Buck or Doe?

[adirondackhunter]

A mature buck toes is approx  2 1/2 x 3 inches and if you look at the dew claws they will be outside the width of the track.Thats a nice buck .The mature bucks front tracks are wider because of the broad shoulders of the deer. And like someone else said a buck will walk in a straight line until he is ready to bed.Also if there is snow and the buck urinates, a buck will start to walk before he finishes ,leaving a line from where he paused.[8|]

[vambo991]

It's physics... a 250 lb animal is going to leave a much deeper track in soft dirt or snow than a 150 lb animal, if you figure there won't be a huge difference in hoof size. (anybody ever see a 250 lb doe) And if there's fresh snow, then I'm gonna start my track on the deepest set that is headed back towards areas that I know hold bucks. If I keep the wind in my face and move slowly enough I should get a shot at the biggest buck in the woods... right? Guess it wouldn't be fun if it was that easy.
 
I can definitely recall seeing tracks in snow that undoubtedly belonged to very large bucks, just by their sheer size and depth, compared to obvious smaller tracks.

[scotman]

Buck track:

- The track of the hind hoof will lag farther behind the track of the front hoof.
- If you draw a imaginery line through the center of the left and right tracks the greater the width from the center, the more probable it will be from a buck.
- The toes will point outward from center of the left and right tracks.
- Drag marks are a sign of a buck. Especially more noticable during the rut.



Doe Track:

-The hind hoof will come down almost on top of the track of the front hoof.
-If you draw a imaginary line through the center of the left and right tracks the less the width from the center, the more probable it will be from a doe.
-The toes will point normally from center of the left and right tracks.
-The rule to the drag marks for bucks is does will show drag marks in really deep snow. But otherwise does don't drag their feet.

These findings above I first read where in Deer and Deer Hunting book 3 by Robert Wegner, under chapter 7 "Deer Tracks" the findings are from Josef Brunner. I have found these findings to be very accurate.

[msbadger]

Well Scotman just discribed what I've been seeing for years....plus on my trails(nearly 2miles of them) where doe ..fawn and young buck walk reg. a big buck will zigg zagg crossing them to pick up the scent of a hot doe.

[RNC]

There is no way to be 100% sure if a doe or a buck made a track. As mentioned above I have seen big deer with small hooves and vise versa. As a rule of thumb when we look at tracks we look to see how off set the prints are. The rear hoof of a deer will generally step in the same print made by the front hoof. As a deer gets older and the body matures it's chest and shoulders get more muscular and broader. The bigger the deer the more the prints off set. As bucks normally grow bigger then does the more off set a set of prints are the better chance they were made by a buck. 

[Woods Walker]

There IS a 100% sure way to tell the sex of the deer who made the track you're looking at.
 
It's easiest to tell on snow, but if you are observant, and the sign is fresh it will work without snow.........
 
When you find a deer bed, look at where the urine mark is. If it's IN the bed, it's a BUCK. If it's on the outside edge of the bed, then it's a doe. This may also work if you are following tracks in the snow also, and you can tell from the tracks what deer made the "yellow snow".
 
Plumbing doesn't lie! 

[gutpile]

a splayed out track usually means the deer was running, I have had old timers tell me the same thing and have deer run by me and check the tracks, splayed out, and watched big bucks walk up in front of me in the snow and looks just like the doe track the old feller told me for sure was a doe...

[HauntedWinter]

I thought rookie is close. Just reverse the signs. A track in the "V" shape would be a doe and a track in the "ll" shape would be a buck. I noticed this years ago when my father mentioned it to me and whenever I shot a buck or doe, I would look at the feet and sure enough, thats what I saw. The depth of the track is a big thing to watch for but take into consideration any rain that might have fallen or being near a swamp or creek, etc...I must take photos this year and let eveyone compare. maybe its me..LOL

[BruceBruce1959]

This is hard to explain in text but I'll give it my best to try and explain how to tell the difference.
 
First off a Buck's chest (front end) is Wider than his hind end  BUT a Doe's Hind end is wider than her chest end,  she rears fawns so naturally her hips are wider. 
Now,  when a deer walks it walks close to track in track  meaning the rear hooves almost step into the front hooves  SO when a Buck walks his tracks will show a step with another step slightly inside the front step 
where a Doe will have a rear step slightly outside her front step..
here's an example of what I mean. excuse my artwork  it isn't the best but it gives you an idea of what i'm explaining.
 
 
I hope this gives some insight on tracks and understand not all tracks are perfect but if you spend some time learning the skills of tracking and understanding the differences,  you'll be amazed at how much a track can tell you about the animal you're following.  the Average doe is approx. 140 lbs. I call them light footed, shallow imprints,  a mature buck can easily carry 200 lbs,  those are the heavy steppers,   deeper imprints. most doe's sta on their toe's where a buck is more comfortable walking flatter footed but that always isnt the case either.
A great book I learned a lot from is called "Big Bucks the Benoit way",,,  there's many books to learn from about tracking check em out and as always Good Luck.
 
 

[Woods Walker]

ORIGINAL: BruceBruce1959

This is hard to explain in text but I'll give it my best to try and explain how to tell the difference.

First off a Buck's chest (front end) is Wider than his hind end  BUT a Doe's Hind end is wider than her chest end,  she rears fawns so naturally her hips are wider. 
Now,  when a deer walks it walks close to track in track  meaning the rear hooves almost step into the front hooves  SO when a Buck walks his tracks will show a step with another step slightly inside the front step 
where a Doe will have a rear step slightly outside her front step..
here's an example of what I mean. excuse my artwork  it isn't the best but it gives you an idea of what i'm explaining.

 
I hope this gives some insight on tracks and understand not all tracks are perfect but if you spend some time learning the skills of tracking and understanding the differences,  you'll be amazed at how much a track can tell you about the animal you're following.  the Average doe is approx. 140 lbs. I call them light footed, shallow imprints,  a mature buck can easily carry 200 lbs,  those are the heavy steppers,   deeper imprints. most doe's sta on their toe's where a buck is more comfortable walking flatter footed but that always isnt the case either.
A great book I learned a lot from is called "Big Bucks the Benoit way",,,  there's many books to learn from about tracking check em out and as always Good Luck.

 
That is a GREAT book, and those guys are almost superhuman in how they hunt!
 
If I could live my hunting life over again, I'd really try to live somewhere where I could hunt like that.
 
But as you mentioned, this way of determining deer sex by tracks is pretty much for MATURE animals. In Illinois, we have some old matriarchal does that are HUGE. THe same size, or even bigger in fact, than many 2.5 year old bucks. Trying to determine their track from a buck would be difficult to say the least. The so called "urine test" that I mentioned is a sure fire way to accomplish this.