I learned some of this stuff in the Boy Scouts in the late 70's. Back then the BSA was run by the veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam and they didn't mind passing their skills down to us. I remembered instead of tracking a person, I was tracking a "Track". I and my NCOIC was in a "jeep",
One of these, We had the doors off because it was September 1986 and we were on maneuvers in Baveria. Somehow our "track" wandered off, and this is before cell phones and we didn't have a radio and the track was moving and hasn't set up yet. Well I was going through this German town and following what I believed was our "Track". A Track was Army slang for any of the M113 Series of vehicles....There were "tanks" which were the M60's and the new M-1's and the "Tracks" were the 113 series, I really don't know what they called the later Bradley series of APC's. Well anyway we we were following one of these....
Well anyway whenever a tracked vehicles uses it "Laterals" or even its "Pivot steer" it locks the tracks and turns on the stopped track. Well when it makes the turn, it picks up all the rocks and gravel that is on the road and sprays then in a pattern. Well I started driving down this town and noticed the "pattern" and turned down that road and my NCO asked "What the hell are you doing?" and I replied "Following the Track". He snorted "Yeah right.....". but I went through this town and drove straight and slowed down when I got to a side street and looked for the "pattern", and kept the process going for a while and finally we saw the track 45 minutes later. I glanced at my NCO and he shrugged, but I think I impressed him with that.
I shamelessly clipped this from "Art of Manliness"
Brett and Kate McKay •
October 13, 2016
Last updated: January 26, 2019
How to Track a Human
It’s a common trope in classic Westerns. A posse is rounded up to
find some bad guys who’ve headed out into the desert to hide. To help
track them down, they bring on an Indian scout. To the astonishment of
the cowboys, the native guide can determine how many people are in the
bad guy’s gang, how long ago they camped at a particular spot, and that
one of the ruffians is injured. It almost seems like magic.
But it’s not.
The scout was simply using a set of keen, field-developed senses, and practicing good forensics.
A few years ago when I did the
ITS Tactical Muster, one of my favorite classes at the event was on human tracking, taught by
professional combat tracker John Hurth.
In just a few short hours, John was able to show us how to know what’s
going on with someone on the lam and where he or she is headed simply by
looking at their footsteps or noticing a broken branch.
Why would you need to know how to track a human? You’ll probably
never have to go on a manhunt for a fugitive, but it’s a handy skill to
have nonetheless. Maybe your kid wanders away from your house, or you
lose a buddy in a remote wilderness area. Instead of wandering
frantically and aimlessly, calling their name, you can know how to
search for them effectively and efficiently.
Plus, once you know how to track a human, you can reverse engineer
the process as well; that is, you’ll better be able to make your own
escape without leaving a trail. You know, just in case you find yourself
on an island, being chased by a stalker playing
“the most dangerous game.”
Below, we provide a primer on tracking humans. Keep in mind, to
really learn how to do this stuff, you need to practice it and practice
it for years. But with some dedication, you may eventually reach the
level of tracking evinced by the crack trackers in
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, of whom the protagonists repeatedly said with exasperation, “
Who are those guys?”
Develop Your Situational Awareness
The most important attribute a tracker must develop is his
situational awareness. Without it, clues and signs that would lead him
to his target go unnoticed.
Situational awareness comes down to two things: 1) observing, and 2) correctly interpreting your observations.
Learning how to become more observant takes time and dedication. It
requires changing your mindset, training your memory and senses, and
daily practice in truly noticing what you see. Fortunately, we have some
fantastic guides on how to do all of those things:
Once you sharpen your powers of observation, you next need to know
how to correctly interpret what you see, in order to reach correct
conclusions about what’s going on. To do that, you must broaden and
deepen your mental models.
Broaden and Deepen Your Mental Models
Mental models
are simply ways of looking at and understanding the world. These
paradigms create our expectations for how the world works — helping us
grasp what’s happened before, what’s happening now, and what’s likely to
happen next.
For a tracker, the mental models he needs to broaden and deepen the
most are the ones that will better help him find his target. These fall
into two main categories: environment and psychology/habits.
Environment
The most obvious subject a tracker needs to know inside and out is
the environment in which he is tracking. He needs to understand things
like how snow keeps a track changes depending on whether it’s more wet
or dry. He needs to know that spiders usually spin their webs late in
the evening (if footprints are beneath an unbroken spider web, the
tracker can assume that the target passed the point earlier in the day).
