x-country skis vs snowshoes for hunting

Can-down said:
Snow makes rough terrain smooth and quiet as you say when it's fresh!

Sounds like you had some great ski hunts back in the day..... :)
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I did. This thread brings back fond memories. In the '70s my wife and I used to cross country ski over the fields in the moonlight to visit the neighbors. Setting the trail on the way there, took over half an hour to go a mile, going home on the set trail didn't take longer than 15 minutes.
Also of the hunts, of my hunting and trapping partners, and of long evenings fleshing and stretching beaver pelts, as well as squirrel and weasel pelts by an airtight heater. Every trapper cabin smelled like beaver caster and drying fur when it got damp or when you walked into a warm cabin from the cold.
I am fortunate to have lived a life that some folk are incapable of imagining, let alone understanding. Especially the folk who flip a switch for light, turn on a tap for water, and have no idea of how folks survived before electricity, let alone television, and the internet. There is nothing romantic about about packing one or more wet beaver pelts up a 30% grade hogsback in the snow after dark with a carbon battery flash light at -30F .
Snowshoes and cross country skis were useless and dangerous on steep trails down to the creeks we were trapping.
 
For my job I'm in snowshoes at least 4 months a year 4 days a week. The new models with solid plastic decks and thin metal rails for traction are durable and reliable. Snowhoes are useless until the snow changes and sets up. You can go from 2-3km work days to 250m just swimming but as the base is built things consolidate and a thaw or rain causes dripping one stiff frost and you can run. Usualy Feb and March are best depending on elevation but as it warms it becomes morning that is best and afternoon sucks eventually you hunt for some dirt cause it all sucks.
 
horshur said:
For my job I'm in snowshoes at least 4 months a year 4 days a week. The new models with solid plastic decks and thin metal rails for traction are durable and reliable. Snowshoes are useless until the snow changes and sets up. You can go from 2-3km work days to 250m just swimming but as the base is built things consolidate and a thaw or rain causes dripping one stiff frost and you can run. Usualy Feb and March are best depending on elevation but as it warms it becomes morning that is best and afternoon sucks eventually you hunt for some dirt cause it all sucks.
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As I recall snowshoes take a great deal of energy, much more so than walking, running or skis. They do not glide well at all. Unless there is a real ice crust on the snow and they they "glide" in a most fearful way.
 
10x said:
I did. This thread brings back fond memories. In the '70s my wife and I used to cross country ski over the fields in the moonlight to visit the neighbors. Setting the trail on the way there, took over half an hour to go a mile, going home on the set trail didn't take longer than 15 minutes.
Also of the hunts, of my hunting and trapping partners, and of long evenings fleshing and stretching beaver pelts, as well as squirrel and weasel pelts by an airtight heater. Every trapper cabin smelled like beaver caster and drying fur when it got damp or when you walked into a warm cabin from the cold.
I am fortunate to have lived a life that some folk are incapable of imagining, let alone understanding. Especially the folk who flip a switch for light, turn on a tap for water, and have no idea of how folks survived before electricity, let alone television, and the internet. There is nothing romantic about about packing one or more wet beaver pelts up a 30% grade hogsback in the snow after dark with a carbon battery flash light at -30F .
Snowshoes and cross country skis were useless and dangerous on steep trails down to the creeks we were trapping.
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I was a child in the 70's but I'm also grateful to have grown up analog and gotten through high school with out cell phones and the internet.
I must say that I'm no ludite and I do enjoy the modern world of tech, but I also spent a few years living in a cabin with no running water and electricity in my early 20's..... you don't take water for granted when you have to fetch it from the river!
I didn't mind the lack of electricity,outhouse and heating with wood but gravity fed running water was a game changer for sure..... :)
 
Can-down said:
I was a child in the 70's but I'm also grateful to have grown up analog and gotten through high school with out cell phones and the internet.
I must say that I'm no ludite and I do enjoy the modern world of tech, but I also spent a few years living in a cabin with no running water and electricity in my early 20's..... you don't take water for granted when you have to fetch it from the river!
I didn't mind the lack of electricity,outhouse and heating with wood but gravity fed running water was a game changer for sure..... :)
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And having someone else knock down the outhouse spike..........
 
