I've noticed that hardly anyone has been posting about tracking lately. Surely there must be lots of you out and about tracking, especially at this time of year. Come on you lot what have you been up to and what have you seen or found lately? 
Anyone out there?
- Thread starter Rhoda
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Well, I´m in Andulucia at the moment and on a recent walk spotted some wild boar tracks, but as my skills are so inadequate I quickly lost them. I really need to get out and practice more but it´s the usual story of juggling a busy work life and second job with all my other interests.
It´ll come in time (I hope!)...
It´ll come in time (I hope!)...
I've been thinking the same thing - but i've been doing very little other than setting up my business and renovating my house....
Planning a trip to Scotland this autumn to begin to look for wildcat sign. Never got round to it last year, its looking very good for this year though.
I'm out of touch for sure but hopefully i'll tune in again after a day or so of being up there
Seeing the cat on springwatch really spurned me on, but otherwise its been bushcraft by proxy for months now....rubbish!
i still look for tracks in the garden every morning while the kettle boils...but thats about it.
Planning a trip to Scotland this autumn to begin to look for wildcat sign. Never got round to it last year, its looking very good for this year though.
I'm out of touch for sure but hopefully i'll tune in again after a day or so of being up there
Seeing the cat on springwatch really spurned me on, but otherwise its been bushcraft by proxy for months now....rubbish!
i still look for tracks in the garden every morning while the kettle boils...but thats about it.
Last time I was out and about was about ten days or so ago, Neil1 and I up on Dartmoor watching roe deer in the Bovey Valley, that reminds me there is a topic for another thread, cheers Rhoda
I was out last weekend and saw a human track that I followed in long grass.
Found some deer inards at the end of it. Some phone calls later I found one of the stalkers shot a cull roe buck there!
Phew - that means I don't need to worry about poachers!
Mark
Found some deer inards at the end of it. Some phone calls later I found one of the stalkers shot a cull roe buck there!
Phew - that means I don't need to worry about poachers!
Mark
I knew you couldn't all be housebound!!
I've been doing a bit of otter tracking for the first time in ages, got the old waders on a couple of weeks ago and had a look down the river bank. Best place to see good tracks I think, sand banks, undisturbed by people and dogs. Saw lots of otter, fox and deer tracks and some spraint. Happy days!
I've been doing a bit of otter tracking for the first time in ages, got the old waders on a couple of weeks ago and had a look down the river bank. Best place to see good tracks I think, sand banks, undisturbed by people and dogs. Saw lots of otter, fox and deer tracks and some spraint. Happy days!
I back tracked a couple of kids I saw departing from my local country park with a tent and sleeping bags.
What I found was a campsite strewn with rubbish.
Knowing roughly the only way they could be going I bagged it up chucked it in my van and caught them up.
I then made them carry all the rubbish home, threatening to report them to the rangers if they didn't.
Does that count?
What I found was a campsite strewn with rubbish.
Knowing roughly the only way they could be going I bagged it up chucked it in my van and caught them up.
I then made them carry all the rubbish home, threatening to report them to the rangers if they didn't.
Does that count?
Have been attempting to learn the difference between Red, Roe and Sika. It's tricky as the area is about 80% Sika and their tracks tend to blot out the others.
Also tried to track down an otter den a couple of weeks ago. Have seen them ducking up the same wee glen from shore a few times, managed about 25-30m before I lost the trail on a mossy expanse(expanse makes it sound huge - was only 15m or so). Was starting to lose the light and the headnet I was wearing was blurring details so it was a pretty halfhearted attempt.
Will try to pick it up again this weekend. I'd like to find it before the pup(cub?) grows up and try to get some piccies. The pups seem to get real active around august/september so plenty of time yet.
Also tried to track down an otter den a couple of weeks ago. Have seen them ducking up the same wee glen from shore a few times, managed about 25-30m before I lost the trail on a mossy expanse(expanse makes it sound huge - was only 15m or so). Was starting to lose the light and the headnet I was wearing was blurring details so it was a pretty halfhearted attempt.
Will try to pick it up again this weekend. I'd like to find it before the pup(cub?) grows up and try to get some piccies. The pups seem to get real active around august/september so plenty of time yet.
