Tracking ( and hunting )

[Europe]

Over the past 6 months I have had the opportunity to speak with several who have been taught to track. Two of these people you fellows know ( Jamila and Cheyenne ). Cheyenne said she was taught at a very young age by her parents and others. Jamila said she was taught by trackers who work for her mum but also attended a tracking school in South Africa. I was taught by my parents and a good friend of my husbands.

In speaking to several younger hunters, "tracking" I believe is becoming a lost art.

Who taught you how to track, both before the shot and after, if you only wound the animal.

 

[Guy Miner]

Not re hunting, but in the military and in law enforcement I was able to train with some great trackers. Awesome experience. Once in the desert southwest and once here in the northwest.

I've never been particularly adept at following game animals by tracking.

Guy

 

[Blkram]

Self taught, for the most part.
Read a bit about tracks and tracking, and after that it was time spent in the field learning, wether I was hunting or assisting others.
My grandma taught me some very basic things about tracks and tracking when teaching me to hunt and snare rabbits as a kid.

I would love spend time learning from the African trackers or Australian Aborigines; their skills are amazing to watch on video.

 

[hunternyny]

The fellow that we meet in Montana each year, is amazing. He sees things we dont even think about.

I was not taught and am not a tracker, but I respect the abilities of those who can.

 

[ShadeTree]

Never was taken under wing by an expert tracker and taught, but like I suppose many others, was shown things by older hunters and you learn as you go best you can.

Some people have amazing eyes and the ability to read and recognize any small minute differences they see. I'm certainly not that. Best I can do is try to learn and be better than I used to be.

Some of it is learned and the rest I believe you're somewhat born with. I have a good buddy that is crazy good in my view. His Dad was the best woodsman overall I'll likely ever run across so he had a great teacher, but some levels of skill cannot be taught I don't think. I could go to art class for a yr and should at the end have more abilty than I do now, but I promise you would never want to buy any drawing or painting I did. Lol.

 

[truck driver]

I learned when I was just old enough to tag along with my father when he would go hunting . I would ask questions and he would answer. Hunting on my own when I was old enough allowed me to hone the skills and to know what to look for, being aware of your surroundings and looking for something out of the usual will tell you a lot about what has gone on around you making it easier to find sign and what direction your quire went.

 

[Thankful Otter]

Those who know me will know I am trying to answer in the only way I know how, others will take exception

Hunting for us in not a hobby. It is at the very core of our culture, even our existence

Knowledge of the land, animals, animal's reactions, animal's habit's, weather, in conjunction with tracking, hunting and survival are taught to each of us at a very young age. Three things that I notice seems to be missing from the majority ( not all ) of hobby hunters are awareness, patience, and conditioning.

They know their rifle inside and out, but have less knowledge of the prey they have chosen to hunt and what it takes to hunt them.

In all fairness, however. These men and women have full time jobs and families and if a few minutes become available during the day/week, it is easy to go the man cave and tinker with a rifle. It is not that easy to walk out your front door and track a grizzly.

 

[hunternyny]

In all fairness, however. These men and women have full time jobs and families and if a few minutes become available during the day/week, it is easy to go the man cave and tinker with a rifle. It is not that easy to walk out your front door and track a grizzly.

Unless you name is Hodgeman, Bear, Gil or Dr Mike lol

You make excellent points cheyenne, as we try to find time to enjoy our firearms, but to get into any kind of wilderness takes a few days of travel time. Patience has been mentioned to us and we are guilty as charged, but we have a two week window to close the deal or wait until next year. As where the the fellows mentioned above, can go again tomorrow if today was a bust.

as to tracking and wilderness knowledge, etc--I was in the Northwest Territories and witnessed this skill first hand and my wife and I still talk about how easy reading the land is for some.

Another example is Salmonchaser. I bet he can look at a river and tell you where the fish are at. Maybe the bears as well

 

[truck driver]

Those who know me will know I am trying to answer in the only way I know how, others will take exception

Hunting for us in not a hobby. It is at the very core of our culture, even our existence

Knowledge of the land, animals, animal's reactions, animal's habit's, weather, in conjunction with tracking, hunting and survival are taught to each of us at a very young age. Three things that I notice seems to be missing from the majority ( not all ) of hobby hunters are awareness, patience, and conditioning.

