Yep, Rob is spot on. A doe's back hips are wider to facilitate birthing fawns. So, her rear hoof willnaturally land to the outside of the front. A buck doesn't have that, so the rear hoof will land pretty much directly on top of the front. Not so perfectly that it looks like 1 track, you'll definetly be able to see that it's 2.....

I didn't believe that either when I read it....though it is logical. Then I started paying attention to tracks I was seeing, and looking at the tracks after I see deer pass.....Yep, it's true enough alright.

What about a young or smaller (doe) deer, guys? Does that hold true in that instance?

Like I said....apparently I was way off in what I "thought" I've been seeing.

Here is a little bit of info Jeff
http://www.huntingnet.com/staticpages/staticpage_detail.aspx?id=149

Thanks, T. That first photo is exactly how I've been reading them, here....and I guess I misunderstood the premise of Rob's and Mobo's posts. THAT is what I see when I think of a doe track (overlapping).

The buck track, pictured second.....is news to me. Good stuff.

If you hunt with an outfitter your hunt is a slam dunk.

Nope. According to that, I've had it backwards....Though that's the first time I've read it that way. Every time I've ever read that it's been stated that a doe's rear hoof will land to the outside of her front, and a buck's will land almost directly on top of his front. So, I guess we've got contradiction here that needs some clarity. Which is it I wonder....??

Come on Duke! It's a gland, dammit! (albeit a sweat gland) - and it smells.

Actually there are two types of glands up there... And I will look up the names and post them... They escape me at the moment. One begins with an A. The other begins with an S, I think.

Me find.
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Bingo. http://www.jstor.org/pss/1380266

Forehead Glands in White-Tailed Deer

Thomas D. Atkeson and R. Larry Marchinton
Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Nov., 1982), pp. 613-617 (article consists of 5 pages) [*]Published by: American Society of Mammalogists

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Apocrine (sudoriferous)and Sebaceous. Those are the names.

I'll research it more and report back.

Volatile Compounds from the Forehead Region of Male White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Journal: Journal of Chemical Ecology
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
ISSN: 0098-0331 (Print) 1573-1561 (Online)
Issue: Volume 23, Number 3 / March, 1997
DOI: 10.1023/B:JOEC.0000006397.63647.5b
Pages 569-578
Subject Collection: Biomedical and Life Sciences
SpringerLink Date: Monday, November 01, 2004

J.W.Gassett, D.P.Wiesler, A.G.Baker, D.A.Osborn, K.V.Miller, R.L.Marchinton and M.Novotny




[/align]AbstractSecretions produced by sebaceous and apocrine glands of cervids may be important in identifying individuals, establishing dominance, and signaling sexual readiness. The secretions from these glands are transferred to the hair for both lubrication and scent communication via forehead rubbing. We collected hair samples from the forehead and back of 10 male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) of various ages and analyzed them with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to determine age-related differences. Fifty-seven compounds were identified, including alkanes, arenes, aldehydes, ketones, aliphatic alcohols, terpenes, terpene alcohols, and phenols. Although forehead apocrine glands of dominant deer become more active during the breeding season, we found that concentrations of eight compounds found on the forehead hair were higher in subordinate deer, while only one was higher in dominant deer. Subordinate deer may have higher concentrations of these compounds because they rub less frequently than dominant deer. Additionally, only five forehead hair volatiles differed in concentration from those taken from the back hair. This seems to indicate that an increase in forehead glandular activity may take place concurrently with an increase in general integumentary glandular activity. The variation in hair volatiles among individuals also may be indicative of an individual-specific odor that could aid in identification.


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Forehead hair- Odocoileus virginianus -pheromone-scent communication-semiochemical-volatiles-white-tailed deer
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Sebaceous vs. Sudoriferous?

Sweat (Sudoriferous) Glands (p. 158; Fig. 5.3)
1. Eccrine sweat glands, or merocrine sweat glands, produce true sweat, are the most numerous of the sweat glands, and are particularly abundant on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and forehead.
2. Apocrine sweat glands are confined to the axillary and anogenital areas and produce true sweat with the addition of fatty substances and proteins.
3. Ceruminous glands are modified sweat glands found lining the ear canal that secrete ear wax, or cerumen.
4. Mammary glands are modified sweat glands found in the breasts that secrete milk.

Sebaceous (Oil) Glands (p. 159; Fig. 5.3)
1. Sebaceous glands are simple alveolar glands found all over the body except the palms of the hands and soles of the feet that secrete sebum, an oily secretion.
2. The sebaceous glands function as holocrine glands, secreting their product into a hair follicle or to a pore on the surface of the skin.
3. Secretion by sebaceous glands is stimulated by hormones.

I think some of the confusion came from the exact definition of "inside". Jeff used a much better word (overlapping) for exactly how front and rear doe tracks often lay. "Inside" as it was read by some, actually should have read "overlapping", I think Jeff may have taken "inside" to mean the front tracks will not be as wide as the rear tracks, which is almost never the case in my experience.

Does (especially young ones, and fawns of both genders) will have tracks that "overlap". Does, however, do not broaden at the shoulder or really even the hip to a greater extent one way or the other (though it may be noticable, the tracks will often not fall completely outside a line from front to back). The tell-tale sign is the fact that there is no obvious "inside" or "outside" (meaning that the shoulders and hips are nearly identical width wise). And of course the fact that they walk on their toes. They do, however, get longer in the body, so as they pass into maturity, the tracks often will not overlap as much, if at all even.

Bucks, especiallyonce they hit twoyears of age start to develop shoulder mass. Their bodies also get longer, just like does, only more so. This growth continues to the age of about 4-5 years old. So, when you have a set of tracks with dew claw imprints, where there is one track offset from the the other the width of 2-3 of your fingers between them (noticable) and they are spaced greater than 3" apart front to back, you can reasonably figure you are dealing with a buck that is at least 4 years old.

Swamp, I'm not disagreeing, but until today EVERY article I've read on the subject has stated the exact opposite. All be it probably only about 2 articles....