Tracking

[Buckmaster7600]

I’ve gotten a bunch of questions and there seems to be some interest around here on tracking. While I sit around on my thumb with no tag until muzzleloader I figured I would try and answer some questions and try to pass on some information to those that are interested. Everyone please feel free to add to this as well!

 

First off I’ll start by saying I am not a good tracker, I’ve killed my share of bucks while tracking but most of those bucks died because I can shoot not because I can track. I continue to learn everyday I’m out there.

 

Growing up my father hunted the big woods and I loved it. When I got old enough to hunt I sat in a lot of tree stands and I enjoyed it but I always looked forward to our trips up north. My father always said that tracking didn’t work and the only way to kill deer in the big woods was to still hunt or do drives so that’s what I did but I always tried to track if I had the chance. I killed my first buck tracking when I was 16, it was a nice buck that I shot in his bed but I now know I did everything wrong on that hunt and just got lucky but it lit the fire. At 18 I went into the Marine Corps and always saved my leave for hunting season but my father no longer hunted up north and we started going to Ohio and doing more and more stand hunting. Although I love any kind of hunting I was bored quickly even tho I was shooting some nice bucks. After 8 years in the Marines and a handful of deployments hunting didn’t do it for me anymore I still hunted but I didn’t have the drive I had before.

 

One day I decided to head north by myself and caught a good track, I tracked him all day but never saw him. I then realized I had found what I had been missing. The adrenaline rush and the hyper focus that I thrived on in the military was found again in tracking. That day also made me realize that I was fat and out of shape. I also realized that some of my mental and physical issues I was dealing with that hindered me while sitting in a stand didn’t bother me while tracking if anything they helped me. While I’m tracking there’s only one thing on my mind, the depression and physical pain never crossed my mind while I was tracking.

 

Tracking is one of the easiest forms of hunting, all you have to do is find a track then catch up to him. Anyone can track, its way more about mental focus and mental toughness than anything else. Staying on the track not worrying about getting lost or how far from your rig you are is the hardest part for most people.

 

Tracking also requires the least amount of time. You don’t need to scout, you didn’t need to plant food plots, hang stands or setup blinds. All you need is some snow and the determination not to quit. We are lucky to live in a state with some huge chunks of public land that we can hunt.

 

Tracking also requires the least amount of gear. All you need is dry boots, comfortable clothes, compass “that you know how to use”, map, maybe a gps. A small survival kit is a good idea as well.

 

 

I’m going to start on gear and if there is interest I’ll go into other aspects.

 

Gear-

 

As I already said the gear list is very small. The most important thing about tracking is being mobile I carry very little while I’m tracking just the bare essentials that fit in a small fanny pack. I never carry a backpack because I think they make too much noise and slow me down too much. Really I could carry everything I need for a day of tracking could fit in my pockets but I like to bring a couple sandwiches so I wear a small fanny pack.

 

For boots I wear Lacrosse 18” grange if it gets down in the teens I’ll wear the 18” Burlys with the air grip tread. The Grange have no insulation and are like wearing slippers. I always take the little foam insoles out because I want to be able to feel every branch under my feet. The burlys are a little heavier and stiffer, they’re harder to feel things under your feet but do have a small amount of insulation, I also take the insoles out of those as well to help with the feel.

 

For pants I wear wool, I have tried a lot of different pants because wool pants are heavy but I haven’t found anything else that works as good as wool. Wool is quite especially when you’re walking through small whips that “slap” off synthetic material.

 

For shirts I’ll wear fleece flannel until it starts getting cold then I switch to a wool shirt. The fleece is nice because it’s lighter but gets cold when wet.

 

It’s very rare that I get cold enough to wear a beanie but I usually have one with me just Incase. I usually just wear a baseball hat. If there’s snow on the trees I always wear a very light fleece neck gator not for warmth but it prevents snow from going down the back of my neck when it falls off branches.

