I love hunting the snow. Deer are easier to spot and blood trails are easier to follow. You can see every recent deer track right after fresh snow. After the rut and during high hunting pressure it is good to see the deer are still around.

After season I like to look in fresh snow for deer tracks to set up trail camera and start the long scouting process for next deer season.

Some of the best advise ever given, yet seemingly rarely followed... I figured it was worth echoing for any new hunters that are "paying attention"...

How about knee deep snow? Just was out in the yard - it is about an inch below my knee cap. Would like to get out on the weekend with the ML.

Lunkerdog: you're more help than ya think. I am anticipating the fluffy stuff, which means some still hunting. There may be a little sleet underneath, but no crunchy-crust. It is very, very rare for that to occur, but I have seen it before (during rabbit season).

BTW, if ya ever need some advice on dove hunting in 100-degree + temps, I'm your man...I snicker a little bit when I hear someone from the Twin Cities gripe about the heat (my first wife's best friend was an Eden Prairie Native, and she melted like an ice cube when the ambient temperature reached 80).

GTO: I will keep the groves where the oaks drop the acorns at the forefront of my mind.

My best guess at this point is that the spotting and tracking opportunities are going to be significantly better than I am accustomed to, and I am very much looking forward to it :)

When we get snow here in Michigan during the firearm season it is usually a wet sticky snow. Tree branches hold the snow and hang lower. It is a royal pain to still hunt in as it gets in the bore of the rifle falls down your neck when you touch a branch as it falls then hits the next branch up. Many times the deer lay and get nearly totally covered so they are not easier to see until you just about step on them.

Best to hint from a stand when it is like that as far as I am concerned. Food sources and near bedding areas I think are best.

The dry fluffy snow is Ok to still hunt in as long as you have a hunting area where you can do so.


Snow is great for scouting for next season but there are a lot of if's in that too.
Like farm crops acorn supply can and do change the pattern the deer have. Bedding areas how ever seem to stay the same for several years till the brush grows thinner or they keep getting pushed out for some reason.



:D Al

Yep! Visibility in heavy cover = about 20 ft, if that.

I don't really "get" still hunting by moving. I know it's more "slow" hunting but I still don't see how you can sneak up on a deer without it seeing you first...unless it's bedded down.

I shot one of my biggest bucks, a 207lbs 8 pointer while still hunting... I guess the "still" part is a matter of interpretation... Think about "mile a day" still hunting... ya gotta put the "still" into it. Tho I cover more ground on gusty days, I move when the wind blows, and hold when it's calm.

MZS, and Yooper... Yup, that's what I have right now... Was chuckling at RR's comment... He obviously lives in different terrain than I do... A windy day will change that tho.

Edit: I forgot to add that the snow total report in my area is 23 inches... They got 42 inches up on lake Superior's North Shore, about 60 miles East of me as the crow flies.

Have no idea,LOL.

I live in North Texas. Its going to be a cold booger. As for your snow question, I love it when we get snow and for all the reasons others have posted.