Every evening I take the dog out, and we track joggers, badgers and other dogs. I got Tom Brown's 'Science and Art of Tracking' yesterday (thanks to a large South American River-named postal company...), and am busy studying 'pressure releases' with my son in a sand box in the garage!
Hi folks. I don't often look in here but thought I'd give it a go.
I know hardly anything about tracking, but I'm always interested when someone points something out when we're mooching through the woods.
Unfortunately I'm in that paradoxical state of knowing nothing, so I don't know what to look for, so I don't look, so I don't learn and consequently I know nothing, so I don't know what to look for, so I don't look...
We did see some interesting tracks out in the woods a couple of weeks ago though but I can't really describe what we saw or why it indicated what we though it did.
I'm gonna go and see if I can find Twoflower so he can come here and describe them.
I know hardly anything about tracking, but I'm always interested when someone points something out when we're mooching through the woods.
Unfortunately I'm in that paradoxical state of knowing nothing, so I don't know what to look for, so I don't look, so I don't learn and consequently I know nothing, so I don't know what to look for, so I don't look...
We did see some interesting tracks out in the woods a couple of weeks ago though but I can't really describe what we saw or why it indicated what we though it did.
I'm gonna go and see if I can find Twoflower so he can come here and describe them.
I'll start off with my little bit of tracking from this evening (is it still tracking if it's a noise you're following?).
wandered down my usual wandering route through the local graveyard with my camera (35mm SLR so no pics until i've used the film up) with the hope of getting some shots of the local parakeets as I'd seen them around when popping to the shops etc. Sat in the usual spot for seeing them, in the graveyard, but they were not about so I made good use of the time taking a few shots of the usual suspects (blackbirds, wood pidgeons and robins) and also spent an amusing 15 minutes stalking a squirrel around some trees.
I was about to give up for the evening as the light was poor, the rain was iminent and the local dangerous dog club seemed to be having a meeting when I heard a distant tapping sound. I followed the sound for a while, zigzagging back and forth in the fields and hedgerows until i saw what I knew it was. A greater spotted woodpecker. Unfortunately the light was so bad and woodie was just out of range for my lens so I didn't manage to get any shots I'm going to head back up there tomorrow though to see if he's there again. Also on the way back I got chatting to a local who told me that a few evenings ago he had been sat in the graveyard quietly contemplateing when a "stag with great big antlers" wandered out of the hedgrow right next to him, took fright and ran off towards the village. Aparently it ran into the center of the village, surprising a few of the locals, before turning and heading back out to (relatively) open countryside. Not bad considering the village is no longer a village and is now part of the London suburbs.
I'll be seeing if I can find any sign of the local deer. I'd seen them a few miles away (in the woods between the airport and a golf course) but didn't realise they came that close to the village.
wandered down my usual wandering route through the local graveyard with my camera (35mm SLR so no pics until i've used the film up) with the hope of getting some shots of the local parakeets as I'd seen them around when popping to the shops etc. Sat in the usual spot for seeing them, in the graveyard, but they were not about so I made good use of the time taking a few shots of the usual suspects (blackbirds, wood pidgeons and robins) and also spent an amusing 15 minutes stalking a squirrel around some trees.
I was about to give up for the evening as the light was poor, the rain was iminent and the local dangerous dog club seemed to be having a meeting when I heard a distant tapping sound. I followed the sound for a while, zigzagging back and forth in the fields and hedgerows until i saw what I knew it was. A greater spotted woodpecker. Unfortunately the light was so bad and woodie was just out of range for my lens so I didn't manage to get any shots
I'm going to head back up there tomorrow though to see if he's there again. Also on the way back I got chatting to a local who told me that a few evenings ago he had been sat in the graveyard quietly contemplateing when a "stag with great big antlers" wandered out of the hedgrow right next to him, took fright and ran off towards the village. Aparently it ran into the center of the village, surprising a few of the locals, before turning and heading back out to (relatively) open countryside. Not bad considering the village is no longer a village and is now part of the London suburbs.I'll be seeing if I can find any sign of the local deer. I'd seen them a few miles away (in the woods between the airport and a golf course) but didn't realise they came that close to the village.
The woods a few weeks ago ....
Quite a few different tracks (and I'm definately no expert, but have noticed i'm getting a bit better at spotting these things). There were plenty of deer tracks (possibly roe) as there is a game trail running straight through where we camp. Further out in the woods, away from the camp, there were lots of tracks and a fresh patch of long grass that looked like it may have been used as somewhere for the new born deer to lie (sorry, the technical term has escaped me). This was right next to a well worn game trail complete with a low branch with the bark rubbed off from all the passing critters.