They know their rifle inside and out, but have less knowledge of the prey they have chosen to hunt and what it takes to hunt them.

In all fairness, however. These men and women have full time jobs and families and if a few minutes become available during the day/week, it is easy to go the man cave and tinker with a rifle. It is not that easy to walk out your front door and track a grizzly.

Well said Cheyenne. When I was a young lad growing up it was a necessary skill and hunting along with fishing helped provide meat for the table. Most people today do not understand what it means to have to go hungry because you didn't catch a fish or kill so game for meat yes we had a garden which provide fresh vegetables in the summer and there was more then one meal where there wasn't meat on the table. Now all they have to do is go to Walmart, Sams Club or Costco and buy what they need. We didn't have that luxury back in the day.

 

[Guy Miner]

I'm likely to have to improve my tracking skills, since I'm switching from rifle to bow for some of my hunting.

Am very used to game dropping on the spot, or nearly so. That isn't the normal course of events for bowhunting.

Guy

 

[salmonchaser]

One of the issues out west is grazing on public lands. Properly done it can provide overall benefits and least we forget most wintering ground is private land, fair is fair after all.
That being said there are always a few guys who can't manage to find all their cows before hunting season. I was sitting on a ridge one day, watched an old range cow lead about 10 others off the mountain to more comfortable accommodations. About 1/2 hour later I saw two hunters working the trail. They were really sneaking along.
Tracking is a lost art for certain. I enjoy practicing it. I'm always trying to figure out why, feeding, bedding, security or travel corridor. That kind of thing.
Since I was a kid I've always looked for the evidence of a hit, the hair and blood, even if the animal dropped right there. Training my eyes I guess.
I hope I can find some fish, first guests arrive tomorrow, river opens on Friday and they all expect to catch a rainbow over thirty inches.


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[Guy Miner]

How the heck do you track a trout? :mrgreen:

 

[truck driver]

How the heck do you track a trout? :mrgreen:

Find the end of the RainBow. :roll: :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[salmonchaser]

Boom


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[mjcmichigan]

I saw it on Amazon Prime.
33” rainbow, “cast Alaska “
It’s free with amazon prime, watch it if you have 45 minutes.
It will make you want to go to Alaska to get one of those rainbows!


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[salmonchaser]

Well I'd still rather hunt than fish, but I spend more time fishing it seems. I guide about 100 fishing days, 60 or so hunting days.
By accident of birth I grew up fishing the fabled rivers of Alaska and Oregon for salmon, steelhead and trout.
As a guide I was all about salmon, even my off hours until I landed my first 30 inch rainbow. There is nothing like feeling under gunned on a rainbow that threatens to destroy an 8wt fly rod.
Well except for going three for three on Chukar, having a big bull step out in front, or peeking over a rim and finding a great muley buck. Still rather do that.


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[Polaris]

I learned most of my skills on the trapline. Reading and interpreting sign is absolutely essential for trapping furbearers, and it transfers well to big game. My initial background was learned while tagging along with a local guy who'd been trapping for some 50+ years. I swear he could look at a dry, smooth rock and tell you an otter basked in the sun there frequently. The otter in the "slide" set he placed there proved him right!

 

[hunter24605]

The hardest thing to overcome, for me anyway, was the the difference between looking and seeing..I would look and look and not "see" anything..A good friend of mine can spot a track, speck of blood, or an entire animal when I wouldn't..It wasn't until I learned from him to stop taking in the whole picture, and really look for the little abnormalities. A horizontal line in a bunch of vertical trees, a speck of white in brown and green brush, a leaf on the ground that's wet when the others are dry (or vice-versa), a twitch of movement that goes against the wind, or seems to rhythmic. So I can say that he's the person that taught me..Most of the hunting around here is setup and ambush/intercept because of the thickness of the woods and the terrain, so most tracking is done done after the shot. But I hate to think about how many deer/bear I missed because I was looking, but not seeing.