Delaware hunters usually prefer the crisp, cold air of fall and winter over the heat and humidity of spring and summer, but many of us are ready to close the door on this frigid winter and step into a bit of warmth and sunshine. Brutally low temperatures, extreme winds, and poorly forecast snow and ice storms kept many late-season hunters and trappers indoors, so we’ve been seeking cabin fever remedies for the last month and a half.
Even as I write this column – in early March, no less – reminders of this winter’s forceful grip are steadily pelting my windows and methodically encasing the outdoor world in ice. Several of my hunting friends and I traditionally take advantage of Delaware’s late-running rabbit, crow, and snow goose hunting seasons, but it’s difficult to enjoy prolonged time outdoors when actual temperatures are in the teens or single digits and wind chills are below zero.
Not one to back away from a challenge, however, three friends, my dog, and I fought cabin fever by participating in a stocked pheasant hunt at Meadowview Preserve on the coldest day of the winter thus far. Since the morning temperature was around 2 degrees, we pushed our start time back to noon when the temperature was a balmy 14 (although there were 20+-mile-per-hour winds). We battled the weather by dressing appropriately and staying in constant motion, but the effects of the cold and wind were blatantly obvious when we tried moving our frozen mouths to formulate words. (Since I filmed the hunt, it was fun trying to decipher the seemingly drunken conversations.)
While I was bold enough to defy Jack Frost during the scheduled pheasant hunt (probably because fees were involved), I opted to stay indoors more than usual in February. If this week’s weather is any indication of things to come, I may be indoors more than usual in March, as well. To combat the cabin fever caused by my unwillingness to deal with numb fingers and toes, I created a list of outdoors-related tasks that I can work on instead of sitting around watching fishing shows that make me long for warmer weather even more.
Many hunters are like-minded, so I’m willing to share my list with hopes of helping them cure their fevers.
- Clean shotguns and muzzleloaders. Forget basic wipedowns. I mean really clean them. Take everything apart, soak the parts, clean the gunk, and replace parts, if necessary.
- Clean out my hunting closet. I believe the most important part of this task involves washing some of my hunting clothes that smell like everything from deer scents to fried onions (yes, we cooked venison cheesesteaks in a goose blind one day). I will also focus on folding, storing, and finally getting rid of clothes I haven’t warn in 15 years.
- Clean, treat and polish my upland boots. It’s not a good idea to apply smelly treatments and polishes to deer-hunting boots, but it’s good to brush dirt off of upland hunting boots and, if they’re leather, to treat them with waterproofing paste and/or shoe polish.
- Reconfigure my bow and arrows. I’ve been putting this task off since my trip to South Africa in 2009, but I need to utilize the services of an archery technician to check the strings and cables on my compound bow, replace the sights, and possibly adjust the draw weight to accommodate new arrow and broadhead weights. At the same time, I’ll order new arrows and broadheads. (Doing these things now gives me ample time to practice before the start of the 2015-2016 archery season in September.)
- Download, process and post hunting videos. I have hunting videos on my GoPro camera and mobile phone, so it’s time to transfer the videos to my computer, edit the videos, and post them to www.HuntingTheFirstState.com.