I have had several people ask me if I deer hunt in the snow? Yes, I do enjoy deer hunting when the ground is covered in snow! You do have to exercise caution traveling to and from your hunting location due to the road conditions. If I believe the road conditions are bad, I delay my hunting plans, but you have to realize the deer are out there.

There are several advantages if you can hunt with snow on the ground. But first, you must consider human comfort and dress accordingly, which means the lighter-weight clothes you wore during the early October hunting season will not be enough to keep you warm.

I have plenty of heavier-weight, thermal underwear and heavy socks, plus I have several insulated bibs in camouflage and hunter orange, and hooded parkas. I also have a heated vest and rechargeable handwarmers that provide me with several hours of comfort while seated motionless in a tree stand or ground blind.

Just be careful not to work up a sweat while walking to your hunting location before daylight. If you sweat, you most likely will be uncomfortable.

Visibility is greatly improved during the colder months with the foliage being down. You can see much longer distances, and the white snow cover makes it much easier to detect movement in the woods. The deer's coat will appear almost black as they travel from one spot to another, and you can often hear them.

Deer activity often decreases after the archery, firearms, and muzzleloader seasons end. The deer have been disturbed since October, and it will take some time for them to relax and get back to normal. It will happen.

Most of the deer hunters have ended their hunts either by filling their tags or just have given up, but to be perfectly honest with you, I have had tremendous success hunting during the late season.

You might be able to hunt the same areas and locations you hunted in October and see deer activity, but they often change their habits once all the crop fields are empty. They still have to eat and will often relocate to food sources where the farmers set out a cover crop.

The acorns in the woods will have been consumed, and whatever crop silage that remained will have been depleted. So, it pays to be very familiar with your hunting area. They might still use the travel trail, but possibly not as often.

Normally, during the winter, the deer have "herded up" in great numbers. Instead of seeing two or three deer, you might see 30-40 deer grazing as they search for food availability. I have seen huge numbers of deer feeding in the median along major highways, eating the salt used for melting the ice on the pavement.

Another huge advantage of hunting when the snow covers the ground is with tracking and trailing wounded deer. You can see pretty easily where the deer are traveling across fields, into and out of woods, travel corridors, and where they have bedded. You can relocate your hunting locations accordingly, and when you have taken the shot, it can be beneficial find the first blood.

Many times, you can follow the red blood on the white snow easily, and if you happen to lose the blood trail, you can follow the tracks in the snow. I have located downed deer visually by simply scanning the area and seeing the deer laying there.

In summary, as long as you can safely get to your hunting area, by all means, giver it a try! Dress in layers, and as you are walking to and from your stand, allow for air circulation through your clothes to avoid sweating. Make yourself comfortable once you reach your stand.

Deer hunting does not have to stop when snow is on the ground. Be careful, and good luck! Once deer season closes, it is a long time until you can do it again!