Surely each of us heard the expression "the powder lay down." What is meant by this phrase, not everyone knows. In fact, powder is snow that fell at night and stopped going by morning.
"Crib" for hunters
Due to the fact that snow powder clearly imprints on itself the traces of animals that were looking for food at night, the search for wild animals is greatly facilitated. In Moscow and the Moscow region, such a layer occurs not earlier than the end of November - the beginning of December. Good snow powder is a cover so deep that it leaves a clear footprint, which is continuous, that is, without significant bare space.
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Many are wondering: "Powder - what kind of snow is this?" To understand this, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with its classification. Powder happens:
1. Riding: Formed when the weather is calm, when the snow slowly falls from above.
2. Grassroots, another name - adventurous. It is created as a result of snowfall, that is, the movement of snow by gusts of wind. It is found only in an open, unprotected place. In this regard, it should be remembered that in a forest glade or forest edges, under the influence of wind, the detection of traces of animalsseems like a difficult task.
3. Shallow or deep. Determined by the depth of the footprint or footprint.
4. Dead. A prerequisite is a thick snow cover, the depth of which is more than eighteen centimeters. The animal cannot move on such powder or moves with difficulty, since movement in the current conditions is difficult.
5. Printed. The trace in this case is printed in relief and clearly.
6. Warm, formed on melted snow.
7. Soft. Such a powder is obtained under the condition of warm weather, and when pressed does not make noise.
8. Rigid. Formed from loose snow when the weather is frosty. If you step on hard powder, you will hear a noise. This is very inconvenient for the hunter, as the animal is agitated and frightened.
9. Blind. The reason for the creation of blind powder is late snowfall. Traces are not formed on it.
Determination by depth
Experienced hunters can easily distinguish between fine, deep and dead powder. If the trace of the front paw of the hare is imprinted on the cover at the level of the articulation, then the powder is small. When the snow depth is eight to ten centimeters, it is deep. Dead powder is also called printed powder, since the "cast" of the animal's claw is clearly visible on it.
The formation of the first powder occurs as a result of snowfall, but the subsequent one can occur even in the absence of it. A similar phenomenon also appears if a snowstorm sweeps, when a strongthe grassroots wind moves dry loose snow and ice dust. In this situation, older tracks are swept up, so it is possible without any effort to distinguish the old print from the new one, which was left after the snow subsided.
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that powder is loose fluffy snow covering the ground in an even layer, which most often falls in calm weather. This factor has a significant impact on the outcome of the hunt. Good powder is soft snow that is so deep that you can clearly see the footprints of the beast, which is not difficult to track. There should be no large open spaces that interrupt the sequence of animal paw prints.
Classification by the size of the animal footprint
Also powder is divided into long and short. Long snow is called, which did not last long, stopped early. Under such conditions, the beast manages to leave a long trail. A short powder is a long, perhaps incessant snowfall. During it, a wild animal gives a short trail. Both deep and dead powder are short anyway. This is due to the fact that during heavy and wet snowfall, wild animals, for example, a hare, try not to walk a lot.
Powder is a convenient aid for both rifle and canine hunters who take advantage of this opportunity in the first winter, since in a later period there is a risk of injury to the hounds' paws abouthard snow. Meanwhile, gunsmiths track the beast throughout the winter, moving through the forest with the help of skis.
