This article was originally published by Jeremiah Johnson at Tess Pennington’s ReadyNutrition.com.
ReadyNutrition Readers, we’re going to cover some of the basics on how to track man, and some tips on how to keep from being tracked by men. All of your camouflage is to no avail if you are awakened by a boot kicking you in the ribs as you’re curled up in your sleeping bag in a hidey-hole. Please keep in mind: this is a post-SHTF action and/or a life-threatening situation that would call for the tracking of another human being.
Man is the Most Dangerous Creature of All
Be aware: this is not deer-hunting or tracking a game animal. The rules are different, because a deer won’t double back on you, climb a cliff, and snipe you with a suppressed .308 as you cross a predetermined, pre-ranged spot. If you are adept at tracking game, these skills can help you, but keep in mind you’re tracking the most dangerous, intelligent, and resourceful creature of all: man. You’re tracking down a creature with the natural and learned instincts of a hundred thousand generations of hunters and killers…no matter what culture or creed. Man is the most dangerous creature of all. Never forget that. Respect the potential of the guy or gal you’re tracking. Respect it, and let it temper your emotions and judgment as you’re tracking.
To track a man, you need to be aware of your surroundings, the changes in it, and use deductive reasoning all in combination as you’re moving. There are some questions you always need to ask yourself as you are following a man as well as observations you must make:
- Are you keeping aware of the potential for ambush? Most people don’t like to be followed, and in a SHTF situation you can bet the other guy is playing for keeps. Are you walking right into a trap? As you study the terrain in front of you, are you “gaming” it in your mind? Remember Rule #1: the hunter can (and often does) become the hunted at any time.
NOTE: THIS QUESTION # 1 AND RULE # 1 BOTH APPLY CONCURRENTLY AT ALL TIMES! THEY ACCOMPANY AND SUPERCEDE ALL OF THE SUBSEQUENT QUESTIONS AND RULES!
- Minor deviations in the terrain (path) that would not normally be there: Broken hardwood branches at chest or head height, broken or “moved/displaced” vegetation, the tracks on the ground, bark rubbed from the face of fallen logs…. all of these are good indications that man has come this way.
- Major deviations in the terrain/path: perhaps a small mound of earth in the woods with what appears to be a “dent” followed by a long groove and crushed grass to either side…a good indicator your quarry stepped on the mound and slipped. Perhaps some good-sized trees chopped down, or good sized branches removed with an edged tool. These could be either fighting positions/lean-to’s/fortifications, or ground cover respectively. Look for signs of the hand of man where it is obvious.
- Changes to the earth. This means the ground. You’ve been tracking your quarry through a swamp, and now you emerge in a grassy field. Look for signs of tracks, and for mud to be tracked through the grass as well. If you’ve been walking through a dry riverbank with clay for a bed, then the color of clay will show up in front of you in the tracks of your target.
- Trash/detritus. Man is a messy creature, and no matter how careful he always messes up. It could be a food wrapper, or a cigarette butt he forgot to tote out with him. It could be a piece of paper or a dropped tool or even ammunition. It could also be part of a meal…even something so innocuous as crumbs. Your job as the tracker is to spot these deviances as they come out to meet your eyes.
- Smell. Man is (especially after several days in the bush or after physical exertion) a stinky creature. Yes, you can smell many things of man: his sweat, his deodorants and perfumes, his tobacco products (you can smell a cigarette for a long distance in the woods), and, of course, his stool. This last one (don’t laugh) is a really good giveaway, as most people will relieve themselves and not worry about covering up what they produce. This is not mentioned relative to hygiene, however, but in relation to tracking. Such people not caring about how they relieve themselves won’t give much consideration to someone using it to trail them.
- Noise. Man is, indeed, a noisy creature. He breathes heavily, belches, flatulates, grunts, groans, complains, talks loudly, and snores. All of these can be used to your advantage to find your quarry. He also drops things, bangs and bumps into things, and clatters metal against metal. He falls down, breaking branches and he curses or moans, depending on how badly he hurts himself. He also communicates to his fellow humans, either with a radio or with his voice.
- Light Discipline: man is as stubborn as they come on this one. Those flashlights are never “red lensed” and kept under a poncho or jacket as they should be…just everyone flashing the lights all over the place. Same for the cigarettes. Instead of cupping their hands around them and keeping the cigs low, there’s that orange dot right out to your front, head height. Man loves to use the flashlight when he’s moving around at night. It can be his undoing, and to your advantage if you look for your quarry being careless with the light.
