A set of large deer tracks
enters the timber. Is it a buck or doe, bull or cow? Is
it fresh enough to follow? Here’s what you need to know
to track down a wallhanger.
By Bill Buckley, Field Editor
Hunting public land is
always a bit of a crapshoot: No matter how early you start
hiking, you never know when a couple guys on horses will pass
you. So when I came upon two sets of fresh bull tracks in
3 inches of fresh powder, it didn’t take much convincing
to take up the trail.
A couple hundred yards later the bull tracks climbed onto
an old logging road and followed it around the curve of the
mountain. On flat ground elk can cover a lot of country fast,
but they could also stop to feed on the grass planted along
the banks and edges. With any luck these bulls would be doing
precisely that on their way to bed.
Sure enough, their tracks fell into a pattern of looping toward
the inside bank to feed on chest-high grass, then returning
to the middle of the road to cover 50 yards or so. Knowing
this would likely continue, I kept my rifle at ready and continued
trailing. Within a half-hour I was staring at two tan elk
butts 100 yards away, and after 15 minutes of shadowing them,
one of the bulls picked up its head, looked in my direction
and turned broadside. I couldn’t resist.
After quartering the 6-point and returning to the trailhead
for my pack, I was shocked to see no other hunters around.
It had been a mild fall, and most hunters were still waiting
until harsher weather started the migration flowing from nearby
Yellowstone Park. No one had apparently taken the advantage
of new snow into account.
The Great Equalizer
Fact is, new snow is a huge boon if you know how to take advantage
of it. Not only does it cover old tracks and show you where
the game is now concentrated (so you’ll know where to focus
your time), it obviously makes finding fresh tracks and
following them much easier. Game also tends to feed, and
hence be on the move, more when snow starts falling, and
it only takes a little snow to make conditions prime.
Not that you can’t track bulls and bucks down in snow that’s
been around for days. In fact, if you keep close enough tabs
on the weather, you can find many windows of opportunity most
hunters don’t even consider. For instance, as long as it has
stayed cold since a powdery snow fell and the snow hasn’t
compacted yet, watch the forecast for winds of 15 mph and
more. Old tracks will fill in fast, and even relatively new
tracks will begin to accumulate powder.
Also, hunt warm
days when the snow starts to melt. Older tracks will dish
out, and fresh tracks will show every small detail of the
hooves that made them. Smart hunters keep constant track of
the weather, and when conditions are about to change, they’ll
determine how that will affect their hunting spots. I’ve found AccuWeather.com to
be an excellent hunting tool, especially using its hour-by-hour
forecast for the upcoming 36 to 48 hours.
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