HOW TO HUNT DEER IN A SNOWSTORM
Hunt the Grocery Rush
 Editor’s Note: If you live in a large metropolitan area, you know as soon as word gets out about a major snowstorm approaching, people flock to the grocery stores. Even when the snow begins falling, many late shoppers will try to stock up before the snow blast hits their hometowns. Mark Drury, the creator of M.A.D. Calls, who lives in Columbia, Missouri, finds his chances for bagging a buck with a bow best on the leading edge of a snowstorm. Today I’ll share all the secrets Mark taught me about hunting the grocery rush.
 “One year when I heard of a major snowstorm coming from the North, I packed my bow and arrows and headed for the woods," Drury said. "I knew of a thick-cover area where the deer bedded-down and the funnel they traveled through to get to a feeding area. Although I believe most deer feed heavily ahead of a front, I've also learned that some deer, just like humans, always will wait until the last minute to stock up on supplies. As the snow began to fall, I got into my stand and hoped I would find a buck in that last-minute rush to the feeding region."
 Drury had sat in his stand for 10 minutes when he saw a doe coming down the trail and thought, "There's one of those last-minute shoppers. Maybe more will come." The snow intensified as Drury let the doe pass. He also noticed as she came by his stand that she grunted heavily. "I believe deer vocalize more at the beginning of a snow front than at other times," Drury emphasized. "Vocalization allows them to stay in contact with one another as they move through the snow."
 After the doe passed, Drury took out his grunt call and grunted on the call much like the doe had that he'd just heard. Two more does moved down the path in front of Drury's stand. Off in the distance, he could see more deer coming. "Apparently, some deer had to rush around at the last minute to feed up before the heaviest part of the storm hit," Drury observed. Just before dark, Drury spotted a nice 130-class B & C buck moving along the same trail the does had used to come in front of his stand. When the deer stood at 30 yards and looked away, Drury drew and took the shot with his bow. "I've never seen as many deer move in the woods as I did that day on the leading edge of a snowstorm," Drury advised. "I believe if you can get into the woods just as a snow front moves in, you'll have a good chance of taking a nice buck before the most severe part of the storm hits."
TOMORROW: CIRCLE THE THICKETS
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