Cutting a decent fresh track on your way to your blind

[Harvest the Land]

So what would you guys do if you're walking to your blind/stand/hunting spot first thing in the morning well before first light and you come across a relatively fresh (assuming it snowed the night before) big deer track in the snow perpendicular to the path to your on. Do you make a note of the track and maybe come back to it later in the day and continue to your blind? Or do you abandon your plan of hunting from your blind altogether and start following the fresh track instead even though its a couple of hours before daylight?

[tinhorse]

hit the stand and if nothing comes in a couple hours after light head back and see where the teacks go. If you follow in the dark you may just bump that deer and never see him again...

[walks with deer]

tinhorse is correct

[Harvest the Land]

Got it, that's what I thought. Thanks for the replies!

[ryanb]

Bumping a big buck on the way to somewhere in the dark is the worst!

[bighornbob]

hit the stand and if nothing comes in a couple hours after light head back and see where the teacks go. If you follow in the dark you may just bump that deer and never see him again...

X2. Also you will be breaking the law by following the track in the dark. Its a real grey area, but you are hunting 1hr before sunrise.

BHB

[walks with deer]

i scouted a big old mossey horned 5x5 muley in the okanagan kept checking on him he bed in the same spot for months.
opening day i crept in there and walked to my same glassing point in the dark waiting for light...he winded me never to be seen again..to early tgat day

[scotty30-06]

What do you guys carry on way to stand in the dark solo that you use for protection?....will be hunting with crossbow...just wondering what else....bear spray?....air horn?...just use your bow?

[squamishhunter]

What do you guys carry on way to stand in the dark solo that you use for protection?....will be hunting with crossbow...just wondering what else....bear spray?....air horn?...just use your bow?

Whatever you deem appropriate. It varies...

[todbartell]

following fresh tracks in the snow is one of my favorite things. Feels like real hunting

[sawmill]

What do you guys carry on way to stand in the dark solo that you use for protection?....will be hunting with crossbow...just wondering what else....bear spray?....air horn?...just use your bow?
Just my attitude. Been working for 40 years.

[todbartell]

X2. Also you will be breaking the law by following the track in the dark. Its a real grey area, but you are hunting 1hr before sunrise.

BHB

this is a real grey area. Would hiking in with a headlamp so you can be at a certain spot for 1hr before sunrise be classed as "hunting"? or PURSUING?

Hunt & Hunting : Includes shooting at, attracting, searching for, chasing, pursuing, following after, or on the trail of, stalking, or lying in wait for wildlife, or attempting to do any of those things, whether or not the wildlife is then or subsequently wounded, killed, or captured: A) with the intention to capture the wildlife or b) while in posession of a firearm or other weapon

pur·sue
pərˈso͞o/
verb
gerund or present participle: pursuing


1.
follow (someone or something) in order to catch or attack them.
"the officer pursued the van"


synonyms:
follow, run after, chase; Morehunt, stalk, track, trail, shadow, hound, course;
informaltail
"I pursued him through the garden"







antonyms:
avoid


2.
(of a person or way) continue or proceed along (a path or route).
"the road pursued a straight course over the scrubland"

engage in (an activity or course of action).



synonyms:
engage in, be occupied in, practice, follow, prosecute, conduct, ply, take up, undertake, carry on "she pursued a political career"

[scotty30-06]

Sooo whats the verdict...to you start wandering down the track till morning then go into hunt mode ; p....or go to stand and hope said buck shows up?

[Harvest the Land]

The first reply to this thread answered the question. Continue to your stand and hunt there for the first couple of hours of daylight, then if nothing shows up go back to where you cut the track and start following it then. You might spook the deer if you track it in the dark and it might not even be legal to do so in the first place

[brian]

X2. Also you will be breaking the law by following the track in the dark. Its a real grey area, but you are hunting 1hr before sunrise.

You can hunt 1hr before sunrise.

If I cut really fresh tracks first thing I would do is see if the wind direction is good for following them. If yes I would sit tight until I had enough shooting light and track them. If you read those tracks right and they are smoking fresh then that deer could be real close. If the wind is wrong then I would head off to my destination and ignore the fresh tracks.

[redthorn]

Why the big rush to head down them right away? If it was fresh, the animal should be bedding down in the early morning anyway, and you will be able to follow it up then. Just watch for the j-hook it will make right before bedding, and don't let it scent you. They're smart that way.

It also might be a doe track, and this time of the year a buck will sniff that out and follow it down right in front of you. Not so if your bootprints are on it though. Watch your wind, and sit back from the track a bit and wait out an hour of daylight or so. If a buck is on the track, it will pause at the place you cut the tracks and should present a shot. But if nothing comes sniffing down the tracks, then follow it out nice and slow.

[steel_ram]

I'd back out if I new there was only a few bucks in the area, especially if the tracks were heading down wind. Having a stand in the area you must know the area pretty well. Is it still-huntable? Try to make an educated guess of where he's going. Set up, or do a few downwind loops to try to intercept.

[Harvest the Land]

Its about 1 - 1.5km hike to the blind. The area right near the blind is definitely still huntable and i normally still hunt there after 10am or so. But much of the area on the way there is not very still huntable, but theres a lot of area that ive yet to scout. Thanks for all the awesome feedback and insight fellas. Lots to think about

[avadad]

If it's a fresh, big track and the wind is good...that's the best hunting there is...