- Changes to the quarry’s flight. A hunted man will always know he is being hunted. You need to be aware of an increased pace, a change of direction, changes in elevation…all factors that will indicate either distress or concern on the part of your quarry. The pace change can be noticed by footprints, especially the distance widening or shortening between them. Widening means he’s taking off. Shortening means the terrain is becoming more difficult or he’s tiring, or both. The runner usually uses the balls of his feet with a shallow heel-print. The walker sets his heels into the soil more deeply.
- Tread Depth: we covered this a little in #9, and in addition, if the guy has a size nine boot print and is really sinking into the earth? Well, he’s probably carrying some serious stuff in the form of supplies and/or weapons.
If your search is proceeding too well and too smoothly? It’s an ambush. We’ve covered these fundamentals, because believe it or not, it is easier to avoid the hunter if you first have been the hunter. What we just covered forms the basis for avoiding someone who is pursuing you. Believe it or not, you can practice this stuff in the woods with family and/or team members. It makes for both a good workout and a challenge to actually implement stuff you learn. Part Two we’ll focus on how to get away from the bad guys trying to find you. Until then keep studying and practicing. It’ll pay off in the end…especially after the SHTF. JJ out!
Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson was a Special Forces Medic, EMT and ACLS-certified, with comprehensive training in wilderness survival, rescue, and patient-extraction. Mr. Johnson is an ardent advocate for preparedness, self-sufficiency, and long-term disaster sustainability for families. He and his wife survived Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Cross-trained as a Special Forces Engineer, he is an expert in supply, logistics, transport, and long-term storage of perishable materials, having incorporated many of these techniques plus some unique innovations in his own homestead.
This article first appeared at Tess Pennington’s Ready Nutrition.com.
Tess Pennington is the author of The Prepper’s Blueprint, a comprehensive guide that uses real-life scenarios to help you prepare for any disaster. Because a crisis rarely stops with a triggering event the aftermath can spiral, having the capacity to cripple our normal ways of life. The well-rounded, multi-layered approach outlined in the Blueprint helps you make sense of a wide array of preparedness concepts through easily digestible action items and supply lists.
Tess is also the author of the highly rated Prepper’s Cookbook, which helps you to create a plan for stocking, organizing and maintaining a proper emergency food supply and includes over 300 recipes for nutritious, delicious, life-saving meals.
Visit her web site at ReadyNutrition.com for an extensive compilation of free information on preparedness, homesteading, and healthy living.
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A Step-By-Step Guide To Survive Any Disaster
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A Green Beret’s Guide to EMP: Practical Steps to Prepare for a “Lights Out” Scenario
Stay out of the woods. Be the Gray Man. Look like everyone else. Blend in.
JJ,
It means the situation is very serious if someone is tracking you! Expect the unexpected and prejudice in the extreme!
Louisiana Eagle
I would venture to say that most on this site spend little or no time alone in the woods. It is true that nothing is as dangerous as man. I spend alot of time alone in the wilderness where grizzlies, mountain lions and wolves are numerous, while griz are the most often encountered and with serious consequences their presences will tend to sharpen your senses. So where ever you are located try and spend as much time “alone” in the woods or wilderness as possible. It will increase your odds of survival should you ever be placed in this situation. Trekker Out. What Was That Sound!
I agree. Not very many people have spent weeks in the wilderness alone. Most aren’t even in good enough shape to make it into the wilderness, never mind carry enough equipment to live there for more than an an hour. Backpacking is like a foreign language…most don’t understand it.
At the “campsite” ranges are known; the terrain is as familiar as the back of my hand and the years of solitude in the woods are now the best training I could have ever had.
We hold the high ground and it wouldn’t be prudent to come looking for something around here. It will be a one way trip for all but the very best. I’ll take that chance; they are few.
Semper paratus
Molon labe
III
MT, GC,
I agree. There was a time, not any more. Then my eyes were 20/15, my ears could hear a butterfly flapping it’s wings, and I would bathe in ice cold water. I am no longer as physically active, but I do go into the outdoors as often as I can. I try to be wiser and aware of changes around me now and my senses have gone more inward (if that makes any sense).
