treehunter

it is impossible to tell to sex of any animal by the foot print. Like some others have said the bigger and deeper the track the bigger and heavier the deer. Since most bucks are bigger it leads you to believe the bigger tracks are of a buck but not always true. There is no way to tell a 100 lb buck track from a 150 lb doe. If anything you will be thinking the doe is the buck. Seeing any tracks is a good thing. That lets you know there are deer in the area. But never count on a monster buck just because you saw a monster track

MOTOWNHONKEY

Good point treehunter we will have to agree to disagree on this one. I,m sure my accuracy rate isn,t even close to 100 % but I feel I can tell the difference alot of the times.

SKIDMARK

Well Motown I am obviously not the "expert tracker" that you believe you are. My post suggested that alot of people think a track is a buck's because of the dew claw imprint nothing else. If you can tell the diffenence in a 150 lb. bucks tracks compared to a 150 lb. does tracks you may need to contact the scientist that can't and explain your findings. I spend alot of time in the woods and believe I am a pretty decent hunter. Sometimes there are tracks I see that I am pretty confident were made by a buck. On the other hand I have never seen a track that i would be confident enough to bet money on to quess the sex. If you don't mind why don't you explain to us how you distinguish the difference.

Split-Hoof

Don't try telling that to most hunters where I'm from!

Unless a person can't tell the difference between moose and deer tracks, a monster track is a pretty good indication of a monster buck

MOTOWNHONKEY

Well skid row, many people on here have posted as to clues they use to determain a bucks track. I know my area, and the deer in it after scouting and months of hunting. A mature doe here in Kansas is about 150 to 175 lbs. A mature buck will be about 180 to 250. After i see a buck that I couldn,t shoot I make it a point to look at his tracks when I get down from my stand. I look for depth in the soil, a wider stance, dew claw imprint, a hoof drag, their weight spreads their hoof apart futher. Maybe I just think I know the difference, but it keeps me going back and anticipating that monster comming into range on my next hunt. I once saw 2 big tracks with 4 smaller ones in front of it. Unless their is a 6 legged deer out there I would guess that there was a big boy smacking those suger walls.

White-tail-deer

This all reminds me of a guy I met while on a hunt. He swore he could tell the difference between buck and doe droppings?? He was good!!!!

Coastie

In general, no. If there is a Deer processor in your area, go into the cooler with a tape measure and check the relative size differences between the does and bucks and the weights of the same deer. There is very little difference in the physical size of an adult deer regardless of the weight. As for the size of a track based on the weight, unless you have "calibrated" eyeballs, the difference between the depth of a track of a 185# buck and a 150# doe in the same soil conditions is indistinguishable. There are exceptions to all rules and a truly huge Buck will without doubt have a larger (deeper) track than the average Doe, but on the other hand his track will also be larger than the average Buck so consider what you are trying to achieve. Soil conditions, weather conditions and the speed at which the animal was moving will change the appearance of the track to the point where it is impossible to make a distinction. Rely more on the location of the track and the proximity of other sign than the size to determine the sex.

MOTOWNHONKEY

I guess in a nut shell some can tell the difference and some can,t.

DelcoJim

you gotta see to beleive , i am not saying i can always look at a track and say thats a doe, or thats a buck , but when hunting in maine i have see a few ,, just a few that i would have bet the truck were definitely BUCKS, in Pa, where i live i would say i have not seen a track that i could tell the sex , there are so many and the areas where i go are relatively small that i don't take note of tracks as much in Pa.
but in Maine, tracks of any kind get rarer so when i see them i pay closer attention.
the Big Does seem to be a just a lttlte bigger than PA Does , but the Big Bucks , seem to be a good Deal Bigger than Pa Bucks, I am not talking antler size , and there are exceptions to every rule , but if " I" wanted and big Buck , "I" am heading North , plus it feels like real wilderness or as close as you can get without seeing the ROCKY MOUNTAINS, for me

Split-Hoof

That's what it boils down to. Reading tracks is like anything else, it takes practice. It takes a trained eye with an attention to detail. Nobody can claim to be right 100% of the time, but the more practice you get the more accurate you will become. I am no expert tracker, but from the responses here I would guess most haven't had the opportunity or desire to try tracking.