Ask me a tracking question

This forum section is for the select few who believe in hard work and refuse to “Buy” success.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


cameron
Posts: 495
Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2014 2:28 pm
Location: Arkansas
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby cameron » Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:00 pm

hunter_mike wrote:Magic,

When there is no snow, are you still able to key in on tracks enough to help you pick where you will be hunting? Like when you found that big rub earlier this fall, did you find tracks on bare ground that gave you some clues on where to set up. Tracks that 90% of other hunters would not have picked up on?


I was going to ask the same question. I live in Arkansas and we don't normally get alot of snow each year. Also, the terrain that I hunt is all hills, primarily oaks and other hardwoods with rocky ground. I've always done my best to try to follow a good track or sometimes any track for that matter but they seem to fade out really quick here due to the ground conditions.


Catskills
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:23 am
Location: Sullivan County, NY
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby Catskills » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:18 am

what do you guys do if a buck track leads you right into the thickest of thickets? Back out and attempt to go around to where he might be going? Glass and glass some more? Seems too noisy and impossible to get close to them in that situation
User avatar
magicman54494
500 Club
Posts: 4188
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:05 pm
Location: central and northern WI
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:09 am

Catskills wrote:what do you guys do if a buck track leads you right into the thickest of thickets? Back out and attempt to go around to where he might be going? Glass and glass some more? Seems too noisy and impossible to get close to them in that situation

in the areas that I track I just push right thru areas that I don't think i can shoot them. I WANT to push them out. I dont care if I make noise. This is true if the wind is wrong as well. I have been wrong way more times then I have been right when it comes to what they will do next. I have made the mistake believing they are about to bed way, way too many times.
If the thick stuff was tough to go thru such as thorny I would circle around it. Believe it or not I have my best luck in the stuuf so thick that 20 yds is a long shot. The buck I shot this year was in real thick stuff. I got lucky and somehow picked out his throat patch.
User avatar
magicman54494
500 Club
Posts: 4188
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:05 pm
Location: central and northern WI
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:13 am

cameron wrote:
hunter_mike wrote:Magic,

When there is no snow, are you still able to key in on tracks enough to help you pick where you will be hunting? Like when you found that big rub earlier this fall, did you find tracks on bare ground that gave you some clues on where to set up. Tracks that 90% of other hunters would not have picked up on?


I was going to ask the same question. I live in Arkansas and we don't normally get alot of snow each year. Also, the terrain that I hunt is all hills, primarily oaks and other hardwoods with rocky ground. I've always done my best to try to follow a good track or sometimes any track for that matter but they seem to fade out really quick here due to the ground conditions.


On bare ground I like to use historical rut routes on specific bucks. if i hunted where there was limited snow I would use rubs, tracks ,and cams to get this info.
Catskills
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:23 am
Location: Sullivan County, NY
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby Catskills » Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:27 am

this makes sense, thank you!
User avatar
Net Guy
500 Club
Posts: 1407
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2017 3:18 pm
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby Net Guy » Thu Dec 21, 2017 1:14 pm

Magic, just read the whole thread. Excellent info and thank for doing this. You mentioned earlier that you carry a GPS with you and that a buck will use the same travel routes year after year. So, when you're tracking, will you keep your GPS on to track both your's and the buck's path? If so, how do you best utilize this data for future hunts? Thank you.
User avatar
magicman54494
500 Club
Posts: 4188
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:05 pm
Location: central and northern WI
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 2:11 pm

Net Guy wrote:Magic, just read the whole thread. Excellent info and thank for doing this. You mentioned earlier that you carry a GPS with you and that a buck will use the same travel routes year after year. So, when you're tracking, will you keep your GPS on to track both your's and the buck's path? If so, how do you best utilize this data for future hunts? Thank you.

i do keep trail info from tracking.
i travel to hunt so i am not around to hunt earlier amd during bare ground but i would sit these routes pre and post rut. what i do is study the info and learn movement patterns of bucks in general. i really understand a lot better how these bucks use the land as a result. this helps me pick stand sites on land i have never hunted. one of the biggest aides is i know where to look for that buck next year.
User avatar
Scoutking07
Posts: 53
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:57 am
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WisconsinWhitetailTrailCam/
Location: SE WI
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby Scoutking07 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 9:28 am

Ok I need an experienced trackers opinion. I was scouting/shed hunting this past weekend and found a bed from what I guessed was the big buck I'm after. The bed was the only bed in the immediate area and was quite large. I will attach a few photos and see if anyone sees what I saw, or at least what I though it was. Lets hear some thoughts, thanks.

Image
Image
Image
Always pick a spot!
SmallJawNH
Posts: 105
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 12:50 pm
Location: Texas
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby SmallJawNH » Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:37 am

magicman54494 wrote:
Spysar wrote:Magic, here's a question:

Your following a decent track, but not the biggest you've seen. You're pretty sure it's a buck. You know the track is fairly fresh, and your pretty certain you can catch up to this one. Then you cross another track mid-day. This track is bigger, and certainly has to be a buck. But the track is older, and it's 50/50 on the chance of catching up to this one. You have a couple of hours invested in the first track, but the new tracks size has you wondering......

Do you stick to the first track? Or jump ship and take a chance on the new bigger track???