Louisiana Eagle
Yeah, like why would someone be tracking me? Dumb people get tracked for doing something very wrong or knowing too much, or a witness to a crime.
~WWTI… Go watch the 3 vid series of Ytube video’s about being tracked in modern society with Big Brother. Its Called: “TRACK ME IF YOU CAN”
Start here Video 1 of 3 – ht tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztvCH8ud8A
This will show you how to evade Modern Tracking.
If I stay out of the woods, and also follow common advice of abandoning urban areas in a post-shtf, that leaves what… suburbs..?
subject applies in urban areas as well.
Also.. Hard to be the grey man when all the other grey men are gone or are in shelter. No one to blend in with.
The best place to hide is one that is strategic but not necessarily well camouflaged. The best place to hide is not in the cave but in the open with a good view plus a rock or wood cover that would deflect or absorb bullets. It is up to you to not move about and do anything to attracts attention – Like taking a shit or eating food that is aromatic. Bread is relatively easy to smell in the woods. So are MOST everything we normally eat because they all have flavors added which is normally aromatic.
I have gone for lots of walks in wooded parks alone. I wanted the full experience without distractions. Fairly remote. I stop and listen and observe. It is amazing how much noise people make when hiking in the woods. You can hear them yacking away, 100 yards away. I have dogged off the trail like 20 yards in the woods and just watched them walk on by, as they are more induced and entranced by their conversation, than the elements in the woods around them.
And if you are kayaking or boating on the water, like a lake your voice will carry for hundreds of yards bouncing off the water and echoing. So shut your trap while on the water. Besides you will scare the fish and wildlife.
~WWTI…
I practised deer stalking on people camping. Crept within 30 meters of a campsite and a guy got up to pee, no more than 10m to my right, still didnt see me even above the grass line. Mind you, 9pm at night and a home made ghillie head rag on (you dont need the pants or top if your doing it right) and I crept out, never knew I was there.
Look at nature and how lions take down gazelles and antelope, they turn their paws over to not crunch grass with their paw skin, dragging themselves slowly, inch by inch until the right time. If it didnt work they wouldnt be alive.
If you truly have NO experience with the woods, (no military combat training or you were not raised “in the country” and spent your growing years in the woods), then I suppose it would not be a superb idea to head for the woods as the majority would never, ever find their way out again (without a compass they would literally walk in circles to absolute exhaustion or worse).
And, even with the knowledge at hand (let’s say you have an SAS SURVIVAL GUIDE in your gear). What is contained in that book is beyond what you need to know to survive, and in many cases the long way to go about some things, but if you are not “comfortable” in the woods or it would be a brand new experience …then it’s best to avoid forests. Just trying to get around in the woods proves to enraging to many folks because walking without tree limbs tripping you, branches catching you (or snapping loudly), or the feeling you might get trying to move through the woods with a full-blown GHILLIE SUIT on. Two steps and you are immobilized as the forest grabs and clings to every part of the suit (or so it would seem). heheh… (mean ole trees!)
JJ, this just has to be one of your very best articles. Well laid out, well described and scripted …just saying, excellent! I’ve noticed a lot of warnings to folks to avoid the woods if they aren’t with a military background in the “bottom lines” of true combat training and “just how low is low”. heheh…
couldn’t agree more! 99% of these folks would never make it in the woods any way.
This is exactly why a LONE WOLF would survive in an extreme condition. Having a noisy party especially with children in tow will easily give away your position. They will be picked off one by one by a Lone Wolf.
It also helps to be on the land you know by the back of your hand. This article fails to mention what about when you are being tracked by bloodhounds. You just need to keep moving faster than them. Or you are screwed. Head to deep swamp water areas, and climb on a hidden kayak and get the heck out of the area.
~WWTI…
Mmm, no. As usual, bad advice.
The LONE WOLF is extremely susceptible to being picked off in his sleep or otherwise because he’s got nobody available to watch his back nor can he competently watch his front by himself.
Agreed Nunya. Unlike WWTI, aka Chickenfucker, a seasoned individual wouldn’t and shouldn’t be out there alone. Even Scouts/Snipers operate as 2 man teams. But, Kaptain Kotex, aka Chickenfucker aka WWTI would be an easy track with the blood trail and all. All this excellent wisdom from a couch commando whos never been baptized by fire. Blah blah blah chickenfucker. Rest in Peace Eppe, I got this.
