Anyone have any deer hunting tips with this deep snow?

rocket500

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I hunted yesterday tough getting around in a foot plus of new snow and we got another foot last night.

Mobility is a bit limited for the hunter and I’d expect for the deer as well.

Only thing I can think of is try to make your way to bedding areas, to the extent you can.

anyone have any deep snow hunting tactics to share?
 
Dress warm, find a path that the deer are using, ( hopefully you scouted that before hunting season), find a spot with some concealment, hunker down and wait.

Early morning at sunrise and shortly after, I've found that deer like to find a sunny spot to warm and feed.

The deer can navigate deep snow just fine as long as there's not an ice coating on top.
 
have no tips, just an anecdote. the first hunt i was ever on in my life, way back when, and obviously inexperienced, it snowed like a mother the day before and it really threw me. the old timers at my club who long ago retired from hunting said don't look at it that i came home empty, at the very least i should have learned from the experience. nope. i spent my time navigating, grunting and groaning thru the snow anything in a 5 mile circle of me knew i was there. oh well, live and learn.
 
Road hunting, warm and dry and your truck door is a built in rifle rest. If you don't want to do it the Nebraska way then cut corn fields the last two hours of the day. They will move to eat at some point. South facing dense pines will keep deer bedded down for hours and they are easier and often quieter to move in. Get a bunch of friends and drive dense stands of woods and swamps, I get most of my deer from drives.
 
It’s a lot of work but with scouting done months prior you can nail where the does will be at least. I found beds in numerous places on Monday during the snowfall. Highways were numerous only in the dense woods. I just happened upon a groups of does bedded down who were in open top cover but surrounded by a thicket in the middle of the day on a western slope with E-NE winds.

Another active spot during this snowfall was a dense forest’s eastern slope facing the wind of course. Tons of beds and activity in the late morning in that spot. This was the mother lode but we got in late day.
 
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I use a nice pair of lightweight snow shoes and walking poles. Get on a fresh track and stalk. Sometimes I’ll hold up near a tree and sit on a blowup pillow I bring to stay off the wet snow. Used to hike with a climber but too much work, I’ve had good luck stalking and calling them in. Also prepare for next year by using a hunting app and marking where the dead tracks are. Good thing to do for spring when you adjust your stands. Good luck!
 
Find the food.
Find the thermal cover.
South facing slopes.

Find all three together and you hit the trifecta.

Bob

This.

Stand hunting is only good in this type of area. Unless others are pushing thru this type of area to you.

Deer wont be a fan of moving right now, it expends too much energy.
The same thing makes them totally nocturnal.

Think of it as you havkng the heaviest best gore tex/ wool clothing on. If you had to trudge 2 feet of snow youd be hot as hell in no time. Thats why most of us pack in our heavy closthes when walking to our stands. So we dont get hot and burn up and sweat.

So if you had to move when would you do it??

At night when its coldest. I see this all the time in deep snow mid winter. Deer move at night when its freaking freezing out. They burn less calories doing so.

I learned this from a friend who hunts Saskatewan. Says unless its zero out or less big deer wont move. The get too hot. 300# deer are built to survive winter and not waste energy He said the coldest most fridgid days were the best to hunt. They would sit in heated blinds, had to or you would barely last two hours.
 
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Find the food.
Find the thermal cover.
South facing slopes.

Find all three together and you hit the trifecta.

Bob

I've been putting on a few miles each afternoon out of the past 3 days, in knee-deep snow. And yesterday was the day the deer began moving, from the sign I spotted. Lots of activity in a small area, close to hemlocks and leeward of a ridge, and feasting on acorns. This was an area of interest I'd had marked earlier in the season. Time to drag the climber out.

Hiking in this stuff, I'm wearing snowboard pants with venting zips, a fleece top with pit zips, and a ball cap. And most of the time I take the fleece top off and am only wearing a poly shirt. I don't head into the woods without at least one bottle of water. If you want exercise, this is prime time. Still no frozen crust, too.
 
Find the food.
Find the thermal cover.
South facing slopes.

