I think they stood behind a tree to ambush a deer.

The deer was to the west of them.

The traces they left in the soft earth under the tree show that the toes of their moccasins pointed toward the west and so they were looking that way, at the deer, which probably stood in the thicket over there nibbling at its food.

They must have had an easy shot.

Now, we'll enter the thicket.
Lo, Dagaeoga, here is where the deer fell! Look at the little bushes broken and at the dark stain on the ground where its life flowed out.
They dragged the body to the other side of the thicket, and cut it up there.