I would say that having a 2 man/larger team has advantages like allowing folks to get real sleep while still having LP/OP’s to warn of danger,but,more folks attract more attention.I would say you may find yourself in a larger group,may be helping folks who do have kids,tis why you have a scout and a rear gaurd.
I would say advantages to being alone do allow a easier path to hide/avoid if necc. ambush but look at that as last alternative.Get out there as author suggests and try this and other skills/alone and with others at times.
Would be great if we all grew up a Grizzly Adams life style along with a pinewoods graduation and a few combat tours under our belts,not the reality for most folks though.I am lucky to have grown up in the country/camping/hiking/hunting ect.,many grew up and live in the cities,just the way it is.We all need to see what we will consider our grounds if things go very wrong and get to know it/work within it to best of ability.
The only blood trail will be you following, is your own as you walk in circles, cause you ripped your foot blisters and the blood is leaking out your cheap boot vent holes.
Sure try and get me while I’m sleeping, you will be fed to the gators. They like hick chicken midnight snacks.
~WWTI…
It’s not possible to be an effective sniper without an effective spotter. Period.
Don’t snore when you sleep.
Don’t fhart in your sleep.
Don’t bath with deodorant soap.
Keep to the high ground during the day
Keep to caves and ravines during the night
Always have an escape route and various hideouts for yourself and your food.
If you have to shoot – be the first and be accurate (DUH)
Bill,
Those are some great points but may be hard to do. Did you hear about the patient who blew up the operating room? I seldom hear myself snore (smile). Always have a plan and several ways to escape. Don’t get boxed in or get caught in the open. Hopefully none of us will ever be the object of a hunt but if it comes to that, make the most of your advantages and then it will be molon labe.
Louisiana Eagle
Snoring, a large percent of the population snores, and it can get worse sleeping in the open where your sinuses may be annoyed by night air.
I snore badly, but never snore sitting in a plane seat. Snoring is often positional.
Lash some sticks together for back support and sleep reclined, not flat on your back, it’ll also protect your back from the cold ground, as well as keep your ears elevated to hear the bad guys coming. A final plus, if you are armed and have your backrest against a rock or large tree, your back is protected and you are ready to defend the front.
Always be aware of wind direction, not just for scent, but it carries sound. Use it to protect your back if you are the hunted.
That’s amazing as we always awaited darkness before emerging from the beach kelp ‘suits’ we were wearing …always. Night Vision (Gen 1) was the standard back then, but no face-masks you could talk in and nothing remotely like the rebreathers that are being used now. Wow, those are some great toys.
I think the only thing that needs fixing is the weight of protective armor. We need it 1/8th of an inch thick that can stop a Satan Missile. (Carrying around the extra weight really slows a body down, and you’ll shed pounds accordingly, AND WATER LIKE CRAZY. Remember, a black-tongue simply means you are severely dehydrated, and you can make the tongue look like new in one day just by drink a lot of water, assuming you have it (and you’d better). Never wait until you are out of water before finding more safe water. Never! The “wild” isn’t a place to be taking any sort of chances in. Never break that rule and chances are you’ll never run into something you can’t handle.
Nunya; (Hey, ‘nunya’ in Cherokee means “NO!”). I agree that the lone wolf is the least safe, no differently than whoever has “point” right? As you say, you have no “watch” and so you are forced to go days without sleep (welcome to Hell Week, SEAL TEAM). It’s also simply impossible to watch 360 degrees around yourself (which is my main reason for never moving except at night, and even then only if you have 2nd Gen NV (night vision).
As for outrunning dogs of any kind, that idea would get you dead in the amount of time it took the dogs to catch you. Most men can run 3 to 9 mph through the woods and dogs can hit 45mph, so imho you need to do much more than “outrun the hounds” and a Lone Wolf would have no choice but to “Hush Puppy” them all before the men ‘bring up the rear’, which is about 15 to 20 minutes or more like one minute if they are using 4-Wheelers (and most, I expect, would be using them since they always do). These days it is harder than hell as the dogs have GPS collars with a great HD Video, HI-DEF Cameras (with night vision)…*nothing new here*, which means the people will know your exact position as soon as the dogs start barking differently (meaning they have you “down” or at least sighted). At that point you’ve got no choice but to knife or blast them, and since you’ve “been made” anyway every second is precious.
