I woke up this morning to a very unusual snow fall here 14 miles from the Florida border. About an inch of accumulation. I know this is off topic and likely of no interest to other posters here who are inundated with the white stuff this year.

But its the first time I've seen it snow here in about 30years. My granddaughter who is celebrating her 4th birthday as well as the snow day came over this morning with her parents and her excitement rekindled my own...Geo

You might want to forward pictures of it to Al Gore... as evidence of Global Warming.

George, it's a mess here in Savannah. We had rain last night through early morning to coat everything with ice but the roads were clear. It's been snowing and the slush is now ice and roads slippery. Bridges are closed. Socked in for the day. I had thought about hunting but Floyd reminded me that hunting in freezing rain isn't as comfortable as he'd like it to be. That and we couldn't cross bridges to get to the spots. Snow is coming down pretty good and I can't remember the last time we had this much snow. I think Kirby Smart made a deal with the devil on the Rose Bowl outcome and we now have to make the payment. Gil

They're play'in for scraps Gil. You folks already hosted the championship game at the Peach Bowl.

I always loved snow days as a kid and still get a big kick out of "playing" in the snow. This weekend my friend and I hunted rabbits and pheasants in the newly fallen snow. Since we do not have hunting dogs, it makes for a fun day of tracking and stalking game. We saw a number of rabbits and had even more pheasant flushes. A very fun way to spend a winter Saturday in Pennsylvania. I hope that you guys didn't have to drive anywhere this morning - I can't imagine the average Georgia inhabitant on the road is very experienced with driving in the snow (please do not take offense). I hope you guys were able to enjoy it a little bit. Gil, any snow covered woodcock in your game bag?


P.S. It was negative six when I left for work this morning. Fun!

We're above the worst of it, I guess ..........I hope. I hunted deer this morning, on a drive with hounds, for the first time in about 25 years. A very large plantation near me needed to cull some does and rounded up several guys with deer dogs. We probably had 50 standers/guns. It was a cold morning for it, but no precipitation. I got home about 12:45, heated up a light lunch and looked out and it had just started snowing. It's a very light snow, but whatever falls should stick.

I'm happy for the kids there, Geo., and those adults who enjoy it.

SRH

I loved snow as a kid. Day off school and a extra day to go hunting. Many of my most favorite days hunting were during or after snow storms. Back in the late 1970's the Chesapeake Bay froze solid. Open water was very scare. I had a spring fed Creek which remained open all winter. In a half acre area there would be five thousand ducks shoehorned in the water and another group the same size around it plus geese and swans.

One snowie morning I set up five decoys about half a mile down the creek. Had to use a chain saw to cut through 6-8" ice to open up a tiny hole. About nine o'clock it started snowing. About ten o'clock the ducks started returning from feeding in the fields and poured into our tiny setup. Limits of both ducks and geese were too easyly obtained. Then we sat there for an hour watching ducks and geese fight to get into a hundred square foot hole in the ice.

The season ended a week later but we got multiple limits out of that hole. Twice during snow storms. Ducks and geese loose all inhibitions when it snows. They just pile in. After the season I dropped off a ton of corn to feed the ducks and geese. It got so bad I was afraid that starvation would kill them off. My hunting buddy fed another Creek about a mile away. 500 pounds of corn would be gone in a day. By the third feeding the ducks ran towards me while I was putting it out. Hungry has no fear.

No snow or rain in my part of Georgia but I wish it would hurry up and get warmer! Bobby

I do not believe in snow.
O.M

Thats a really neat story KY Jon. I've been looking for years for one of those types of honey holes...

A few years ago. when we had deep snow and ice on top, my neighbor and I "borrowed" the city salt spreader, and loaded it with a ton or more of spoiled corn. We drove around and when we saw Pheasants or lots of tracks, we kicked her on and corned the road....

I had enough snow, living in Germany, I don't care if I never see two more snowflakes piled on each other. I do wish, however, I could still walk well enough to walk up rabbits in the snow.
fallschirmjaeger
I learned to drive in snow by driving on wet, red clay roads in Alabama. The county has mostly up graded them to "all weather" roads , although still "dirt", at least the ones not paved. Todays kids don't have that training ground.
Mike

Texas Panhandle is still dry'ern a popcorn fart. Not a drop of moisture since August. Mostly hunting quail in shirtsleeves or light jacket.

I hope you had that "spoiled corn" checked for aflatoxin. If it had it in it you could have done the birds more harm than good.

SRH

Was it not 25-30 years ago they were predicting the next ICE AGE, now they predict Global Warming, and everyone has snow!
Best,
Craig

I think I've only spent one partial winter without snow and cold! A big adventure in my early 20's to Mexico, bumming around with a couple of friends. We left, mid November and we arrived back to N ID in Mid January with plenty of winter left.

I think I could handle a couple of more Nov-Jan winters somewhere south, even an encounter with a skiff of snow for a short period of time would be tolerable.

I did encounter a honey hole similar to what was previously mentioned by KY Jon. We have a river that flows between a couple of lakes here. Tug boats plied the river with log braille's back then, and would keep the river open. We launched into the river one morning and cleaned a channel off the river, into one of the lakes of about 1/4" of ice with the boat. Set out about 20-30 decoys and waited for shooting hours to begin. We shot a limit of ducks in short order, wounding one bird that sailed out to the middle of the lake.

