Cold opener

[Gas Man]

Can anyone remember what year in the last decade it was so blasted cold for opening weekend up near International Falls? I saw something that was put out by the U of M with opening weekend temps back to 2002. The lowest showed 12. I remember one of those weekends being in the -20 range. Anyone remember what year that was?

[Spearing Machine]

I remember the year I shot my first deer in 2003 down in central Minnesota we had a couple inches of snow on the ground and it was pretty bitter cold. I was sitting in an aspen stand and with the little wind there was it the swaying trees sounded like someone cracking there knuckles. If it wasn't zero it was close but I think it was below 0.

[JBar]

I was just thinking about that opener today I also can not recall the year but man it was cold but 03 does sound about right, I hunt up north mizpah about an hour south of I'Falls at my grandfathers and it was -15 the opening morining hard to sit for the big one in that kind of weather!

[Slickwillie]

03 sounds right. I hunt in the falls and remember that weekend very well it was frickin cold. I had -24 on my truck that morning.

[Bear55]

yep I think 2003 was in the -15 to -20 range. I normally sit all day but had to move around a little that day.

[brassman]

2003 I shot a doe around 9-9:30 opening morning, never happier to gut a deer! Like Spearing Machine said, the aspen were popping and crackling, neat experience.

[bogwalker]

I remember an opener at Little Fork that was 50 below without windchill. That was about '67. We slept in our car.

[mabr]

Glad you brought this up. Ive tried remembering as well. Was a real good hunt i know that. Killed a Nice 9 pointer that weighted well over 200. At 10:30 am after passing on 2 decent bucks. Biggest buck seen in that area for a long time.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Definitely was 2003. I was living out west that year and missed the MN season.... Needless to say, I wasn't too bummed about that!

[iceman16]

i also shot a 9pointer that day and was very glad to warm my hands up.

iceman

[nonteepical]

i'm having a hard time remembering any cold weather in the past 20 years.

[NaturesRespect]

just when i thaught global warming was real we finally have a cold openner this year! last year was more like september weather thats how hot it was! a few years back was a bit colder and some were normal but i have only been out last year and 2 years from the last season and i remember i think it was 4-5 years ago when i went there was some snow and the creek and small water areas were frozen! maybe i was hunting late 3b idk it was too long ago i was still young like in middle school? elementry?

[Triple_D]

I checked my notes and it was definitely 2003. I carry a mini notebook in my jacket and write down things like weather, who got a deer, what time, etc. It's very useful, for instance I know exactly what to wear weatherwise due to my notes because I jot down what the temp forecast is and if what I'm wearing is too hot, too cold, etc. Fun to look back and see how time flies.

I will never forget that year. My buddy warmed up the truck at 5 and it was -20. We hunt up by Blackduck. It was a half hour drive to our hunting spot through some freezing fog like vapor. It was -10 at when we walked in and ended up being 20 at the end of the day. We got one buck for our party of 6.

[walleyeking19]

That was my first year hunting with a gun. My dad has isicles on his moustache before we got out into the stand. Thank god for those heat pack things or else it would've been a miserable morning.

[Early Riser]

I have kept a journal of every single hunting and fishing excursion (among other things) for going on 30 years now. The latest entry for a deer opener with cold weather was 2003 like others have said. We didn't get the -20 stuff where I hunt, but it was colder than most recent years. Some say cold weather is good for getting the deer moving during the day, although one of my biggest bucks came a few years later on a 50 degree bluebird, windless afternoon. Here are excerpts from my journal entry with a few weather and hunt related tidbits from 2003:

Opening morning was cold and clear (-4f). There was about 1” of new snow. I had a 16" 8 point buck come in at 7:10 AM. I shot him at 20 yards as he was checking one on his scrapes. He ran towards me and crashed right under my tree stand. I had him out of the woods and hanging on the meat pole by 10:30 AM. Steve came up from Winona the evening of 11/08. He shot a bigger racked 8 point (scored 121) in the same area on 11/10. He really had a lot of deer go by that day, in fact he saw 6 other deer before downing his buck on the run with the third shot as he came through right on the tail of doe as she zigzagged through the woods. That same day I was still hunting and missed a chance at a big one that came crashing down hill into a grunt call. He was standing behind some balsams without offering a shot before he bolted straight away from me. We saw another big buck standing right out in a clear cut on the way home from registering the deer in town on the 13th. We saw a lot of deer this year. The weather warmed into the mid 40s by 11/11. Snow on the 12th of 7”. Saw a fisher on one of the gut piles and only one grouse all week.