Well for people that say snowshoes are useless until the snow has settle are not using the right snow shoes. I’m 240lb 6’2” 34” inseam. One pictures I’m up to above my knee w/o snowshoes on and the other pictures are same Yukon dry snow same spot but with real snowshoes on I barely sink a few inches 2-6” depending where I went in the bush! No wind slabs no crust just fresh dry snow!!




 
I wish I had a pair of that style ^^^ (bearpaw, yeah?) to try out, even though my knees have decided this life is not for them lol. I forget when or where my wife bought me a pair from, but they're definitely better than those trail hiking type msr? or whatever referenced earlier. Still, they could be better, but quite the improvement over trudging through 20-24" of snow in boots, even if they sink iirc 8-9" in powder. Once a trail is broke and set, it's almost too easy to trip on my feet because I can clip along at a decent pace using my patented "bow-legged don't really pick up your toes just skiff the surface shuffle" shuffle.:ROFLMAO:
 
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DGY said:
Well for people that say snowshoes are useless until the snow has settle are not using the right snow shoes. I’m 240lb 6’2” 34” inseam. One pictures I’m up to above my knee w/o snowshoes on and the other pictures are same Yukon dry snow same spot but with real snowshoes on I barely sink a few inches 2-6” depending where I went in the bush! No wind slabs no crust just fresh dry snow!!




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Most snow shoes.... :)
A quiver of different sizes and abilities is ideal..... from those floaters all the way to crampons!

Those look like a good tool for deep snow in easy terrain and would be great for tamping down large areas of snow to make camp and shelter!

Narrower snow shoes are nicer if you need to traverse as you climb or descend.
 
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Cross country skis will have a longer learning curve, you will have to practice with them a decent amount of times to become proficient enough to where they are a benefit to you. Snow shoes are pretty straight forward and almost anyone can strap them on and get the benefits pretty quickly.
 
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saskgunowner101 said:
I wish I had a pair of that style ^^^ (bearpaw, yeah?) to try out, even though my knees have decided this life is not for them lol. I forget when or where my wife bought me a pair from, but they're definitely better than those trail hiking type msr? or whatever referenced earlier. Still, they could be better, but quite the improvement over trudging through 20-24" of snow in boots, even if they sink iirc 8-9" in powder. Once a trail is broke and set, it's almost too easy to trip on my feet because I can clip along at a decent pace using my patented "bow-legged don't really pick up your toes just skiff the surface shuffle" shuffle.:ROFLMAO:
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And with the type of “hitch” use and my traditional canvas top, I can put them on and take them off w/o my hands!
 
Can-down said:
Most snow shoes.... :)
A quiver of different sizes and abilities is ideal..... from those floaters all the way to crampons!

Those look like a good tool for deep snow in easy terrain and would be great for tamping down large areas of snow to make camp and shelter!

Narrower snow shoes are nicer if you need to traverse as you climb or descend.
Click to expand...
Yes these are great for flat and rolling hills in fresh snow, for wind slabs side hills above tree line they would suck for sure!! These are made for low distances applications, for covering some ground I have an other pair that are over 5’ long and much narrower, they don’t glide like a ski but they do “glide”!!
 
my last experience in trad tear shaped snowshoes was in a 4-5 feet deep snow, issue was when going over covered bushes and small trees, the branches would snag the "fish net"(?) and grab it just enough for me to trip. it was not fun trying to get up and get back on the shoes again, I have limited experience with xc skis, it was all in shallow snow and oh so many years ago, and im a ok downhill skier, if bit rusty, but covering 8-10km to chase yotes is not something i would consider even if there was no snow on ground, well maybe
 
