Deer tracks

eelgrass

Long Time Member
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How can a hunter tell the difference between a buck track and a doe track? Or can you? How about droppings?

I've heard theories about both.

Eel
 
I don't know if there is a scientific way to tell, all I know is when you run across some big buck tracks it's obvious.

I found a set a couple of years ago, later in the hunt in a canyon I know the deer like to rut in and sure enough there was a big set in with all the does and fawns, it was easy to tell that it was a big buck. Long story short I was able to track him down and now he's on my wall.

I think that a big buck track will be bigger overall, length, width, and depth.
 
i may not have shot a buck yet but i have definatley can tell a buck truck. it's bigger. think about body size. bucks are bigger. bigger tracks and deeper impresions.
 
Hi EEl, What? you found a good one you're studying on?

I never lived in country where tracking a deer was very practical, except when it snowed, so i'm no expert on the subject.

I'm interested in any jumbo, bigger than normal, track. i have seen lots of big tracks left by older does, can say that much. I know cause i went and looked at their tracks after they watered or when i could. Some have left a surprisingly big track.

Also, i have killed two bucks that had messed up hoove? pads. My thought was that they somehow got burned in a big fire that went through that country the year before. Looked almost melted out and toes curled up.

I like the idea, "you'll know em when you see em"

Joey
 
I find it's easiest to tell a bucks tracks from a does tracks if he is standing in them. Most other methods are less than perfect.
 
HEY eel!!!

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THE ONLY bobcat THAT KNOWS ALOT OF YOU HAVE HAD THIS IMAGE IN YOUR PEA BRAIN BUT DUE TO POOR SHOOTING TACTICS I'M STILL KICKIN!!!
 
If you have fresh snow or mud the buck tracks will show the dew claw impressions and the hooves will also show a little more of a spread than the doe tracks. Does seem to be a lighter on their toes. Some buck hooves also have a little more of a curve to them on the inside of the hooves. Most of the time the buck tracks will also have blood on or around them. At least that has been the case whenever I have tracked a buck.

As far as the droppings - it's all about the taste - you have to figure that one out on your own Eel!

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
This is not pure science-- but, I have found that big mature buck tracks are different depending on the type of country they are in. High country bucks (10-11,000+ ft) have wider bigger & softer hoof and pads while desert bucks or bucks that spend more time in softer soils have smaller hoof pads but have just as big of hoofs. Just my own observation.
 
"I find it's easiest to tell a bucks tracks from a does tracks if he is standing in them. Most other methods are less than perfect." That's good!

It is obvious that a person that has enough experience can tell a buck track from a doe track, maybe not from a single track but from studying a series of tracks and what /where they might be going/doing and combining that with what you know about the area.

Deer will have different type of hooves depending on the terrain i.e. sandy country doesn't wear down the hooves as quickly and they will have a lot of growth even looking deformed sometimes and just the opposite with rough rocky country.

About the comment on the hooves that were "burned" that could certainly be the case but a lot of sicknesses will manifest themselves in the hooves, this is true with most hoofed animals.

Son
 
The bigger the deer, the bigger the dew claw impression. I have noticed that if he has alot of weight on his head his front hooves especially have large dew claw prints.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-15-08 AT 10:15AM (MST)[p]On the other hand, the biggest buck I have shot, nearly 30" wide, tall and heavy, 4 x 5, had the smallest hooves I've ever seen on a buck. I swear if all I had seen was his tracks I would have said that was a doe walking here, and never gave it a second thought. This was in a very well known and popular unit in southwestern Colorado. I still look for big tracks when scouting for bucks.
 
Does have hips that are much wider than their front shoulders so they can give birth. The print from the back hoof will be slightly outside the print from the front hoof. This only applies on flat ground I have found. The bucks back prints will be in line or even slightly inside the front prints in most cases.

I saw a set of tracks a few years ago that just had to be a huge buck. Toes spread out, deep dew claw prints, huge everything. I followed these fresh tracks right to a doe. So big doesn't always apply.
 
Big bucks dont always have big tracks but most boone and crockett bucks have big tracks. By Ryan Hatch, which makes alot of sense to me. Gary
 
One reason I asked the question......a couple weeks ago a buddy and I were hunting and we jumped two deer that we just got a glimpse of. We walked over and found their tracks. It was pretty soft dirt and one set showed dew claws and one set didn't. The one with dew claw marks were bigger, but not that much, and they were more splayed. My buddy said that does don't have dew claws. I thought they do, but I wasn't positive.

So I take it does have dew claws too?

Dang, I should already know this, but since Kilowatt said I was 68 maybe I used to know but forgot?:)

Eel
 
I'd say buck. Yes does have dew claws as well. Usually aren't heavy enough to leave these prints though unless they are in very loose dirt like above or in the snow.
 
Thats all we do is track. As a poster said above, a buck track is round, compare to a doe, that is more pointed. You get in sand then it is a real trick, been trick a few times.Hunt with my best friend, he is indian, just amazing to watch, i have learned alot over the last fifteen years, no doubt it is a art. Mike
 
>roy--- what is up with the
>blood in or around the
>tracks, am I missing something??
>

It's usually because I am tracking them after they have been shot.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
Buck tracks tend to split more in the front due to the weight, and sink more into the dirt, if you can see the dews in the rear they are a heavier deer. That is how I look at it.

dutch
" Man who excels at putting worm on hook is Master Baiter"
 

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