Monday November 21, 2016
Greetings and welcome!
It was an interesting opening weekend for gun deer season. The storm that made it interesting brought howling winds, cold temperatures, and enough snow to cover the steps and windshield, and some grassy areas Saturday morning. There were even a few snow covered areas on the road as I made my way to work Saturday morning.
The numbers of hunters were down a little due to the weather forecast, but there were still a lot of people around. Deer hunters are a tough bunch that frequently get challenged by the weather, and a lot of people stuck it out. Quite a few people that I spoke with reported at least one or two bucks at their deer camp opening day.
The wind was crazy. Friday night I was throwing in firewood when a gust came through that had a roar like a jet. Both Friday night and Saturday night had some really strong gusts, and Saturday was windy all day. I can only guess but I would guess that we saw gusts at or over 45mph and sustained winds in the 20-30mph range Saturday. It was really something.
Wind presents a big challenge for hunters. Not only is staying warm a challenge, the deer don’t like it. The wind robs them of three of their senses. The 30+ mph wind roaring through the trees takes away a lot of their hearing. Likewise their usual scent abilities are blown away. Finally, their eyes are particularly attuned to spotting motion, and in a roaring wind everything is in motion, making them pretty nervous.
Thankfully the deer were hot n heavy in the rut, and more worried about mating than danger. The timing of that being a little late this year probably saved a lot of hunts.
The cold behind the storm is making winter seem pretty real. Last night we saw a low of 14 degrees, and Saturday night we had 16. We saw a high of 30 Sunday and could see 32 today. That is a sharp contrast from the mid-60s last week.
It is time to secure water systems. I can get away with some cold nights if the days are warm and sunny enough. With a cloudy day and high temperatures below freezing yesterday it was time to start the heater in the well house. When I went out last night at sunset it was still about 40 or 45 in the well house. It probably would have survived last night without damage, but at 14º, it would have been close.
The ground had a lot of moisture from our wet fall and it seemed to freeze up quickly. It was soft Friday and it was firm under my feet yesterday. I might have to run to the lake and see if there is any first ice yet. It should be any day now.
Looking forward there is some snow in the forecast for Wednesday. The model that I just looked at suggested that 3-6″ is a very real possibility. That tells me that it is time to wrap it up on this page and continue my updates over at the Big Snow Page. I am going to do just that now.
Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB