TRACKS AND TRACKING 



the same age, and as the track of a three-year-old 

 bull is the size of that of a large cow, it is obvi- 

 ous that even the track of the largest sterile 

 specimen of the hornless sex cannot approach in 

 size that made by an old bull. As the general 

 size of the elk differs in their various districts, 

 this fact has to be considered ; an elk in the Coast 

 country, for example, is much inferior in weight 

 to an elk of the same age in the Rockies. For 

 this reason it is necessary to know the general size 

 of the elks in the territory in which the tracking 

 is done to estimate with approximate correctness 

 the number of points on their horns from the size 

 of the track. 



The bigger the bull, the farther, of course, 

 stand the tracks away from the center line. 

 What has been said about this, and about the 

 pointing outward of toes in the chapter on Vir- 

 ginia deer, applies also to the elk, with the differ- 

 ence, however, that in the latter it is always a 

 sure sign of the bull, as is also the lagging back 

 with the hind feet. 



Like the fan-tail buck, the elk bull, in his man- 

 ner of walking, makes a hill in his track, but there 



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