I just completed a Cyber Tracker trailing evaluation. Very different from the track and sign evaluation because you don’t get any feedback back until the debrief at the very end, when they give you your score, and the certificate. Each candidate finds a trail and continues it until it ends, runs out or the animal is sighted. Very challenging substrate due to no rain for weeks and when ‘leading’ you are asked lots of questions about the spoor, trail, wind, animal behaviour etc. Also scored on knowledge of bird behaviour and how you move, I guess ‘wood craft’.
First trailing evaluation I have done and also from one other on the course. We both decided we would be pleased with some points of the board and a level one would be great.
The chap doing the evaluation Jaun Korfold was doing his last evaluator assessment under supervision of Nate Harvey from Vermont. It was great to watch how they and the other candidates went about trailing and their briefings at the end of how things played out with some of the trails we followed.
A mentally exhausting experience but pushes you to trail and interpret far more complex trails than you would normally. It was nearly 4 years ago I did some trailing training but spend as much time as possible in the woods and out and about where I decompress.
End result was a level two pass and a score of 83% - everyone got a level two and myself and Harry the ‘newbies’ were delighted. Despite the stress and anxiety it really test and expands your trailing confidence and gives you a thirst for more.
If anyone fancies learning some trailing then Nate has some (of what I think are the best and well written) resources to buy. They form a series of exercises that build up your skills - not a substitute for some hands on lessons but will if you have some track and sign knowledge help you get started on a self taught route.
https://www.trackerstrail.com/shop
First trailing evaluation I have done and also from one other on the course. We both decided we would be pleased with some points of the board and a level one would be great.
The chap doing the evaluation Jaun Korfold was doing his last evaluator assessment under supervision of Nate Harvey from Vermont. It was great to watch how they and the other candidates went about trailing and their briefings at the end of how things played out with some of the trails we followed.
A mentally exhausting experience but pushes you to trail and interpret far more complex trails than you would normally. It was nearly 4 years ago I did some trailing training but spend as much time as possible in the woods and out and about where I decompress.
End result was a level two pass and a score of 83% - everyone got a level two and myself and Harry the ‘newbies’ were delighted. Despite the stress and anxiety it really test and expands your trailing confidence and gives you a thirst for more.
If anyone fancies learning some trailing then Nate has some (of what I think are the best and well written) resources to buy. They form a series of exercises that build up your skills - not a substitute for some hands on lessons but will if you have some track and sign knowledge help you get started on a self taught route.
https://www.trackerstrail.com/shop
