I dream of those old-fashioned childhood winters. Hard freezes that lock the ice to the shoreline on all sides of the lake, and just enough wind to scour the snow away and no worry about pitching through when the ice caves in under my feet.

The memories are still fresh even though my first ice fishing trip was taken about 65 years ago. It was at North Lake near Millington in Tuscola County. Our parents owned a small lot and kept an old house trailer there, and we would visit the area often from January through March.

North Lake held bluegills, largemouth bass, perch, sunfish and some northern pike. Ice-up came quick and hard, freezing the lake's surface, and within a week there was six to 10 inches of firm clear ice.

Not many lakes have very safe ice. Use extreme caution.

The early-ice action always featured a good bite. We had triangulated the green weed beds with three shoreline landmarks, and often could return to the same holes that we'd fished the week before. The 'gills and sunfish would still be there, and we would lowered a six-inch sucker below the ice near the weeds, and caught some nice pike on tip-ups.

That was then and this is now. I don't know whether everyone has been paying attention, but the last three or four years has featured much more wind from the east. Such winds often bring rain, and heavy rains make early ice treacherous and unstable. This winter is the mildest I can ever remember.

One wonders if we are in the middle of the global warming that others have talked about for 15 years. I'm not a scientist, nor a meteorologist, but I am observant. I remember things about the previous years, and I see a pattern forming that I really don't like.

The past several years has produced rather dramatic changes in the Great Lakes and some inland lakes. The Great Lakes undergo a cyclic rise and fall of water levels over the years, and levels have been low for longer than normal. Five years ago many Great Lakes marinas had to dredge so boats could enter and leave their slips during the summer months.

Check out the Betsie River where it flows under the M-22 bridge between Elberta and Frankfort. Chinook salmon and steelhead runs have been poor in this river for a few years, and the reason is low water. There is barely enough water flowing through the channel to allow fish to run upstream.

Several years ago Crystal Lake didn't freeze well and I did a story about three men (two from the same family) that broke through the ice. That they lived was a miracle. The ice stayed bad most of the winter.

We can take a long look at this year. The stage was set for some excellent ice. Cold weather, freezing temperatures and no wind set the stage in early November, and for a week it was making ice on small lakes.

No early winter this year. It was brown at Christmas.

Then, before Nov. 15 and the firearm deer opener, it began to warm up. It now shows little sign of making any ice after today’s all-day reasonably warm temperatures.

Bare ground is a common sight. Our opening-day snow disappeared by mid-day. The deer can roam wherever they wish, and they have easy access to green fields, unpicked cornfields, and open woodlands. There is no need for deer to yard up except in some areas that always get heavy snow, and this could result in an excellent winter for whitetail survival. What is good for the deer is good for wild turkey numbers as well.

It also could bring on an early steelhead run, and put fish in the river long before it freezes across. I've seen it happen, and many fish move upstream to winter over in deep holes. I remember once, years ago when I was guiding anglers, when the steelhead run was over long before the spring thaw began. People who waited until April 1 found few if any fish in the rivers and it could happen again.

The weather is changing. That much should be obvious to all, and it is having an effect on many of those who depend on winter sport for their yearly income. Bait shops will suffer if safe ice doesn't come soon.

The snowmobile industry is facing a big loss of revenue as are northern communities that cater to sled riders and skiers. These high gas prices will cause For Sale signs to be posted on many sleds this  winter. Downhill skiing also faces tough conditions without cold and snow.

A lack of snow cover keeps winter hunters house-bound. They feed their hounds all year in hopes of having good snow, and when it comes late, bunny hunting is pretty poor.

Downhill skiers have man-made snow but that doesn’t work for hunters.

Weather patterns are changing. Will this change continue? Who knows, but if it does, the economy of northern Michigan will suffer once again as it has for the past few years. The stakes are growing ever higher now, and people can hang on only so long before being forced to close their businesses and seek other employment … all too often, out of state.

I try to avoid such doom-and-gloom columns, but the changing weather is a major topic of conversation in every coffee shop in the north. Many people long for the old-fashioned winters, and I am one of them.

Rainy weather makes for miserable driving, and anglers and hunters find little solace in a winter rainstorm.

This snow isn’t too deep for deer; belly-deep snow exhausts the animals

A study of deer facts can make anyone a better bow, muzzleloader, rifle or shotgun hunter. Here are some things to bone up on during the off-season.

A deer's home range is the area that annually covered by deer while eating, mating, resting or caring for fawns after birth. The radius of a home range usually is less than a mile in diameter.

