# Tom Brown anyone??



## Dude111 (Dec 28, 2012)

This guy is ready for ANYTHING... Here is his excellent website 

www.trackerschool.com


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

Dude111 said:


> This guy is ready for ANYTHING... Here is his excellent website
> 
> www.trackerschool.com


I've been a fan of Tom Brown Jr. for about 40 yrs. I have nearly all of his books, which contain a wealth of information, and for those who want to "go primitive" one couldn't do much better. His plant identification guide is definitive and concise, as well as his description and use of deadfalls and snares.


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

wow...I havent heard of or thought of him in awhile. When I was taking mantracking classes years ago I got turned onto his lessons. I really like how humble he seems in his wealth of knowledge of the outdoors..neet guy for sure..

Any mantrackers in here?? anyone get to ever test the skills live? fun stuff!!


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I'm not an official 'man tracker' but do try to take stock of what I see.

The pup and I go on daily jaunts to the local lake, which attracts lots of folks fishing. As we walk (the pup RUNS) I watch for signs. Bent branches, stepped on plants... When we get to one of the many sandy beach areas I love to stop and take an overall look. Was anyone there since we were there last time? Are there new tracks, new TRASH or anything else new? If so, I like to check the human tracks and see if I can determine how many of them there were. The puppy, with her slightly oversize feet sometimes trashes tracks so it just makes it more of a challenge for me. Where did the come from, where did they go? I see someone walked this way and it looks like they stood by this tree, most likely a pee break.

Animal signs too I look for. What kind of poop is that? Rabbit, deer, bird are easy to identify but what about other animals. Is there hair in the poop? Seeds, bark...? Freshly browsed branches, how high is the browsing?...

Yesterday I spotted an orange box turtle on the shoreline, 15 feet down from where we were. It was juuuust above where the boat waves would reach. I squatted and watched it for 15 minutes (much to the dismay of the puppy of course) and it never moved. It didn't look dead, its head was out just enough to seem to be looking around and the feet were out and stabilizing it. I finally tossed a rock at it and it still did not move, dead for sure. Yeah, I might have wasted 15 minutes of my life watching a dead turtle but I still enjoyed it!


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

In my limited experience, most people have no idea how to hide their tracks, either in the woods or on the street. If they dont know how to really hide, you dont need special skills to get close to them. 

If they do know how to really hide... You might wanna really sit down n think about wether or not you really wanna find em...


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

FatTire said:


> In my limited experience, most people have no idea how to hide their tracks, either in the woods or on the street. If they dont know how to really hide, you dont need special skills to get close to them.
> 
> If they do know how to really hide... You might wanna really sit down n think about wether or not you really wanna find em...


Your statement is correct, FatTire, in that when people think of tracking they think of finding someone, or some thing, and tracking IS used for that purpose. Tom Brown Jr., however, teaches tracking as a way to become more observant, aware, and through tracking one learns what makes people and animals react the way they do. For example, how do you think a person with no outdoor skills would act, if suddenly placed in a survival situation, in the wilderness? A good tracker can actually "get in a persons head" and more efficiently find that person, by knowing what that person is going to do next and be there first. That's just one facet of tracking, there are so many more.


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

When i was active on the SAR team i was luckly enough to participate in a a 2 day class with a really awesome tracker. His name is fernando moreira and he is a professional tracker who is used in on searches as well as those involving criminal cases. I was luckly enough to not have to pay for this class as ive had to pay for most of the other tracking classes ive been to. Anyways, his classes are pricy but this mans tracking skills are incredible and hes a good teacher. I learned some really cool skills from that class.

Tracking is fun..n its safe to say most folks who would try n hide their tracks usually create more sign making it easier for a skilled tracker to follow because its probably a criminal working fast who has no idea probably what a skilled tracker can see. A lost person mind doesnt even go there..in my experience anyway. 

Once one starts the habits of lookin for sign..its a fun exercise if you dig that sorta thing. Its also a perishable skill as far as the hard core man tracking stuff. I wish i woulda continued it but it all takes time n money. Its still fun on hikes n walks to see sign of stuff..watch how over days wind n weather deteroiate the sign n stuff. Fun n interesting stuff for sure...


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I totally agree and that is half the fun. Finding sign and [email protected]@king around to where it might have gone. I don't have the time to go and actually track where they went, but when I find scat or tracks, I check what it is from and look around to see where they might have gone. BY then the puppy has usually destroyed any sign, but that is her job at this point.


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

Sorry that I haven't read his book but over the years I've learned to be a tracker because of hunting. I also learned to do what I call soft walking, taking steps in such a way as to not crunch gravel and small stones. I've used this to walk right up to deer before they got a whiff of me, thrilling to be able to do that. When done right soft walking doesn't leave foot prints.


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