Boreal Animal Tracks

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Martti

Full Member
Mar 12, 2011
919
18
Finland
I tracked this elk for a while. The tracks started from a base of a steep hill and continued up to the summit. It is evident that the elk slipped a few times while climbing the hill. Based on the physical factors and the past weather, the animal made the path around 12-16 hours before I photographed it (i.e. the previous evening).

Elk_hill.jpg


Elk_tracks.jpg
 

Clouston98

Woodsman & Beekeeper
Aug 19, 2013
4,364
2
25
Cumbria
Nice one mate! We followed a few deer tracks in the wet sand bank on a loch in scotland once, never saw it but it was great fun! Thanks for posting that! :)
 

Martti

Full Member
Mar 12, 2011
919
18
Finland
We followed a few deer tracks in the wet sand bank on a loch in scotland once, never saw it but it was great fun!

There were also a lot of deer, fox and raccoon dog (still missing lynx and wolf tracks for this winter, though) tracks near the starting point where I started tracking the elk path. A lot of them could have been traced to this riverbend where evidently many of quench their thirst.

River_Bend.jpg
 
Feb 27, 2008
423
1
Cambridge
There is more than one elk. 2+ maybe, looking at the tracks? From my interpretation. Mother and calf maybe?

Finland is an amazing place. Wilderness is everywhere. Within a few minutes from your door you can be in thick forest. A short drive will put you in massive forest. We don't have anything like that here in the UK which is such a shame. I remember when I lived there we stayed a short while in a cottage and tracked Elk in the morning. Found its bet and where it had urinated. You could see from the tracks it was massive. We need to set up a bushcraft 'exchange' program! You would like our broadleaf woodland!
 

Martti

Full Member
Mar 12, 2011
919
18
Finland
There is more than one elk. 2+ maybe, looking at the tracks? From my interpretation. Mother and calf maybe?

There was only one set of track entering and leaving the hillside, indicating it was a single animal that left them.

You would like our broadleaf woodland!

While there are rather extensive broadleaf woodlands in Southern Finland, even around the most densily populated areas, I really prefer boreal forests.
 

Martti

Full Member
Mar 12, 2011
919
18
Finland
A bit vague brown bear back pawn track I found last summer 15 kilometers north of downtown Helsinki. However, the animal was a female, weighting around 100-150 kg, and followed by a cub born 5-6 months earlier and weighing 20-30 kg.

Bear_track.jpg


Bear_track_2.jpg
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Hi Martti. Nice and sharp images ,
I was trying to get some idea of the track length ,is that your boot heel in the bottom right of the 2nd picture in the snow?
 
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