Home ranges often are elongated, and may decrease in size as animal populations increase. One exception occurs during the rut when a dominant buck travels widely. A buck's home range decreases in size as the animal grows older or as the local deer population increases.

The theory of migrating whitetails was once ignored by wildlife biologists, but too much evidence exists of migratory patterns in northern ranges, especially during a severe winter. A case in point are whitetails along the Lake Superior drainage system once fall weather starts acting like winter.

Deer do migrate in some parts of the state

In a bad winter (which can coincides with the firearm deer season), deer may travel many miles to find shelter and food. If deep snow falls during the hunting season, look for migration trails that will cross state highways and back roads into heavy conifers or other dense yarding areas. Migrations from the Lake Superior shoreline gains strength as snow piles up, and deer move into huge yarding areas like the Hulbert or Tahquamenon swamps near Newberry, Michigan. during bad winters.

Such has not really been the case in many areas,. Most of Michigan this winter has dealt with little snow. Near Traverse City,  for instance, we often have 80-100 inches of snow by New Year's Day and it just keeps piling through February and March.

The last I knew, about a week ago, the area had received about 25 of snow, and then it melts and disappears.

Deer in southern counties seldom yard up because of severe weather, but such is not true in northern areas. Once snow reaches a depth of 12 or more inches, and cold winds howl, deer head for yarding areas by the most direct route.

Deer yards are often in thick cover with thermal conditions

They choose evergreens (balsam, cedar and pine) where cold, snow and wind have less impact on them, and the dense cover provides some thermal protection against body heat loss. In Michigan, deer-yard confinement is considered to be 20 weeks during a bad winter and 12-14 weeks in milder weather.

Some deer movement is normal except in severe conditions

Deer often bed in thick brushy cover during the day and near feeding areas in the evening. During snowy winter months, deer may venture from a deer yard briefly to feed but return to its confines during the coldest parts of the day or night or whenever snow becomes too deep for easy travel.

Deer require up to one bushel of browse daily to survive the winter. A matriarch doe often leads groups of three to five animals to feeding areas, but if weather is severe and browse is in short supply, does will kick fawns away before they can eat. This is one reason why deer mortality among young-of-the-year deer is very high in bad weather.

A dominant buck will lose 25-30 percent of its body weight during the rut, and that weight must be regained before heavy snows fall or it will likely perish.

Falling temperatures often put deer on the move. However, the reverse is also true in Michigan's northern areas during winter months. The colder the temperature during November and December, the more deer will move to stay warm.

Deer activity decreases in high winds and heavy snow storms. During lengthy snows, deer may be inactive for up to three or four days with very cold temperature says, and will move heavily once a storm passes through. That's the time to go hunting if the season is still open.

Watch the weather forecasts, and see what the 24-hour forecast will be. Hunting is often good immediately before a storm front moves in providing it brings a sudden drop in temperature. If a major winter storm is predicted, it might pay to be afield earlier in the day than normal to take advantage of a whitetails predictable feeding patterns.

An active scrape features a strong urine smell, hoof prints and antler tine marks. Hunt 30-40 yards downwind of an active deer scrape during the first three days of the firearms season. Most but not all scrape activity has ended by the firearm season opener as the rut winds down.

Those does are ready to be bred, and this knowledge can help a hunter fill a buck or doe tag.

Food choices are widespread among whitetails. They favor natural browse and farm-grown crops, and some deer researchers believe Michigan's deer are fairly divided between natural browse and farm crops.

Acorns rate high in nutrition and are easily found during the fall if the mast crop is good, but some years oak mast fails. Most of the state's corn fields have been picked except in southern counties, but a standing corn field will attract deer all winter if it is near heavy bedding cover.

Does often stomp their fawns to death during a bad winter. It's a bad thing to watch, but it's nature's way of allow the strong to survive and the weak animal eventually waste away with no marrow in their bones and a fuzzy face. That's when the coyotes come calling, and a deer yard takes on the appearance of an abattoir.

Winter snow and cottontails are made for each other

The shotgun was just a prop. The real reason I carried it on a walk around my 20 acres was in case I kicked up a cottontail rabbit. I’ve done a good bit of judicious timber cutting, and many brush piles hold bunnies.

I stoked the twin tubes of my Winchester 12-gauge over-and-under with low-brass No. 6 shot, and whether a bunny bounced out of a brush-pile or not wasn't the point.