In North East PA a year ago, a cop killer went free for 6 months because he could beat drones, flur cameras and dogs. Read up on him he was completely alone.
He went after two cops who may have been crooks and abused him. He wasn’t just out to hurt cops or it could have been a bloodbath.
How to keep tracking dogs off your trail.
CLOROX.
The scent is overpowered and renders the dogs smelling senses useless.
Old expired pepper spray cans will also screw up dogs. Just don’t get it on you. Spray the downwind trail behind you.
Tie a chunk of roadkill to a rope, drag it ten feet behind you for a mile or two and then just leave it on the trail. The tracking dogs will forget all about you.
Ammonia also works.
If they ever come for guns, have a bottle of burned gun powder ash mixed with gun powder. Sprinkle it everywhere you want the dogs to waste their time and police to spin their wheels busting walls open or digging holes.
WWTI – That part about the dogs just “ain’t right.” Remember back a bit over a year ago they confined a SEAL to something like an 8 acre area and then turned loose lots of men to see if they could track him down? His only concern was “…if I can fool the dogs”.
He knew “disappearing” from people is easy, even to another SEAL or any Commando, but with dogs you have to do certain “exercises” and do them perfectly or you’ll not fool the dogs.
He kept fooling them in excess of three weeks when they finally called off the exercise (and by then he was only yards from his home anyway …the last place they’d expect he’d go is the first place he went). 🙂
Another good reason for boats…….over the horizon and forgotten!!
@ Who WeaponsTrackingFed Knows
*land you know like the back of your hand.
You can’t fake twang.
People need to change their mindset NOW. In a crisis, when the animals become desperate, the rules DO NOT apply anymore. People need to use discipline at all times and that includes noise, light, movement, trash, etc… The smallest error in discipline or judgment could cost you and your family their lives.
NTXPREPPER: Nicely said, and OH so true, and yet only about 5% of less of the populace will adapt such a mind set. (Which is incredible when you consider that survival is instinctive, and so is the will to live – yet how many would strike a light-anywhere match without a thought as to how far it would be visible …just to light a smoke while “on watch”.
This is also “payback time” for all the “better than thee” civilians who have denounced militarily combat-trained posters on here relentlessly. Now, for all they were denounced for doing, the “denouncers” are wishing like hell they had even ONE WEEK of combat-training (because learning self-defense from reading The Army Manual of Self-Defense-Close Quarters ain’t gonna make it for anyone unskilled “in the arts”). I find no joy it, only pity for the suffering some will needlessly endure. Instead of denouncing another man’s chosen profession they could have, instead, attempted to “pick their brains” for information (as has been suggested that everyone find combat-vets and pick their brains, yet nobody has (to my knowledge) at this site have they? If so, I’ve never witnessed it.
That’s okay, the Lone Wolves, if they are smart, and a great many of them certainly are “sharp as tacks”, will eventually run into ex-combat vets out there (much to their surprise each time, guaranteed).
You are NOT going to sneak up on an ex-combat veteran, and it is even less likely with the “high end” of the military’s spectrum of warriors, with the top four being the last “types” you’d ever want to meet up with on “war terms” (You’d be listening, smelling,’scanning’ like crazy [or you’d better be!] and never once be aware you may be standing within three-feet of one or more …seriously).
Still, it is better to read and correct incongruities now, than to possibly have someone suffer from a “foolish yet common” error should everything go upside-down.
Sounds like a great name for a gay dating app, Mantrckr:)
On a serious note, if you are being hunted, there is much you can do to turn the tables. They include:
Stay dark: never use artificial light and get used to moving around using the moon and ambient light only. People glow. At night, our skin becomes fluorescent. Cover it up. That means black people too: I can see the whites of your eyes and those teeth.
Do the jiggle jump: before you go on the run bounce up and down and make sure you aren’t making any sounds. Just one thing scratching or jingling and your found.
Sharpen some sticks and get some wire, string etc.: the sharpened sticks have many purposes. If they are close behind and chasing you down a path, place the stick around a corner or bend pointing at the pursuer. Use the wire or string to trip up the pursuer. If you have more time, dig a shallow pit around a corner and place sharpened sticks in there, camo and wait for the big surprise.
