Winter so far

[Peeps]

How is Winter so far by you? I haven't been down to my lease in SW Wi but I have been up to my cabin in northern Marinette county many times. Up there 2 weeks ago there was a decent amount of snow, enough where I couldn't explore my trails on the wheeler but the deer seemed to be moving around with ease. After the warm weather and now cool down that snow melted some and now there is a hard crust with powder below. Travel is tuff for the deer and easy for the yotes and wolves. I used snow shoes to keep from breaking through the crust. Hopefully the weather changes to get rid of that crust.

 

[H20fwler]

Very mild here so far, one cold snap early January and hardly any snow.

 

[bigbendmarine]

Well, representing Florida in this thread I'll just ask, "Winter? What is this word "winter" you reference?" ;) Joking aside, being in North FL we do get a few frosts each year but with a SUPER early spring already started (late Feb to early March more typical) I hope we stay frost free for the next month and a half or so. Fig tree in my yard is already putting out leaves and azaleas are only a week or two out from reaching peak bloom.

 

[bueller]

We had a pretty good snowpack and cold from mid-Dec through mid-Jan but since then it went mild and we lost over half the snow. 2 weeks ago I was able to get a 2WD ATV throughout my place without getting stuck. We got a couple of inches since then and a couple more on the way this week but overall it's been a pretty darn easy winter IMO.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Open fields are bare and have small lakes in them. In the woods there is just a couple inches of snow and small ice pockets/puddles everywhere. Deer have stopped using the evergreens i cut down because there is browse available everywhere. Northeast WI Kewaunee County.

 

[j-bird]

"winter" here has only shown up in bits and spurts thus far. We will get a week or so of cold weather and then it gets to the 50's! We have had only one decent snow - and it stuck around for a few days and then was gone. This is fairly common any more. Sooner or later we will get a decent snow or two, but sometimes it waits until March! As for now we seem to be tracking to the normal january weather......it just took a while for it to make up it's mind!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Mild winter here in western Mass so far. We've had some decent snow, but then we get warming spells and rain. About 4 inches of dense, icey, hard pack right now. Great for walking around and doing some post season scouting with micro-spikes.

 

[Someday isle]

Winter here has been mild. Zero snow at this point and other than a couple of icy weekends we haven't had enough real cold to amount to anything either. Most days are in the 30s but we're in the 50s the next two days. I'd actually like to see a little snow.

 

[Islandguy]

Nice here, north of the border also. We've lost 1/2 - 2/3 of the snow we had. Gone from getting around with the sled to the RTV. Its turned colder again, but whatever snow that remains is solid crust. Great for habitat work and cutting firewood. The deer in my area are moving around again, not locked into there yards.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Very mild for January here. We've had a couple small snows - 3" or less and they're gone. Most days have been in the 40's, with a few in the 50's. It's colder now - highs in the 30's, night time lows in the low 20's. Nowhere near what we used to get as a kid. Not even close.

 

[chummer]

We just passed 200" but is as mild of a 200" you could hope for. A three week January thaw took the snow pack down to 6" so we just started over with a 36" snow fall.

 

[Big Snow Man]

We just passed 200" but is as mild of a 200" you could hope for. A three week January thaw took the snow pack down to 6" so we just started over with a 36" snow fall.

You sure you don't live in Siberia?

 

[chummer]

You sure you don't live in Siberia?

At least no bitter cold this year. We have only had a couple days below 0 compared to 30-40 days, two and three winters ago.

 

[Tap]

Winter has been almost non existent here...so far, but there's a lot of winter ahead of us. We are getting a little lake effect snow the last couple days. There's maybe 6" on the ground. I don't recall having any nights below zero and only a handful have been single digits.
I've been making some positive observations the last few days...Fawns playing for long periods of time. They are running around like sugared-up 6 year old kids. They make mad dashes of hundreds of yards and it goes on for a long time, not just a few sprints.
I think that's a pretty good indication that they are being well fed. I'm not seeing very many deer that look underweight.

 

[Bill]

We just passed 200" but is as mild of a 200" you could hope for. A three week January thaw took the snow pack down to 6" so we just started over with a 36" snow fall.

I'd be heading in any direction so long as it was away from that lake affect!