The major attraction was an opportunity to be outdoors, firearm in hand, and going for a walk. Six inches of snow fell overnight, and it was just too nice and too pretty of a day to miss an opportunity by staying indoors.

A good day for a walk in the snowy woods, shotgun in hand

I donned a Hunter Orange hat and vest, tied up my boots, grabbed some sunglasses to prevent too much glare, and went for a hike.

The snow was fairly deep and it covered many fallen limbs, and that made me aware of potential hazards. If I didn't watch where I was going, there was the possibility of tripping over an unseen object.

A shuffling step or two would be taken, and then a long pause. The brush-piles stood out in somber and stark relief to the whiteness of the woods, and I encountered two or three fresh bunny tracks. Was it three different cottontails or just one animal making a lot of tracks?

Just walk slow, stop often and it’s like still-hunting deer

I'd follow each one along, stopping often, looking ahead, and crossed the tracks of three deer (one had a big hoof-print), but it was accompanied by a deer with a small foot, and my suspicion was a doe and fawn. One other track was seen, and it was traveling alone. Buck or doe? No clue.

There were several fox squirrels moving about, and one offered a shot but it wasn't taken. I watched the bushytail poke around on the ground only 30 yards away, and it offered an obvious easy shot but there are plenty of days left to hunt squirrels, but there was no interest today.

I noticed a weasel track nosing into one of the brush-piles, but it may have had a burrow to go down, because the white coat of the ermine wasn't visible. Years ago, I trapped a few ermine and always respected the vicious little animal for its hunting ability.

Kicking brush piles can be a good hunting method

My intentions were to stay on level ground, and I didn't want to risk traveling downhill to hunt through this much snow. Such downward hikes require climbing back up, which isn't a bother, except it provides a greater opportunity of slipping or losing my balance.

Only one cottontail was seen and it was boosted from a brush-pile just before the ground fell away into a ravine. I came up with the shotgun but the bunny was 40 yards out, running hard and it quickly ducked into another pile of brush part-way down the hill.

The situation appeared to be one where some caution was required, and on further reflection, my brain questioned the sanity of risking a downhill traverse to the brush. Perhaps I'd get a shot, but another brush-pile lay only 20 yards from where the rabbit took cover.

It appeared to be a rather foolish temptation, and it didn't take long to reject the idea. One rabbit wouldn't feed my wife and I, and later in the season, it would be tempting to take the trail of that cottontail again.

Better to do it later than now. My cap was tipped to the rabbit, and I retraced my steps, kicked around two or three other piles of brush without rousting another cottontail, and my hike ended with simply some great exercise.

The shotgun was nothing more than an excuse for taking a hike. But, with a shotgun in hand, I was hunting and having a good time and on a cold winter day, it was the best excuse I had for spending time outdoors.

Hunters will never see a buck tasting the air if they don't hunt.

Millions of deer hunters are found across this great nation, and we all seem to have different philosophies on hunting. We seldom agree on wildly varying topics.

Some hunters refuse to hunt various wind directions. Anything from the east is bad. For years, October featured south and southwest winds and then west and northwest, and by December we were hunting northwest, north and northeasterly winds.

My philosophy is that a deer hunter won't get much hunting in if they sit out every day with a bad wind. I hunt but switch from an open tree stand to an elevated and enclosed coop on such days. A few stands are set up primarily for an east wind, and they are in demand when the wind goes sour.

The best hunting option is to hunt as often as possible.

Many are the deer hunters who believe they should only hunt during the dark of the moon. Others only hunt the week before the full moon, and others never hunt during a full moon.

There are those who believe in hunting around the Harvest Moon, the Hunters Moon, the Rutting Moon, and some who will only hunt just before the second full moon after the autumnal equinox. The nice thing about living in a free society is each of us can indulge ourselves in such personal pleasures.

I personally don't care which day of the week it may be, which way the wind blows, what the moon phase happens to be, or anything else. I find it difficult to kill deer while sitting in the house rather than being out hunting.

There are others who place great emphasis on hunting the rut. Little do they know that the 10 days before the full rut begins, deer go through the chasing stage or the pre-rut. It is a wonderful time to be hunting, regardless of the moon phase or wind direction.

Many feel the rut begins Oct. 20-25, and that is the beginning of the chasing stage, and it will last for about 10 days before the full rut begins. It's possible to find many people who would disagree on when the rut actually begins.

The peak of the rut in my hunting area will occur on or about Nov. 3-4, and it is winding down before the Nov. 15 firearm season kicks off.

Weather patterns have a major influence on deer travel.

