I was as surprised as Larry Clown when I saw Dave's photo depicting what he calls typical snow cover for North Central Pa. in late December to mid January. I'd say his photo is the exception rather than the rule in areas I hunt, but I don't hunt Potter county a lot. Most of my trips to the Coudersport area in early January have had considerably more ground cover. I'd also be disappointed if we only had that much snow during deer season around Dec. 1st because it would mean a tougher job dragging a deer on nearly bare ground. And if you move a little east along the Pennsylvania-New York border counties, you are solidly into snow-belt areas that get frequent very heavy lake effect snows off of Lake Erie. Lack of snow during hunting season is one of the reasons I do most of my late season hunting north of I-80.
The presence of snow is what I like best about our flintlock season for deer, and that ended a few weeks before the now cancelled late grouse season. The snow cover in Dave's photo is more like what is often normal average around Thanksgiving in most of the areas I hunt. But naturally, the first week of December can be anything from 45 degrees and raining to single digit temps and the 2-3 ft. of snow that kept us from getting to camp during doe season several years ago. Traveling 20 miles can often make a huge difference during winter too, especially when bands of lake-effect snow can take you from bare roads to white-out conditions in an instant. But Larry is confining his weather report strictly to Northern Wisconsin. The regional differences were emphasized by a Meteorology Professor I had in a class I took at Penn State University as an elective. He was one of the co-founders of Accu-Weather, and told us how he acted as a consultant to investors who were building a Ski Resort outside of State College, Pa. He told them they were buying land on the wrong side of the mountain. They ignored his advice and ended up going out of business because they spent too much time and money running artificial snow-making equipment while the other side of the mountain got very deep snows. I deer hunted Tussey Mountain several times when I lived in State College, and saw what he meant. There is such a thing as too much snow for hunting, and slogging through knee deep or waist deep snow is a coronary stress-test like no other.
What would anyone expect from Larry Clown? Once again, he shows us that he is reading my posts even though he repeatedly claims to be IGNORING them. That's why I say the IGNORE function is of no use to an estrogen filled Liberal. It is also why I continue to respond to them even after they claim to be IGNORING me. I know they can't do it. Their idea of IGNORING is no different than an angry woman on her menstrual period. She hears you... but she's just being bitchy. Right Larry?
I'm also surprised to see that Dave's grouse hunting photos all seem to show him hunting what appear to be gas or oil pipelines. I've probably walked many hundreds of miles on pipelines and powerlines in my life, and never flushed a great many grouse along them. They are useful for quicker easier access to get back in where hunting pressure is less. I always did much better in heavier cover, logged out areas and slashings, and especially in and near stands of wild grapevines. Grouse cover is variable, and the chain saw and logger is your friend. I also don't ever recall seeing many road killed grouse along Pa. Rt 6, or anywhere else for that matter. I suppose a few are stupid enough to fly or walk into the path of a truck, but I question that statement about the weekly observations of road killed grouse seen by State Forest workers.
