The great song, “Snowbound” by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils is the perfect anthem for this crazy winter.
It starts out, “Everything’s freezin’ up fast. Everyone’s lookin’ for wood. Some folks say it won’t last. Some folks say it’s for good.”
One only has to gasp at their home heating bill, or fret over a rapidly shrinking supply of firewood, to gauge how harsh this winter has been.
Here’s another eye-opener courtesy of Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area.
The park’s eagle-watch cruises on Beaver Lake have been wildly popular this winter, but half the cruises in December and January were canceled because of the weather, said Mark Clippinger, superintendent.
Of the 15 cruises scheduled in December, only five set sail. Thirteen trips were planned in January and only six went out. Wind and slick roads were the culprits.
Eagle-watching trips are scheduled through February aboard the park’s 20-passenger pontoon boat.
Hopefully we’ll see milder weather, but February so far has roared in like a Tasmanian devil.
The big snow on Sunday was easier to take than a weekday storm since most of us didn’t have to drive in it. Sheets of falling flakes made for a nice morning stroll. Along the way, I ran into a neighbor out for his snowy walk. We both enjoy archery deer hunting.
“Wouldn’t it be great to be in the woods right now?” he said through the flakes.
My neighbor’s remark was all it took to stoke my bowhunting fever. An hour later, I was enjoying the wintry view from a tree stand.
Bowhunters can’t go after deer during February in every state. Arkansas’s archery deer season is one of the longest in the nation, running from Oct. 1 to Feb. 28.
Deep as the snow was, it was easier to walk than drive to my stand in a fallow field where I have permission to hunt. There was one set of tire tracks in the snow along the rural road. Halfway to the field, the tracks disappeared and I trekked through untouched snow.
I didn’t see one deer track when I crossed the field, but the snow was coming down heavy. Any tracks wouldn’t be visible for long. I climbed the ladder to the stand’s platform, fastened my safety harness and settled in for the hunt.
The woods were gorgeous, covered in powdery snow about 6 inches deep. I took photo after photo of the wintry world around my tree stand.
Not one picture has a deer in it, but that’s fine. I’ve seen my share of white-tails from this perch.
Like people, wildlife evidently hunkers down when it’s snowing. The deer weren’t stirring. The only sounds were snowflakes pelting the cedar boughs around my stand. A pileated woodpecker knockknocked its beak against a hollow tree trunk. You wonder how a woodpecker can bang it’s silly head time after time against a hard tree, sort of like one of those days at the office. The snow kept coming.
Only a few bowhunters are still at it this late in the season. Most have had their fill or are ready for fishing. The number of deer killed in February is minimal, so the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission keeps the season open as a hunting opportunity for those who’d like to take part.
One joy of a snowy bowhunt is how good a fire feels when you get home. I’d enjoyed 90 blissful minutes of tree stand meditation thanks to our state’s long bow season. I was ready for that fire.
Plus there was some kind of football game coming on TV soon. Congratulations Seahawks.
FLIP PUTTHOFF IS OUTDOORS EDITOR FOR NWA MEDIA.
FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER, @ NWAFLIP.
Outdoor, Pages 6 on 02/06/2014