Hello Adam,
I use to hike in Tatras despite neither PL or SK is my country of origin (mine is from the Auld Alliance !) ; I also hiked in Scotland and my feelings towards freedom in mountains are about the same as you, so I'll try to give the most possible accurate answer to you and the topics you raised.
First of all, 3 questions:
- In which contry do you plan to go ? Polish or Slovak Tatras. Only Slovak Tatras are closed in winter. Polish not, but you must keep on the marked trails (however, almost all obvious routes are already trails)
- Do you plan just to hike, or to climb ? Tatras in Feb are extremely snowy and avalanchous so you must watch out where you go and the conditions. If you do climb some peak out of the marked places you are supposed to be with a guide, just like for Slovakia.
- Are you member of a club affiliated to UIAA ? (BMC, SMC). If yes the rules are slightly different for you.
Some other points:
Bivying in February, forgot about it. The temperatures have nothing to see with Scotland ! Otherwise in other seasons there are some spots where you can for sure do it discretely, but rather in the uncrowded places on the Slovak side. No fire no headlamp, no visible gear before darkness... Otherwise, even if you don't like mountain huts (which I also used to dislike), you will find those in Poland and Slovakia completely different, the local mountainers behave much less individualized, more open minded, and it's likely that you'll talk all evening with a beer learning millions of things about the local culture instead of sleeping alone. I went many times alone to the Tatras and every time I spent a night in those huts I made friends with who I kept contact each time.
Coming back to your feelings of freedom, no, it doesnt sound arrogant and it's the same inside each of us, but let me explain you few facts about the Tatras to understand a bit better these regulations (most of them are justifed):
-This is the only real mountainous area for 40M of Poles, 15M Czechs, 10M Hungarians, 5M Slovaks, and it's 50km long. Picture yourself that 90% of these people have totally no experience in mountains.
- Tatras are the most avalanchous range in winter.
- all tatras valleys end in jagged granite walls with high saddles which almost all of them require basic climbing skills (not to mention many are featured with chains like Via Ferrata to help..)
- species like the Chamois, and in less proportions eagles, bear, lynx, etc are threatened by the volume of visitors, their winter season is critical for their survival and some other for their reproduction.
- fragile vegetal layer with areas severely damaged, like few scottish mountains like Schiehallion or Stac Pollaidh
After 5 years I got used to these regulations and I still enjoy these mountains as I used to enjoy the pyrenees. To enjoy freedom, the secret is to start as early as possible, like it is obvious for all mountains, but that only very few tourists do. With the same time zone and being more east, the sun really starts early, and the biggest of the crowd tends to start at 11-12am, which leaves you the time of a good hike in the quiet !
Starting very early is also the best way to avoid the rangers who check that the national park rules are respected. And they are numerous ! But starting before sunrise you have reasonnable chances to get rid of them.
That's all !
Don't hesitate to ask, there are a lot of Poles here who will also answer
Eric