 

For base layers I wear Marino wool. If it’s above 20 I don’t wear a base layer under my wool pants colder than 20 I wear light Marino wool. On top I have a couple different weights usually wear the lightest one unless it’s real cold. Unless it’s down around zero and I add a vest I only ever wear 2 layers.

 

Socks are one of if not the most important article of clothing for a tracker because you need to keep your feet warm and they also have to stay up on your legs while walking. There’s nothing worse than when socks are sliding down your feet while walking. I wear smart wool ski socks they are knee high and never move, they make them in two different weights. I usually wear the lighter ones unless it’s real cold. I will only hunt with them for one season then they become work socks because the elastic wears out and they will start to slide down your foot.

 

Guns- I’ve probably carried 30 different guns while tracking and still haven’t found the perfect one. My favorite are the Remington pumps but they have their flaws as well. The important thing is to be able to shoot what you choose and be able to tote it all day without it tiring you out. One of my good buddies is an excellent tracker and he carries a browning Abolt in 7mm mag with a 26” barrel with a big heavy scope. It’s not what I would call ideal but he’s comfortable with it and has killed a pile of bucks with it tracking. Me personally I want short and light this year I killed my buck with a Remington 760 in 35 Remington. But I’ve killed deer tracking with autos, bolts, levers and pumps and they all work if you do your part.

 

Sights/ optics- I go back and forth on this constantly, this year I killed mine with a peep sight but while I was shooting I was wishing I had a scope. It’s personal preference they both have their pros and cons. The two biggest cons to scopes are their weight and keeping the snow out of them. Peeps or open sights are awesome to carry because they weigh nothing and don’t catch snow and branches while walking, but they are harder to shoot accurately with and they don’t help you seeing the branches/trees between you and the buck like a scope does. As of now I hunt with both a low powered scope with as close to 1X as possible is my preference but when there’s snow on the branches or if it’s snowing I carry a gun with a peep sight.

 

One thing I’ll add is that while tracking inevitably you’ll have to cross a stream or river. One thing I do to help this is I blouse my boots. I use a heavy rubber band and tuck my pant legs under the rubber band above my ankles on the outside of my boots. This does two things it keeps the bottom of my pant legs from freezing into clumps of ice it also keeps water out if I’m crossing water that’s higher than my boots. With wool pants and my boots bloused if the water is below my pockets and I hurry across my feet stay dry, my pants will be wet but not enough to run into my boots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Robhuntandfish]

Have you ever tracked and stayed on a group of does and hope a buck cuts them?  Ive havent tracked like that in a long time but used to do some in Lewis county.   A couple of times we would find tracks for two/three does and just stay back of them and hope to see a lone set of larger tracks meet up with them.   I did this a couple of times and I didnt have it work, but always thought it might be a good idea.  Bucks were always so hard to come by.  Usually we would get off the track of the does once they started crossing themselves several times - which it seemed like they always eventually did.  Including walking back inot my own tracks from earlier.  We used to drive a lot of the back roads and try to cut into a bigger track but most of the back roads up there got filled in with snow so you couldnt drive them.  So then it was all on foot. And seemed like winning the lottery if you did happen to catch a lone set that looked like a possible buck.  I have to say i have not done the loops and long treks that you put in but have done 5 miles on a track and rarely catch up.   And honestly have decided to turn around when they cross a stream for fear of the water and the cold and being out so far.  

[moog5050]

Love to hear how you go about cutting a good track and then deciding whether its worth pursuing.  On your buck this year, I was trying to figure out how you know from a truck in the dark that you saw a track worth chasing.  Also, how quiet do you need to move?  Seems you track at a pretty good clip.

