magicman54494 wrote:stash59 wrote:What do you think is the most important key to being able to identify a mature buck track. Track width, depth.showing dew claws/ flatter track indicating heavy weight, stride length or trail width/distance from outside of right track to left track.
Though maybe not as dramatic as in people these can vary from animal to animal.
I'm a numbers guy so any basic dimensions on these.
Thanx Magic!!
I mainly go by width. All the other things you stated factor in as well. I use a 30-06 shell as a gauge. if they are as wide as the case it's a good buck, if they are as wide as the whole shell I get pretty excited. It does vary from area to area. The biggest tracks I see are in Minn. The tracks in the U P are smaller for some reason. The stagger seems to be the most miss leading. I've seen small deer with big staggers and vise versa. I also go by the SMALLEST track they make. Often times they step a little off with their back foot and make the track look bigger than it really is.
Thanx Magic!! And Fresh Track!! I read somewhere that when Lane Bonoit hunted Wisconsin he had to adjust his thinking on track width. He said the mature buck tracks averaged smaller here. Thus my question.
I have more experience with elk. The largest antlered bull I killed had tiny feet that looked no bigger than those of a young cow. But I now believe he was much younger than I first thought. The next largest bull I killed had extra large feet for his age and body size. Neither of these bulls could have been considered mature in comparison to how we determine that with whitetails. One bull track I came across numerous times in my area was extremely huge in comparison to other elk. Almost as large as that of the mature moose found in nearby areas. In fact most people asked me if the tracks weren't actually that of a moose. After I described their size. I was sure it was an elk. Elk have feet shaped more like a cows. More rounded. Moose are heart shaped and more pointed. Plus after 10 years hunting the area I never saw a moose.
I finally got to see this bull up in a clear-cut. He had large headgear to match the large feet. Confirmed by finding his tracks the next morning up where I saw him.
Just a long winded way to say maybe like this bull's tracks. A truly mature bucks tracks really do just stand out of the crowd when you see them.
By the way Dan's 4 fingered method is brilliant. It's so simplr that I'm embarrassed to not have thought of it myself. So if he wasn't the first to come up with it. Thanx to whoever did.