At two points, the tracks left the fire road and veered into a gully. We were able to pick them up about a quarter mile down the road where they rejoined the path before continuing for a bit. After the second time they left the road we found the path blocked by a downed tree and we were forced to turn the truck around.
The second standard measuring tool, Josh's hand. The primary tool as every bigfooter knows is the size 9 boot. All sarcasm aside it's good to have a lightweight flexible tape. Seamstress tapes work the best. It's pretty rare that you'll find a print over 3' long so they cover just about any situation. Notice how the double prints (fore and hind paw) combine to create the shape of a human-like foot.
Here's a good example of "context". If this half-melted bear print photo was presented on it's own, a more unscrupulous bigfooter could us the ambiguity to their advantage. An isolated photo like this would be more difficult to discern as coming from a bear. The melt starts to create a more "foot-like" profile. The claw marks have been reduced and there is no scale to show that the combined length of the double print is only about 7". It could be passed off as an "11 x 5" sasquatch footprint" but fortunately we know with the supporting trackway photos that it is a bear print.
If there's a lesson to be presented here, it's that you should shoot any interesting prints from every possible angle bot close up and from afar. Should the photos be presented as evidence, every detail will come into play. Give yourself the ammunition necessary for analysis after the fact.
Also remember that digital camera viewing screens can be deceiving. What looks like a good photo may in fact be blurry and vice-versa. Shoot more photos than you think are necessary. You never know what you will find when you upload them to your computer.
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