Recalling these memories makes them seem as fresh as if they just happened yesterday. If anyone has an inkling to keep a journal, I would definately recommend it. The patterns and statistics over the years are really interesting to look back on.

[Tator2k]

We had -7 in Grand Rapids area and I remember freezing as I rode on the tailgate of a pickup into the woods. It felt like we were going 100 mph, because the wind and cold went right through the four or so layers I was wearing. Then I looked and we barely going faster than I could walk.

Wow that year sucked. Later in the morning I tried to light myself on fire with my sunflower heater, so of course after that I just sitting there freezing.

[Sorgy]

I remember it well Driving to Angora from Lake Vermilion it kept getting colder and colder. I believe that it hit -12 before we headed in before sunrise. It definitly dropped a few more degrees after we left the truck.

I rattled and a nice 8 point came in right away but turned and headed across the clear cut I was watching. I shot him at around 150 yards with a 300 Savage 1 in the boiler room and 1 broke his front leg. I was able to mark exactly where he was standing and found very little sign of a hit. I found some very small red specks in the snow and could not tell for sure that it was even blood. I followed his running tracks 60 yards to where he fell.

It was so cold that the blood completly froze in the hide/hair without leaving any trace of a hit- let alone a solid heart lung shot. I like to let my deer sit for a long time and it was 1.5 hours later when I recovered him. He was cool and stiff already.

It is shaping up like a fantastic opener for the Cook area on Saturday.

Good Luck everyone

Steve

[going4it]

Didnt it warm up to like 15 to 20 degrees though by noon? The morning was tough sitting but by the afternoon it wasnt as bad.

[hunter322]

Is it suposed to be a cold opener? What is the weather suposed to be like, anyone know?

[fishermatt]

I remember the '03 opener well. It was -15 where we were hunting, and that year I decided to carry in my super warm boots and hike in wearing plain rubber boots so my feet wouln't sweat like they always do. We had about 6 inches of snow, and my feet were so cold when I got to my stand and put my warm boots on they never did warm up.

[Tator2k]

I remember the '03 opener well. It was -15 where we were hunting, and that year I decided to carry in my super warm boots and hike in wearing plain rubber boots so my feet wouln't sweat like they always do. We had about 6 inches of snow, and my feet were so cold when I got to my stand and put my warm boots on they never did warm up.

Same thing happened to my brother-in-law that day. When we headed in for lunch, we noticed he wasn't in his stand. So when we got to the house he was inside having a sandwich. We asked him why he wasn't in his stand as we chased a couple out towards him. His answer: He wore his light weight boots out to the stand and his feet were sweating, so he didn't try to put his packs on until his feet got cold. Well after only a couple hours he couldn't get them warmed back up and headed in.

[pumper317]

That day i remember getting dropped off by my uncle and got into the stand. He proceeded to his stand, and i heard the 4 wheeler stop. About 40 minutes later in the -14F weather, i heard his 4 wheeler start up again. He went back in, and alomost made it an hour... 20 minutes later, I got a little 8 pointer. Goes to show, patience pays off!

[Deep]

2003 for sure, opening morning 8pt. after noon hunt another 8pt. next day a doe and that after noon a spike that I thought it was a doe. all in all 1 hour and 45 minutes of hunting. The deer were really moving that year. Good luck all.

It was -12 opening morning. My brother inlaw was too frozen to gut out his buck that morning.

[mrklean]

last year the first week of december we were out bow hunting and it was -2 when we stepped in the woods, not opener but man it was cold never hunted in something that cold before

[Harmonica Bear]

03 in Williams it was -20 + easy that morning. Snow on the ground, no wind, and the trees popping like crazy! I rememebr it well, I waited to the last minutes to go out in the stand that morning due to the cold. Shot a 9 point 20 minutes into the season. Couldn't have been happier. Was back at the cabin an hour later and had breakfast made for the gang as they came back in freezing that morning. We continued to have good luck that if I remember right. That was a good day ann from the sounds of things others had good success that day as well. Something to do with the cold I guess...