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Count down

So, I am anxiously awaiting the first few snowflakes of the season... I love snow. I love it a lot. Last year was the first year I had hunted in the snow and it was magical. It was so quiet and the temps would change just enough that it would go from snow to a wet snow to a light rain and back. Dad and I were drenched but cold enough to keep our gloves on. We sat and sat and sat. Then walked, walked, walked. When we were getting ready to call it a morning, we saw a single track. Like kids on Christmas morning, our energy levels sky rocketed and we started to follow. It was a fresh track and we split up.
I had never tracked a deer before. It is not nearly as easy as you may think. I stayed on the track while Dad tried to cut us off by going way right. The deer meandered his way past our sky condo (if we had been sitting there, we could have shot him), past a neighbor's tree seat (if they had been there, they could have shot him) and Mr. Deer walked in my boot tracks from earlier in the morning. Dad and I met up and switched roles. Dad tracked and I stood in one spot to wait for the deer to circle back.
Dad followed the deer a few miles to a pond that sits at the end of my parent's road and a main road. The deer went into the thick brush and tress that surround the pond and being so close to houses and the road, Dad smiled and came back to get me. As we were again heading out of the woods, we saw a 2nd track made by another deer. It was many 50 yards from where I had been standing, but down over a knoll. There was no way I could have heard him, but he was out there with us, enjoying the snow. It probably doesnt sound as much fun as it was, but take my word on it - tracking a deer in the snow is fantastic! Now, as the season kicks off in 2 days and the snow is starting to fly, I am so excited to see what sort of adventures Dad and I have this year. And if it snows again, I will take real photos so I dont have to google seach pics = )

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 27, 2011

    It does sound like a lot of fun. It has only snowed twice here in the past 20 years so I couldn't tell you much about snow tracking! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tom HamOctober 27, 2011

    love it!
    after a fallen snow me and my buddy jump in the jeep and go tracking! especially in the offseason, always good to know where the deer go, always. and you can't beat the beauty of snow in the woods!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ErinOctober 28, 2011

    We are supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow Saturday-Sunday. If it comes early Saturday, we can track. If it's later, it may make the deer move around a little more before dark. Fingers crossed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousOctober 28, 2011

    A fresh snow in the deer woods now how can you go wrong with that. We got our first coating of snow last night and the temps are really changing. Good luck to you this season and I do enjoy reading your posts.

    ReplyDelete

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