Is that a buck or a doe?

[Doc]

So who here believes they can tell a buck's set of tracks from a doe's tracks? What do you look for to tell you the difference?

Doc

[burmjohn]

Its super hard to tell according to the show I am watching now.  They said if its a heavy deer then the toes spread more, indicating a buck.  Only way I know is when the deer is laying there dead in front of those track

[Doc]

Lol ...... That works.

Doc

[Buckstopshere]

And sometimes you don't even know then! LOL. Check out my little video: Enjoy.

http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/videos?vid_id=JWTtFS_SzCs&feature=youtube_gdata

[burmjohn]

That happened to us last year, but it had just bumps on the head. You had to feel for them.

[ny hunter]

Three years ago I did the same thing.

[Nyhunter325]

does will have a distinct pointed hooves and bucks will be rounded thats the way i see it when i track deer

[ny hunter]

I know I really can't tell one from the other.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

I've heard that bucks drag their back feet.

[ny hunter]

Not to be a jerk but I always thought it was a doe that drag the back feet.

[wztirem]

So who here believes they can tell a buck's set of tracks from a doe's tracks? What do you look for to tell you the difference?

Doc

I always tell my wife that she has man's feet! 

And lived to tell her again!

[wellsley]

I look for the antlers on top of his head. Then I know for sure that track is made by a buck.

All serious now I follow the track and look for the way the deer is behaving. Call it a gut feelling or what but after awhile you just know. At least about 75 percent of the time.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Im not sure, have heard alot of theories, Im still up in the air about it.What I should do is take note of where a buck walks under my stand and where a doe walks so I can compare.

You cant tell for sure by antlers on their head either, my uncle shot a doe one year sporting a pretty good 8 point rack.

[Doc]

I think most people will look at a big track and say that itwas made by a buck. We always associate big feet with bucks. However, it just isn't a foolproof method. Some does have big feet. I've seen some extreme cases of that. Some does are big, making deeper impressions. One thing that is fairly foolproof is that if you follow a track long enough, eventually the deer will urinate. The pattern of the feet at the point where the urine is located will tell the story. Also, bucks tend to urinate as the walk and does don't. The old deal about the bucks dragging their feet may hold up a bit. Actually, I know that they do occasionally do that, but I haven't had a chance to verify that does do not. I'm not exactly sure how to do that.

Doc

[Doewhacker]

Bucks tend to be wider through the chest so the distance between the legs, side to side can be an indication. Also when in rut they do tend to drag their feet, probally due to the constant walking in search of does. The easiest way to find that is when there is snow on the ground, my brother did that last December on his nice 8 he got. He cut the tracks, guessed it was a buck, and tracked him to his bed and shot him. It helped to know the area and where bucks had used before also. Other than that I don't think a track in the mud can help determine any thing other than the size of the hoof and weight of the deer.

[Daveboone]

Big does can leave big tracks, just like big women. I tend to look for a lone track (of course, an adult track with fawn track + does), and older bucks dont usually use the same trails. Of course, rub marks along the trails tend to be a clue. So I usually look for a large lone track, and try to follow it until I find more identifying features.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Not to be a jerk but I always thought it was a doe that drag the back feet.

I'm actually not so sure myself. After seeing some deer with that in mind, I couldn't really tell.