He needs to know about the fauna and rocks in the area. He needs to
know how the wind blows. He needs to know the usual temperature of
embers a certain number of hours after a campfire has burned out.
He also needs to know how stuff ages in an environment. A skilled
tracker can look at objects or signs in his surroundings and roughly
gauge how long ago they were left there by his target. He knows how long
it takes for paper to start to brown or a plastic bottle to become
discolored after being discarded in a desert or forest. He should be
able to look at a broken branch and, based on the color of the exposed
wood, roughly guess when it was broken. He even knows what human feces
look like 1, 2, 3 days after it was excreted by his target. Developing
these mental models will come with practice and time, but one way to
build them up before you need them is to make “aging stands.”
Aging Stands: The Tracker’s Experiment
Aging stands are described by expert combat tracker John Hurth as
“science experiments” for trackers. You make a one-row grid on the
ground out of branches and place different objects into its squares.
Ideally, each square will be exposed partly to direct sunlight and
partly to areas shaded and protected by trees. In week one, you put
items that you want to test in the first square: footprints, paper,
broken twigs, water bottles, and yes, even poop. You want to make sure
you have duplicate samples in the shaded and unshaded part of the
square.
Each day, visit your aging stand and take notes on how things have
changed. How have the exposed branches changed color? Has the paper
started fading? What’s happened to the poop? Have the impressions of the
footprints changed over time?
The next week, move to the next square in the grid and put fresh
samples of the same items in it. Compare them to the samples in the
first week’s square. Take notes on differences. The next week put new
samples in the third square. Compare them to the first and second week’s
squares. Over time, you’ll get a rough idea of the aging progression
undergone by both natural and manufactured items.
You’ll want to conduct aging stand experiments at different times of
the year — spring, summer, fall, and winter — to learn how seasonal
variations in humidity, temperature, and precipitation affect the aging
process. It’s a laborious exercise, but it’s essential for creating the
mental models you need to successfully track someone.
Human Psychology & Behavior
A tracker needs to not only know what’s going on in the environment
in which he’s following a target, but what’s going on in the target’s
head as well. He needs to develop mental models that deal with human
behavior, and this means having a robust knowledge of human psychology
and sociology. Knowing the mindset and cultural background of your
target can help you know how he’ll act and lead you to where he is. The
famous scout
Frederick Russell Burnham had this to say about developing these kinds of mental models:
“It is imperative that a scout should know the history,
tradition, religion, social customs, and superstitions of whatever
country or people he is called on to work in or among. This is almost as
necessary as to know the physical character of the country, its climate
and products. Certain people will do certain things almost without
fail. Certain other things, perfectly feasible, they will not do. There
is no danger of knowing too much of the mental habits of an enemy. One
should neither underestimate the enemy nor credit him with superhuman
powers. Fear and courage are latent in every human being, though roused
into activity by very diverse means.”
Besides general cultural and psychological mental models, you need to
develop mental models for your particular target. Does he like to eat
certain foods? Does he have any medical conditions? Does he smoke or
bite his nails? Is he familiar with the outdoors or is he a city
dweller? Does he have any particular fears or insecurities? Does he know
anyone in the area?
Knowing this sort of information about your target will inform the
way you conduct your search and interpret the evidence you find in the
field. For example, if you know your target smokes, you’ll be on the
lookout for cigarette butts. If he has diabetes, and you come across a
puddle of urine that smells fruity, you’ll know you’re on the right
track.
Scan and Search: Taking in Your Environment
Now that you’re working on increasing your situational awareness by
becoming more observant and developing appropriate mental models (this
is in fact an exercise that should never end), it’s time to start
actually tracking.
When you’re out tracking, you’ll be engaging in two visual modes: scan and search.
Scan
When you scan the landscape, the goal is to get a general,
big-picture overview of your surroundings. Keep an open focus. Don’t
have any particular thing you’re looking for, as that will cause “target
blindness” and result in your missing other pieces of evidence.
Visually sweep the area for possible anomalies in your environment like
tracks, litter, blood stains, etc.
Rather than scanning an area haphazardly, tracking experts
David Diaz and V. L. McCann recommend dividing it horizontally into thirds:
“Imagine the territory in front of you is a
two-dimensional canvas of a painted nature scene. The top boundary is
the horizon; the bottom boundary is the ground in front of you. Now
divide that canvas into three equal parts: the foreground, the
mid-distance, and the far ground…
In order to ‘see’ everything in such a vast area, it must be scanned
systematically. With a horizontal movement of your eyes, sweep the
foreground from left to right, right to left, and left to right, moving
your line of vision up just enough to slightly overlap the area above
the last sweep.”