[Buckmaster7600]

Have you ever tracked and stayed on a group of does and hope a buck cuts them?  Ive havent tracked like that in a long time but used to do some in Lewis county.   A couple of times we would find tracks for two/three does and just stay back of them and hope to see a lone set of larger tracks meet up with them.   I did this a couple of times and I didnt have it work, but always thought it might be a good idea.  Bucks were always so hard to come by.  Usually we would get off the track of the does once they started crossing themselves several times - which it seemed like they always eventually did.  Including walking back inot my own tracks from earlier.  We used to drive a lot of the back roads and try to cut into a bigger track but most of the back roads up there got filled in with snow so you couldnt drive them.  So then it was all on foot. And seemed like winning the lottery if you did happen to catch a lone set that looked like a possible buck.  I have to say i have not done the loops and long treks that you put in but have done 5 miles on a track and rarely catch up.   And honestly have decided to turn around when they cross a stream for fear of the water and the cold and being out so far.  

Yes and no, I would never go slow enough trying to stay behind does in hopes of a buck cutting them off. I don’t have that kind of patience. If I’m having trouble finding a track worth taking I will take a track that I know isn’t a buck I’ll shoot or even a doe track in hopes of it leading to a track worth taking.

As far as distances I hate tracking the middle two weeks in November, I’ll still do it if I have snow but I know the odds are against me from the beginning. That time of year when the rut is kicking off bucks travel so many miles in a day that they’re hard to catch up to. There’s been days when I get on a track early in the day go 10-15 miles on it and when I get off the track at 3 or 4 to head to the truck I’m further from him than when I started. In the beginning or the end of season bucks travel way less and are much easier to catch up to in a day.


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[Salmon_Run]

Buckmaster,

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and thoughts on this topic.

Stay well and track on !!!

Maybe some snow by the weekend in Hamilton Co. 

[Buckmaster7600]

Love to hear how you go about cutting a good track and then deciding whether its worth pursuing.  On your buck this year, I was trying to figure out how you know from a truck in the dark that you saw a track worth chasing.  Also, how quiet do you need to move?  Seems you track at a pretty good clip.

This is only the second time in my life that I have killed a buck from a track I found on the road in NY. In Maine, New Hampshire and northern Vermont it’s much more common because they log their woods and have a much better road system.  

Usually I find a track in the woods. I like to follow terrain features be it a ridge or a trickle coming off a mountain. Something I figure a buck will cross in its daily “usually nightly” wonderings.

 

Figuring out if the track is worth following is one of the hardest parts of tracking in New York because our deer are smaller than the other “tracking” states. When hunting Maine and New Hampshire it’s easy because their mature bucks tend to weigh north of 200lbs and a 200+ pounder usually has a huge track. In New York I have to use other information from the track to decide if it’s worth it. I still use the size but often a mature doe will have the same size track as a mature New York buck. I pay the most attention to width between the tracks “stagger” a mature bucks chest is wider than a does and I look for stride a mature buck has a longer body than a doe and his steps will longer. The biggest reason why I followed the one I killed this year is because 20yards off the road he came to a spot where two trees were growing 30”‘s apart and I could see where he intentionally walked around them so he didn’t have to go though that gap. He probably did that 100 times throughout that day so I knew he had a decent rack, to be honest I though he was going to have a lot wider rack than he did have based on the paths he was taking.

 

When I’m tracking unless the buck gives me some idea that he’s slowing down I’m not quiet at all. I’m trying to cover country. I always call it the mall walkers pace, I don’t know if they do it other places but around here people will go to the malls early in the morning and walk during the winter for exercise and they’re usually going at a good clip. Depending on terrain I can usually keep about a 4 mile per hour pace while I’m on a track until he gives me an indication that he’s slowing down. When I’m in “mall walker” mode I’m not hunting I’m not worried about bumping deer or even seeing deer I’m only concerned with playing catch up. If I’m in the woods looking for a track I’m going about the same pace I’m not hunting deer I’m hunting a track.

 

 

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[Buckmaster7600]

Buckmaster,

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and thoughts on this topic.

Stay well and track on !!!

Maybe some snow by the weekend in Hamilton Co. 

