Deer Dilemma: Hunting Bucks in the Extreme Cold

Winter affects the entire swath of whitetail country, and when it hits with a hammer it can cause you to rethink your hunting strategy and your sanity for continuing the hunt. Foul winter weather may not last long in the southern half of the nation, but it does occur, especially with ice. In northern whitetail country, where I hail from, you can expect a battle with frigid Mother Nature just about every year. I’ve fought the good fight through almost every imaginable winter weather scenario. Some I have lost, but I have many in the win column due to persistence, planning and spontaneous adaptation to constantly changing conditions.

GIMME SHELTER

The Dilemma

While traveling to Iowa one season, the weather forecast transitioned from threats of a major winter storm to outright warnings. Travel advisories, feet of snow and wind speeds exceeding 50 mph all preceded my hunt. Upon arrival, a substantial layer of snow had already blanketed the area, but the worst was yet to arrive.

A friend had lined up several properties to hunt for the late muzzleloader season, and I used the first couple days before the major storm arrived to hunt while evaluating each area. It became apparent that most of the deer were already herded up on a narrow timbered creek adjacent to a picked cornfield that connected to a soybean field. They fed heavily in the beans. Before I could put an ambush together for this location, the storm smashed into the western half of Iowa, shutting down almost everything.

My friend advised not hunting mornings as it was too easy to bump deer from the food sources they were eagerly visiting. That was welcome news since no one could travel on that first day due to snow drifts completely shutting off roads.

The Fix

Waiting for the roads to open gave me some time to contemplate a plan of attack. While surveying the field, it became quite clear that too many deer used the timber for refuge. Setting up there would be next to impossible without spooking them.

However, the deer had a late-afternoon travel pattern that ran through the picked cornfield to reach the soybeans in the field beyond. Hunkering in a snowdrift was one option, but an old granary in the middle of the picked cornfield happened to sit within muzzleloader range of some of the passing deer. It was worth a chance, and I only had three afternoons left in the hunt.

On the first afternoon, the storm broke and deer filtered by, some does within easy shooting distance of the granary. Nevertheless, several mature bucks skirted just beyond the range of my muzzleloader’s capabilities. After the sun set, I felt pretty good about the next day’s sit except for one factor: I had woefully misjudged the cold, with temperatures dipping down to minus 8—and that didn’t even account for the wind chill. The next afternoon I packed in my Heater Body Suit and snuggled into its depths for a comfortable afternoon. An earbud connected to a tiny transistor radio kept me updated on the weather and entertained, but bucks still stayed just beyond my smokepole’s range.

My final afternoon kicked off with the unpleasantness of subzero temperatures and ground blizzard conditions. Just as the sun set, a buck appeared from the creek bottom, plowing through the snow in my direction. It took him nearly 15 minutes to reach the granary, but his trudging path brought him within 100 yards. Tired from plowing snow, the buck stopped frequently to rest. When he paused broadside of the granary, I lit my CVA’s fire. The buck spun from the smackdown of the 250-grain Hornady Monoflex bullet and attempted an unachievable escape. The granary hideout was a first, but so was the use of a four-wheel-drive loader tractor to recover the blizzard buck.

Lesson Learned

Several factors played into the success of this brutal hunt despite the deep snow and subzero temps. Most of all, shelter provided me with the advantage of being able to be in position and wait hours for the deer to arrive. The granary saved the hunt plain and simple. My other cold-weather gear definitely supported the effort, but without the shelter of the granary positioned in the middle of the field, it likely would have made waiting in the open unbearable under the conditions.

Even in moderate weather, I use my HuntStand hunting app to peer down from above in search of abandoned outbuildings, junked machinery and old homesteads to use as places to wait in comfort while deer pass by, oblivious to the danger within. As more and more properties receive hunting management attention, permanent blinds are replacing these impromptu hides. Regardless, hunting in comfort, even within deteriorating farm remnants, equals more time you can spend in pursuit.

VICTORY FROM VIGILANCE

The Dilemma

I couldn’t believe it. The second year I drew a Kansas deer tag, a major winter storm was brewing. My buddy Greg had invited me down to hunt his farm, but this was back when the Sunflower State was still just a fledgling whitetail kingdom, and replacing exposed stands with more comfortable enclosed blinds was still on Greg’s long-term improvement schedule.

The storm was preceded by gorgeous weather for the first couple days of the hunt. That meant post-rut bucks were not inclined to eat during shooting light, and although I did catch sight of a couple shooter bucks, they were only fleeting glimpses through small openings in the timber. All of our scouting, trail camera pics and deer sign pointed to a hub of activity on a food plot that still held standing soybeans. That was the good news. The bad news was the location. Getting to the field required driving down a rough farm trail, which put all the deer near the field on alert.