Find all three together and you hit the trifecta.

Bob

Why, that's my back yard (a big reason I bought the property) . . . and, yes, they are in there in spades
Now, how do I get them to move during daylight? They are all over the place between 1 and 5 AM . . . bedded by 5:30

The only thing that has worked occasionally is rattling
 
Why, that's my back yard (a big reason I bought the property) . . . and, yes, they are in there in spades
Now, how do I get them to move during daylight? They are all over the place between 1 and 5 AM . . . bedded by 5:30

The only thing that has worked occasionally is rattling


Sneak up, and re-set their clocks.
 
Contrary to popular belief deer have to get up and move every few hours. Usually at the 3 to 4 hour mark. They don't have to move far. They get up, urinate, defecate, stretch, and maybe move from one side of a point on a ridge to the other (50 yards, maybe even less), but they move. Multiple times, every single day...
 
Why, that's my back yard (a big reason I bought the property) . . . and, yes, they are in there in spades
Now, how do I get them to move during daylight? They are all over the place between 1 and 5 AM . . . bedded by 5:30

The only thing that has worked occasionally is rattling

If you know where they are bedding I would hunt their beds Trying to catch them coming in to bed as they “J” hook scenting their beds or when they are exiting the beds to feed. Paying special attention to conditions that will get them out of bed early or back to bed late.

Things like:
Storm coming in or ending.
Moon overhead and underfoot at sunrise/sunset. +/- one hour.
The rut.

You can get more aggressive by still hunting through there Or trying a “bump and dump”.

A “bump and dump“ is deliberately gently bumping a buck out of his bed mid afternoon and hunting the same spot waiting for his return. They may comeback in a few hours of he next morning. They will defiantly scent check that bed so set up accordingly

The Hunting Beast is a forum dedicated to bed hunting deer.
The Hunting Beast - Index page

Bob
 
If you know where they are bedding I would hunt their beds Trying to catch them coming in to bed as they “J” hook scenting their beds or when they are exiting the beds to feed. Paying special attention to conditions that will get them out of bed early or back to bed late.

Things like:
Storm coming in or ending.
Moon overhead and underfoot at sunrise/sunset. +/- one hour.
The rut.

You can get more aggressive by still hunting through there Or trying a “bump and dump”.

A “bump and dump“ is deliberately gently bumping a buck out of his bed mid afternoon and hunting the same spot waiting for his return. They may comeback in a few hours of he next morning. They will defiantly scent check that bed so set up accordingly

The Hunting Beast is a forum dedicated to bed hunting deer.
The Hunting Beast - Index page

Bob

Great plans. So far I have had success a couple years when does move to more sheltered beds near where the bucks tend to bed, at the onset of a storm. (Oddly, rain seems to get them moving more than snow)
When they move in, the buck will get up and check them out.
Still hunting through the bedding area is out. Too thick with too many escape routes
One year I tried the bump and wait for return. The buck never returned - even abandoned his nearby scrape. I don't believe he was harvested (1 I think I would have heard about this one being taken. 2 If that wasn't him the following year, he has a twin)

It's a nasty spot to hunt as it is very thick and the wind shifts and swirls constantly due to the terrain. That, and plenty of food, is why they love this spot
 
I'm not going out in these single digits this morning, but I'll be placing a stand or two in some new spots before the big soaking Monday, and subsequent deep freeze to follow. I'm hoping to have a few paths packed before the freeze comes and creates a 3" coating of ice topping the snow. It was good while it lasted
 
Snowshoes were my big winner this AM. Deer have been hitting the acorns hard, lots of digging going on in the oak groves. Blew out a buck on my hike in, saw a deer of some origin about an hour later in some pines.
 
