I need to warm up by the campfire

[Lefty]

Such a beautiful day.
With a heavy dusting of snow, bright sunshine,no wind, I expected elk to really pop.
I did see 7 different moose, a record for the past 5 years .


Never saw an elk or deer today

[Swede]

I have hunted elk when the temperatures dipped below 0 F. It was no fun and walking around in hip deep snow was nothing to enjoy even for a young man in his twenties. Come home and join us here in the warmth of your house.

[saddlesore]

Toasty 10 degrees here this AM with it snowing sideways.I gave up that fun stuff while hunting elk about ten years ago. Fourth rifle seasons for elk is going on right now here in Colorado.Hunters are posting photos of their success .The all have that force smile on their faces.

[7mmfan]

I don't know that I've ever actually hunted in sub zero conditions. One time I stepped out of the truck at first light and the temp read 0. A few single digit days. Just doesn't get that cold here in WA most of the time and we don't have many late seasons like you do back there.

[Swede]

7MM if you don't think it gets cold in Washington, you should go up to Winthrop sometime when it's a little nippy around your house. It goes -30 F most winters and sometimes -40 F. You keep your vehicles plugged in all night and you can feel the cold coming indoors when you are within two feet of an exterior wall. The wood stove is going full out 24/7 with very dry wood. When the temps come back to 0*F it feels balmy outdoors and you can relax a little. I don't like -30F or lower. It seems dangerous. We had house fires far too frequently. The battery on the car had very little energy, so I would thank the Lord every time it would start.

[7mmfan]

7MM if you don't think it gets cold in Washington, you should go up to Winthrop sometime when it's a little nippy around your house. It goes -30 F most winters and sometimes -40 F. You keep your vehicles plugged in all night and you can feel the cold coming indoors when you are within two feet of an exterior wall. The wood stove is going full out 24/7 with very dry wood. When the temps come back to 0*F it feels balmy outdoors and you can relax a little. I don't like -30F or lower. It seems dangerous. We had house fires far too frequently. The battery on the car had very little energy, so I would thank the Lord every time it would start.

Oh I know it gets cold over there. Holds the record for lowest temperature in WA at -48. it was -1 this morning there. That is where I was hunting in November 2014 when it was 0. Like I said though, during hunting seasons, especially the ones we have in WA now, it's rare to find ourselves in the field during those kinds of weather events.

Oddly enough on that trip when it was so cold, we had no snow or wind, it was just bitter cold. It was actually very comfortable to hunt in. When my partner killed his buck, and we were dragging it back to the truck we were both getting hot and shedding layers, hypothesizing what the temperature must be. We decided it must be in the mid 20's by that point. We got the truck, loaded the buck up and started it up. Temperature read 11 degrees. My best friend's first deer, I was lucky enough to be standing right behind him when he shot it.

[Swede]

Beautiful Buck. I used to get a few of them in my yard in the winter. I lived close by the Twin Lakes Road. The record cold came the winter of 68-69. Where was tht global warming when it was needed? I was not there but lived in western Oregon at the time. We had sub-zero temps, but nothing close to what Winthrop experienced.

[Lefty]

It was colder this morning, -9. On an elk hunt 25 years ago the week of Thanksgiving I woke up in my tent when it was -18 less than 30 miles as the raven flies. I've easily done a couple dozen sub-zero nights in a tent , in the cap of a pickup or a bare pickup box

I hit the rack at 9;20, I think I was asleep before 9:21
Early this morning I heard the heat in the camper shut off. I had already tossed one quilt off of me.At about 6:00 AM the dog made a move for the down sleeping bag. So I figured the one propane tank was empty.
6:20: , the inside of the camper is 38 degrees. Time to get up

I dressed in my warmest clothes, The pickup groaned a little when it started. I drank my morning Rockstar, waiting for a little more light. I noticed in three days only one other vehicle had been up the county road.
I glassed all my favorite places and some others. The elk just isn't there. Evidently, we had strong winds and snow at home and my wife was worried after I sent a picture of my stuck truck 16 miles to the nearest house.
So I cut our Christmas tree and packed up camp. Noon temp -8.

Detouring looking for geese, I thought I saw snow geese( rare around here) ,,,