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Deer Tracks: Are You Following a Buck or Doe? By Marty Prokop
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A while back I wrote a Free-Deer-Hunting-Tips.com Newsletter and blog post about following deer tracks.
A Free-Deer-Hunting-Tips.com reader asked me how a deer hunter could tell he was on the trail of a buck or a doe.
It is my experience that even if you are following big tracks, obviously made by a big deer, that deer could be either a big doe or a big buck. Yes, I have seen some very large doe deer especially offspring of big bucks.
I have followed more deer tracks since I wrote that newsletter just to see if additional experience would show me something different. Here is what I found.
Following Deer Tracks
After following many sets of fresh deer tracks on my deer hunting land this past fall I have made some interesting conclusions.
I still believe if you follow one solid set of big tracks pressed deeply into the dirt, you could be following a big buck or doe.
Here is where I saw some variances:
If you are following a set of big deer tracks that are meandering through the woods, chances are high that you are following a doe. As you are following these meandering tracks and you notice urine in one spot, you will be following a doe. Doe deer squat to pee in one spot.
A buck walks through the forest moving from point A to point B following the path of least resistance. If a buck comes across something in the trail in front of him, such as a downed tree, he will walk around it and get back on to the main trail and continue walking. A doe, on the other hand, will often go under it.
A line of big deer tracks with urine dripping into multiple tracks is most often made by a buck as he will urinate as he walks.
Deer tracks splayed (a wide gap between the front of hooves in the shape of a “V”) tend to belong to a buck.
Deer tracks with drag marks behind them are usually made by big bucks.
The reason big bucks tend to drag their hooves is because bucks are structurally different in the hip region than does. This structural difference causes mature bucks to swagger from side to side and drag their feet when walking.
The longer and deeper the drag marks behind each track usually means the bigger and heavier the buck making the tracks.
I followed a number of deer tracks to see if a deer hunter could tell the size and sex of a deer solely by its tracks. I found, if you are on a fresh set of big deer tracks and focus on the size of the tracks only, you could be following a big buck or a big doe.
When I added drag marks and urination patterns in combination with the tracks, I could get a pretty good idea of size and sex of the deer being followed.
You be the judge. Try this for yourself and see what you find.
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Good Luck and Great Hunting!
Deer Hunting and Deer Processing Expert at http://www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com
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Posted by Marty Prokop