This exact thing happened to me last year on the buck I killed. I started off on a good track. The snow was melting but was froze the night before. My bucks track was made in the melting snow so I know he was "fresh". I actually crossed the track of the buck I ended up killing but passed him up becasue the track was made in frozen snow so I know it was older. The older track was a better buck. I could tell he was with a doe. My buck ended up circling around and finding that doe as well. He led me to the other buck. To make a long story short I ended up taking the bigger buck and ended up getting him. I would say that in most cases I will take the better track even if it's older. I guess there are many variables so it's hard to just say always or never. Since I am getting more experience and I am more interested in getting a big one than any one I almost always take the bigger one. Just because the track is older doesn't always mean he is further away eithor. I switched off a track this yaer after tracking him a long ways to an older track. The older track buck was bedded less than 200 yds from me when i took it. I jumped him but didn't get a shot and I ran out of daylight shortly after that.


I heard one tracker say he ran into this scenario but the second track was fresher. After a while he figued out it was actually the same deer that circled back on its own track. Track only looked different because of the freshness of it.
User avatar
rfickes87
500 Club
Posts: 1076
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 4:27 am
Location: PENNSYLVANIA
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby rfickes87 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:39 pm

I shot the buck of my life the first day of rifle in PA this year. He was standing still broadside at 40 yards and just as i squeezed off on his front shoulder he turned towards me and jumped over a log. I saw blood coming out his shoulder area. It appeared He ran off with the power of 3 legs. I spent 2 days tracking him. Moderate blood for the first 200 yards. Then drops. More drops downhill and almost nothing going up hills. Then after a mile it was a spec every 10 feet. Then in some thick pines i found blood (after a mile and a half of tracking) that was in a circle about the size of a dinner plate. Then just drops every 10- 15 feet. Then he went down to a creek and i lost the trail. Dark red blood. Not bright. Can i assume I just have him a flesh wound? Surely i didn't hit any vitals? For what its worth, Hh ran straight west the entire time. It was a west wind thay day.... Sad day... Still makes me sick.
"Pressure and Time. That's all it takes, really. Pressure, and time..."
User avatar
Dpierce72
500 Club
Posts: 1144
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 2:30 pm
Location: Arkansas (NEA)
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby Dpierce72 » Sun Jan 14, 2018 2:22 am

Over my lifetime, two deer have stumped me after being shot. When approaching the 'hit' site, I was met with large quantities of good lung blood. Each time, I waited to begin tracking. Each of these deer ran ~100 yards and the trail simply stopped. On both occasions, I recruited other friends to help track the the trail and deer seemingly disappeared. This was following hours of searching.

So my question: When a deer is hit that hard ...with that much blood ...what is a trick not to let them slip away?

For the record, I consider myself a decent tracker and have had friends bring me in to help track when they've faced challenges with good success. However, we ALWAYS think about the ones that got away...

Thanks
"Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make your a better person." ~Fred Bear
ihookem
500 Club
Posts: 1124
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:18 pm
Location: Allenton , Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby ihookem » Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:05 pm

Do you ever just sneak up on a buck bed and just stalk the bed? As for me, I hunt Price co. WIs, it is all woods, thick as can be and I really almost never find a buck bed. In S.E. Wis. I find buck beds in the marshes all the time. I can almost walk up on them cause I can look around and see a tree line and know there are buck beds there on the high spots. Now that I have at least 30 buck beds I can sneak up on them. I never did it but want to start trying in late season like muzzy or the last few days of gun. I would not waste my time with a bow. Why not just sneak up on the buck bed and look from a distance and try to see it move?
User avatar
muddy
Posts: 8770
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:04 am
Location: Hawkeye State of Mind
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby muddy » Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:50 pm

I recently learned to "pogo stick" thru the snow, how far can you track me?

Image
http://www.iowawhitetail.com
Leading the way for habitat and management information

"It's a good thing you don't need commas and colons to kill deer" -seaz
User avatar
ghoasthunter
500 Club
Posts: 2211
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:09 am
Location: New jersey
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 14, 2018 2:30 pm

Scoutking07 wrote:Ok I need an experienced trackers opinion. I was scouting/shed hunting this past weekend and found a bed from what I guessed was the big buck I'm after. The bed was the only bed in the immediate area and was quite large. I will attach a few photos and see if anyone sees what I saw, or at least what I though it was. Lets hear some thoughts, thanks.

Image
Image
Image

I can see where his hocks stained the snow
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS
User avatar
ghoasthunter
500 Club
Posts: 2211
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:09 am
Location: New jersey
Status: Offline

Re: Ask me a tracking question

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 14, 2018 2:33 pm

ghoasthunter wrote:
Scoutking07 wrote:Ok I need an experienced trackers opinion. I was scouting/shed hunting this past weekend and found a bed from what I guessed was the big buck I'm after. The bed was the only bed in the immediate area and was quite large. I will attach a few photos and see if anyone sees what I saw, or at least what I though it was. Lets hear some thoughts, thanks.

Image
Image
Image

I can see where his hocks stained the snow

if your thinking that's where the rack was touching snow I'm not sure its melted real far down and could be where his feet were slipping around
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS


  • Advertisement

Return to “Public Land Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests