Book advice?

[big_swede]

Need a good book on tracking, preferably aimed towards the temperate regions on the northern hemisphere. The native ones I could find only deals explicitly with animal tracking in winter conditions. It would be nice with some pointers on SAR type tracking (of course any dog outperforms the best human but I wan't to know, ok?) under bare ground conditions. Tom Browns school seems to have good rep, but how are his books?

Of course I would love to go on a course, but there are none available here, and I don't have the time or money to go abroad for a course.

So any advice welcome, especially ebooks.

cheers

 

[hammock monkey]

i seem to rant about this book all the time, but honestly, its by far the best i've read:
bob carrs sas guide to tracking. (dont get the one with navigation)
there's (to me) a big difference between recognising sign an actually tracking, this book together with preben bang's book will be a great start.
good luck

 

[mace242]

I just got Tom Browns Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking. I'm certainly what you'd call a beginner (actually I'm on the way to being a beginner - I know nothing...) and this seems to be very good - seems to be pitched at just the right level for me and it is really fun to read. His writing style is one that really appeals to me and the way the whole book is full of exercises to do to complement the lessons learned makes it far more practical than some drier bushcraft books I've read.

As I said, I'm just a beginner, but I'll give this a strong recommendation.

 

[Matt Mallery]

I've only read one of Tom Brown's books and it's the last one as well. It was full of all sorts of stories I just find too hard to believe. However, that is not to say his instructional books are not good. But I hear Jack Kearney's Tracking: A Blueprint for learning how, is one of the best. He is a former USA Border Patrol agent.

 

[big_swede]

Thanks a lot for the input guys! More suggestions are of course welcome!

:You_Rock_

 

[Tourist]

I have read the Carrs book, which I can thoroughly recommend.

I have also read:

Tactical Tracking Operations - Essential Guide for Military and Police Trackers ---- by David Scott-Donelan

DSD is a former Rhodie and was instrumental in setting up the Rhodie Army Tracking School and he was also a more than a little involved with Rhodie's Selous Scouts.

He now lives and works in the USA where he runs Tactical Tracking and other tracking courses. Many members of the Special Forces attend his tactical courses and he is highly spoken of. His input has also been responsible for the starting of a new US Military Tracking School.

http://members.aol.com/mantrack/

 

[big_swede]

I have read the Carrs book, which I can thoroughly recommend.

I have also read:

Tactical Tracking Operations - Essential Guide for Military and Police Trackers ---- by David Scott-Donelan

DSD is a former Rhodie and was instrumental in setting up the Rhodie Army Tracking School and he was also a more than a little involved with Rhodie's Selous Scouts.

He now lives and works in the USA where he runs Tactical Tracking and other tracking courses. Many members of the Special Forces attend his tactical courses and he is highly spoken of. His input has also been responsible for the starting of a new US Military Tracking School.

http://members.aol.com/mantrack/

I've ordered that one. The current url is www.tacticaltracking.com

 

[Fallow Way]

"It would be nice with some pointers on SAR type tracking (of course any dog outperforms the best human but I wan't to know, ok?) .."

Not neccesarily true, everything has limitations and that is why trackers are now becomming increasingly used in SAR alongside Dogs in the UK. It is a different skill set, requiring different resources and producing different results. Tom Brown himself gives a story regarding a tracking student of his coming up with the right answer when the dogs were far far off on his web site.

A dog, as good as they are, can not empathise with the missing person and so can not understand the choices that the missing person will make.

Bascially get both if you can so your covered

 

[big_swede]

"It would be nice with some pointers on SAR type tracking (of course any dog outperforms the best human but I wan't to know, ok?) .."

Not neccesarily true, everything has limitations and that is why trackers are now becomming increasingly used in SAR alongside Dogs in the UK. It is a different skill set, requiring different resources and producing different results. Tom Brown himself gives a story regarding a tracking student of his coming up with the right answer when the dogs were far far off on his web site.

A dog, as good as they are, can not empathise with the missing person and so can not understand the choices that the missing person will make.

Bascially get both if you can so your covered

True, I see it like this as well, but always when I claim that human trackers are a good compliment to dogs I always get ridiculed. So I took a safe stance..

 

[Tourist]

People always seem to think that dogs are infallible when it comes to tracking, how wrong they are........Many years ago when I was a police cadet I knew one of the police dog handlers and I was always dicked to be the quarry on tracking exercises. You can make life very difficult for a dog at the extreme end I know of a soldier that killed a dog when he was being hunted on a survival exercise.

Dogs are very, very bloody excellent, but they can be fooled, lose the scent and also have an off day just like humans. But, put a tracker trained human and a dog together and you will have an almost unbeatable team working together and complementing each other.

Scott-Donelan gives some nice examples of trackers working with dogs.

I'm thinking of going off down to Portugal next year for the Shadowhawk course, they seem to have a link across to Scott-Donelan who seems to be busy running official US Govt paid for courses at the moment.

 

[amott69]

I would buy as many books as you can on the subject and also look at hunting books they are always full of info on tracking, then all you have to do is get your self off to the woods for some practice. Sweden is a fantastic place to learn.
I would say the complete guide to tracking by bob carss is a great book to learn from, but you can't beat going on a course or finding someone to teach you. what you would learn from a book in a year you could learn in a couple of days from a good tracker

 

[spamel]

Another thumbs up for the Carrs' book.