Following snow tracks could lead hunter on wild deer chase

Just as folks on the east coast are still trying to get their lives and homes in order following Hurricane Sandy—the west coast has been hit with many inches of rain with many inches of snow in the mountains.

They also had winds up to 130 miles an hour which took down trees and power lines.

This weather activity was overshadowed by the wrangling in Washington by politicians  over the financial cliff.

FEMA will need a lot more money than what is in any budget before they’re done helping all these folks out.

Our nice start to winter was washed away in less than a day and now we are back to spring conditions. The frozen ground we had is all but a memory.

It would have been the first time in a long time that the ground was frozen under the snow which would have made it last.

Now we have to start from scratch.

The ski centers must be scratching their heads as what to do now after losing all the snow they had made.

The cold weather had Canada and Snow Geese on the move.

Just this morning (12/3) there were a couple thousand of them on the Fulton Chain. They didn’t know which way they should go so they settled in.

If they happen to settle on your lawn you won’t have to fertilize next spring.

I also saw a few other birds this week. There were eight Pine Grosbeaks picking grit in the Limekiln Road at the end of my driveway.

This is the first time in about four years that I’ve seen these birds in the area.

That same day I saw a small flock of White-winged Crossbills working the cones on the white spruce near the Red River in the Plains.

These softwoods may yield the only seed-filled cones in the area that these birds use for food.

On a couple hikes I saw Moose tracks in the snow but no Deer tracks. A cow and calf crossed the trail to Falls Pond one day.

Another day on the same trail I saw tracks of a bull Moose with an injured foot which had left some blood with every step it took.

I followed this guy a short distance but the injury didn’t seem to bother him as he trucked up through the woods.

Paul Czapranski told me a story about a recent trapping trip he took with his son in the Moose River Plains.

Along their way they met a family near Helldiver Pond who asked if the Moose was still out or did it already go into hibernation.

Paul explained that unlike Bears, Moose don’t hibernate. Moose are out all winter eating browse, twigs and the bark off red maples for food.

It is amazing to me that someone would think Moose hibernate.

Paul’s son had caught a Pine Marten that day and showed it to them. They thought it was awful that they had trapped such a pretty animal.

Paul gave them a lesson on how trapping is regulated, then they thanked him for letting them see the Marten.

There was good tracking snow for the deer hunters who love to get on a good buck track and see if they can catch up with the animal for a shot.

Many think this is an easy task. But many a tracker has followed many a Deer and not caught a glimpse of what they were following.

A deer in the rut will sometimes cover many miles in one night looking for a female in estrus. If you start at the same place he started you will be in for a long walk.

If you start where he was in the morning and he has a doe with him you will have a pretty good chance to get a shot before the day is over.

Some of these trackers actually run on the track just like a dog running a hare.

When they find that the buck has slowed down and feeding among the leaves it might not be far away.

If it is with a doe they will engage in a lot of circling and a game of “catch me if you can.” If you get in on that you normally have a pretty good chance to get a shot.

That’s how many a love sick buck has met his end.

The nine point buck that was chasing a doe around our house for two days met an eager hunter Saturday who made a good shot.

Some bucks made it through the season to get bigger next year.

An Ermine will keep the mouse population down, but that’s another story. See ya.