Bbbrrrrr!!!

[d2wing]

Wind chill this morning hit -54, air temp -24. It did warm up to about -5 today. Tommorrow is the last day of season. There's a pair of nice roosters in some cattails not far from where I live. The only parking spot close is blocked by plowed snow.There is a spot to park about 350 yards from the area they hang out. That doesn't sound like far but when it's this cold and the snow is up to 3 feet deep, that's a long way. My dog and I got about 50 yards with me on snow shoes. My shoes were too small for the powdery snow. I started to breath too hard and the cold air about ripped my lungs out. Had to give it up. I was so happy to get back to my truck and that it started. Even the dog was ready to get in the truck. He pretends to get birdy usually when it's time to quit.
Hopefully the birds will make it through the winter. Some younger guys have taken over some of my hotspots. Maybe one of them will will get em. I saw that someone had followed my tracks into some spots. It's tough job but someone has to do it I guess. When it's too cold for an old Minnesota swede.
It's cold.

 

[JimKirk]

Dang, its 29* here in South Ga and is cold enough for me!

Jimmy K

 

[bswiv]

Just below freezing here in St. Augustine this morning. Sense we've had a WET winter so far and the swamp we hunt is just that right now, and sense my NEW boots started leaking about 2 weeks ago, I pulling the coward action this morning too.

That whole snow and below 0 thing sounds like a reason to take up bowling!

 

[Sav .250]

Reminds me of my days in nothern Maine..............

 

[csd4682]

Deer season ended here in VA yesterday. It was 25 when I went out and winds blowing steady at 20-30 mph. I lasted about 4 hours and didnt see a single deer because of the wind. Already thinking about next season. I was lucky enought to have gotten my first nice buck, and filled most my tags for the season.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

I live in Ohio and it gets cold here......But not THAT cold.

What do you do to go out in -24 deg. (Air Temp)? You can't have any exposed skin and not expect frost bite.

 

[wyohome]

I leave the birds alone when it gets that cold. They are having a tough enough time without my shooting at them.

 

[d2wing]

Right Ohio. A face mask or scarf is needed to cover your face, and everything needs to be covered except your eyes. Especially if there is wind at all. Below -20 you have to be careful because things become brittle and if you have a breakdown you could be in trouble. It could be worse. It is much colder in Northern Minnesota. I dunno how the eskimos do anything. When it gets warm enough to dig my motorhome out of the snow, I'm heading South.
Anything above freezing is almost t shirt weather now.

 

[countertop]

It was the end of the regular rifle season in Vitginia yesterday. Was about 18 degrees with a steady, but not too bad, wind when I got out to my stand at 6:30 am.

Didn't see anything till 9:30 am when some squirrels and a fox appeared. Saw a ouple of does while hiking to my car At noon, but they were within 10 yards of a house.

Luckily, antlerless season goes on until March 27 in Northern Virginia. Still a lot more hunting to do.

 

[Kernel]

Was visiting my family’s farm in Southern Iowa between Christmas and New Year. There’s about a 16” of snow on the ground and the temps were in the teens and twenties. About 200 yds from the house there’s a harvested soybean field, portions of which the wind has swept nearly clear of snow.

For much of the afternoon, thru binoculars, I watched a group of 40 pheasants feed on the soybeans the combine had missed. About half of them were roosters.

I’ve seen this behavior before. When it get’s snowy like this they will form up into large groups. Probably, as a mechanism for finding food and affording a small measure of protection from predators.

Once in highschool, about 30 years ago, I saw what had to be at least 200 pheasants in a corn field feeding. From a distance it looked like a big flock of grackles, or black birds. Same kind of deal as now. Lots of snow on the ground.

Deer will do the same thing. Form up into big groups when there's lots of snow on the ground, and do more feeding during daylight hours.