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Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

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Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 03 21, 2018 •  [Post 1]

Whether scouting or hunting, its always a good thing to be able to identify what kind of elk tracks you're looking at (bull or cow). Can you tell by a clear set of tracks in the soil or snow what you're looking at? Does the location (where you see/find them) of the tracks have a bearing on the possible gender of the elk? Let's talk about elk tracks ;).
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby saddlesore » 03 21, 2018 •  [Post 2]

Location no, but a cows track will never be more than 3&1/2 " long and narrower than a bulls. A single track is more likely to be a bulls, but no guarantee. Where I hunt, there is usually a very good calf crop so seeing tracks with calf track along negates a lot of heavy thinking in the matter. :lol:
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby olympushunt » 03 21, 2018 •  [Post 3]

Tracks are helpful for giving a lot of clues. How old they are, the direction they are going, size of animal, bull or cow. But what I find more helpful by far is the turds they leave behind. My favorite piece of information is by using the "sticky" test. If I throw them at my hunting buddy and they stick.....we are close to animals. And if he doesn't get mad.....I've learned THAT is a good hunting buddy!
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby Swede » 03 21, 2018 •  [Post 4]

I can't tell a lot by an individual track other than the approximate size of the animal. In addition to what Saddlesore wrote, if you can see that the tracks are nearly on top of one another the hind legs are the same distance apart as the front. That is a bull. Now if you are following long enough to see where they urinate, the one that splashes over a larger area is a cow. If the urine is drilled into the snow or ground, it is a bull. Now you know what I think I know. Oh one more thing. The points of the track face in the direction the elk is going.
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 03 21, 2018 •  [Post 5]

[quote="Swede"][/quote]

Good tip Swede 8-). Have you ever noticed when physically watching elk, or, studying tracks that oftentimes, cows will walk directly under low overhanging branches when bulls will purposely walk just off to the edge of said branches so their head gear clears?
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby Lefty » 03 22, 2018 •  [Post 6]

saddlesore wrote:Location no, but a cows track will never be more than 3&1/2 " long and narrower than a bulls. A single track is more likely to be a bulls, but no guarantee. Where I hunt, there is usually a very good calf crop so seeing tracks with calf track along negates a lot of heavy thinking in the matter. :lol:

Excellent info


In our region there are some areas you may only find bull tracks . A herd never resides in the area. A buddy of mine runs a Utah CWMU unit they can take 4 bulls a year in 80,000 acres only bulls summer there never cows. The bulls migrate 30-50 miles to find cows
Where I hunted in the desert pre-Sept 5-8 the only track for miles would be bulls. What i found fascinating the bulls would go long distances to cross at cattle guards ( most often still jumping the fence and gate opening and checking out dry water tanks
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby >>>---WW----> » 03 22, 2018 •  [Post 7]

This works for both elk as well as deer. For males of either species, the hind foot prints tend to be to the inside of the front print when walking. For females, the hind print will be to the outside of the front print. This is because the pelvic area of cows is always wider than a bulls to facilitate for birthing. The front hoof is always wider than the back hoof because the bulk of most four legged animals is in the front portion of the body. Same goes for your horse if you have one. Check it out!
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby elkstalker » 03 22, 2018 •  [Post 8]

Good info guys! I must confess I have followed a lot of tracks but generally speaking to me the "big" ones could be bulls, or large cows and the solo tracks are likely a bull. It always takes some time to "calibrate" to the conditions on the ground, and know the weather so you can interpret how long a track has been on the ground. If there's snow, is it warming up and re-freezing? Is the snow sticky or powdery? If it's dry, how long will a track look the same in dry dirt? If there was a brief rain shower do the tracks have rain drop marks in them?
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby Roosiebull » 03 22, 2018 •  [Post 9]

saddlesore wrote:Location no, but a cows track will never be more than 3&1/2 " long and narrower than a bulls. A single track is more likely to be a bulls, but no guarantee. Where I hunt, there is usually a very good calf crop so seeing tracks with calf track along negates a lot of heavy thinking in the matter. :lol:

summed it up perfectly.

I do lots of track studying in the woods, no matter what i'm hunting (elk, deer, bear, lion) they are equally as important with any species, with elk being the least (i'm generally not chasing one bull in particular, or even big bulls) but it's still very important, looking at fresh tracks, I can generally have a good idea of what's in them.

if looking for a big bull, stereotypically around here, i'm looking for one solo track, or about 6 animals, with one looking like a cattle track. really big roosies generally have a cattle shaped track but sharper in the front. the biggest bulls I have seen (with a handful of exceptions) during archery season are solo, or with less than 10 cows. it's pretty rare to see a "BIG" bull around here with a big herd of cows, it does happen. the bull I killed last year fit the size criteria, and was running about 20 cows, but that's not normal.

one other group of elk I hunted a good deal last year was about 6 elk, with one huge bull. he is still alive and well, I don't plan on hunting him this year, but I plan on getting lots of trail cam pics of him 8-)

there is always a lot to tell by tracks. deer hunting, tracks are more critical, because I do like chasing older blacktail, and tracks tell me where to currently spend my time. I do LOTS of walking during deer season, hunting early morning and scouting the rest of the morning (looking at tracks in other areas)

bear is another where tracks are critical, i'm looking for BIG tracks, that twist into the ground with their front feet (big boars have a certain swagger, and their tracks show it) I have no desire to shoot little bear.

lions, tracks are key, i'm starting to feel like cold calling is a waste of time, it's essential to hike areas, look for tracks, and when found, try to age the tracks, and decipher what they are doing..... set up on really fresh tracks, the odds go up exponentially.
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Re: Elk Tracks, Bull or Cow?

Postby Roosiebull » 03 22, 2018 •  [Post 10]

WapitiTalk1 wrote:
Swede wrote:


Good tip Swede 8-). Have you ever noticed when physically watching elk, or, studying tracks that oftentimes, cows will walk directly under low overhanging branches when bulls will purposely walk just off to the edge of said branches so their head gear clears?

for sure, same with bucks.

also tracks can give insight to what is going on with the elk. when you see that big, round track skidding around all over, you know he is chasing cows all over, and that can be a clue on how to approach the situation, and you can count on that bull being pretty active. I personally don't like seeing that, I like to ambush them, and it's hard to get ahead of them and anticipate a herd of elk when a bull is running cows, it's much easier when they are just living life normally. the next few years i'm going to focus on becoming better at calling bulls, and this type of sign is what you will like if you are trying to call one in to top pin range.
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