There are variations, depending on where you hunt. Weather conditions and people pressure can alter these dates a bit.

Some hunters are addicted to the Solunar Tables. These tables, first invented by John Alden Knight many years ago, are based on the sun and moon and their effect on tides and the earth. They contend there are normally two minor and two major periods each day when fish bite, and when wild game move about.

Some sportsmen hunt according to the Solunar Tables and kill deer, and I know other folks who hunt whenever they can, and they also have good hunting success while hunting outside of these major and minor periods.

Forget most of this and just go hunting and watch the wind.

I've hunted many years with great success. Good hunting habits bring wonderful hunting success, and simply being afield whenever possible is a good reason for being more successful.

I forget about all this other business, and go on doing what works best for me. That means that I hunt whenever possible, and try to hunt every day of the season.

Take the normal precautions with the wind, stay downwind of the deer, and it becomes fairly easy to build a reputation of being a successful deer hunter.

Gobblers often head for bird feeders following a spring snowstorm.

I knew last night that my chances of seeing any turkeys to photograph today would probably be a gigantic waste of time. The forecast called for heavy snow, and at midnight last evening it was a near-blizzard.

The idea of going out today in the heavy wind, and sitting in eight inches of very wet snow didn’t happen. I got up this morning, shuffled through the snow to pick up my wet newspaper, and kept my head down against the snow that was still falling and wind that was still blowing.

Mind you, I’ve spent lots of days hunting deer in snow and wind, but I’ve never found the turkey hunting or photographing wild turkeys in such weather to be much fun. Often, the day is wasted while waiting for the birds to make their appointed round. Often, they stay roosted longer than normal, fly down late, peck around for a bit, and stay fairly close to their roost trees.

There are exceptions to all rules, but rarely will turkeys move well in heavy snow.

I heard no gobbles or yelps, saw no birds, and never saw a single sign of a turkey-bird, regardless of sex. Periodic snow fell today from leaden skies, and although the temperature warmed a bit, it didn’t melt much snow. Tomorrow doesn’t look like it’s going to offer very good hunting conditions, and this first season really points out the hazard of hunters choosing the first hunting season. All too often, the weather falls apart like it did today.

There was a pretty good lightning storm last night as it snowed, and thunder rolled through the North Country as the front moved through. Flashes of lightning could be seen last evening as the snow piled up on my deck.

So, does that mean hunters should apply for the short second season in Area K or go for the lengthy last season? I usually apply for the second season because I usually draw a tag. The third season can provide some of the most suitable turkey hunting conditions of all, but there are some problems with this late hunt.

Hunters have most of May to hunt, but that means mosquitoes as the weather warms. It also means morel mushroom hunters to share the turkey season with, which can lead to some unusual encounters with people who have no clue that turkey hunting season is open.

All they know is somebody in camo clothing is roaming the woods wearing a face mask and carrying a shotgun. Some people seem distressed by such a sight. However, for those who are willing to share the woods with people looking for morel mushrooms, it can provide some very good turkey hunting.

For me, I’m not sure how my second season will pan out but I’m hoping that we are far enough along in our spring weather that we won’t be fighting heavy snow storms. But then again, who can be sure with the crazy weather we’ve had so far this spring.

If nothing else about turkey hunting holds true, there is one thing that does: wild turkeys are hard to hunt on windy days like the past two. My hunt doesn't begin for a week, but lots of first-season hunters hope tomorrow morning's wind is not gusty and strong.

There are days when it doesn't pay to dress in turkey hunting togs. Once, a few years ago, was a day when a guy really didn't want to spend all day hunting gobblers.

In fact, most people didn't want to spend one hour sitting outside in hopes a longbeard would come calling. The weather was just too cold and nasty.

I'm living proof that it's impossible to shoot gobblers from bed.

I got up in the dark, leaving a warm and comfortable bed, and could hear the wind whistling outside. My eyes were wide open, my ears cocked toward the bedroom window which I reached up and opened, and I began a private fight with myself.

One part was clamoring: "You fool, it's impossible to shoot a gobbler while laying in bed. Get up, and get out there into the woods. Your last days of the spring turkey hunting will soon end. Forget the weather and get with it."

The other part, the more logical side of my brain, argued the other side of this problem. "That may well be true, but tell me when have you had a good turkey hunting day in really windy weather? Huh?"

It seemed a standoff. Both sides of the problem made some valid points, and both sides had a strike or two against them. Both made sense, in a rather twisted kind of way, and the final decision had to be made by the guy laying in a warm and comfy bed.

