Lisl Auman
12-28-1999, 04:15 PM
In response to a question regarding how to evade if you are being tracked, I said you have to know how to track first. Well, being the firearm and training libertarian that I am, here is the first installment.
TRACKING:
If possible, know these of the trackee:
Habits in the a/o
Past/present activities
Methods of operation
First, look for initial sign:
1. First, conduct the initial search in probable areas such as streams, trails, etc.
2. Then, do a box or cross grain search.
Once located, now you have age, direction, etc.
TRACKING DOGS:
Remember, they are scent trackers.
Depending upon the level of training the dog has, it can detect many thing, including many types of explosives, food, fires, etc. Remember, they can even be trained to detect scents over water.
Tracking Dogs:
1. Do not work well in rain.
2. Possible to stray off track when tired/thirsty
3. Cannot work long track in difficult conditions/terrain
Evasion: You need to pit your brain against the dog’s nose.
VISUAL TRACKING
This is the human input. This ability can help the dog in finding lost track, and any track found, can determine it’s age, direction, number of folks, etc.
The disadvantage of a visual tracker theirs is the power of sifting through many inputs to find out what is crucial and what isn’t. This is a very intensive proposition for the person.
Also it is VERY time consuming to visually finding track and analyze it.
The tracker will look ahead of himself about 10m or so and come back to him, scanning. Remember how obvious it looks when a person walked through a grass field laden with dew? Looking at his approach, there’s nothing. Looking at his track from the rear will be like a road sign. Bending something in a different direction can cause a change, like dew falling off.
Once you get the track, you can look ahead as far as possible (25-35m) for some general track signs, then connect it to the sign close to get the direction.
Once you have local sign, sign ahead, they will look around for signs of cut offs and other indicators of deception. (A concern a button hook should solve).
Look at the sign you are following. Are they dragging? Are they alert? Do they change direction rapidly? You need to get into their head. However, remember the track that is dragging/small steps can be just a guise to lure the tired tracking team into an ambush.
VISUAL SIGNS:
1. Any disruption of the landscape.
Water in areas normally dry (example: walking through a lowlying stream bead can push the water to the surface). Water need not be visible. Circle around and look at the area one just walked through. The release of water vapor could discolor the trail enough to make it plainly visible from a different angle.
2. The lack of water/dew is also a sign. Remember ANY DISRUPTION is sign. (tree bark dinged, sap, etc).
3. While local wildlife can alert one to an intruder, it can also alert the tracker to the presence of prey (if they are close enough) . Remember deer hunting? A deer comes out of the woods in a hurried manner. Guess what is behind it?
4. Easily disturbed ground is where to look. But also at the edges of obstacles where one would go around them. (Unless they have a dog)
TYPES OF SIGNS:
ANY disruption. This is classified into two areas
Top Sign: Above the knee area.
Ground Sign. Everything else. Remember, faster/heavier loads will create deeper imprints.
SIGNS:
-As mentioned earlier, any disturbance of anything already there.
-Also, any additional items such as shit thrown down, etc.
-The astute tracker will notice if the top sign and the bottom sign disagree you are probably facing a trained enemy who could be walking backwards or facing some other ruse.
-If top signs contradict each other, it is a red flag of deception. And this is easily detected by the trained tracker unless the trackee is an expert and has had LOTS of practice.
-Walking on rocks is easily detectable. It is easy to follow a track over rocky ground because rocks are easily disrupted. Remember: ANY disruption is sign. They will generally fall/slide in the direction of the trackee’s travel. In smaller stones, the depth of impact is the same as a footprint.
-Lighter colored vegetation on the underside of vegetation will show disruption easy.
-Look at the ridges in the tread of the track. There will be a heel/toe for everything, including tank treads. The side of the true direction of travel will have less ground material (force vectors). This is most easily accomplished when the trackee has vertical, smooth tread. (now you see why the Durango boys wrapped their boots in rags). Of course this is only done when speed is encountered, as a person can carefully walk backwards/forwards and leave a uniform track. A person walking backwards takes shorter steps than walking forward.
-When there is no wind, remember, at night/altitude, the air cools. This means the air will flow from high to low. And on the wind, comes scent and sound.
LOCATING LOST SIGN
Once a track is lost, go back to the last sign and either go in a circle or a box. It’s a good idea to mark the last spot so one can work out from there. This will be a perimeter search. If nothing is found with this, from about 100m out, they will go back and forth back to the point of last sign.
This is a rudimentary tracking 101. While I could go on and on, I’d just as soon go out.
If you’re going to be in the outdoors, practice tracking friends. Have a two way radio so he can tell you where he winds up in case you cannot find him. Have him leave obvious sign to help. Later, once you gain skills, he can use the two-way to tell you that you/your team is in his sights and you have now been killed.
