He wiped his hands and weapon's handle on his pants and continued deeper.
The fact that the number of Ice Oxen had risen was a good indicator that he was in the right direction.
He was fully alert, scanning the land with utmost seriousness, not willing to miss out on anything.
It helped that he was in the tundra region, so there weren't as many obstacles for him to scan.
He walked for approximately an hour, and found groups of two, three, two, four, three, two, and one Ice Oxen respectively.
There is some pattern.
There was a definite increase in the number of Ice Oxen before it began decreasing. As if to confirm this fact, he proceeded to encounter groups of two, two and one Ice Oxen.
Wait, maybe I am in the wrong direction.
He returned the way he came, till the area where he felt the 'density' of the Ice Oxen was highest. This took another hour, during which he encountered a lot of groups as well.