Great plans. So far I have had success a couple years when does move to more sheltered beds near where the bucks tend to bed, at the onset of a storm. (Oddly, rain seems to get them moving more than snow)
When they move in, the buck will get up and check them out.
Still hunting through the bedding area is out. Too thick with too many escape routes
One year I tried the bump and wait for return. The buck never returned - even abandoned his nearby scrape. I don't believe he was harvested (1 I think I would have heard about this one being taken. 2 If that wasn't him the following year, he has a twin)

It's a nasty spot to hunt as it is very thick and the wind shifts and swirls constantly due to the terrain. That, and plenty of food, is why they love this spot

Me. I wouldnt bump then during the day. You are pushing them to someone else.
Iin my neck of the woods (big woods)
they never come back. They would move over the next ridge and repeat.
 
I don't have any advice, only an observation. Several years ago, I hunted in very deep snow. My brother in-law and I waded about 1/2 mile down and access road to our pre scouted area. Saw nothing all morning. As we walked out in the afternoon thru our previously broken path, we noticed that it was loaded with deer tracks. Not sure what we could have done with that. Maybe walk far enough in to find cover and watch the path we made?
 
Me. I wouldnt bump then during the day. You are pushing them to someone else.
Iin my neck of the woods (big woods)
they never come back. They would move over the next ridge and repeat.

Depends.

The “Bump & Dump” was last on the list for that reason. IMO the bump makes all the difference in the world. A “gentle bump“ is the key. Deer are curious critters and will often circle back to see what it was that disturbed them.

Bob
 
Depends.

The “Bump & Dump” was last on the list for that reason. IMO the bump makes all the difference in the world. A “gentle bump“ is the key. Deer are curious critters and will often circle back to see what it was that disturbed them.

Bob

Well, I know that carrying a handgun while cutting firewood often worked in northern VT. There was no hunting pressure in the area though
Hunting friends in CT who always get deer hunt on horseback
 
Did a lot of slow walking today. LOTS of tracks, but no deer seen. Hips are hurting, so I'd say ibuprofen for the pain.

Fell about 3 times, which really ticked me off, as I try to keep my shotgun in pristine shape. That reminds me, I should go over it with some paper towels.

Does anybody use WD40 after getting guns wet?

Anyhow, to answer your question, and as a bit of a reflection on today, I think the smarter strategy is to find a lot of trails, and plant yourself there. Bring a square boat cushion to sit on and stay dry. There were tons of tracks, and not a hunter to be seen, nor a single shot heard.
 
Did a lot of slow walking today. LOTS of tracks, but no deer seen. Hips are hurting, so I'd say ibuprofen for the pain.

Fell about 3 times, which really ticked me off, as I try to keep my shotgun in pristine shape. That reminds me, I should go over it with some paper towels.

Does anybody use WD40 after getting guns wet?

Anyhow, to answer your question, and as a bit of a reflection on today, I think the smarter strategy is to find a lot of trails, and plant yourself there. Bring a square boat cushion to sit on and stay dry. There were tons of tracks, and not a hunter to be seen, nor a single shot heard.

Negative on the wd40, in some cases it can promote rust, I usually Oil instead.

Fell yesterday myself, right on to my back and backpack, my back is now f***ed up. Hunting the last morning of NY rifle from my car with the heated seat on and some tunes.

Thank God for private land and the "mobile treestand"
 
Put a few more miles on the snowshoes yesterday afternoon, and decided to take the 300' descent over the ridge to a valley I don't hunt because of the severe approach.

It's a flat area with oaks and beech, with a stand of hemlock nearby. It was absolutely loaded with sign. Tracks all over the place, beds, droppings, signs of feeding. They even have their own private watering hole at an opening in rocks at the base of the incline. Just not sure I'm going to hunt this area because of arduous climb out required. I will be using a stand near the top of the ridge where there's a travel corridor, when the wind is favorable.

I'l be out early tomorrow morning until the heavy rain comes. I need better rain gear, as everything I own ends up feeling like I'm wearing a garbage bag.
 
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Good luck Pupchow, I think tomorrow morning will be the day. After Tuesday when the slush freezes up, it will be all over.

I really wish that muzzleloader season was a week in October or early November. I live at 1800' elevation and have only seen 1 year out of 10 that the hills weren't all iced up

OH, and while I'm wishing, how come I never never draw a doe permit? So many this year
 
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