584 
FOREST AND STREAM 
November, 1920 
the day before, and if the track is there 
today and was not there yesterday, 
it is fairly fresh. When this is im- 
practicable, as when you were in New 
York yesterday and are in New Hamp- 
shire hunting today, study the track very 
carefully and bear in mind that it is not 
the condition of the track alone, but its 
condition when considered in the light of 
circumstances. For instance, in extreme- 
ly cold weather, a track may be full of 
frost, a regular network of it, a few min- 
utes after the deer steps out of it. A 
track on crust where the deer breaks 
through where the sun hits it and does 
not in the shade, was made when the 
sun had softened the crust. Conversely, 
a crust that has been caused by sun- 
melting will at 
night hold better 
in the open than 
under the trees, 
and just the oppo- 
site on sunny days. 
A new track on 
snow always looks 
more clear cut and 
cleaner than an old 
one. Also, the snow 
kicked up looks 
fresher. Snow fleas 
will sometimes hop 
into tracks as soon 
as they are made, 
and they make 
them look old ; shoo 
them out before ex- 
amining or they 
may fool you. The 
loose snow kicked 
out by the deer 
may be a better 
guide than the 
track itself, which 
may be deep and 
so shaded and pro- 
tected. Loose snow 
and lumps kicked 
out will congeal 
and stick to the snow underneath in time, 
the period depending on the weather. In 
extremely cold weather without much 
wind, and which has remained unchanged 
for days, the age of a track is most diffi- 
cult to determine. This seldom occurs, 
however ; if we -look back carefully, there 
is usually some meteorological condition 
in the near past that would affect a track 
one way or another at the time. 
Bare ground tracking is slow, but nor 
at all impossible. The freshness of a 
track is then determined by frost and 
moisture. A bare ground track that is 
full of frost is old, especially if cobwebs 
are also present. In fallen leaves, unless 
the weather has been unusually dry, it 
is damp under the leaves, and even if 
the deer kicks none over (which he will) 
the pressure in most places leaves a 
damp spot just where his foot was. Also, 
when he steps into a soft spot, the mud 
in his tracks for a few steps thereafter 
will remain damp for a considerable 
time, and the amount of dampness re- 
maining is a good guide to the' time that 
has elapsed since the deer passed. 
The key to bare ground-tracking is the 
size of the foot prints and their position 
relative to each other, i. e., their distance 
apart. The running track is easy to fol- 
low almost anywhere; it is when he 
starts to walk that the trouble begins. 
Suppose the track leads along clear cut, 
and then is not clear thereafter, do not 
step ahead looking for it and track the 
ground all up yourself; stop at the last 
cle-.^' foot-print and with the distance 
between that and the last one preceding 
as a radius (measured with the eye), ex- 
amine carefully a semi-circle described 
to the front for the slightest trace of 
what might be a track, and when found, 
using the same radius and that new spot 
as a center, proceed as before. In this 
way the track can be traced through very 
hard country, the idea being that many 
things make marks on the ground, but 
marks the same distance apart as the 
deer steps and continuing in proper se- 
ries, are probably the tracks of the deer. 
With good tracking ground ahead, one 
should not bother to track through hard 
country; the last plain track should be 
plainly marked so that it may be picked 
up later if necessary, and a semi-circle 
swung ahead to find the track on good 
ground. After one becomes accustomed 
to the habits of deer, it is often possible 
to look ahead a long way and surmise 
almost exactly where the deer will travel. 
John Haverfield can do this with almost 
never a mistake, and almost anyone can 
pick out numerous places where the deer 
will not go. Where tracks are numerous 
on bad ground, a semi-circle through 
good ground somewhat ahead — ground so 
good that the track may be plainly seen 
— is the only solution, and sometimes a 
full circle all around is necessary. 
In determining the size of a deer from 
the tracks, three factors must be taken 
into consideration, the size and the depth 
of the track and the length of stride. 
Some small deer have large feet and 
some have long legs, and it is difficult 
to judge the weight of a deer by the 
depth of his track, but by taking all 
three into consideration, one can usually 
arrive at a fair estimate. The sex is 
easier to determine, the hoof of the buck 
being much more sharply pointed and 
straighter on the side than the doe’s. 
A deer is a rubber-necked sort of 
fellow in more ways than one. In looking 
about or feeding, he moves his feet as 
seldom as possible, preferring to reach 
about by twisting and turning and 
stretching his neck. He will run straight 
away from you, stop and look straight 
back, and then run again, and as you 
follow his track you cannot tell where 
he stopped, the tracks look the same 
right along. Also he will walk behind a 
clump of bushes or' a tree trunk, peer 
around first one side and then the other, 
without moving a 
foot, and his track 
will look just as 
though he had 
walked straight 
past without stop- 
ping. If you should 
see where he has 
stopped behind a 
bush or other cov- 
er, and peered 
through at some- 
thing, and made 
several tracks, that 
is where he has 
stamped his feet in 
defiance of some- 
thing he fears. He 
often does this 
when being fol- 
lowed, and when 
you see the place, 
you can be sure he 
is not far away 
and that his mood 
is defiant; a deer 
in a panic does not 
do this. In mak- 
ing a sneaking get- 
away, he will walk 
in line behind a 
tree, and his track approaching and de- 
parting from that tree will look exactly 
as though he had walked straight through 
it. He uses the tree as both screen and 
background. 
V ERY early in the morning or late 
in the afternoon is the most favor- 
able time for the deer hunter. 
Manifestly, the very worst time in which 
to get a deer is when he has nothing to 
think of but taking care of himself. 
Early in the morning when he is feeding 
is a very good time, but after a day’s 
chase he is much hungrier and tired be- 
sides, and his mentality is not what it 
was in the morning. He then has many 
things on his mind, and, if the chase has 
been properly conducted, he is more de- 
fiant and not nearly so easy to throw into 
a panic. 
When first jumped, any deer’s first 
idea is to get away from you, and his 
next*, to travel so that he will not run 
into another enemy. His first dash will 
be almost straight away from you, after 
which he will head up into the wind. 
There are many minor variations of this 
but the end of a day’s chase practically 
(continued on page 612) 
Venison comprises the staple diet of the trapper 