Good luck up there! I’ll be heading back “guiding” on Friday. I have a buddy that wants to track. It’s so hard to track with two people. Between them not being able to cover the ground and not having the eye to see the deer even with me trying to tell them where it is. I have brought 3 different people up with me since I got my buck and put all of them on deer that I could see and could have shot and none of them have been able to pull the trigger. It’s fun and keeps me in the woods but it sure is frustrating!

 

 

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[rachunter]

Great topic buckmaster as you know I’m up here now trying to track a buck. It’s one of the main reasons I bought my retirement home up here. Right now I’m still trying to put it all together after 11 days and only one deer seen(spike) I’m hooked. I wanted a challenge after hunting the flat lands of Long Island. I think I’m going to put in for the two weeks after thanksgiving next year even if it means using my muzzle loader.
Clothing I learned real fast not to over dress. I’m down to a dew rag and mesh face mask. I need a good pair of light waterproof gloves and I’m going to look into those uninsulated boots. Everything else I’m good to go.
Weapon the first to days I carried a scoped ruger Hawkeye. Then I took my marlin lever open peep-sight big difference I never used the sling on it except to check my gps. I have a 7600 it doesn’t seem to fit me going to look it a thinner buttplate or stock.
Backpack I picked up a Stika sling pack and got rid of a lot of crap. There’s no use for bino’s or a rangefinder with this style of hunting.
Keep the tips coming there very helpful and appreciated.


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[Buckmaster7600]

Great topic buckmaster as you know I’m up here now trying to track a buck. It’s one of the main reasons I bought my retirement home up here. Right now I’m still trying to put it all together after 11 days and only one deer seen(spike) I’m hooked. I wanted a challenge after hunting the flat lands of Long Island. I think I’m going to put in for the two weeks after thanksgiving next year even if it means using my muzzle loader.
Clothing I learned real fast not to over dress. I’m down to a dew rag and mesh face mask. I need a good pair of light waterproof gloves and I’m going to look into those uninsulated boots. Everything else I’m good to go.
Weapon the first to days I carried a scoped ruger Hawkeye. Then I took my marlin lever open peep-sight big difference I never used the sling on it except to check my gps. I have a 7600 it doesn’t seem to fit me going to look it a thinner buttplate or stock.
Backpack I picked up a Stika sling pack and got rid of a lot of crap. There’s no use for bino’s or a rangefinder with this style of hunting.
Keep the tips coming there very helpful and appreciated.


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Just wait until it all comes together!

I don’t like water proof anything because they make me sweat too much, I wear very thin merino wool gloves that still keep my hands warm when they’re wet. I don’t agree with the bino thing this is my first year wearing them and I don’t think I’ll ever be without them again. Even when I carried a scoped gun I still wore them and used them a lot. I think the only day I never looked through them after wearing them was the day I killed my buck.


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[rachunter]

I wind up not wearing gloves half the time but the ones I have got wet instantly. I’ve always bow hunted with binos maybe I’ll try my compact one next time.


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[Buckmaster7600]

these are the gloves I wear and I love them! Always keep a 2nd pare in my back pocket Incase they get soaked.


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[wolc123]

I may try some tracking up there this coming long weekend.  My father in law gave me the green light to use his scoped Marlin 336 30/30 and I will also have my own fiber-optic sighted "big-loop" one, in case it is snowing.   My preferred technique up there (with my big, heavy, scoped, bolt-action 30/06) has been to locate where the does are bedded, choose an ambush site downwind, and hope to catch a buck "checking up" on them.  That worked good in 2014 and 2016.  The snow/tracking conditions were perfect last year but I was "tag-less", so I spent some time zeroing in my father in law's "new in box" 30/30 on the range.   Unless a huge one shows up at home on Thanksgiving morning this year, I should have a buck tag for my trip up there.  

