Animal Characteristics

Whatever you’re hunting, a basic understanding of an animal’s characteristics will help you develop an effective strategy for identifying and tracking it.

Animals can be identified by four basic characteristics.

Distinctive Markings: The black cheek patch on male pronghorns; the “flags” of the white-tailed deer; the face pattern on a gray fox; the green head on a mallard drake; the red, white, and blue on the head of a male turkey

Sounds: The wild call of the sandhill crane; the familiar honk of the goose; the gobble of a strutting “tom”; the grunt of the deer; the howl of the coyote

Movement: The bounce of mule deer; the fast or slow wing beats of some waterfowl; the zigzag in-flight pattern of the common snipe when flushed

Group Behavior: Flock patterns, such as the familiar “V” shape of certain migratory birds; various types of herd behavior

Further study will help you learn other ways to identify and understand your quarry, including signs the animal leaves, camouflage capability, and behavior.