The Deer Swath

A Sand County Almanac With Essays on Conservation from
Round River by Aldo Leopold was first published
posthumously in 1949 with certain additions in later additions.
It has become a classic read for those interested in
conservation and the environment. I first read this small book
over forty years ago. If you have not read it I wholeheartedly
encourage you to do so.

Within the book there is one small essay entitled The Deer
Swath. I found it summed up my thoughts about those of us who
spend time in the woods observing nature and how we perceive
what we see and hear. We all have different areas in which we
are better than others. My chief interest is sounds, whether
bird or mammals while my wife is busy concentrating on
looking for tracks in the dust. She is always saying "What
bird, I didn't hear anything" while I could have a herd of
elephants walk through the area and not notice the footprints.
I have a friend in New Mexico who excels at looking for elk
and deer sign and another friend here in Illinois who is quite
adept at looking at 'sign" as described by the author.

We can not all be good at everything so my advice is for you to
have several friends with you as you do your research and
concentrate on those areas that are of particular interest to you
and allow your friends to concentrate on their areas of interest.
The correct dog can be a great asset in the woods. With keen
senses my Karelian Bear Dog many times has alerted me to
the fact that we were not alone in our section of forest.

The Deer Swath an excerpt from A Sand County Almanac
- published June 1989

When the deer hunter sits down he sits where he can
see ahead, and with his back to something. The duck
hunter sits where he can see overhead, and he behind
something. The non-hunter sits where he is
comfortable. None of these watches the dog. The
bird hunter watches only the dog, and always knows
where the dog is, whether or not visible at the moment.
The dog's nose is the bird hunter's eye. Many hunters
who carry a shotgun in season have never learned to
watch the dog, or to interpret his reactions to scent.

There are good outdoors men who do not conform to
these categories. There is the ornithologist who
hunts by ear, and uses the eye only to follow up
on what his ear has detected. There is the
botanist who hunts by eye, but at much closer
range; he is a marvel at finding plants, but seldom
sees birds or mammals. There is the forester who
sees only trees, and the insects and fungi that
prey upon trees; he is oblivious to all else. And
finally there is the sportsman who sees only game,
and regards all else as of little interest or value.

There is one illusive mode of hunting which I cannot
associate exclusively with any of these groups: the
search for scats, tracks, feathers, dens, roostings,
rubbings, dustings, diggings, feedings, fightings,
or preyings collectively known to woodsmen as
'reading sign.' This skill is rare, and too often
seems to be inverse to book learning.