[Fletch]

Buckmaster thanks for sharing a bit of your knowledge!! I have always been interested in tracking in the big woods. I actually spent opening weekend of rifle every year from age 16 for probably 15 or more years up around Paul Smiths. But mostly sat watch, still hunted and did drives. I don't worry about the hiking or the shooting and I have a good eye for picking out pieces of deer. I think what holds me back is my confidence in finding my sorry ass out of the woods lol after following a track all willy nilly for miles.

 

Keep sharing, I love the topic!

[wolc123]

5 minutes ago, Fletch said:

 I think what holds me back is my confidence in finding my sorry ass out of the woods lol after following a track all willy nilly for miles.

 

Keep sharing, I love the topic!

Same here, especially after crossing a creek in sub-freezing temperatures and getting my feet soaked. I will pack along the Woolrich pants my wife recently bought me and tuck them into my waterproof "mickey-mouse" boots, cinch the laces tight, and see how that works.  I did not have a pleasant experience on a late season doe that I had to retrieve from across a deep ditch at the back of our farm a couple years ago, but I don't think I had the laces tight, and my modern Cabelas "guide-gear" bibs were not tucked in.   One foot was completely numb by the time I made the thousand yard walk back up to the house.

[Buckmaster7600]

Same here, especially after crossing a creek in sub-freezing temperatures and getting my feet soaked. I will pack along the Woolrich pants my wife recently bought me and tuck them into my waterproof "mickey-mouse" boots, cinch the laces tight, and see how that works.  I did not have a pleasant experience on a late season doe that I had to retrieve from across a deep ditch at the back of our farm a couple years ago, but I don't think I had the laces tight, and my modern Cabelas "guide-gear" bibs were not tucked in.   One foot was completely numb by the time I made the thousand yard walk back up to the house.

Tucking them into the boots is the worst thing you can do, that let’s all the water run into the boots. You can’t tie boots water tight. If anything tape your pants on the outside of your boots.

 

 

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[wolc123]

11 minutes ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

Tucking them into the boots is the worst thing you can do, that let’s all the water run into the boots. You can’t tie boots water tight. If anything tape your pants on the outside of your boots.

 

 

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Sounds like the Woolrich pants are out for Adirondack tracking (I don't think they will stretch around outside of the Mickeys, ).   I guess I will stick with the Cabelas bibs and just tighten the boot laces prior to the creek crossing.   It is almost a certainty that I will need to cross a deep creek if I do any serious tracking in my spot up there.  Thanks for the tip.  I am packing my foot locker tonight and space is limited.  I will wear the "new" Woolrich pants on my Thanksgiving morning hunt at home instead.   I have not killed an antlered buck wearing those since my first one back in 1983.   

I will bring a roll of electric tape to go around the outside of the bibs prior to the creek crossing.   I will remember to carry that in an inside pocket so it unrolls easy in the cold.  

Edited November 26, 2019 by wolc123

[rachunter]

Tracks
What’s some of the things you look for in tracks size,freshness,single deer. What makes you say that one and know you can catch up to him.


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[Robhuntandfish]

I would think a pair of boot gaiters would be a good investment for this kind of hunting. They aren't all that expensive or heavy and would help with the stream crossings. 

[ncountry]

Great info!  I have always said that the single biggest thing a person could do to improve their odds was to be excellent at " jump shooting" a deer.. when I spent more time in the big woods I had many opportunities on bucks within 50 yds that jumped and ran. 95+% of the time I never even fired a bullet. I am an excellent still target shot, but not so much on a moving target. Shotgun or rifle.Maybe 1 day I will put the time in to practice .

on that note... How do you practice this? 

[ncountry]

Also.

When do you know when to slow down and start paying more attention? Or r u so good that you dont and just shoot them when they take off..

[Buckmaster7600]

Buckmaster thanks for sharing a bit of your knowledge!! I have always been interested in tracking in the big woods. I actually spent opening weekend of rifle every year from age 16 for probably 15 or more years up around Paul Smiths. But mostly sat watch, still hunted and did drives. I don't worry about the hiking or the shooting and I have a good eye for picking out pieces of deer. I think what holds me back is my confidence in finding my sorry ass out of the woods lol after following a track all willy nilly for miles.
 