Deal with the weather, get out in it and hunt up a gobbler.

Recognizing the problem, I made my decision. I rolled over, closed my eyes, dozed and dreamed of a fanned-tail gobbler marching to the call like a good little soldier. He came, head-up, wary and looking around, and I woke up again just as the Day-Glow bead was settling on his noggin.

It was still dark, but graying up toward dawn. My watch said 5:45 a.m., and I decided to let my ears do some work for a change. If I heard a bird gobble, I'll hit the floor moving, climb into my camo, grab the cased shotgun and my hunting vest, and head out.

I laid there for almost an hour, and heard some robins and other song birds outside, but not one gobble was heard. Up I come, jumped rather slowly into my pants and shirt, and went out for the morning paper. I'm listening with both ears cocked, hopefully in two different directions,  desparate to hear a gobbler beller from yonder woods.

No such luck today. The paper was eased out of the tube, and I stood there for 20 minutes in 40-degree windy weather and listened. I can hear a gobbler a mile away, and so I'm covering nearly four square miles with my ears.

There was nothing but the sound of wind whistling through the trees. I spotted a doe, her belly heavy with fawns, cross the road a quarter-mile upwind of me as I stood motionless and silent. The old girl moved rather sluggishly, and it was apparent this year's litter of fawns would be born very soon.

Michigan's weather often changes. Hunt and hope for the best.

In the house I go, my mind now on the next Detroit Red Wings play-off game. That line of thinking made me happy, and I began having turkey hunting thoughts again.

My mind conjured up many past turkey hunts, in my younger days when time was limited and I hunted regardless of the weather. Thinking back, I've shot a couple of gobblers in a heavy rain when they looked like giant two-legged, water-logged rats coming to the call.

There were days when the Toms roared, and days when they snuck in as silent as drifting fog. Some of those days I shot a gobbler, other times my wife did, and on many occasions, whoever was hunting with me popped a cap and took a grand longbeard as he raised his head to look things over.

I've also hunted enough to know that some of this turkey hunting business, and the weather conditions we encounter during the season, are rather meaningless. For every rule, there seems to be an exception.

The rule holds true with many things. Normally, I would have been out there looking for gobblers that don't gobble. It's mighty difficult to really get cranked up, but I donned my clothing, grabbed my venerable Model 870 Remington, stuffed three magnum loads of No. 5 copper-plated shot into the old cornshucker, and headed out into the cold morning air.

I moved often, called sparingly, covered a mile of terrain, and never saw or heard a gobbler or hen. Once, I thought I heard a hen mouthing off at my calls, and moved in that direction.

I gave it a few minutes of rest, and tried again, now about 200 yards closer to where I thought I heard the hen. I tried calling again, hoping for some word from a tired old gobbler who still had enough in him to want to breed one more young hen.

No such luck. It may have been the wind or just wishful thinking, but nothing came to the call in that morning's wind. However, there is always tomorrow and with luck the wind will die and the gobblers will gobbble like we expect them to.

Based on tonight's weather of cold temperatures, rain and snow, the prospect for tomorrow's hunt may not be everything we hope for. But, one can always hope. Right?

Winter weather means bow hunters must be prepare for cold, wet weather.

Some years ago I hunted with an old friend, and he rattled on and on about the benefits of bow hunter being properly dress for the cold December bow season.

His basic philosophy was that "only stupid people who don't dress properly get too cold to hunt." I've seen the guy out on days when only he and I would hunt because we knew how to stay warm.

A December hunt last year was a bitter cold evening, and I was able to take it in stride because many years ago I learned how to dress for cold, nasty weather. Before we left to hunt, I checked out the old gent, and we were dressed almost alike. The only difference was he had a wool scarf. Mine had been forgotten and left home.

I would have traded a couple of arrows for my wool scarf that night.

It was damp that night with a temperature in the low teens with a strong northwest wind that seemed to bite through clothing and chill a person to the bone. I used to suffer with cold feet, clothing that let cold winds blow over my back and chest, but with age comes some common sense. Hunting every night means being able to handle whatever nature dishes out, and that means dressing properly for the existing conditions.

I started with long underwear, light wool and heavy wool socks, and a heavy wool shirt and my jeans. Many hunters like bib overalls, and they work fine for many hunters but I prefer a heavy, soft and quiet suit of wool or some of that new insulation that doesn't make noise.

It is similar to a snowmobile suit in some respects but it is very quiet where snowmobile suits crinkle and make noise. The hard shell finish on most snowmobile suits make them impossibly noisy for bow hunting. My suit is just getting broken in after many years of continuous use.