On day three of the hunt, the storm blew in with intense winds and temperatures in the single digits. Subzero windchills of 10 to 20 below were the norm. Conditions like that wouldn’t be an issue if I was hunting from an enclosed blind, but the deer’s food preference of soybeans meant my only good option was to hunt from an open tripod stand that stood on a characteristic Flint Hills cliff overlooking the field. Shots ranged from 200 to 400 yards and beyond. The shot distance didn’t concern me, as I had faith in my .300 Win. Mag. Sitting on an open cliff face with driving winds and bone-chilling temps, however, did.

The Fix

I always pack for the extreme, and a pair of insulated bib overalls, a heavy parka, pac boots, heavy gloves and enough chemical hand warmers to keep a small army comfortable saved the hunt. For extra insurance, I also stashed my Heater Body Suit in my truck’s cargo box. As soon as the storm hit, I dug into my cold-weather reserves for the first morning.

The exposed nature of the sniper perch high above the field meant climbing into the rickety tripod stand well before shooting light and enduring several hours of morning doe activity before taking a short break when the deer did. A couple hours later, I’d climb back up for the afternoon hunt.

The climb into the stand was a bit clumsy while wearing the bulky Arctic gear, but have you ever tried donning a Heater Body Suit on a platform smaller than a barbecue grill grate while wearing a tree stand harness? Suited up like an astronaut prepared for a spacewalk, I commenced my long waits overlooking the field. Wind swept through the area for two days, along with waves of snow that were more irritating than hindering. While the weather battered me on the cliff face, the deer appreciated the protection of the valley food plot. Does and fawns fed morning and night, but only young bucks joined them. Finally, on the second-to-last day of my hunt, one last breath of the storm blew in with snow and subzero windchills. Deer began slipping from the adjoining timber and, to my surprise, a mature buck followed. Quickly ranging the buck, I soon settled the reticle for a 250-yard shot. The 180-grain SST ended the frigid cliff hunt promptly.

Lesson Learned

Hunting food, especially as the rut wanes, is a no-brainer. The soybeans provided the energy needed for the deer to not only ward off stress from the storm, but for bucks to rejuvenate after the rut. In hindsight, the storm was a Godsend, as I have hunted many post-rut bucks that would not feed in shooting light unless pushed by extreme weather. Temperatures that never rose above the teens, combined with driving winds, finally forced a shooter to daylight.

Another lesson driven home on this hunt was to avoid the path of least resistance. Had we driven the old farm trail closer to the field each day it most certainly would have curtailed deer activity. Staying away and above, while accessing the tripod stand in darkness, led to laidback deer willing to expose themselves longer in shooting hours.

Finally, whenever possible, bring the kitchen sink. I pack for the weather extremes and pray for seasonal weather with a hint of horridness to prod a shooter into my sights.

HOLDING PATTERN

The Dilemma

When the call came from my South Dakota pal Cody that he’d found a cull buck for me, I did not need much convincing. My friend operated a hunting operation for ring-necked pheasants, waterfowl and a few select trophy whitetails. On occasion he gave me permission to cull a buck he knew would not transform into a trophy, typically a 5 1/2-year-old or older buck with garden-variety antler characteristics. Never one to turn down a hunt for a mature buck, I quickly thanked him for the opportunity and we planned the rendezvous.

My previous hunts with Cody had all featured a similar inconvenience: too many deer. This particular November was no exception. Although he always has an ample number of deer on his property, winter set in early that year, and his tailored food plots attracted deer from miles around. His herd grew by the day as snow and cold continued in the forecast.

You’d think too many deer would be a good problem, and it could be if the goal was shooting a doe for the freezer. But I wanted a chance at the old-timer Cody had picked out, and sneaking into rifle range with more than 500 sets of eyeballs on guard duty would be a test of my predator skills.

That many deer congregating, with new ones arriving all the time, added another trial to the hunt. Deer patterns were shifting daily, and there was no telling when the next herd of 20 would show on a nearby prairie ridge.

The Fix

After the first couple days of hunting, or should I say observing, a pattern soon began to appear. The one thing the masses appreciated was a bedding area with a view. Any number of high, rolling hills on the ranch provided this security, but a high point on the south end of the property soon stood out as a favorite, with a packed snow trail leading from it straight to the food. Morning and night, the deer would travel nearly a mile in the open to feed on a sorghum field next to a standing corn plot. During the middle of the day, they retreated to the open hill and bedded on one side or the other depending on wind direction.

The trail featured several junctions, but one fence corner hidden behind a swale soon caught my attention. The corner had an open gate, and the deer, weary from cold and walking through snow, appreciated not having to jump a fence. On the fourth day, I was able to discern my target buck from the group through a spotting scope, and he walked right through the gate. Guess where I’d be waiting the next day.

