Pennsylvania Game News - January 2025 - 62

has crusted over. Crunching whitetail
footfalls carry a long way, benefiting the
alert but sedentary hunter (although a
soft, fluffy snow has the opposite effect).
These two advantages relative to sight
and sound have helped fill my buck tag
during the late season before.
Scouting my hunting grounds a few
days after a light snowfall at the end of
December, it was easy to identify where
deer had bedded.
Luckily, that was within easy bow
range of the tree stand I'd put up back in
September. The next morning, with the
snow iced over, I carefully settled into
my stand and waited for daybreak.
Shortly after morning light drifted
into the woodlot, I heard the scuffling,
crunchy footfalls of multiple deer on the
opposite slope of a nearby hillside.
Then I heard something else,
something unexpected: a medley of
grunts from a rutting buck. It was early
January, well after peak of breeding
season, but this one was still chasing
estrus does.
Sure enough, a few moments later,
three deer came gliding over the rise.
They were still some 80 yards away,
but with leafless trees and a solid white
background, it was impossible to miss
them. The trio consisted of a 6-point
buck chasing a doe, with a small
forkhorn trailing close behind. And they
were coming right toward me.
Of course, even though I was 20
feet high in my tree, there was no leafy
backdrop to conceal me, unlike in
October. So staying perfectly still to keep
from being spotted was critical. I did, and
the doe bedded down less than 15 yards
away, with the two bucks following suit.
The 6-point, bedded barely 10 yards
from me, was alert, as were they all. The
moment I drew and took aim, the buck
62
immediately jumped up. Still, the flight
of the arrow through the buck's vitals
was true. He raced away at full speed and
disappeared over the ridge.
The tracking chore that followed was
an easy one, the crimson-against-white
blood trail quickly leading me to my lateseason
buck. He had collapsed into the
snow some 70 yards away.
Not every season brings those kinds
of helpful conditions: witness my 202324
season. But it's great to hunt in them
when you get them.
A layer of snow provides a fresh
canvas against which deer can paint a
clear story of their patterns, habits and
comings and goings in a given area.
In this case, it became clear where the
deer had been bedding. Tracks, urine and
droppings are easily read by any hunter
with a pulse, even yours truly.
Tracking a bowshot deer is also
nowhere near the chore it might have
been back in the fall, when drops of
blood can too easily be lost among the
scarlet splotches of fallen leaves. Red
blood on white snow, even the smallest
drops, can be followed like a beacon of
light. If the blood trail should happen
to fade, the tracks of a wounded deer
should still be clearly evident.
You just don't want too much of a good
thing. A gentle snowfall is preferable to
a raging blizzard that dumps heavy, wet
snow measured in feet. That can disrupt
or even end your hunt, or, if it lingers too
deep for too long, your entire late season.
Even if you can get out, your chances
of crossing paths with deer might be
lower, as many might be bedded down
or otherwise sitting tight to conserve
energy.
But at the same time, you might be
able to take advantage of heavy snow
causing deer to act differently.
Pennsylvania Game News - January 2025

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