Tracks and Tracking

PART I. Group One--Hoofed Game:

GROUP ONE--HOOFED GAME:

The White-Tailed or Virginia Deer 11 The Fan-Tailed Deer 32 The Mule Deer 39 The Wapiti or Elk 43 The Moose 49 The Mountain Sheep 55 The Antelope 61

PREDACEOUS ANIMALS:

The Bear 73 The Cougar 92 The Lynx 101 The Domestic Cat 107 The Wolf 109 The Coyote 118 The Fox 121 WHAT TRACKING MEANS AND SOME HUNTING METHODS 125

GROUP TWO:

The Jack-Rabbit 135 The Varying Hare 140 The Cottontail Rabbit 144 The Squirrel 148

GROUP THREE:

The Marten and the Black-Footed Ferret 153 The Otter 157 The Mink 161 The Ermine 164

GROUP FOUR:

The Beaver 171 The Badger 180 The Porcupine 186 The Skunk 192

PART II. Feathered Game:

FEATHERED GAME:

Feathered Game 197 Upland Birds 199 Waterfowls 211 Predatory Birds 214

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Page Frontispiece iv

VIRGINIA DEER 12

TRACKS OF VIRGINIA DEER 14

VIRGINIA DEER. 17

HIND FOOT OF VIRGINIA DEER. 20

Trail of a deer shot through brisket 22

Trail of a deer with broken hind leg 22

Same as No. 3 on opposite page, but bullet did not penetrate to the lungs. 22

HOOF OF BLACK-TAILED DEER. 28

FAN-TAILED BUCK DEER. 33

DEER TRACKS 35

MULE-DEER 40

ELK. 43

ELK 46

MOOSE BULL TRACK 50

MOOSE TRACKS 52

MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 57

HOG TRACK; WALKING. 59

HIND FOOT OF ANTELOPE. 62

ANTELOPE. 64

THE SIGN OF THE ANTELOPE (BUCK) 64

BEAR FEET--RIGHT SIDE 76

BEAR TRAIL. 77

TRACKS OF BEAR, RUNNING 80

BEAR TRACK. 82

BEAR STUMP. 82

BEAR TRACK. 84

BEAR LOG 86

BEAR LOG 89

COUGAR. 93

LYNX. 101

RIGHT FRONT PAW OF LYNX 103

LYNX TRAIL 106

WOLF 109

WOLF 111

COYOTE. 119

FOX. 122

HUNTING WITH THE WIND 130

JACK-RABBIT 135

JACK RABBIT 137

JACK RABBIT. 139

VARYING HARE 141

VARYING HARE 142

VARYING HARE 143

Cottontail Rabbit Tracks 145

COTTON TAIL RABBIT 146

COTTON TAIL RABBIT 147

SQUIRREL. 148

Marten track 154

Marten track 156

OTTER. 158

MINK. 162

MINK. 163

ERMINE TRACKS. 166

BEAVER 171

BEAVER 174

BEAVER STUMP 176

THE BEAVER'S HOME 176

BEAVER TRAILS OR SLIDES 176

BEAVER TRAIL 176

BADGER 181

BADGER TRACKS 182

BADGER 183

PORCUPINE 186

SIGN OF THE PORCUPINE 190

PORCUPINE TRACKS 191

FEET OF THE PORCUPINE 191

SIGN OF THE PORCUPINE 191

SKUNK 192

TURKEY. 201

PHEASANT. 202

Ruffed Grouse. 203

RUFFED GROUSE 204

BLUE GROUSE 205

SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 205

Sharp-tailed Grouse. 207

QUAIL. 209

WOODCOCK. 210

Waterfowl 212

Waterfowl 213

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK 216

HERON TRACKS. 216

WILSON'S SNIPE 217

Various Birds 217

FOREWORD

To derive the greatest pleasure from the pursuit of game, either large or small, it is necessary that the disciple of Nimrod be versed in the science of interpreting the meaning of tracks and trails. Nature is as an open book to the man who can read the signs of the woods and plains correctly; and where the uninitiated see only meaningless tracks, experienced hunters find them in many instances the guide to exhilarating sport and a desired trophy. To the tyro the finest tracking snow is useless and the marks he sees everywhere around him simply bewilder him. Were he able to read them as every hunter should, his day's sport would mean enjoyment and success, instead of disappointment and failure.

