Winter Bow Deer Season Underway

So, let it snow!

A week into the winter bow season, and in comes the Polar Vortex with the added promise of snow in the forecast. At this writing (Friday), the white stuff has yet to be seen but the temps are definitely heading downward. By Tuesday it’s expected to be in low teens at night with daytime highs in the twenties. This can make for a tough sit in a tree. A ground blind is a better bet when it comes to staying comfortable and alert, especially if there is a portable heater involved.

Snow cover certainly ups the odds, as deer are more easily seen, giving one a heads-up that they are passing or coming into a baited area within range. Most importantly, it makes following the blood trail exponentially easier. No snow is definitely a tougher go, but such as it is during the month-long season that, past winters as a barometer, can swing from penguin to bluebird, and back again.

Plus, with whitetail numbers dramatically pruned from the myriad earlier seasons, chances are you won’t be seeing as many as during the autumn into December period.  Another thing: the quarry is on extra high alert as per being pursued since October (September in select Deer management zones), their heads seemingly on a swivel. Oh, and heads: bucks generally start shedding their antlers in January, so a rack one day and be a one-sided the next and then a baldy the next. (We observed a one-antlered fork during a day-after-New Year afternoon hike along the Poppy Allen Trail in Bass River State Forest. Chances are when this is read he’ll be clean topside.) Conversely, We’ve seen bucks sporting full racks in late February, so go figure.

The winter bow season offers an opportunity to put a tag on some venison during the naked cleanliness of the coldest season. It’s a challenge for sure: last winter bow season the statewide harvest tally was 3042 compared to 10,513 fall bow and another 8,980 permit bow. An additional upside from this corner are that there are far less hunters, especially on public lands.

The statewide season runs through January 31. However, the season extends through February 15 in DMZs 7-15, 17, 36, 41, 49-51. There is no winter bow season in DMZs 45 and 46.

Harvest figures vary and can be found on page 34 in the NJ Hunting & Trapping Digest.