Heat loss occurs through your head, and I wear an old-fashioned insulated hat with fuzzy ear flappers that tie under my chin. Insulated boots keep my feet warm, and it doesn't bother me to put hand-warners in each pocket, toe warmers in my boots, and I'm about ready to hunt.

This bow hunter heads for a ground blind. He's dressed for cold weather.

On this evening I didn't have a scarf but my buddy did. A heavy wool scarf is wrapped once or twice around the neck to keep those chilly drafts from blowing on a warm neck or down the back. Pull your hat brim down low, and you don't need a mask if you can sit still. That wool scarf is one of the handiest items of clothing a hunter can wear when cold December winds blow. I've found that when the winter chill factor is reaching for zero, I can wrap my nose and face in one layer of my scarf, and it stays warm too. A warm head, hands and feet make it possible for a hunter to keep warm lonh enough to shoot a buck.

Warm gloves are a necessity. If they get cold, you're all done.

A good pair of wool gloves help keep my hands warm, and a pair of insulated or leather mittens top everything off. This outfit works well for me although some hunters like the wicking qualities of polypropylene underwear. I own two pair of o-l-d wood choppers mittens.

I seldom carry a little tiny heater but my buddy does. It runs off a small canister of bottled gas, and that heater can be a lifesaver. He uses it to warm his fingers before taking a shot, and if hunting from an elevated coop, it can take the chill off a cold and drafty wood shooting box.

This heater is small, compact and efficient. It doesn't bring the air temperature up very much, but it takes some of the winter bite out of an icy wind in his hunting coop.

"The deer can't hear if, apparently can't smell it although I am downwind of the deer," he said, "and it doesn't cast a bright red glow inside the coop that could attract the attention of an approaching buck."

I can certainly remember the many evenings spent in an open tree stand, waiting for a good buck to walk closer. It's easy to recall the numbed fingers and toes, and my questioning my personal sanity for being out on such nights.

Dressing warmly, using a small heater, and knowing how to stay warm is one of the luxuries of attaining a bit of age. We learn from our earlier mistakes, realize we no longer have to prove how tough we are, and we can relax and be comfortable.

I'm not saying I never get cold, but the number of bitter cold days I experience now are few and far between. Hunting is supposed to be fun, and hunters who make themselves sick because they are poorly dressed, have no one to blame but themselves.

My buddy, more curmudgeonly than me, quickly dismisses people who get cold.

My buddfriend, several years older than my 71 years, told me that "only ignorant people get cold during a winter hunt. If they learned how to dress, they might be a close match for me and you."

Dressing warmly is within the budget of anyone who can afford to be a bow hunter. Me, I prefer being cozy warm. My days of freezing ended many years ago, and I still wonder why I put up with icy fingers and toes for so long.

If I can change, so can you. Warm bow hunters are more efficient bow hunters, especially in the December bow season. Ma Richey didn't raise no dumb kids, but I paid my dues in the past and now I can set out in the coldest weather for two hours to hunt winter whittetails.

That's plenty enough time to shoot a nice buck.

The author found two shed antlers the other day. It’s a fun winter thing to do.

We've been picking up shed antlers lately, and most of them are being found near food sites. We've found shed antlers up until this past heavy snowfall. but as the snow starts to settle more with slightly warming temperatures, we’ll be going again soon.

Areas where tree limbs fall along the edge of our food plots are good places to look. Last fall and early winter the bucks would stick their heads in under overhanging branches or under limbs laying on the ground to get at the forage. Depending on how advanced the stage is of antler separation from the skull, any quick move or a brushing of a loose antler against a branch can knock it off.

Antlers often fall off, but it's somewhat like a kid with a loose baby tooth, the buck can tell how loose it is. Often they will intentionally hook a branch or hit it against a tree trunk, and off it comes.

Shed hunting is a fun way to spend a late-winter weekend.

It doesn't always happen but seldom will both antlers be found near each other. Often they are some distance apart, and in some cases, the two antlers may be a quarter- or half-mile from each other. It makes it difficult to tell if the two sheds came from the same animal unless you have some great trail camera photos.

Hunting sheds is great fun but if the weather is moderate like it was a week ago, and most of the snow is gone, wandering porcupines are quick to find antlers and begin gnawing on them for the calcium and other trace minerals they contain. Mice also nibble on antlers, and it's one reason why many hunters start looking for sheds during the so-called January thaw. In this case, a February or early March thaw with little snow is an excellent time to look.

