MANTRACKING MANTRACKINGMantracking is too big a subject for me to cover in just this web page. The books by Jack Kearney and Ab Taylor listed in the references are excellent introductions to the art and you will enjoy reading Tom Brown's books. If you do not learn anything else about mantracking,
please remember this: DO NOT DESTROY THE TRACK!Whether you are searching for a lost child or investigating a homicide, lives may hang in the balance and may be lost when ignorant people trample the only evidence. |
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WHEN TO TRACK: If you have the luxury of time, do your tracking when the sun is low to maximize the contrast of the shadows highlighting tracks. However, if yours is a search and rescue situation, use whatever means you have -- mirrors, flashlight, hats for screens -- anything that will help you find the next track. | ||
 HOW TO TRACK: One of the most important tools for finding the next track is a tracking or "sign cutting" stick. An old ski pole or bamboo stake works well. The illustration shows how you use small rubber bands to mark the average stride, print length and width on the stick. Note that in mantracking, "stride" is defined differently than in animal tracking. In searching for people, we measure stride from where the heel (or toe) of one foot lands to where the heel (or toe - be consistent) of the next foot lands. Heel prints are usually easier to see than toe prints. |
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 SEARCHING FOR AN INDIVIDUAL: One of the major differences in mantracking from animal tracking is the need to recognize an individual's track. If someone is lost, interview everyone who was with that person leading up to their disappearance. Learn as much as you can about their footwear. Also inquire about their frame of mind, survival skills, clothing, food and water supply and knowledge of the area. If you have found a track which absolutely was left by the searched‘for person, sketch it in every detail and take careful measurements. You may need to radio that information to searchers ahead of you. |
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 AGING TRACKS: Ageing tracks—estimating the age of a track—is important in search and rescue, but is very difficult to do. Weather, exposure and terrain make enormous differences. As you practice following trails you will find that some prints in a single set of tracks will look much older than others. |
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PROTECTING YOUR CHILDREN: Apart from the obvious warnings to keep your children in sight, here are two other important things you can do: 1. At the start of a camping trip or group hike, have each child step on a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil while wearing the shoes they will be using. Label the resulting print with the child's name and keep it in a safe place. 2. Reassure your small child that although they must obey your rules about staying in sight, they must never be afraid that you will punish them should they become lost. Many small children hide from searchers either because they feel guilty about being lost or have been taught "never speak to strangers". Help your children to use their own common sense. Equip each member of the group with a plastic whistle and teach the children that the whistles are to be used only for emergencies. 3. Please do not dress small children in camouflage, unless it is blaze orange. A lost child is hard enough to find! | ||
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Nothing will substitute for practice. Most of the skills you are practicing for animal tracking apply to mantracking as well. Developing the observation skills to see subtle traces of other's passing requires the same dedication to long hours of practice. |
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