FOREWORD 



for this book. The contents represent the experi- 

 ence gained from twenty years of uninterrupted 

 life in the great outdoors; and while only half of 

 that time was spent in the pursuit and study of 

 American game, the foreign experience was a 

 considerable aid in arriving at definite conclu- 

 sions, for the same species, with but few excep- 

 tions, show the same features in their trails the 

 world over. 



No space has been given to microscopic intrica- 

 cies, since in the woods plain tracking lore is in- 

 tricate enough. In practice whoever looks for 

 exaggerated, fine, distinctive features in tracks 

 and trails soon sees things which a sober-minded 

 expert recognizes as imaginative. 



***** 



It is generally understood that a track means 

 the imprint left on the ground or snow by a 

 passing creature. From its form and appear- 

 ance the initiated are usually able to tell the 

 species, and in some cases the variety, of animal 

 that made it. Where the latter is not possible, 

 a succession of tracks the trail, in short is 



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