Sounds of Winter

The Sounds of Winter!

The rock band Bush, recently released a catchy song entitled ‘The Sounds of Winter’, which immediately got me to thinking about all the unique sounds that we are treated with as we embark on our wintertime outdoor pursuits.  So turn off the static of the television and the beeping bips of your video games, to step outside for a listen to the real sounds of winter…

WINTERS INTRODUCTION
For many outdoorsfolks, the first sounds of winter take place during mid November’s Upper Peninsula deer camp.  This is when the cold north winds make their season introduction with their gushing ‘wooshes’ that bend the tops of majestic white pines and strip the last of the stubborn oak leaves from their summer homes.  It is also during these opening days of winter that that you can hear the first hardened flakes of the season, touch down on the carpet of dry leaves with a sandy resonance.

THE VOICES OF SNOW
Any runner or walking enthusiast can speak of the hypnotic crunching rhythm created as their feet methodically crush a fresh fallen snow.  It is this crunching melody that can serve as the bass playing back up to heightened breathing and thumping hearts of those seeking exercise in winter’s weather.  Their quickly swinging arms, wrapped warmly in a nylon shell, provide a ‘svish-svish’ accompaniment that matches the pace along the way.
 Snowboarders and down-hill skiers are familiar with the rough cutting sounds that yell from their sharpened edges as they carve their way down the wintry slopes.  This is immediately followed up with the whirring and ‘kerchunking’ of the rope hung chariots that lift them to the hilltop to repeat their performance.
The stop and go sliding foosh melodies are familiar only to those who seek solitude on their cross country skies.  Such a noise is joined in lesser part by the crunching pokes of their partnered ski poles that move the cross country skier over varied snow covered terrain.
And then there are those that choose the most traditional form of foot travel, by strapping on a pair of snow shoes with a ‘croosh-thumping’ pace that follows each labored step atop a deep snow trail.
The opposite end of such slow travel is accentuated by the screaming whines of two-stroke engines housed within wild-looking snowmobiles, that speed the rider down the trail and then fade away in a distant hum.

HARMONIES OF HUNTING
Rabbit hunters take to the field, with beagles afoot and shotgun in hand, in pursuit of little rodents that truly live up to their rascally and wily reputations adorned upon them by the most famous of cartoon hunters, Mr. Elmer Fudd.  The excitement of the dogs climbs higher as the rabbits scent grows stronger on the trail.  The enthusiastic ‘ra-ooooing’ of beagles closing in on their prey is only briefly interrupted with the crack of the pursuer’s gun.  And then, the chorus begins all over again as the hunt is taken up for the next cottontail or snowshoe.
Coyote hunters create their own music with the curdling cries of wounded rabbits or the fever-pitched howls of locater calls for the Wile E. Coyote.  In between calling sessions, coyote hunters are offered a symphony of sounds from every critter that lives near their set up.  From chirping, chattering squirrels to drumming woodpeckers, and cackling jays.  There is only a brief moment of silence, when the hunter takes aim, bearing his glare upon his prey, before the boom of their gun greets a sneaking coyote.
ICE TUNES
Ice fishing has more unique sounds than any other winter sport.  From the time one departs across the ice, the collection of ice related classics begin.  The sleds constant grating over the hardened ice surface, is only occasionally quieted by the random patch of powdery snow that silences the grating with a quiet ‘hoosh’ as the snowy patch is traversed.  This sound is joined in unison by the ‘grunching’ pace of the angler’s ice cleats that guide the sled to their fishing destination. 
Holes are opened only by the steady pound, pound, pound of an angler’s sharpened spud or the twirling shave of a hand held auger, popping the lakes surface.  Late season ice is not opened so easily.  It is a chorus of motorized augers that can be heard filling the morning air on any good ice fishing lake.   Anguish and frustration can be heard from the angler who repeatedly yanks on a stubborn old two stroke engine that putters to silence, refusing it’s job.   Regardless of the method used to open any lake surface, splashing scoops and ‘slushing slops’ are the follow up to any hole opening, as the ice chips are removed and the waterway is opened for business.
Perhaps the most notable of these icy sounds is the thunderous roar of an outstretching pressure crack that tears through the ice surface causing the water in the hole to bounce just slightly less than the angler’s startled heart.
These are just some of the many sounds of winter that are now playing in the outdoor theater near you.  Get outside and listen for you own sound of winter.  It is a tune that will go platinum in your sole!
My name is Jonny and these are just some of my favorite sounds of winter!