As most, everyone knows one week before Christmas the East Coast was hit with 12-24 inches of snow. The most snow we have seen since 1996 covered every thing from roadways to piney deer stands. It just so happens that this lovely weather came right near the end of deer season in Virginia and I have always wanted to hunt in the snow like what falls in the Northern States.
After listening to the weather reports and watching many people scramble for gas and groceries I began to wonder if this might just be the real deal. At approximately 2pm on Friday December 18 2009, it finally arrived and came hard. By 5pm, I had seven inches of fresh white powder surrounding my freezing body over looking a field. As I looked around my mind, started wonder if this is what its like to hunt Alberta, Colorado, or North Dakota. Freezing temperatures, blowing snow and a gun in my hand I pictured as if I was on a quest for 150-class whitetails on the frozen tundra.
As the snow continued to fall and darkness fell hunting clips from TV shows began to re-run in my mind. It is down to the wire and out steps the buck of a lifetime, but for me that never happens so I just sat there hoping maybe to see a poor bird looking for cover. Darkness crept in on that first snowy day and I left that field disappointed yet again.
Those first days turned into a week and still no luck. Soon there after one week turned into two weeks and before I knew I only had one week left. My legs ached from repeated treachery through the 14 inches of snow and seeing many deer tracks in the snow, I thought for sure I would have seen a deer by now. Therefore, I powered through the pain and pushed onward in hopes to find a deer somewhere buried in the snow.
On the last Thursday of my 2008 season, my best friend Caleb and I climbed up in a stand for one last hunt together in this snowy situation. That evening it just so happened that I harvested my first buck in the snow and on film. Even though it was just a spike it is still my 150-class buck from up North that I keep dreaming about and a great way to finish my season. I look forward to many more adventures in the snowy game of whitetail hunting that lie before me.