Keep sharing, I love the topic!

For someone new to the game I always recommend someone start from one side of a road and never from the end of a road. If you start hunting from the side of a road and the road goes east and west and you step off from north side of the road no matter what happens or how far you go as long as you don’t cross the road if you head south you’ll end up back on the road you started. It’s that simple you might be a couple miles from your rig but I’d rather walk 10 miles by road than a mile through the woods in the dark.


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[Buckmaster7600]

Tracks
What’s some of the things you look for in tracks size,freshness,single deer. What makes you say that one and know you can catch up to him.


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I could type from now until next season on aging tracks and still not cover it all. But I’ll give it a shot.

If I’m at camp I’ll make sure to make a foot print in fresh untouched snow before I go to bed. If I get up to pee in the middle of night I’ll make sure to make another print besides the first one. As soon as I wake up I always have to take a leak and put another track beside the others. Before I get in the truck for the morning I study those tracks if it snowed I’ll make note of how much Snow is in the tracks and Take mental notes. If it didn’t snow I’ll feel each track with my bare hand and see how frozen they are.

Unfortunately I don’t live up there so often I leave my house at 2am and drive up to where I’m hunting. The fresher the track the more crisp it will look, the edges will be sharp the corners will be sharp. The older the track the more “blurry” they get. The edges will be rounded the corners will be rounded.

Another thing I always do is put my bare fingers “another reason why I wear fingerless gloves” down in the track to see how it feels then I’ll push my fist down in the snow and compare my print to the track and see how similar they feel.


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[Buckmaster7600]

I would think a pair of boot gaiters would be a good investment for this kind of hunting. They aren't all that expensive or heavy and would help with the stream crossings. 

I had never saw a pair before last week when my buddy showed up with a set, I think they were Sitka’s, I think he said they were over a hundred dollars. He started out with them on and after a while of following me on a track he realized how much more noise he was making than I was. He took them off and put them in his backpack and it did help some. When we crossed a stream that was about knee high he put them back on and when we got to the other side he said his feet were wet. He was wearing goretex boots but I don’t remember the brand. He sent me a text the other day asking me what boots I was wearing so I’m guessing he getting a pair of lacrosse’s.

They would be perfect if they made them in a quieter material but when I looked them up after every pair I found was gortex and would be way too loud for tracking.


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[Buckmaster7600]

Great info!  I have always said that the single biggest thing a person could do to improve their odds was to be excellent at " jump shooting" a deer.. when I spent more time in the big woods I had many opportunities on bucks within 50 yds that jumped and ran. 95+% of the time I never even fired a bullet. I am an excellent still target shot, but not so much on a moving target. Shotgun or rifle.Maybe 1 day I will put the time in to practice .
on that note... How do you practice this? 

I shoot a lot! Thousands of rounds a year from deer rifles. Other than the hand full of shots it takes to sight in and confirm I’m sighted in I shoot steel targets. Every time I shoot I do speed drills. From a one handed carry position to a shot off in 3 seconds. I have 4”-10” steel plates setup from 20-80yds in my yard.

Another thing we do every year is go to an old shale pit and put balloons or a piece of cardboard in a tire and role it down the hill and someone shoots at it while it’s rolling down the hill. That is an awesome way to practice shooting at running/moving deer.


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[ncountry]

Just now, Buckmaster7600 said:

I shoot a lot! Thousands of rounds a year from deer rifles. Other than the hand full 

Another thing we do every year is go to an old shale pit and put balloons or a piece of cardboard in a tire and role it down the hill and someone shoots at it while it’s rolling down the hill. That is an awesome way to practice shooting at running/moving deer.


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I always liked the sound of this.. never tried it .