The two hotspots to check are bedding areas and feeding areas. Some sheds can and will be found along trails that connect the two sites, but we find many sheds in those two primary locations. Field edges are another good bet as well as thick cedar swamps.

The trick is to walk slowly through these areas, and look for a light-colored object that looks out of place. Shed hunters very seldom will see the entire antler: often just one tine or even the base will be found sticking up out of the forest or grassy duff.

It if is light-colored, check it out. It may be a tiny patch of lingering snow or it could be a large antler shed. I've found many in the spring, but these midwinter thaws allow hunters to spot antlers much easier.

I've found a few sheds near old rubs on a tree, but not very often. Look  in heavy cover, look near old food plots, check out areas near the tops of cut or fallen trees, bedding areas and along heavily traveled trails. Don't rush the process, but take your time looking.

Shed hunting is somewhat similar to hunting morel mushrooms. Travel and look in just one direction, and you'll miss many sheds.

Don’t look for a whole antler. Instead, look for a piece sticking up out of the snow.

Instead, walk 20 feet, stop, look around, and then do a 180-degree turn, and look back and to both sides. Often a shed antler that cannot be seen from one direction, can be spotted when viewed from a different direction.

Shed antlers are indicative of the quality of animals found in your area. Often, the small sheds are quite easily found if your area produces predominantly small bucks. However, if an occasional big buck is seen frequenting croplands or woodland bait sites, that deer may live in the nearby area and may drop his antlers where they can be found.

Most bucks have shed their antlers already although there always are a few bucks around the state still wearing their headgear now. Shed hunting is fun, and if a hunter does it at the right time and in the right place, they may find a buck's antlers of an animal they didn't know existed.

Give it a try. It's much more fun that cleaning the basement or garage on weekends.

A nice long-bearded gobbler moves easily over deep winter snow.

I spent some time outdoors today, as I do most days when or after it snows, and found myself wondering what to do. The weather was the pits, sharp northwest wind, and bone-chilling cold. The good news was it wasn't snowing at the time.

One of the best things to come from this spate of nasty,  anowy weather that has bombarded us for the past week was there weren't any  drifts in the driveway.  However, walking around outside means fighting through deep snow in a vain search for deer that are looking for something to eat. Most of the animals are holed up where enough thermal cover exists so they won't freeze to death.

The snow everywhere in my neighborhood is almost hip-deep with a thin crusts below the snow, and although deer seldom stray too far from thick cover, there is little food available to them. Most of the deer movement comes after dark but a few grouse are feeding on catkins.

Deep snow everywhere in the northern counties.

This weather isn't a blessing for deer although turkeys can easily walk on top without breaking through. Small deer often starve to death during the winter because they are too small to move through deep snow. They become easy pickings for coyotes.

With the weather in the low-20s during the day, the weather and lack of nutritious food doesn't offer bucks a chance to regain lost weight and stamina. Pregnant does are hoping to find food to build up their fat reserves if the winter continues to be ugly, and fawns born last spring will soon be starving to death if the weather doesn't improve.

There are very few standing corn fields this year. The fall weather allowed farmers to complete their harvest, and most of the grain left behind is gone.

Hunting pressure, for the most part, was minimal or nonexistent  through December. Some bow hunters like me hunted the last couple of days of the season, but we were treated to an almost daily diet of heavy snow for 10 days. Most deer didn't move until long after dark.

There doesn't seem to be many turkeys around, and they are widely scattered with the deep winter snow. I've seen a few in recent days, and they always seem to be on the move. Gobblers, hens and poults are trying to feed as they travel in an endless pattern trying to find food, and watching them cross a field is a lesson in watching heads bob up and down. There is a lot of pecking but little food to eat.

Song birds are coming to the feeders at the house, and there is a constant parade of various birds. What I'm not seeing this winter, which is fine by me, are the large groups of mourning doves that waste more bird seed than they eat.

Turkeys moving easily on top of the deep snow.

These birds often use the back part of my deck as a place to roost for the night, and they poop constantly. Cleaning the deck is difficult during most winters, and this year, they aren't here. Perhaps they only roost on my deck when the weather turns nice.

Fishing pressure on area rivers has about dried up, and although there still are some steelhead in some of the rivers, there doesn't seem to be much interest. Everyone is ice fishing, but catches seem to be down on many lakes.

Lakes like Big Glen, Crystal, Higgins, Houghton and others are slow to freeze. Deep snow still covers many lakes, and it acts like an insulating blanket.

ice fishing has been spotty with frequent storms.

