I can't say that I'm a good tracker, but I have to agree that it is a very enjoyable part of hunting for me. I enjoy hunting remote areas- sometimes the remoteness is more vertical than lateral. Part of hunting remote areas is that you don't see alot of deer, but because of this, I've learned to enjoy studying sign and tracks. Their is a real thrill to have walked for hours seeing no sign of anything and then cut a lone track. It is amazing how secluded some big old bucks live. I can thouroughly enjoy a day of hunting this way without ever seeing a deer.
Last fall I tried to track a buck that my brother in law just happen to get a look at on his way to work one morning. Ironically, this buck was right on the side of a major highway, but my brother in law said it was the biggest buck he had seen in 15 years. He didn't have a tag, so he sent me after him.
Because I'm not a great tracker, I developed a theory that the best chance I had at the buck was to hit the area after fresh snow. Past experience has proven that really big bucks- especially ones that live that close to the road are very difficult to get a look at. My experience was reaffirmed when after a morning of thick fog I picked up a very large track near were my brother in law had seen the buck. It was almost noon, and the sun was finally out. As soon as I picked up the track, I knew I was on the right one. The track was almost twice the size of the does with it. One thing I have noticed about truly large bucks is that their tracks tend to be much wider than does. A big old doe can leave a large track, but I assume that from their feminity they just tend to be narrower. It was amazing to follow this big old boy. One of the threads earlier mentioned trying to predict were a buck was going. One of the reasons I had decided to try the tracking method is because past experience has proven that I can't outguess big old bucks. His trail proved me right again. As I followed the easily dicernable trail in the snow, I tried to guess where it was going, and everytime I was wrong. Interesting the trail remained within 100 yards of the highway for over a mile. It became apparent that the trail I was on was made at night, because for awhile he had fed right along the side of the road. When the trail left the road, I found a small cedar that he had literally torn apart- I thought that was interesting for the end of October. Shortly thereafter, I discovered where he had bedded down sometime in the night- only 100 yards off the road with no cover. Unfortunately, when he got up, the wet snow that had left very defined tracks before had frozen making it very difficult to distinguish his tracks from others. I continued to try to follow the trail, but eventually lost it. The snow was melting in a hurry. The last evidence I had of him showed him going in the general direction of an area I had heard shots from first thing that morning, and thoughts that he had already been shot crossed my mind. I returned to the area two days later and spent the whole day, but found absolutely no sign of him. A few days later I shot a decent heavy horned 4X4 (23 1/2" wide) in a different area. Then in January sitting in church a guy said, "I seen the biggest buck I've seen in a long time coming home from work last night." Turns out it was in the exact same spot the buck had crossed the road when I was tracking him. Needless to say, I won't give up quite as quickly this year.
