good downhill  breeze in my face.  The same holds true for deer,  they develop ways of staying hidden while moving around their habitat.  If it’s a muley buck I’m after there are other factors to consider also.  The first being track quality.  Simply put, the bigger the track the bigger the deer.  I know there are exceptions as some large does have large hooves but,  the really big tracks are usually bucks.  Another key is stride length,  a larger animal will have a longer stride, and if I see a 3 or 31/2″ print with a 24″ or longer distance between them it will pique my interest and keep me in the area.  If that large, solitary track appears to be following a band of thick jack pine or other heavy cover down the ridge or draw,  that is another clue as to what sex of deer we have.  Bucks are often loners using thick corridors to get from a to b.  Some hunters feel the pronounced  impressions of the dewclaws,  signifies a buck,  I don’t know about that one as both bucks and does have these short toes on the back side of their hooves.  However,  the sheer weight difference between bucks and does could cause a deeper imprint and more dewclaw marks.  When following  the tracks of a deer that I suspect is a buck,  careful attention is paid to the smaller trees along the trail as late November or early December mulies are still feeling the effects of the rut.  Freshly shredded bark and broken limbs strewn across the top of the snow is a exciting piece of sign to find.  Finally,  on the subject of track and trailing,  there is the physical differences in how a buck will urinate in the snow versus a doe.  Bucks,  will have a tendency to spray forward in the direction of travel,  while does will create a more defined ” hole ” in the opposite direction of travel.  If the tracks in your area are small and close together,  and there doesn’t appear to be any fresh rubs around,  move on. 

If the rut is definitely active,  I won’t entirely ignore the does in the area or the presence of smallish sign.  I have been successful on occasion by ” watching ” the movement of the female members of the deer family as bucks will certainly find them and stay with them for some period of time.  Glassing an unsuspecting group of does often works as the buck can be back in the cover or laying down out of sight.  If after a lengthy session and the does move off without a trailing suitor,  it’s time to move on.  The presence of a  much larger track amongst the small ones in a recently glassed group of deer that fed out of sight is worth hunting out as well.  

Another prospect worth considering is the position of the sun during the winter months as it directly affects deer activity.  South-facing slopes are always worth a look when deep snow covers the ground.  The first area to melt off is the area with the greatest sun exposure.  Many times,  I have noticed heavy foraging on hillsides where the snow is pawed out in dozens of places and the ground directly below large standing timber is completely exposed.  The deer find these spots where the sun has removed most of the snow and provided access to decent forage.  There is also the thermal component.  Deer and most big game animals will seek out warm, sunny bedding sites where they can absorb the heat of the sun’s rays and conserve  fat stores to survive the winter. 

Hunting with the benefits of snow to aid in finding deer can only be maximized if we take into account the visibility of different clothing colors and tones.  This factor can make or break your being successful.  Fall camo patterns appear very dark when highlighted against a backdrop of white.  At longer distances,  camo clothing with a predominantly brown or tan color scheme will appear almost black as snow creates a contrast that is highly exaggerated.  Look at how easily we can spot a brown or grey deer when it stands on an open hillside.  When you walk up to a deer that you have recently harvested in the snow,  your eyes can once again see the light tones of the fur.  I am a big believer in snow camo,  while wearing it I have had hunters and deer walk by at close distance with no clue I was ever there.  I feel that game animals look right past you when wearing it.  This fact became apparent to me one afternoon when I was hunting mule deer and came across a group of feeding does.  There were about 10 sets of eyes to fool,  and I managed to follow the suspicious herd around for more than an hour by simply moving and freezing whenever a glancing deer looked my way.  I knew the rut effects hadn’t worn off,  and I was sure there  was a buck close by evidenced by fresh rubs and a large single deer that was separate from the group when I first spotted the deer.  Unfortunately, I never had a clear view of the head of that single and it walked off in a different direction.  At some points,  I was only 30 yards away from the closest animal.  Snow camo works.

By putting these different strategies into practice and keeping a keen eye for details,  I have been able to close the gap on some nice mulies over the years.  I haven’t always been able to come home with a buck,  but it’s called hunting not shooting after all and trying to do it with a bow is certainly a lot of fun.  The buck in the picture was taken with a doe on November 27, 2006.  The night before had been close to -20 c and the deer were feeding vigorously on a south-facing hillside below a section of heavy bedding timber.  I had scouted the slope the previous day and still hunted down a draw above a creek just to the west of this slope.  On the way down it had been very foggy and I glassed a two-point from his bed and stalked him as he fed down through a stand of small pine,  only to lose his direction of travel after exiting  the thicket myself.  Tracks crisscrossed the slope and there were many pawed out troughs in the snow where deer fed.  Higher up,  I had hit a set of  very large tracks (much bigger than the buck in the picture) and planned to return as the bed that belonged to those tracks looked like it had been made by a calf moose as far as size went.  A few years before a 30″ plus buck was taken in the area during rifle season and a huge,  bedded non-typical was spotted under a bull pine in deep snow.  Sadly,  the snow up there was over my knees and I couldn’t make it back up the ridge again the next day.  I decided to hunt lower down hoping the deep snow would push more deer down the same ridge where I had seen the promising sign.  The next morning,  I stopped this 4×3 buck at long range with a doe bleat and hit him through the lungs at a distance measured later at 60 yards.  That was the longest archery animal I had ever shot.  The longest deer I had shot before that day was 50 yards also uphill.  On that occasion I had time to use a rangefinder and adjusted for the uphill angle aiming on the chest with a 45 yard hold.  I only made it back one more time to my favorite mule deer spot before moving to the Kootenay region of B.C. and that trip was a complete weather disaster with huge snowfall in a few short hours forcing me to leave early.  I had one chance on a very respectable 4 point at a little over 20 yards but I clipped a limb missing him clean.  Oh well.

Wishing you many happy returns until my next blog column.  Mike.  

SSSO