Live bait dealers are hurting a bit because ofinconsistent conditions, but the skiing and snowmobiling industries are happy with the snow conditions. The high price of gasoline does seem to be having an impact on snowmobilers.

One thing about it, I've been riding my snowblower too much so far this winter. I'm not sure this kind of weather really appeals to me.

It makes for a long winter once the snow gets too deep for predator and rabbit hunting. But one thing always holds true with Michigan weather: if you don't like it, wait until tomorrow, it will probably change.

One hopes this and other gobblers make it through the winter.

A few days ago it was 40 degrees. The storm we are now experiencing began last night with strong winds and snow amounts up to 12 inches.

Earlier today the strong wind started filling up with even more snow, and the westerly blow is a tough wind in our neighborhood. It whips across open fields, and buries our driveway.

One look at it at breakfast made me realize that tomorrow morning means another two hours or more on the snow-blower. Lots of time. Lots of snow. Cold temperatures.

It’s part of living up north where lake-effect snow is measured by the feet.

Do I dislike it? No, as a matter of fact, I enjoy snow-blowing. However, the Weather Channel says there is more snow and wind snaking through Minnesota and Wisconsin and down from Canada, and the storm is supposed to continue through tomorrow.

What I dislike most is having to snow-blow during a storm. However, if I don't do it in the morning, and wait as more drifting snow blows through the Traverse City region, the drifted snow will turn into something as hard as concrete.

The other problem also means sticking the nose of the snow-blower out into the road where someone with a car or truck or speeding snowmobile could run into me. I wear some blaze orange clothing, but if the wind continues to blow hard, the visibility may make seeing anything very difficult or impossible.

It is storms like this that can wreak havoc on deer and turkey numbers.

A big, fat, apparently pregnant fox squirrel came to visit the bird feeder today. Squirrel season is still open, and I could have easily shot the bushytail, but that would be like shooting ducks on the water. I let her feed, which may be a mistake when she comes visiting next summer with her brood in tow, and I may then be sorry. However, I figured she had enough problems to cope with being out and on the prowl for food in this kind of weather. Why add to her problems?

My neighbor called and asked me to guess what he was looking  behind his house.

"Turkeys," I said.

"Nope," he said, "ducks. What are they doing in what's left of my cornfield on a day like today? Shouldn't they be somewhere near water?"

I suggested that very little open water is available now except in certain streams. And, I offered, the birds probably were out looking for food, spotted his cornfield and dropped in to see if there were any corn kernels left.

"Six ducks," he muttered, "six mallards. I can't hardly believe it."

I told him about the she-squirrel grubbing for something to eat under my bird feeder, and he agreed that the storm must be making all kinds of critters a little goofy.

The squirrel surely came from my woods or the woods across the street. The ducks probably have some little pocket of open water somewhere on Grand Traverse Bay or on one of the nearby lakes or streams.

The turkeys seem to be conspicuous by their absence this winter. I've seen just one small flock of birds, and that was several days ago but thei seen to have disappeared. They are probably keeping their heads down until the storm blows through. A few deer are moving through the snow but they aren't traveling very far.

If the storm continues tonight, stay off the roads and stay safe.

Tomorrow is another day, and with any kind of luck, we won't get buried in snow overnight. Blowing snow isn't too bad with a foot of the white stuff, but if it gets any deeper than that, even my tractor and snow-blower has to work too hard. Heavy, compacted snow is hard on a blower.

And that goes for the guy driving the thing. Stay warm and dry tomorrow, and ride out the storm. Stay home, and off the roads, and remain safe while saving gasoline.

Hopefully, if the storm continues, snowmobilers will stay off the roads and trails. It's during these near white-out conditions that snowmobile accidents can happen.

Cars, trees and parked vehicles often seem to jump out in front of a snowmobiler during a bad storm, and survival in such cases is questionable at any kind of speed. And if you must travel through the storm, carry heavy clothing, snowshoes, shovel, boots, a strong flashlight plus food and water. Two or three blankets or sleeping bags can keep you toasty warm. Get some blaze orange surveyer's tape, and tie it to your car in hopes of it being seen before it run over by one of the over-zealous County road plows that travel nonstop at 60 miles per hour. I don't how they can see anything at the speeds they drive when plowing.

Fighting a nasty winter storm with high winds is never a good idea. If you go into a ditch, stay with the vehicle. Don't be a hero and try to walk out for help. That is how people die in severe winter storms.