Surely each of us heard the expression "lay down powder." What is meant by this phrase, not everyone knows. In fact, powder is snow that fell at night and stopped walking in the morning.
"Crib" for hunters
Due to the fact that the snow powder clearly traces 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 does not occur earlier than the end of November or the beginning of December. A good snow powder is such a deep cover that it leaves a clear footprint, which is continuous, that is, without significant exposed space.
Kinds
Many people ask: “Powder - what kind of snow is this?” To understand this, it would be useful to get acquainted with its classification. Powder happens:
1. Horse: formed under conditions of calm weather, when the snow slowly lays on top.
2. Grassroots, another name - alien. It is created as a result of blowing snow, that is, the movement of snow by gusts of wind. It occurs only in an open, unprotected place. In this regard, it should be remembered that in the forest glade or at the edges of the forest under the influence of wind, detecting traces of animals seems to be a difficult task.
3. Shallow or deep. It is 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. On such a powder, the beast cannot move or moves with difficulty, since movement in the current conditions is difficult.
5. Printed. The trace in this case is printed in relief and distinctly.
6. Warm, formed on melted snow.
7. Soft. Such a powder is obtained under the condition of warm weather, and when pressed does not produce noise.
8. Tough. It is formed from loose snow when the weather is frosty. If you step on a hard powder, you will hear a noise. This is very inconvenient for the hunter, as the beast is agitated and frightened.
9. Blind. The reason for creating blind powders is late snow. Traces on it are not formed.
Depth determination
Experienced hunters can easily distinguish between fine, deep and dead powder. If the trace of the front foot of a hare is imprinted on the cover at the level of the joint, then the powder is fine. When the depth of snow is from eight to ten centimeters, it is deep. Dead powder is also called printed, because it is clearly visible "cast" of the claw of an animal.
The formation of the first powder occurs as a result of snow, but the subsequent one can occur even in the absence of snow. A similar phenomenon also appears if the snow blows when a strong downwind moves dry loose snow and ice dust. In this situation, older traces are swept up, so it is possible without any effort to distinguish the old print from the new one that was left after the snow went down.
Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that the powder is loose fluffy snow covering the earth with an even layer, which most often occurs in calm weather. This factor has a significant impact on the result of hunting. A good powder is soft snow, which is so deep that the imprints of an animal that can be easily traced are clearly visible on it. In this case, there should be no large exposed spaces that interrupt the sequence of animal footprints.
