How Fresh Snow Helps Whitetail Deer Hunters

Dec 1, 2022

Snow can be a deer hunter’s best friend. It can also be a deer hunter’s biggest problem.

The Benefits of Fresh Snow

A Fresh snowfall converts the woods into a blank page. If you read the signs correctly, you will benefit in many ways, including:

  • Snow lets hunters see where the deer have been.
  • Because white-tailed deer are brown, the contrast against the snow makes them easier to spot when they move.
  • It also tells you where they are going. A good hunter can analyze their tracks to learn the deer’s size, which direction it was headed, if it was walking or running, and if it was alone.
  • If you use snow camo, you’ll look like a snowdrift and blend into the environment.
  • If you are a bowhunter, arrowing a deer in the snow makes tracking easy. If you make a clean, pass-through shot, the deer will bleed profusely and will be easy to spot. If you made a poor shot or your arrow didn’t penetrate through the deer, the blood trail will be light.
  • Snow acts like a lubricant between the ground and a horizontal deer for transporting it back to base camp.
  • Snow also helps hunters preserve meat.

The Drawbacks

  1. Fresh Snow usually means colder temperatures. Be prepared with an extra layer of warm clothing.
  2. You must be extremely careful climbing a tree and transitioning to your tree stand platform. Snow can turn surfaces slick and difficult to grasp. Be sure to wipe the snow from your ladder, tree pegs, and boot treads to ensure you have grip and traction when climbing.
  3. Snow hides everything including logs, holes, and frozen ponds or watering holes. These hidden items become an obstacle course, which can make walking a challenge. You should consider adding a trekking pole or snowshoes to your backpack.

A fresh snowfall offers the hunter more advantages than it does the prey. Experienced hunters know that just before a major snowstorm can be great. The deer senses it is coming and will be up and moving.

Hunting immediately after a snowfall clears out can also be excellent. The deer will be hungry and getting up to feed after waiting out the storm. Just be prepared to adjust your preparation and plan for hunting in the snow. How you change your practices to hunt deer in the snow, will have a major impact on whether you will find success.

The more you know about the behavior of Whitetail Deer, the more successful you will be this hunting season. For more information on the behavior of whitetail deer visit our website at https://oakcreekwhitetailranch.com/.