The ice on the lake was too thick to break with the boat, so we decided we'd finish off our limit and then come up with a plan to retrieve the bird. We ended up not needing to put a plan together. A bald eagle landed near the wounded bird and after a short period of time pounced on the duck and began to feed. In short order there was another 4-5 eagles that landed and simply watched the original eagle eat. When it finished the others rushed in for the scrapes. I sure would liked to have a photo or video of that. We went back the next day cleaned out the ice again in the channel and shot another limit of ducks.

A good snow day shot from a few days ago in the Allegheny National Forrest...

Mike,

I'd bet that wet red clay is slicker than just about anything!

Stan, didnt check it for anything, repeated the process several times, Birds loved it and seemed to thrive...By "spoiled" I meant corn stored outside that had fallen outside the retainers, not the crap they bottle and drink in the South....

Proper corn liquor is not bottled ................it is jarred.

SRH

I stand corrected , sir...

fallschirmjaeger,
The wet red clay is very slick, but river gravel and crushed rock placed in bad spots, over the years, plus regular "blading", keeps the "young'uns" from learning how to drive in it. Also most of them can only drive automatic transmissions.
Mike

Sipped Stan, followed by a quiet lip smack if in polite company. About 40 years ago I got invited to a Bear/Hog hunt back in the mountains. Breakfast was fried ham, grits and about an inch of a clear, water like liquid. Being a guest I tried to be as quite and polite as I could be. The talk was fairly normal but a little quiet. After taking a big bite of that salty fried ham I reached for my "water" glass. The table fell quiet. I just knew I was about to be the center of entertainment for everyone. I took a medium sip and swirled it around my mouth, killing nerve endings for a year before swallowing it. Then the small lip smack.

Everyone watched me waiting for the coughing fit that was expected to follow. Instead I looked at the old fellow at the head of the table and said Apple and Pecan, that's a good run too. He just about fell out of his chair. Asked how I knew that. Told him I had an uncle who use to run of a batch now and then and would use apple wood and pecan wood or charcoal to smooth it out and flavor it. He said his own sons never knew his secrets until that day. Shame I said such a fine thing should never be allowed to end. That was a mighty fine tasting run.

Never saw a bear or hog but still have memories of a fine weekend. Feeling returned in less that a year, but I could use that stuff to numb a fellow before extracting a tooth. It was high grade.

That clear liquid burns with nice blue flame when lit. In EU is called Rectified Spirit and in USA Grain Alcohol (95% Alcohol 190 proof).

I recall one time here in "Sunny Tennessee" one wintry night we had rain which turned into sleet & then a bit of snow on top of that. All schools & many businesses were closed, but not ours, we didn't close for anything . At the time I was driving an old 1964 Ford F100 2WD pickup to work. Made it in with no problem. The ones who didn't was one import from Michigan & those with 4WD trucks.
As our Michigan co-worker learned that day driving on southern sleet & wet snow is about as different from driving on piled up dry snow as is playing football compared to table tennis. You either learn to handle it or you end up in the ditch, which he did.

Burning that clear liquid is a sin unto itself. Talk about stupid waste.

I seen it used that way in fire cupping.

Nope. Not even close. Freezing rain or wet black ice is as slippery as it gets. I can recall a night so slick that after I came to a complete stop, my car slid sideways off the slight crown in the center of the road, and onto the gravel berm. I got out and put my tire chains on to make it the rest of the way home. But I fell flat on my ass several times in the process. The time to put chains on is before you get in trouble. And that is why I run now four studded snow tires on all of my vehicles every winter. And I still carry tire chains, sand, a come-a-long, and a tow strap too, for those extra bad nights.

But I did spend one delightful morning digging my truck out after getting it buried in wet clay during a spring turkey hunt. I hesitated as my buddy pointed down the logging road back in to where we were to hunt that morning. It had rained all night, and my headlights reflected off the submerged surface that resembled a creek more than a logging road. I said, "That looks pretty juicy Al." He said it had a good solid base. Maybe so, but it was obviously much deeper than the axles of my truck.

The really good stuff goes down as smooth as cool spring water. I've tasted the best and the worst. Just because a man knows how to make likker don't mean he knows how to make good likker.

SRH

Keith, you are right....nothing worse than wet black ice. I can remember a few instances of it when its really bad, but you know it when it happens....when you think its really slippery and you still fall down when you get out of the car or truck, now that's slippery.

My favorite memory of it was on a sunny day in Montana in the very early 1980's. Just enough heat in the sunshine to melt a layer of water on the ice on the road. 4 of us in a vehicle. We watched five other cars go off the road and somehow manage to come to a stop still on the road. All four got out of the car and all four wiped out.

When it gets good and Manitoba cold, there's lots of traction for those who know how to drive on it. Ice roads.....they're fun!

I've driven on snow, wet clay, and tried on black ice. I left black ice out because I don't think anybody can really drive on it. Brakes or steering are of no use( I never had spikes or chains).
Mike

I went through basic & advanced at Ft. McClellan and remember the snowstorm Alabama got in March of 1993. It was the first time a number of the recruits had ever seen snow firsthand.

If it makes you feel any better, up here in CT the temperature is -2 right now with the wind chill and it will be in the mid-teen's all weekend.