Looking up from the litter on the ground shown in the previous photo I saw that several of the upper branches on the tree were stripped of their bark and the exposed wood showed tooth marks all over. This gave further clue that a porcupine had worked this tree. A deer couldn't reach this height and I don't think a squirrel could cause this much damage. A porcupine could also explain the large prints I found in the snow about 200m away on another trail that looked similar to raccoon but didn't seem right for raccoon. With all the evidence I observed I think it is safe to say that this was a porcupine!