Ted, we don't get the minus 30 to minus 40 temps you get in Minnesota, but we do get occasional sub-zero weather. It was minus 22 F when I left camp on the morning I shot my first deer with a flintlock. Deer guts never felt so good. I never minded the cold much except when the wind is also howling. I've had mild hypothermia several times, but like you, the worst by far was with the temperature in the low teens.

The day started out with temps in the mid 20's, but around 9:30 am, a front moved through causing the temperature to fall and the wind to ramp up. I had shot a deer with my flintlock, and it went down as if struck by lightning. It began thrashing a bit as I reloaded, which I was certain was just nerves. Then, while ramming a patched roundball, I watched it jump up and take off, just as snow began falling faster. I hurried to track it because the scant blood trail was getting covered, and it took me through pure hell, and an area that was laced with other deer tracks. I had to give up after a couple hours because the tracks became impossible to follow due to the drifting snow. That was the only deer I ever wounded and lost, and I still feel bad about it.

Rushing so much through wooded ravines and thick brush caused me to perspire, and my damp hunting clothes combined with the driving cold wind caused me to start shivering almost uncontrollably. I tried everything to warm up, but by 3:00 we were in full blizzard conditions and I decided it was time to quit. It was very hard to even find my way toward the road where I parked. The last 1/4 mile across an open field was brutal, with visibility almost zero, and stinging sleet and snow blowing horizontal. I hoped I was heading the right direction. Much to my relief, I finally found the car. My fingers quit working, so getting my keys out of my pocket to unlock the door took forever. I kept dropping the keys, and had to use both hands to hold the key and get it in the lock. The door locks became stiff to operate, and I was afraid I was going to break the key in the lock. I finally got in, but I was driving my old Ford Tempo diesel, and although it had a pretty good heater, it just wouldn't make heat until you drove it under load. I hit the glow plugs twice to make sure it started. If it hadn't started on that isolated dirt road far from any farms, I'd have really been up shit creek without a paddle. Of couse, with blizzard conditions, the windows were totally iced up, so I had to stick my head out the side window and drive a couple miles until the defroster finally began working. When I got home over an hour later, I was still shivering very badly, and got into a hot bathtub to thaw out. That was one out of three times in my life that I quit hunting early. You are 100% right about wind making a difference when it gets cold.