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10x said:
As I recall snowshoes take a great deal of energy, much more so than walking, running or skis. They do not glide well at all. Unless there is a real ice crust on the snow and they they "glide" in a most fearful way.
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Yes, they take more energy...
- But given the option to use snowshoes or fight your way trough waist deep snow... I'll go with the snowshoes

This been said, we've been thinking about giving the shoes-ski shebang

skishoe1.jpg
 
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rhino519 said:
my last experience in trad tear shaped snowshoes was in a 4-5 feet deep snow, issue was when going over covered bushes and small trees, the branches would snag the "fish net"(?) and grab it just enough for me to trip. it was not fun trying to get up and get back on the shoes again, I have limited experience with xc skis, it was all in shallow snow and oh so many years ago, and im a ok downhill skier, if bit rusty, but covering 8-10km to chase yotes is not something i would consider even if there was no snow on ground, well maybe
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sillymike said:
Yes, they take more energy...
- But given the option to use snowshoes or fight your way trough waist deep snow... I'll go with the snowshoes

This been said, we've been thinking about giving the shoes-ski shebang
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I have dealt with waist deep snow. You are correct and understate using the term "fight your way".
 
I hunt in "bear paw" type snowshoes when we get lots of snow. The frames are wrapped in paracord to reduce noise and bindings are made of rubber, quick to put on/off and fit most of my mukluks.
 
It entirely depends on the terrain and the type of hunting. I hunt coyotes almost every day all winter and have settled on those cheapy Crappy Tire red Outbound snowshoes. I haven't used traditional snowshoes in years.

We hunt with dogs so you have to go where the coyote or the dogs are going to go. Some fields, some nice bush, some little ravines, some big ravines, some hills you have to ski down on your snowshoes and go tree to tree so you don't go ass over tea kettle and roll all the way down (too steep to go at it at an angle), some blown down bush you can hardly walk through, climbing over and crawling under trees in places you wouldn't see the coyote even if it was 10-12 yards in front of you. I'll usually cover 4 to 12 km a day depending on how things go. Did 10 km today, it was just one of those days where nothing would line up right...

I'm 5'9" 170 lbs and run 30" shoes early season and 36" shoes when they'll start to make a noticeable flotation difference compared to the 30's, at that point it's worth the encumbrance of the extra length. I love those rubber strap with holes for quick on and off, only downside is the rubber gets a little winded after 4 years or so and the straps break one by one, I just replace them as they break or if they look like they will the next time I put them on.

I also only buy them when they're on sale, and at 70 bucks a pair the abuse I put them through doesn't bother me. I don't want to be worried about some expensive snowshoes when I'm crashing through the bush climbing over stuff trying to catch dogs that don't want to be caught because they're not done hunting yet.

They can be noisy though so if one want's to sneak in quietly to call coyotes, traditional snowshoes are the best bet there. No running after hard headed blueticks or rushing to try and get into position involved when calling so the lack of speed and maneuverability doesn't matter.

No way in hell I could get by on skis that's for damn sure.
 
As stated, wide skis are great for open trails ie cut lines but suck when there is branches etc under snow. Snowshoes come in different patterns and sizes. Depends on environment where you will be hunting. They are all hard work in soft snow. You also need a sled of some kind to bring out what you harvest. Even dragging a coyote a 1/2 mile through powder is a lot of work. (Take the time to skin it out there if possible).
 
Hissatsu said:
As stated, wide skis are great for open trails ie cut lines but suck when there is branches etc under snow. Snowshoes come in different patterns and sizes. Depends on environment where you will be hunting. They are all hard work in soft snow. You also need a sled of some kind to bring out what you harvest. Even dragging a coyote a 1/2 mile through powder is a lot of work. (Take the time to skin it out there if possible).
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Drag her out whole like a man and skin it on a gambrel in the shop back home. If you get it in your head that you're just gonna drag that sum##### until you die 99.99% of the time you'll make it back to the truck and won't be dead. (Don't take my advice if you have heart problems, but if you don't ... quit being a sissy and keep draggin', it's good for ya)
 
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