BACKCOUNTRY TRACKING
Tracking by Alan Clarke
The older I get ( I ’ m 36 … PSH !) the less patient I am about wandering aimlessly through the mountains hoping to stumble upon my prey of choice . I know … I know … it is not aimless ! I have looked at the lay of the land , water sources and available food . I researched cover , migration routes and history , so I should know where I am going . But if I don ’ t see anything , to me , it ’ s aimless . Maybe with life ’ s commitments including hunting and fishing I am just strapped for time and want to find where the animals are NOW . It could be that hunting is my family ’ s main source of meat for the year and I just want to find animals sooner rather than later and put my mind at ease with a full freezer .
In any event I love spending time in the outdoors , but sometimes I need to cut to the chase . I have found that using some basic skills to track my prey can help me cut my time and make me more efficient . Tracking is fun and rewarding when you follow the tracks and find what you are looking for .
Cuttin ’ the sign gets pretty involved and I am in no way a professional , but I can do the basics . I know which animal I am looking for , what that animals track looks like and its habits or patterns . Can I see claw marks on the track ? Is it hooved or does it have paws ? Does its back print step inside the front print ? I look for watering holes , wallows , rub marks on or broken vegetation , bedding areas , game trails , and scat . I also don ’ t forget to include all of the information I have gleaned from Grandpa Clarke and his barber over the years on where the “ big ones ” are . Note : My Grandpa was mostly bald and his barber was Grandma … so I haven ’ t found many animal trophies from those conversations .
This is where it gets interesting . I saw a track running through the snow the other day that was unlike anything I had ever seen before . The claws were horizontally ridged , long and wide . It appeared to have 4 legs , 2 on each side ; one behind the other and most of the time the rear followed directly in the path of the front . They stretched almost 5 ft . from outside of the left track to the outside of the right track and each print was a foot wide on its own . What was I dealing with ? Was it Big Foot , the Abominable Snow Man , or some other super beast ? Not knowing what I was dealing with and quickly becoming concerned that I was now the prey , I quietly hunkered down out of sight to formulate a plan .
Off in the distance I heard what sounded like a low growl , a loud roar , and a scream ! I quickly and covertly went up the hill and started paralleling the track , keeping it in view , but far enough away to be safe . After all , I didn ’ t want whatever it was to circle back on its tracks and find me . I skirted the track for maybe a ¼ mile when I heard the roar again , and another scream … this time it was louder and closer . It was just around the corner ! I ran as fast as I could to the edge of the ridge and slowly peered around it to see what was causing the commotion , knowing full well that it could be a mess of snarling teeth and crushed bones . WHAT WAS IT ? It was a family with a couple of Polaris RMK snowmobiles , a Kawasaki KX450 with a Timbersled track kit on it , and the track I was following was a Polaris Sportsman 850 XP with a Camso track kit on it . The screaming was them pulling the kids on a sled behind the Sportsman . I had been bamboozled … and now so have you !
The point is I can put a track on almost anything these days . On a dirt bike I would steer you towards Timbersled . We take your front wheel off and put a big ski on the front forks . The back wheel comes off and is replaced it with a snow style track . They are pretty amazing . They are quick , nimble and will get you into the back country like no other . The bike may not have the power and torque to get you to the top of the hillhigh mark , or to conquer that mountain top chute you have been eyeing , but you will not be disappointed .
With a little practice , you will be dodging in and out of trees and side hilling like a pro . The best part about this set up is this spring when you are ready to rip up the trail again ; you put your wheels back on and your dirt bike is back in action . These are not cheap set ups as you can spend $ 6,500 + pretty easy getting it all ready to go ; just for the Timbersled . Then you still need a bike . What you get is a dual purpose machine . Instead of a sled that just sits there for 9 months in the spring , summer and fall , and a bike that just sits there for 3 months in the winter ... you now get both ! Continued on page 6 .
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