Went out today for the last 4 hours of the WV Heritage season. Weather was nasty 13 degrees and snowing. Havn't had that in a while. I saw lots of deer. They were moving and even saw a buck chasing a doe. Kind of late for that but he was. All the deer had 2-3 inches of snow on their backs and I could not help but think how tough these animals are. I have a lot of respect for them. It was a good hunt and everything was feeding and moving. Real quiet.

I have often thought about it...not just deer but all animals.

Deer are out in the weather 365 days a year...heat,cold,rain,snow etc...

Imagine a turkey roosted high in a tree on a night when it's 0 and windy.

Our dog will lay down in the creek and drink water when it's cold out, roll in the snow etc...labs retrieving ducks in icy water.....and loving it.

I've seen deer laying with snow on their backs often.

Amazing animals all of them.

Dang right...how would you like having to signal a lane change with this condition!

Certainly tougher than us!

I always heard having snow on the back was a good sign and the thin unhealthy ones couldn't maintain it

The snow on an animals back shows you that their Winter Coat is working as designed. We had horses for 50 years and they would stand outside completely covered with snow during Winter snow storms when a run in shed and barn were available 20 yards away. The guard hairs of their winter coat holds the snow above the undercoat and actually creates another layer of insulation for them. The only time I would see them heading for shelter was when there was a driving rain and the temperature was around 60 degree or below. If an animal is able to stay dry the cold won't bother them if they have enough food. The process of digestion creates the heat needed to maintain their core body temperatures, when you find deer or any ruminant frozen to death it is usually because they didn't have enough of the proper food sources available to them to maintain core body temp.

Survival instinct runs strong!!!

The good Lord made them that way. I can only imagine what kind of sissies they think us to be, needing to dress up like the Michelin man just to go out in the cold air and snow. :) The squirrels just take it in stride....they too are made for it.

Btw. I used a new heated zip up hooded sweatshirt my wife got me for Christmas. Let me tell you that is the way to go. Put my wool coat over it and was toasty warm. The battery only lasts about 4 hours on high. I just ordered another battery so I didn’t have to wait to charge the battery for a morning and evening hunt

Not trad...but if you can find one that's fire retardant and has a place to shovel hot coals down in the lining, the trad gestapo will give that a "pass"!

What brand Babysaph?

Yes they are , had pix of this one in 2020 and figured he would not make the winter or coyotes would get him but he’s still going. Has already dropped antlers this year .

Figure he was an auto victim

Agree that all wild animals in general are tough and withstand a lot of difficult conditions to survive.

Ororo.

I read somewhere that winter was just slow steady starvation for the deer family and the only question was whether they could withstand it till spring. Watching the deer wade around in 3 feet of snow around here makes that easy to understand.

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