Couger hunting us

[apbeef]

Went out for a black bear hunt last week and ended up finding 4 sets of cat tracks walking side by side for 10k down a dirt road. They were definitely fresh for 2 reasons 1... They were following our side by side tracks in the mud and snow. 2..... Just before we lost the tracks into the trees. One cat took a fresh crap on the road. Kinda nasty but I did feel and it was still warm and steaming. The spooky part was the tracks left the trail 100 yards from my truck. Any chance they were tracking our scent back to the truck???? I know the season isn't open now but I wanted to try get some cool pics to post. Call me nuts but was heavily armed and ready. Can anyone tell me how big the cat would be by the paw size. It's and XL glove in the picture....... Oh and here is a pic of the crap as well just to show I ain't making a tall tail.... Ps..... Didn't see a bear or tracks kinda got side tracked. Ps again....... I find it amazing that they would walk such a huge distance, I was glad to be on the side by side for a big portion of the time

[450Marlin]

Call me crazy but looks like wolf tracks to me. Especially if they were on the road for 10k.

[apbeef]

Wow didn't even think of wolf but just did some quick googling and I would agree and especially being 4 sets of them would make more sense. Thanks

[gunmum]

Those are definately 'dog' tracks (prob wolf judging by the size). You can tell because of the little "x" between the toes and the pad and the claw marks. Cats don't leave claw marks (unless running sometimes you might see them) and there's no "x where the toes and pad meet - you'd see each toe individually sitting on top of the pad, hope this makes sense...I'll see if I can give you a visual. Also, cats seem to walk quite lightly, so lots of tracks are harder to see
this one explains it pretty well: http://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html

[Thunder/FX]

Me thinks
Big Bad Wolf!
(headed to grammas house?)

[baptiste_moose]

Wolf. Never see claws on a cat track unless they're running and by that point they're indistinguishable.

[rpms]

110% canine with out a doubt

[buck-8835]

cat claws arent out when their walking. Dogs are. Thats a wolf!!!

[duck duck goose]

Originally Posted by gunmum

http://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html

That was a good read, thanks for sharing.

[scrapper]

Just a tip from an expert....if it's steaming you really don't have to feel it.

[Mulecrazy7mm]

How the heck could you mix those up :-/

[Rem788]

Originally Posted by scrapper

Just a tip from an expert....if it's steaming you really don't have to feel it.

haha lmfao

[Erik]

Originally Posted by scrapper

Just a tip from an expert....if it's steaming you really don't have to feel it.

You must pick up your dog's poop with those thin plastic bags? That's how I became an expert in this field.

[MKD]

Originally Posted by 450Marlin

Call me crazy but looks like wolf tracks to me. Especially if they were on the road for 10k.

Yup, look at the claw marks. Kitties don't show claws.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Originally Posted by Mulecrazy7mm

How the heck could you mix those up :-/

He already said that it never occured to him.
Besides... of all the skills that hunters have... tracking is probably the thing that the greatest number of people are weak at.

How many guys will stand on a cow flop looking at a herd of cattle wondering where the elk they've been tracking went?

[Stik'em]

Originally Posted by scrapper

Just a tip from an expert....if it's steaming you really don't have to feel it.

You should also taste it to see what they are feeding on. At least that what's my dad made me do growing up...

Stik'em

[Matt L.]

There's a book called The Art of Tracking, can't remember the authors name but it should be read by every hunter. I think it should be required reading in the hunter training course in fact.

[creeky]

Originally Posted by apbeef

Went out for a black bear hunt last week and ended up finding 4 sets of cat tracks walking side by side for 10k down a dirt road. They were definitely fresh for 2 reasons 1... They were following our side by side tracks in the mud and snow. 2..... Just before we lost the tracks into the trees. One cat took a fresh crap on the road. Kinda nasty but I did feel and it was still warm and steaming. The spooky part was the tracks left the trail 100 yards from my truck. Any chance they were tracking our scent back to the truck???? I know the season isn't open now but I wanted to try get some cool pics to post. Call me nuts but was heavily armed and ready. Can anyone tell me how big the cat would be by the paw size. It's and XL glove in the picture....... Oh and here is a pic of the crap as well just to show I ain't making a tall tail.... Ps..... Didn't see a bear or tracks kinda got side tracked. Ps again....... I find it amazing that they would walk such a huge distance, I was glad to be on the side by side for a big portion of the time

likely curious at best, more than likely traveling a/the line of least resistance

[Lefty-Canuck]

The other key to the puzzle is it is quite unlikely to find 4 sets of cat tracks all together.....canine 100% IMHO.

LC

[Slash8]

Originally Posted by 450Marlin

Call me crazy but looks like wolf tracks to me. Especially if they were on the road for 10k.

UMMM Yeah X2

[Cinnamonbear]

About 5 years ago, was hunting mule deer down in the Arrow Lakes area BC, while following some deer track into a stand of woods off a power line cut, noticed some tracks that looked like cougar in the light dust of snow. The guy with me hunts cougar regularly and confirmed the track.

We got out of there and let the cougar have its room...I like hunting, not being hunted

[it$_unreel]

Definitely a canine track.......... ( likely wolf ) I have over 20 years of Cat Hunting behind me, so I'm not just firing off a "guess"

Don't be ashamed by mistaking them....people easily forget that we all had to learn somehow

here's an excellent link for those in doubt

http://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html

[it$_unreel]

sorry....I did not notice someone had earlier posted this link for you

at least your out in the field enjoying the outdoors.....good luck and great hunting!