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Game trails vs cattle trails on GE

Do any of you guys believe that you can tell the difference between game trails and cattle trails on Google Earth?

Yes if you can see it it's cattle:)

Probably not unless it leads to a cattle feed yard.

I seldom see cattle above 10,500', just not the grazing they like up that high where I hunt. Plus the cowboys dont let them get that high for fear of getting caught up high if weather turns.

If I see trails on GE above 10500, its a good bet they are game trails, but again, thats where I hunt

For instance here is secluded meadow that has a couple wallows in it with trails.

Never seen cattle near there. Just elk

And it's at 10500'

Sorry Ike, I thought this was under the ELK forum

No problem. Same issue, but what made me think of it was some trails I found in white tail country. I'd have just assumed they were cattle trails, but I'm pretty sure that cattle are not allowed on this particular public ground.

Everywhere I have ever hunted game and cattle used the same trails.

Here are some trails in WT country (Neb) that I hunt and they are deer only. You can see how they use the nearest points to make the trails.

Hope this helps

Right skook, but the spot I was looking at, there shouldn't be any cattle and the trails look really well-worn/deep.

I don't know where you're looking, but here in Colorado in the SWAs, they often run cattle during the summer and they are off by deer season, except one of the properties I hunted last season, the cows decided to have a party under my stand right at happy hour! Cnelk that's a pretty cool picture, really shows how they keep to cover as long as possible!

I've seen cattle above 10,000 feet in Colorado...

Maybe deer are using old cattle trails. Trails made by cattle are going to be wider than those made by deer, also much deeper.

No cows on the property now, but have there ever been cows on it?

Unless there is a feed lot nearby, I wouldn't think Cattle would be making trails anywhere you are looking. Cattle in a fenced area during winter feeding, really concentrate their travel due to limited space. Meaning they will have a place they go to eat, to drink, and to rest out of the weather. But, if they are allowed to free range and graze where they want, when food is abundant, they will scatter quite a bit. And, only concentrate to water if it is limited. During summer time, once the cows get the grub eat down, they move on if they have the space. Only a fence stops them. And, then only by theory. In other words, unless concentrated with a limiting resource, cattle have no need for trails. God Bless

I see heavily used cattle trails in Northern NM every year. Altitude is mostly between 9500 and 11,000 ft. These cattle roam thousands of acres over a wide variety of feeding and watering areas both wilderness and national forest. If you find a well worn trail or multiple well worn trails together then there is likely a good water source available. I rarely see elk on these trails and most elk paths aren't nearly as worn.

Cowboys are usually rounding them up in September around elk hunting season.

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