Temperatures near zero and all those eyeballs made mornings almost impossible to hunt. Afternoons gave me time to maneuver as bedded deer slept hundreds of yards away. Using the swale near the open gate, I crawled on the side that was out of sight of the deer. Taking care to keep the barrel free of snow, I made the 200-yard crawl in about an hour and then lay prone as I waited for the show to start. I appreciated the freezing temps for one reason: It made the deer move early. My legs, groin, belly and elbows were numb from laying in the snow, but not wet since I had dragged along an old shower curtain to lay on to avoid melting the snow with my body heat.

Just before sundown, the old codger arrived among several dozen deer. When a large doe moved from behind him, I howled like a coyote to stop him cold. My .300 Win. Mag. finished the hunt.

Lesson Learned

When you require a pattern to succeed on a hunt, be patient. Instead of just racing into this hunt without groundwork, I invested a couple days of observing to put together the best ambush possible. The deer eventually began to fall into a comfort zone, and when they did, I studied the terrain to set the trap. Even slight variances in the open prairie put me out of sight of the hundreds of deer in the vicinity. I had to crawl to get into rifle range, but I did not spook a single deer.

Patience is a virtue, and for the predator in you, a necessity. Besides wearing my best parka and bibs again to thwart the Arctic environment, my idea of using an old shower curtain to lay on to prevent my body heat from melting snow was pivotal. Getting wet in cold conditions will generally expedite the onset of hypothermia. Temperatures ranging from the teens to below zero were the norm for this hunt, but enduring them proved worth it. Cody shared with me the sheds he had from this buck over the years. At approximately 6 1/2 years of age, the buck had not put on any inches for several years and fit both of our definitions of a shooter.

STORM OF THE CENTURY

The Dilemma

In October of 2013 a “storm of the century” hit the middle part of the country. I was hunting in southeast Wyoming, not far from a major epicenter of the storm in the Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota. Named Winter Storm Atlas, the massive weather complex produced snow totals up to 58 inches and winds to 70 mph. As it moved eastward, it spawned 22 tornadoes that included two rated at EF4. Thousands of livestock died that were still in summer pastures and not fully haired-up for the early-winter horror.

The dilemma for me was obvious. Everything was shut down, including all services, roads and even some communications knocked out by the storm’s force. I was hunting as a guest of a local rancher, and we got one day in before the storm hit. The area held both mule deer and whitetails, but our primary focus was the muleys. Even with a boost of confidence on the first day of hunting, the ominous warnings about the storm began to overshadow the hunt.

As the storm blasted into the region with unrelenting force, even sleeping in the old ranch house was a challenge. Wind and snow battered the century-old building, every shingle and board rattled nonstop from the fierce winds. Attempting to hunt in the severe conditions would have been like trying to fix the hole in the Titanic with duct tape. Instead, we waited impatiently for the multi-day storm to end, knowing that my 5-day hunting window would likely be condensed to a single additional day.

The Fix

Mother Nature delivered the problem solver. After two days of zero visibility, the skies cleared, but it took the rest of the day for my rancher friend and the local municipality to plow travel access. We got our pickups stuck in the snow and labored to get back in the hunt. The storm was so intense that most animals did not move much, if at all, during its apex. Finally, we were able to scout from a main road late on the first day of the weather break and quickly spotted a group of mule deer bucks to target the following morning.

The next morning, we attempted to cut off the trio of bucks as they left low hillsides already clearing from the intense southerly sun the previous afternoon. Still hungry from the intense storm, the bucks lingered in the open, casually working up the slope to cliff-top bedding. Their slowness allowed me to work through a series of deep ravines and finally crawl out on a lip and assume a prone position on the bucks. One wide, big-bodied buck stood out, and I quickly sent a 165-grain InterLock from my .308 Winchester to anchor the buck and complete a hunt never to be forgotten.

Lesson Learned

Although some storms allow you to hunt in relative safety, severe storm warnings should be heeded. Wait the storm out. No deer is worth getting stuck in a life-threatening situation or struck by traffic that cannot see you. If you get stranded, it forces responders to be out in the storm and risking their own lives. Stay in camp during these dire events. Use your hunting app to track the forecast and use your time wisely to craft the next move in your hunting strategy. I did all of these during this storm of the century that ranked in the top three of worst October weather events ever recorded.

My hunts have and will continue to battle extremes, especially those with a white backdrop. Despite the negatives of a winter shock to your hunt, it can deliver great results, so stay ready and take advantage of any opportunity to punch your tag.

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• This article was featured in the December 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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