Another Christmas season behind us, the woodstove gets hungrier by the day and if it's going to be this cold it might as well snow. While most people are battening down the hatches for winter's long run, for the creative and sometimes seriously obsessed, great hunting opportunities exist well into the new year.

I maybe letting the "cat out of the bag" here, but if you really want to start the New Year with a fun and exciting hunt why not mountain lions in New Mexico. Trapper's Trophy Hunts will host you for 5 days with great food and ranch accommodations. He is one of the best cat hunters in the central part of the state averaging 90% success on treed animals for his clients. Back roads and trails are scouted early in the morning and when a fresh track is discovered in the snow the dogs are turned loose. You have to be in shape for this kind of ordeal as it can take all day of trailing behind those hounds before they get the big cat up a tree. Lions average between 80 and 100 pounds but big Toms are taken in excess of 150 pounds. The good news is that the whole package is only $1500 plus a $200 over the counter license. As a bonus, in mid-January your lion hunt can be combined with archery mule deer.

And speaking of deer, for hunters who haven't had their fill of cold mornings on the stand, there are some great hunt options. January means no hunting pressure and deer once again adopt fairly regular travel, bedding and feeding routines. Often, in fact if the weather is cold deer will actually become less nocturnal moving in and out of browse and other food sources well before dark and for several hours in the morning. Of course, the presence of snow also increases game visibility.

Because of proximity, Pennsylvania ranks high on the list for late season deer. Provided you apply for your tags earlier in the year, both archery and muzzleloader (flintlock only) hunts are available usually with 2 deer bag limits. Most outfits still running hunts at this time frequently have near 100% shot opportunities. Perry Burdick owner of Burdick's Lodge in the northwestern corner of the state will hunt you for 5 days including meals and lodging for less than $1000. Perry notes that there are lots a deer around cut-off cornfields as well as pawing in the acorns that time of year. " In fact we have a heck of a lot more deer than we have hunters in January. Too bad really, because the hunting can be super."

The Midwest also has open seasons for bow and muzzleloader well into January. Performance Outdoors hosts late season hunts in both Illinois and Iowa and have a national reputation for producing monster whitetails. Owner Jake Roach and his crew of Vermonters who run and work for the outfit look forward to January as their time to hunt.

"We kill some incredible bucks late in the season after the majority of our clients have gone home" commented Jake recently.
A January hunt with Performance Outdoors takes some advance planning as licenses are only available by draw and applications need to be submitted in the spring of the previous year. "We can virtually guarantee a bow tag for Illinois but the real deal is in Iowa. Most applicants need a preference point to pull a tag for a fall hunt but are successful 90% of the time for the January muzzleloader season."

Fully guided hunts on Performance Outdoors' 10,000 acres of lease land are 6 days in duration and cost $2195 plus license.

Want a warm weather hunt after the first of the year? Well, in South Texas and Mexico the whitetail rut is in full swing during most of the month. Non-resident licenses are around $250 and are available over the counter. Hunt costs can vary greatly but there are some solid value hunts for under $2500 that include an 8-point management buck along with wild hogs, cats and coyotes plus, great food and ranch accommodations.

Airfares to major airports in the southwest from Burlington are a good buy at between $450 and $500 round trip. You can certainly drive to Pennsylvania or even Illinois. So you tell me;
"Why do you put your weapons away after Thanksgiving?"