Sloppy trails: create a sloppy route as a diversion. Piss and crap all over it and leave lots of markings. Then backtrack and get far away.
Height: few people look up, even seasoned trackers. Get up a tree or on a cliff. Either launch an attack from there or just observe and wait.
Modern evasion: hunters can use dogs or more than likely these days, night vision, helicopters, drones, heat sensors, etc. In this case, you need to be cold, ie: not detectable, and to make diversions hot. This means covering your body so you do not give off a signature. Helicopters are noisy so you have an advantage but drones are very quiet and very high.
Frank: Aye, it is SOOOO true that “nobody ever looks up” (and I’ve used that to my advantage more times than I can count).
…and I think you make some of the shittier trails I’ve ever had the displeasure of tracking. 🙂
Nice write-up!
Lets say you are being tracked and are down to just one .308 bullet left. One man and one dog ate tracking you. If you have the ability to set up an ambush, would you shoot the tracking dog or the man tracker? I will give my answer later today.
-WWTI…
Neither.
Neither, never.
When I turn the plotts lose they don’t stop till they taste blood even if it’s into the next day.
When the tailgate drops the bullshit stops.
If they could find Che in the middle of the jungle with the old technology they had back then, I think they won’t need too many trackers with the technology they have today. Stay out of the woods, unless you want to show up as a hot spot on someones’ FLIR.
You do not think you’ll show up “just as hot” in the middle of a field huh? You’d need shelter, or heat reflection (such as a Mylar Emergency Blanket will reflect 95% of your heat. Just a tad more causes your “signature” to blend in with all other things in the area (so you are invisible IF you remain still, and I mean motionless as death).
A drone can detect the slightest motion from amazing altitudes, and before you realize it you’ve got company and not much choice but to reveal exactly where you are situated.
I knew a man who went turkey hunting with his BIL in Louisiana and the BIL told him to stay put as he would split off to flush the turkey toward him.
My friend waited and then boom! Half his head was blown off. Another hunter found him and rushed him to the hospital. He lived with a sunken skull and a plate in his head, but mentally was not the same. His BIL and his wife were never seen again. The sheriff concluded his BIL and wife was to murder him for the insurance money, but he lived, left for dead until reports of him found and surviving scared them off.
I never knew of the sheriff found the culprits, I left the state before it would be known. Be careful who you hunt with, they may just be your killer.
I have hunted since I was 10. My time in the service was in a light infantry division mostly squad tactics.
Everyone has flashlights. Try this for training. Go outside at night. Wait 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to darkness. Then move through the woods. Go slow. You can see at night. Don’t use the flash light. Also step heel to toe. Feel what is under your foot before applying full weight. If it is a stick then move your foot to another area before stepping.
Have camouflage paint for shtf scenario. Use vegetation that is common to your area to stick in your clothes and hat. Attempt to look like a bush. No your area and the lay of the land. Where are areas that are hard to cross like rivers. Where are the high and low points. Where are ravines and creek beds ect. If you smoke cover yourself with a poncho when you do. This also ruins your night vision so be aware of that. Use tape to cover metal parts of your weapons and clothing so they make little to no noise. Learn to make booby traps in your area and no there locations.
Buy topographic maps of your area.
Build fighting positions and camouflage them in your area of operations. Better now than in a rush if the shtf.
Just some quick thoughts about the article and hope it is helpful to all.
Good ideas Mike,interested in folks who live in large towns/cities and can’t get out and their thoughts.I would say if you smoke,take a bit of your tobbaco out and chew,no matches/lighters for smokes/lamps/fires anything except areas you know and feel as comfortable as you can in tough situations.I would say the cheap thermal blankets better then nothing for infra if you are staying put,better ways to beat am all ears.
Nicely written Mike with a lot stuffed into a small space. We love that kinda shit around this place. 🙂
I like your description of moving quietly through the woods. It is definitely an art (and skill too) of moving silently, which like all stealth requires painful slowness.
Can’t say that I’ve ever heard of covering yourself to smoke. I would not dare as I am sure I could smell someone for at least 1/2 mile if they reeked(sp?) of tobacco (or weed) …whatever, it can all be detected by several noses (especially young children, listen to them when they smell something by all means)!