A bit further on was lots of freshly turned over ground and a few deep holes. Switch had a good look at one of them and noticed the prints and scat of a rabbit (and he says he doesn't know what he's doing!) so that summed up what was going on there quite well.
A bit deeper into the woods, towards the stream, there were lots of other prints but none that were good enough for us humble chaps to ID, maybe another time when we know what we're doing.
One thing that surprised us both was that next to the stream there is a nice flat bit of the bank where any animal could easily get a drink, but there were no prints at all. To make up for that though we saw a kingfisher dart past in a flash of blue.
Quite a few different tracks (and I'm definately no expert, but have noticed i'm getting a bit better at spotting these things). There were plenty of deer tracks (possibly roe) as there is a game trail running straight through where we camp. Further out in the woods, away from the camp, there were lots of tracks and a fresh patch of long grass that looked like it may have been used as somewhere for the new born deer to lie (sorry, the technical term has escaped me). This was right next to a well worn game trail complete with a low branch with the bark rubbed off from all the passing critters.
A bit further on was lots of freshly turned over ground and a few deep holes. Switch had a good look at one of them and noticed the prints and scat of a rabbit (and he says he doesn't know what he's doing!) so that summed up what was going on there quite well.
A bit deeper into the woods, towards the stream, there were lots of other prints but none that were good enough for us humble chaps to ID, maybe another time when we know what we're doing.
One thing that surprised us both was that next to the stream there is a nice flat bit of the bank where any animal could easily get a drink, but there were no prints at all. To make up for that though we saw a kingfisher dart past in a flash of blue.
Brilliant, I'm teaching my son too!
Grooveski wow you are so lucky being able to see otters like that, I'm looking forward to any pics you get.
I'm running some workshops at the moot if anyone is interested, hoping to find some otter, mink, fox etc there again.
There was bark scratched from living trees aswell, with definate tooth marks in it. Just next to the camp.
Ah, I remember now
There was the recent spoil from digging (I think that's the right term), basically all the freshly dug earth had been spread out in front of the hole which drew my attention, then I noticed the prints and poo (or 'scat' if you want to get all technical about it ) I know it was only rabbits but I thought it was quite interesting stuff.
Definately worth another look around next time Twoflower?
Without a doubt .. oh and we'll have a tiny bit of guidance too as i've just browsed that "large South American River-named postal company" and purchased aformentioned Tom Browne book and a tracking book by some chap called Raymond Mears, who ever he is
...some chap called Raymond Mears, who ever he is
Never heard of him.
Ok then, I'll bring a few books, camera, notepad etc and we'll go and see what we can find.
I'm quite looking forward to it.
I've been pretty busy lately. There's not a day goes by that I'm not doing some kind of tracking thing.
I've been lucky to have a few recent close encounters. Fox cub; badgers and fallow deer. The last was interesting as I noticed the doe stamping, barking and licking her nose. All caught on vid (follow links from my site.)
Went to a Reading meet last weekend and we came across an intersting kill site. A medium flowing river and a crab claw was all that was left, but I'm not sure about the tracks. I'll stick my neck out and say they may be mink.
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Anyway, tracking down this neck of the woods is alive and well.
All the best,
Pablo.
I've been lucky to have a few recent close encounters. Fox cub; badgers and fallow deer. The last was interesting as I noticed the doe stamping, barking and licking her nose. All caught on vid (follow links from my site.)
Went to a Reading meet last weekend and we came across an intersting kill site. A medium flowing river and a crab claw was all that was left, but I'm not sure about the tracks. I'll stick my neck out and say they may be mink.
Anyway, tracking down this neck of the woods is alive and well.
All the best,
Pablo.
Have been practising with the sand-box; starting to understand how to tell speed and subtle changes of direction. Tom Brown highly recommended!
You've inspired me to get a sand box out again to show my little boy. Been teaching him various animal tracks when we go out but I think he might grasp the basics now in the sand box. He is only 3 but so keen to learn - start em young I say!!!
andyn
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I was tracking this creature through the woods the other week..
First time i've seen this track in the woods!
First time i've seen this track in the woods!
