How to Age Buck Tracks

I’ve been guiding and teaching people to deer hunt for over thirty years, and the one thing I think most hunters have the most trouble with is aging a track. There are so many variables in snow conditions, temperatures, and the age or the snow that you almost need to use your mind like a computer to analyze the track. Sure, it’s easy when there is a fresh snow in the morning and the elements haven’t taken control over a track yet. But, what about four days later when that same snow is on the ground and it’s been freezing at and maybe thawing during the day?

There are a lot of obvious differences in a track over the days and there are some very subtle ones. If you can’t tell the difference between a track made the night before and one that was made two nights ago, you may spend the day wasting your time on a buck that is nowhere near the area you’re in. On the other extreme, if you don’t know if a track is ten minutes old or two hours old, you may find yourself bumping a buck because you were hurrying too much.

To be a successful deer tracker, you are going to have to train your eye to see the subtle differences. I’ve stood with a client looking at two different tracks, one a day older than the other and the hunter could not see any difference in them. To me it was like looking at a red car and a blue car. Part of aging a track is also feeling the track with your fingers. In some conditions, how the track feels will be more important than how it looks.

A track will begin to change almost immediately after it is made. It will either begin to freeze and set up or it will begin to melt, depending on the temperature. How fast this take depends on how warm or cold it is. When a track is first made, the edge of it where the snow cut will look sharp or crisp. Whether it is warm or cold the track will begin to round on the edge shortly afterwards. The track will also freeze or melt in the bottom of the print soon after it is made. Again temperature will determine how fast this occurs.

The most difficult time to age a track is when the temperature is staying right around the freezing point as it doesn’t freeze or melt very much. So that being said, only experience will tell you how fast freezing and thawing take place. The best place to find out how much a track is frozen is when the buck steps in a wet spot. The thickness of the ice in the track should give you a good clue and keep in mind the temperature. This is where feeling a track comes into play. I always take off my glove to feel the track as bare finger are way more sensitive to the snow and ice.

Now if you’re not totally confused, we have to figure out the difference between a track made the previous night and one made 2 or 3 nights ago. This is where remembering what the weather and temperature has been over that time period. Sometimes a dusting of new snow will solve the problem easily but quite often you will have to try and solve it on your own. Basically a track made the night before you find it will still look fairly crisp. Once a track has gone through a day it will really be rounded on the edges and even the print will start to round out and have frost in it. On the other hand if the weather stays above freezing the track will melt and a 2 day old track will have no snow in the bottom and will be melted square down to the leaves.

I will always take a good buck track made the previous night as I know I will catch up to him before the day is over. I also may find a fresher one along the way. I know a lot of hunters are trying to find an hour old track to follow, but the reality is that they are few and far between. I feel as long as I’m a track I’m in the game and anything can happen. One I jump a buck or he get out of his bed on his own and the track has become made during the day, the equation changes again. This is when I am constantly feeling the track. Now it is much easier to tell if a track is an hour old or ten minutes just by feel. Once again temperature is going to be the determining factor. I know it all sounds confusing, but if you get out there and practice aging tracks can become a fairly simple matter and you’ll be a better tracker for it.

Gear up for to hunt the Big Woods Bucks with a Big Woods Bucks Wool Tracker Jacket.