Are you aware you can get topographical maps of any area from the http://www.usgs.gov website. (Or one of the links to your area of the country or world). We keep three of these land-maps to use along with the GMRS radios (with the earpiece/mouthpiece it is effortless and hands-off to use for the greatest part). Ah, Motorola rigs are my ‘fav’ yet these Uniden GMR5099-2CKHS (or 5089) have an (up to) 50-mile boost on the “big channels” and are waterproofed, yet the FCC wants you to have a license (for $100 or so) to use those channels legally. Where does it say The FCC owns frequencies and can charge you for using them? Of course, I fully intend to.
The reality is that most Bambi Hunters barely leave sight of their cars or ATVs – and even on foot they rarely go more than 50 feet off a well trod trail. You can survive nicely if you go further afield and do not leave tracks off the main trail, make a fire, or make noise. If you are alone then you need 360 degree barriers or booby traps – and minimize movement where you could be spotted.
But this is a nice article on the importance of tracking (and not being tracked). The other half of tracking is separating out ‘recent’ signs versus ‘old’ signs. Unless you are in a near wilderness, most trails will have already been tracked by dozens of people over the previous few weeks. So is the ‘mud’ dry? Are the leaves wilting?
In a SHTF scenario – I would put ‘tracking someone else” – pretty high up on the danger list. There better be a pretty good reason. I’d rather just set up an ambush site and wait.
Mike – roger that. Solid.
Man tracking today is Internet, Cell Phone, Security Camera, Facial Recognition, DNA, Fingerprints, License Plate Reader.
Avoid them and successfully function in society and your on to something.
Its 1984
I’ve seen were people put nails or screws in plywood cut out to tie to the bottom your shoes and walk on 3 inch spikes. If they fill up with leaves good . In the dirt leave little holes you can back brush. But a good tracker sees the brush marks . Even walking in a sream some can track you. Snows the worse. You can only move while it’s snowing even then it’s iffie. That’s why you have to love the rain. Dogs can’t even track. Most dogs.
You can be tracked in water because no matter what you DO leave a trail of something visible (or smellable to a dog). In a stream the trained eye can see what rocks are out of place because the ‘upside’ lacks packed in dirt (wiggle the rock and it washes away) or the dents in the sand or “mucky” bottom despite they fill in quickly with the current.
Yes, rain is the only time you are free (sort of). The heavy air keeps smoke from fires low, so no fires as that lets them know someone is in the immediate area. It is possible to start a fire without smoke (much of nothing), yet even in the rain you’d have to be a master at it or just not attempt it). The way to beat the smoke is to use a “flash fire” using Balsam Fir or Blue Spruce and Pine Pitch (and a magnesium striker). Hot and fast-no smoke if you have lots of dried tinder ready.
I guess the only way to deal with a pro tracker is to do a side step back track and ambush. He will be alerted if you try a big circle. He will be watching the ground . Unless he’s not alone. Then just sit and wait shoot and scoot. And repeat.
Rat; Dang, it’s almost a “do what the situation requires”, yet most often the most desirable end is that they just go to hell away. A “basic” Marine will always “circle back” (cause the book sez so), and they’ll be sorry for it every time. I used to use the advantage of elevation all the time, and got around using an older type of ‘zip-line’ (used to be coated for stealth with a camo’ed polymer). Lot’s of line and ‘grapnel hooks’, and you could get hundreds and hundreds of feet away from your last “scent on the ground” (which of course is what you dearly want to happen).
Then again, if there is water, then I’d be under it and come up for the kill shot. Otherwise, you’ve got the only real and viable solution or, at least, I’d give it a go, why not?
When in the woods a camp fire made with wood can be smelled a good distance down wind. Down in the swamps unless they have mosquito netting and repellant they will always try to smoke the bugs off. Man is a creature of habit and it often gets him in trouble. He will usually stick to where the walking is easy and will follow creeks or gullies if they aren’t sure of where they are going. If he is a city type person he will watch the ground and move too fast. This type of person will backtrack on his return, a mistake. In Vietnam they gave us a card with the rules that rogers rangers followed in early America. It had some very sound advice there says the old swamp rat.
I agree with Mountain Trekker that it’s a good learning experience to go out into the wilderness alone, but it helps to be familiar with the terrain and also know your limitations. I grew up on military reservations and spent plenty of time in the woods alone but it was mostly flat or semi-hilly and I was fortunate to never have gotten into trouble in those woods (no bears, mountain lions, etc.)But when it comes to mountainous terrain, that’s another story. It’s very easy to break a leg or miscalculate the steepness of a trail or trying to cross a rushing stream (slippery as hell). If you don’t know what you are getting into, always bring a buddy with you in case you get injured or need extra firepower in fending off a four (or two) legged creature. Forget about cell phone reception.
