anybody hunt on skis

[ghost]

I was wondering if anybody has tried hunting on cross country skis.It could be a very good way to cover ground and possibly quieter than walking.If any one has tried this any feed back positive or negative would be great.

[dana]

I have a friend that talks and talks about how good his skis are, and yet he always seems to leave them back at home and post-holes with the rest of us. ;)

[TheDuckinator]

The one thing i could see is it may be a little interesting to shoot a decent sized rifle while on skis... :p

[Gun Dog]

By "cross country" I assume you mean touring or telemark skis. Cross coutnry skis are skinny and meant for groomed cross country trails. Touring skis are wider and meant for deep snow. No I haven't tried it.

[City Slicker]

I really like the idea, I have the elk draw for 7-17 from Jan 15 to Feb 14. I will be getting some for that trip! I also am ordering tracks Camoplast 4s for my Ranger. This should be a winning combination....

[bigwhiteys]

I think snow shoes, and a camo crazy carpet for the downhills would be perfect.

[goatdancer]

In case you've never done it before, bushwacking with XC skis is no picnic. It would be even worse with a pack and rifle.

[ghost]

I did mean touring ski and realise that it would not be good in lots of situations but could be used to acess areas that snow was to deep for quads and jeeps.

[KevinB]

In case you've never done it before, bushwacking with XC skis is no picnic. It would be even worse with a pack and rifle.

X2

I tried it exactly once (on telemark gear) and it took me about 2 minutes to realize that it sucked as a hunting method.

One of those things that sounds great, but isn't.

[Kyle84]

I ski alot more then the average person and never skied with my rifle. Mainly cuz i down hill ski at the many mountains in this province and most do not allow firearms haha. Even in the back country ive never taken a rifle. But it has crossed my mind. There are alot of rabbits / squirrals out there on the snow.

[troutseeker]

Only bunnies. Ski bunnies, that is...

[Kyle84]

:D i hear ya trout. Hahaha trout.
You know the opposite of cougar is trout :p

[Camp Cook]

Years ago I saw an article by Craig Boddington where he was using a short wide back country ski this got me interested in giving it a try so I looked into this for years but could never find the stye of skis/bindings that I wanted.

So I now snowshoe in & snowshoe out if conditions are right you can speed up your decents if you run and make sure you use ski poles when shoeshoeing...

and yes I am still looking for the skis that would work for me but I'm now thinking snowmobile...

:)

[IronNoggin]

When I lived in the Arctic a handful of us trained our dogs to drag us around on touring skis. Called Skijoring. Wasn't too big a leap to then move into hunting with the same method. That was rather effective, especially on later season (finally wised up that is) caribou.

http://www.suemelus.com/page6/files/page6-1012-full.jpg

Word to the wise though: REALLY train your dog well! Nothing quite like a wild ride across the tundra and into the bush at full roar, arms flailing to try and maintain balance while the hounds try to conduct the harvest for you!! :twisted:

Cheers,
Nog

[E.B.]

A mountain bike is a great quiet way to hunt as well

[husky30-06]

I have used my touring skis out hunting late season....... only on the open roads to travel to a particular location then hop onto my snowshoes in the bush.......... I snowshoed last winter to burn off some stress, after about one km....... out of stress and energy :icon_frow. snowshoe through three feet of snow is tough work:???: but i came out feeling better!

[KevinB]

snowshoe through three feet of snow is tough work


They don't call them misery slippers for nothing.:mrgreen:

[ghost]

Iron noggin that looks like a fun dog slide.

[IronNoggin]

IronNoggin that looks like a fun dog slide.

Certainly was ("Borrowed" pix, not mine). Had two Alaskan Huskies that could REALLY perform. They could drag you along at 25 miles an hour all bloody day, and turn on a burst damn near 40 mph for hundreds of yards. It was very interesting and a LOT of FUN! Remind me sometime of just why I posted the cautionary above that I did! LOL! Still sore from that day!! :twisted:

Cheers,
Nog

[Buck]

I believe skijooring is popular for hunting in Norway?They breed a larger form of My dog the Deutsch-Drathhaar for that activity.

[.330 Dakota]

cant im goin tooo fast

[Peter Pepper]

I did once, but i never was able to tackle any deer. They kept running uphill.

[BillyBull]

Tried the ski method once when younger mainly trying to get into the back country, then shifted over to snowshoes both were difficult in the deeper snow and various crusty to soft hill areas....

[finngun]

A mountain bike is a great quiet way to hunt as well
well ,if there is 1meter snow ,i rather use skies:-D..
i have hunted on skis many winters back in my old country.
nothing special..but here big mountains it's not always ideal way to move..
more like open country and rolling hills..and right snow condition...it works very well..needs experience like any hobby..
here is prove http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBeYRslzK4c

[snowhunter]

Had a friend drive me up a mountain so I could down hill ski down, while hunting. Did spook a bunch of does, but no bucks. Would also have very little time to get the gun in firing position, before the spooked deer disappeared in a hurry.

Also, I did hit some rock and scraped the bottom of my skiies $$, and never did it again. Snow shoing or cross country skiing on flat terrain might be better way of hunting in the snow ?

[308Lover]

After the war, my uncle used skis for hunting elk when the snow was about a foot or more deep. He had telemark bindings, which he could lock down for downhill, or leave loose on his heel for
cross country. This was in the Alberta foothills where I grew up (somewhat). He hunted the ridges and took off his skiis at times for the stalk, when able.His skiis were army issue, as were his white over pants and parka. The skiis were wider than cross-country ones of today and higher in the toes. He kept a wood block at the centre between the skiis and another notched block to hold the tips upright. He had no trouble hunting this way, and used a toboggan (and us local kids) to bring out de-boned meat. He seldom used ski poles when close to his game. I found it very tough to duplicate this on my cross country skiis, but you can make a silent approach on them.

[Pioneerman]

I use my atv with tracks to get me through any amount of snow and when walking I use snow shoes. I am not coordinated enough for skis and guns together lol.

[gbear]

Haven't done it, but have thought about it one spring when I had a grizzly draw. The one spot I thought about had a good snowmobile trail going in that was used all winter, so it was packed in nicely, and it led you to some great open slides. It would have got me to the slides earlier in the season, but I decided to wait a couple extra weeks until I could get my quad through the snow. In the end, I'm thinking that was the better choice, because after getting something, I can't see being able to pack everything out on skis easily. You would probably want to pull a little skimmer or something.

[dino]

Give me a call Russ when you get a chance.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee306/heydino/DCAM0019.jpg

[bucktrack]

my brother tried it and it was only about 30 mins till i recieved a distress call. long story short: SKIS SUCK

[Big Lew]

I don't cross country ski in the back country anymore, but when I did, I thought about hunting on skis. I have used snowshoes, (bearpaw, long traditional, and the modern ones) I would say using snowshoes is far better, and safer. It is very easy to take a tumble, or bang into limbs or trees (goring oneself on dead sharp broken branches) while using skis. I have packed up to 50 lbs. while using snowshoes without problems, and have dragged a toboggan with up to 100 lbs. For anybody but very experienced skiers It would be a nightmare trying to bring anything the size of a deer out with skis, or to shoot accurately while trying to balance on skis.