Game is not so plentiful as it used to be, and for this reason it is generally a waste of time--from the standpoint of the game bag--merely to tramp through the woods and trust to luck. Moreover, the high-power, small-caliber rifles, which are so extensively used, very often lead to shots at distances at which it is not possible to place an immediately fatal bullet. This makes it the more necessary for the hunter to be able to read the signs correctly and to interpret aright the language of the trails. Every sportsman should consider it a sacred duty to bring to bay any animal he has wounded, and he should also regard it a matter of honor to acquire a working knowledge of tracks, trails, and signs. Then he will not, through ignorance, make carrion or wolf-bait of a noble creature which, in all reason, he should have secured.

A sportsman who is unable to interpret the meaning of tracks he encounters, however much game he may have killed by chance, luck, or with the assistance of others, will be considered a tyro in woodcraft by companions who have learned their lessons in this art.

Lack of opportunity on the part of the majority of sportsmen to become versed in tracking lore by actual experience, as well as the incompetence of a great number of guides, is the reason for this book. The contents represent the experience gained from twenty years of uninterrupted life in the great outdoors; and while only half of that time was spent in the pursuit and study of American game, the foreign experience was a considerable aid in arriving at definite conclusions, for the same species, with but few exceptions, show the same features in their trails the world over.

No space has been given to microscopic intricacies, since in the woods plain tracking lore is intricate enough. In practice whoever looks for exaggerated, fine, distinctive features in tracks and trails soon sees things which a sober-minded expert recognizes as imaginative.

* * * * *

It is generally understood that a track means the imprint left on the ground or snow by a passing creature. From its form and appearance the initiated are usually able to tell the species, and in some cases the variety, of animal that made it. Where the latter is not possible, a succession of tracks--the trail, in short--is almost invariably the means of reaching a proper decision. The expert considers not only tracks and trails, but also the "signs," among which are the behavior of animals under certain circumstances, blazed trees, bear logs, beaver stumps and cuttings, excrements, etc., etc. A mere treatise of tracks, trails and signs would in many instances leave the inexperienced man without a comprehensive knowledge; therefore certain actions of the hunted, and notes on hunting methods which have proved practical, although they are not generally known, have been introduced into the text.

It is believed that a thorough study of this book, including the illustrations, will enable the reader to become as well versed in tracking lore as he could by years of actual experience in the woods.

TRACKS AND TRACKING

TRACKS AND TRACKING

GENERAL REMARKS

About the Motive Features of Different Animals

TAKING it for granted that the arrangement of the individual tracks in the trail is due to the general anatomic make-up of the animal which made them, we have to consider four groups in the treatise on mammals.

The first, the members of which possess a length of body correctly proportional to their height, includes the deer, ox, bear, dog, and cat families.

The second includes rabbits, squirrels, and animals whose hind legs are very long in proportion to their front legs.

The third is made up of those animals whose legs, considering the length of their bodies, are very short--marten, mink, etc.

The fourth group embraces the animals whose legs are very short in proportion to the length of the body, and whose bodies, in addition to this, are disproportionately thick--beaver, badger, etc.

Of the various movements, we have to consider the walk, the trot, and the gallop. Animals of the first group plant the feet diagonally in the walk and trot. The hind foot track covers the one made by the forefoot of the same side. If the right forefoot touches the ground first, the left hind foot is placed next, then the left forefoot, and last the right hind foot. Thus four footfalls may be heard when hoofed animals are walking.

In the trot, which is but a hastened walk, the trail assumes more the form of a straight line, because the animal endeavors to plant the feet more under the middle of the body to obviate the swaying motion; and because of the quicker action, in which two feet touch the ground at the same moment, but two distinct footfalls can be heard.

The gallop, the quickest movement onward, is a series of leaps or jumps. In it the hind feet serve mainly as propellers while the forefeet support and brace the body; and for this reason the former are placed side by side, or nearly so, while the latter stand one behind the other in the trail. The faster the gallop, the more closely do the tracks conform to these conditions. In the greatest speed of some members of the deer family the hind feet also come nearer the center line, as shown in the illustrations. As, by the velocity of the movement, the hind feet are thrown past the point where the forefeet strike the ground, their imprints appear in front of those of the latter, a fact which should be kept constantly in mind by the trailer, since, in the case of an animal with a broken leg, the appearance of the leap imprints are usually the only means to decide which leg is broken. In animals of the first group a broken foreleg is always more serious than an injured hind leg, and therefore the game is easier brought to bag.

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