You all forgot one.
How about horizontal foxholes if you can ?
Nothing can see you from the air.
Not even I.R.
Find a RON SITE ( Remain Over Night for you yuppies, and city dwellers)
At DUSK move about 100 yards incase you have been followed and SET UP CAMP…………
EAT SOMETHING 1-2 HOURS BEFORE NIGHT FALL.
IF YOU MUST BUILD A FIRE USE SMALL PIECES OF DRY WOOD or VASELINE COTTON BALLS DO NOT GIVE OFF ANYTHING, and KEEP THE FIRE LOW…….
THEN BURY THE ASHES, and ANYTHING ELSE WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED………
But remember KEEP QUIET ! KEEP FUCKING QUIET !!!!, and WHISPER if you have to TALK……
YES RED LENSES on your MOON BEAMS (FLASHLIGHTS) I USE a SMALL HOLE with LAYERS of PAPER between the LENSE.
PISS LOW, SHIT LOW, COVER RIGHT AWAY MAKE IT BLEND IN.
DO EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE NIGHTFALL IF YOU CAN.
YOU SHOULD FOCUS on SLEEP with ONE EYE OPEN, and STANDING WATCH.
KEEP THE AREA SANITIZED AT ALL COST……….
DO NOT LET ANYONE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE EATING, CARRYING, or YOUR NUMBERS….*****
Most of all AVOID ANY TYPE OF CONTACT ***************
Wow. What brought this up?
There are obviously a great many who have suddenly detected “the something that is in the air” – – might be nothing, yet this is info sharing at it’s finest. A welcome change from political dead-end roads beginning with an excellent article on a real-life possibility …especially for women if you think about it (outside the box)…
The best way to not be tracked is to be more interested in others than yourself. At least as far as conversation is concerned. People generally bore the heck out of people by talking endlessly about themselves. People just turn off. Actually, you can practice doing this. Decide upon a few things which are meaningless and talk about these things, a lot. Other people start spilling their guts out to you by way of an automatic response, without any critical thought as to how the information may be used against them. Don’t be quick to tell people where you go on vacation, where your friends and family reside, but most importantly, where you would go in the event of an emergency. People do all the time. Facebook just makes it easier. You can also put out false and misleading info, too.
If you ever saw that show “I Almost Got Away With It”, you may have noticed that lonely guys either call home or fall in love and confide in some gal who turns them in. There are ways of confiding in a loved one without spilling the whole story. Besides the fact that a little mystery in others makes them more interesting, maybe it is better for THEM if they don’t know.
I would tell my kids and spouse as we left, we’re going on a little trip. To where? “You’ll find out when we get there.” Kids blab. They don’t know any better. But you should.
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Gee whiz there B from CA: I dunno if we should trust you now. 🙂 (You might have kept that one to yourself)? lol…
Sounds like a description for ‘tracking’ in the here and now. Through social media, casual conversation and self-revealed habits. You can be suveiled through – what and how you post, speak or present yourself (this has been coined: Social Engineering).
All this can be used against an individual to identify and ‘track’ them now or in the future.
Recommendation:
Be as “Anonymous” as possible.
Get off social media of all types.
Encrypt email.
Use anonymous services for browsing and select email.
Reduce or eliminate your cyberspace social footprint as much as possible. In the end, it makes it much more difficult to track you, thereby making your actions more unpredictable.
Since we are possibly facing an incoming enemy with billions behind them, if you can afford it you want a detector. The kind of detector that lets you know if someone is using a range-finder on you in order to set up his Mil-Dot Sniping scope for a perfect kill-shot. (I’ve no idea what a detector or a laser range finder costs, but if memory serves, about $250 each for quality products, and you most certain will get what you pay for these days. Guns are popular as could be and there is a large amount of JUNK out there and the unknowing and unwary buy it right up.
Guess if I happen to be close enough I’ll refrain from engaging or certainly will not have a need to check the distance (I think I’ve got the entire property and surrounding properties well-measured out with ‘stakes’ (you know who understand what I just said).