Once you gain the skills of tracking, you can now counter-track.
Counter tracking anyone?
------------------
Proverbs 27:7
He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
TRACKING:
If possible, know these of the trackee:
Habits in the a/o
Past/present activities
Methods of operation
First, look for initial sign:
1. First, conduct the initial search in probable areas such as streams, trails, etc.
2. Then, do a box or cross grain search.
Once located, now you have age, direction, etc.
TRACKING DOGS:
Remember, they are scent trackers.
Depending upon the level of training the dog has, it can detect many thing, including many types of explosives, food, fires, etc. Remember, they can even be trained to detect scents over water.
Tracking Dogs:
1. Do not work well in rain.
2. Possible to stray off track when tired/thirsty
3. Cannot work long track in difficult conditions/terrain
Evasion: You need to pit your brain against the dog’s nose.
VISUAL TRACKING
This is the human input. This ability can help the dog in finding lost track, and any track found, can determine it’s age, direction, number of folks, etc.
The disadvantage of a visual tracker theirs is the power of sifting through many inputs to find out what is crucial and what isn’t. This is a very intensive proposition for the person.
Also it is VERY time consuming to visually finding track and analyze it.
The tracker will look ahead of himself about 10m or so and come back to him, scanning. Remember how obvious it looks when a person walked through a grass field laden with dew? Looking at his approach, there’s nothing. Looking at his track from the rear will be like a road sign. Bending something in a different direction can cause a change, like dew falling off.
Once you get the track, you can look ahead as far as possible (25-35m) for some general track signs, then connect it to the sign close to get the direction.
Once you have local sign, sign ahead, they will look around for signs of cut offs and other indicators of deception. (A concern a button hook should solve).
Look at the sign you are following. Are they dragging? Are they alert? Do they change direction rapidly? You need to get into their head. However, remember the track that is dragging/small steps can be just a guise to lure the tired tracking team into an ambush.
VISUAL SIGNS:
1. Any disruption of the landscape.
Water in areas normally dry (example: walking through a lowlying stream bead can push the water to the surface). Water need not be visible. Circle around and look at the area one just walked through. The release of water vapor could discolor the trail enough to make it plainly visible from a different angle.
2. The lack of water/dew is also a sign. Remember ANY DISRUPTION is sign. (tree bark dinged, sap, etc).
3. While local wildlife can alert one to an intruder, it can also alert the tracker to the presence of prey (if they are close enough) . Remember deer hunting? A deer comes out of the woods in a hurried manner. Guess what is behind it?
4. Easily disturbed ground is where to look. But also at the edges of obstacles where one would go around them. (Unless they have a dog)
TYPES OF SIGNS:
ANY disruption. This is classified into two areas
Top Sign: Above the knee area.
Ground Sign. Everything else. Remember, faster/heavier loads will create deeper imprints.
SIGNS:
-As mentioned earlier, any disturbance of anything already there.
-Also, any additional items such as shit thrown down, etc.
-The astute tracker will notice if the top sign and the bottom sign disagree you are probably facing a trained enemy who could be walking backwards or facing some other ruse.
-If top signs contradict each other, it is a red flag of deception. And this is easily detected by the trained tracker unless the trackee is an expert and has had LOTS of practice.
-Walking on rocks is easily detectable. It is easy to follow a track over rocky ground because rocks are easily disrupted. Remember: ANY disruption is sign. They will generally fall/slide in the direction of the trackee’s travel. In smaller stones, the depth of impact is the same as a footprint.
-Lighter colored vegetation on the underside of vegetation will show disruption easy.
-Look at the ridges in the tread of the track. There will be a heel/toe for everything, including tank treads. The side of the true direction of travel will have less ground material (force vectors). This is most easily accomplished when the trackee has vertical, smooth tread. (now you see why the Durango boys wrapped their boots in rags). Of course this is only done when speed is encountered, as a person can carefully walk backwards/forwards and leave a uniform track. A person walking backwards takes shorter steps than walking forward.
-When there is no wind, remember, at night/altitude, the air cools. This means the air will flow from high to low. And on the wind, comes scent and sound.
LOCATING LOST SIGN
Once a track is lost, go back to the last sign and either go in a circle or a box. It’s a good idea to mark the last spot so one can work out from there. This will be a perimeter search. If nothing is found with this, from about 100m out, they will go back and forth back to the point of last sign.
This is a rudimentary tracking 101. While I could go on and on, I’d just as soon go out.
If you’re going to be in the outdoors, practice tracking friends. Have a two way radio so he can tell you where he winds up in case you cannot find him. Have him leave obvious sign to help. Later, once you gain skills, he can use the two-way to tell you that you/your team is in his sights and you have now been killed.
Once you gain the skills of tracking, you can now counter-track.
Counter tracking anyone?
------------------
Proverbs 27:7
He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.