Reading buck tracks

[TN Whitetail Freak]

I went into a public spot Sunday that ive never been....i scouted it with aerial photos and concluded that it had potential.....well i put my boots on the ground and man this place is ate up with buck tracks big ones and small ones found a few doe tracks but the buck tracks outnumbered the doe tracks 5:1 guessing.....and i walked a mile.in the swamps in awe really....anyways I found a set of tracks that were 4.5" long by 2 7/8" wide that
Seemed rather large to me.....do any of you guys know of articles grouping deer size based on track size?

 

[BSK]

And exactly how do you tell buck tracks from doe tracks?

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

They split or have that wider bridge btw hooves .....doe tracks have that distinct roundness to them

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

That could be any deer running or trotting.

 

[Football Hunter]

That could be any deer running or trotting.

yep

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Deer wasnt running or trotting i dont believe because i followed this set 200 yards with the longest stretch of tracks being between 18-24"

 

[shoningram]

I agree. If the deer is walking and the hooves are split wider then you are looking at a heavier deer and probably a buck.

 

[shoningram]

I agree. If the deer is walking and the hooves are split wider then you are looking at a heavier deer and probably a buck.

 

[shoningram]

I agree. If the deer is walking and the hooves are split wider then you are looking at a heavier deer and probably a buck.

 

[DaveB]

It could be a little guy with big feet. just sayin.

I don't think you can tell very much from tracks unless you tie a visual sighting to the animal and his tracks are unique in some way.

I have tried and tried to do this. In CA I watched a little forkie drink and at end of day I checked out his prints. In the mud, he looked huge and yet he was barely legal. Too many variables EXCEPT footprints mean deer. Not much else, I could be way wrong.

 

[stik]

the only way to tell a buck track from a doe track is to see the deer making them

 

[landman]

And exactly how do you tell buck tracks from doe tracks?

I'm waiting on BSK's question being answered...

 

[bowriter]

Question #1-How do you know they were buck tracks?
Question #2-Are you aware there is only one way to tell a buck track?
Question #3-Do you know what that way is?

I won't provide the answer because I don't want to influence BSK.

And oddly enough, I just a few minutes ago finished a September column entitled, "The biggest Myths of Deer Hunting". In it, I just happened to deal with just those questions. But here is one hint. The split between the toes and the dew claws have nothing to do with it.

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

And exactly how do you tell buck tracks from doe tracks?

I'm waiting on BSK's question being answered...

I did

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Question #1-How do you know they were buck tracks?
Question #2-Are you aware there is only one way to tell a buck track?
Question #3-Do you know what that way is?

#1: mentioned above
#2: No I did not.
#3: No I do not.

 

[Shed Hunter]

I would bet the majority of members (and by majority I mean almost every member) was told about buck vs. doe tracks when they started hunting. It is very much like everyone saying that deer have horns. It isn't your fault you think that so don't feel bad about it.

 

[Nealmeally]

I feel I can tell a mature buck track from a doe in most cases.. Hard to explain but I think when you see one you know.. I killed a mature buck last season and one of the reasons I knew he was in the area was the huge tracks I was seeing. From the tracks and the way I read everything, he was following a doe or does around on a field edge. And yeah it was a big difference in the size and shape of the tracks. Was it the buck I killed making the big tracks??? I'm not sure.... But I put 2 and 2 together and really believe it was him.. My stand location was based on the tracks and what I thought he was doing and where he was staying. First time in I killed a mature buck and a doe came out of there bout 30 minutes before he did..

Hunting a lot of ag ground I do pay a whole lot of attention to tracks.. I have hunted ag ground most of my life and have studied tracks a lot. I think if you know what you are looking at you can in most cases tell the difference from a mature buck and a doe.

As far as a deer running..... No you can't tell. All tracks look big if the deer was running.

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

I feel I can tell a mature buck track from a doe in most cases.. Hard to explain but I think when you see one you know..

This is how I feel

As far as a deer running..... No you can't tell. All tracks look big if the deer was running.

I think in my case sunday i could because of distance between each track they where close to one another as if just walking.....

 

[Snake]

the only way to tell a buck track from a doe track is to see the deer making them

Exactly and poop too !

 

[BSK]

the only way to tell a buck track from a doe track is to see the deer making them

Exactly and poop too !

Ha!

The myth that buck tracks can be identified from doe tracks has been dispelled repeatedly. Research has shown that hoof size varies far too much between deer of the same sex, age, and weight to ever tell anything about a deer by track size or shape.