I like the thaws but more latter in the year.. The reason being if the snow is deep in the woods and it starts to thaw. Then freezes it creates some great walking for coyotes and hard walking for the deer. This equals a bad year for deer numbers unless the snow level stays low. The snow once crusted over cuts into the deers leggs given the deer less movement. The deer yards will keep paths open until a few coyotes charges in and scatter the deer. This is when the problems start up here as the deer run out of the yards into the crusty snow and coyotes are running on top of it. So becarefull of what you wish for..