You can track a deer and shoot it, but you will need:
- fresh snow
- a LOT of public land
- endurance as you may be following it for near a day
- a way to survive and contact for help when you are miles in the middle of nowhere when darkness is closing in
- a gun and ability to make quick accurate shots when you catch up with the deer as it starts to tire
It can be done, but I have not done it. Wish I would have tried it though. Getting a bit on the old side for this.
Last year I tracked a buck back to near where I thought it bedded down and then sat on a log. I followed the trail, with the heavy wind in my favor. It was very heavy cover. Goofed up though as it came prancing out in the heavy cover giving me about 2 seconds for a shot with my ML. I had both the hammer and flip safety on where as only the flip safety should have been used. So you can track back to a bedding place and then take a stand, but fresh snow is needed. Otherwise, without snow, it is very difficult to know the age of the tracks and to find a continuous trail.