In this way, you methodically work your way up to the far ground and
ensure that you don’t miss anything — distant or near — lying before
you.
Search
Diaz and McCann describe searching as “in-depth analysis of an area
or object.” You can begin searching at any point in the scanning process
once you’ve noticed an anomaly. Searching involves looking at the
anomaly more closely and recording it in your mind or notebook for later
analysis.
Just because you’ve searched one anomaly, doesn’t mean you should
stop your scan of the area. Keep scanning and looking for more anomalies
that you can more closely examine. As you continue your scan and
search, take extra caution to avoid contaminating signs that you’ve
uncovered. Leave litter where you found it, and don’t walk on
footprints. You want to leave things in their original locations so you
can put the pieces together and construct a story based on the evidence
found.
Using Light for Scanning and Searching
As you scan and search, use the light available to you to better
locate possible anomalies. For example, in the morning and evening, the
sun casts long shadows over impressions in the ground, bringing them
into sharper relief. To better see these shadows, position yourself so
that the tracks you’re following are between you and the light source.
This will require you to change your position in relation to the tracks.
Be mindful of not contaminating them with your own prints as you do so.
Tracking at night is possible with the assistance of a light source
like a flashlight.
You’ll want to use a colored light like green or red to avoid
disrupting your night vision. (Side note: red used to be the preferred
nighttime light color, but many operators are switching to green because
it allows them to see objects more clearly without reducing night
vision that much.)
When you’re searching at night, if you look directly at the object
you’ve identified, you’ll likely stop seeing it. Looking directly at
objects requires you to use the cone area of the retina, and that’s not
very active during low-light settings. To make up for this deficiency,
you’ll want to use what Diaz and McCann call “off-center vision.”
Instead of looking directly at the object you’ve identified, you’ll want
to look left, right, above, and below it, pausing at times to verify
the properties of the object.
Know What To Look For
As you scan and search your environment, you want to be on the
lookout for a few indicators that will help you track your target. Hurth
suggests being on the lookout for the following visual indicators (I
haven’t included all of them —
check out John’s book for the complete, exhaustive list):
Ground Indicators (on the ground)
- Footprints
- Vehicle tracks
- Trampled grass
- Boot and shoe scuffs
- Turned over dead leaves
- Disturbed grass or soil
- Mud, soil, sand, and water transferred from footwear onto another medium
Track Traps: The Honey Pot of Ground Indicators
Hurth suggests being on the lookout for “track traps.” These are
areas on the ground that do an excellent job of capturing your target’s
tracks. He calls them “honey pots” because they leave so much
information behind. Mud, sand, soft dirt, and snow are great examples of
track traps. Bodies of water or oil spills can be track traps too. A
target who steps in water or oil will likely leave footprints on the
ground after stepping in the fluid.
Aerial Indicators (above your ankle)
- Broken cobwebs
- Detached or missing leaves
- Broken branches that point in the direction of the target
- Scratches or scuffs on trees
- Cut or broken vegetation
- Tall grass or vegetation pushed down into an unnatural position
- Clothing fabric in branches
- Hair in branches
Litter Indicators (objects discarded intentionally or unintentionally)
- Cigarette butts
- Candy and food wrappers
- Spent ammo casings
- Used medical supplies
- Gum/tobacco
- Clothing
Blood Indicators
Your target might be injured and consequently leaving blood stains.
The color of the blood stain can tell you a lot about the injury he or
she has and how long it’s been since they left the blood stain there.
- Dark red drops of blood. Indicates a venous wound. Non-life-threatening.
- Bright red streaks of blood. Indicates a possible arterial wound. Life-threatening.
- Pink, frothy blood. Indicates a possible wound to the lungs.
- Light red, foul-smelling blood. Indicates a possible wound to the stomach.
Blood changes color over time as it’s exposed to the elements.
Initially, blood spots will be brighter but will eventually fade to a
brown or rust color.
Bodily Discharge Indicators
Vomit, poop, pee, snot — these bodily discharges may not be pleasant
to contemplate, but they can not only help lead you in the direction of
your target, but also paint a picture of his current condition.
Vomit and poop can tell you what sort of food your target’s been
eating. If there’s a lot of liquid, clear vomit or you see diarrhea,
there’s a chance he could be dehydrated.
If you find a urine spot that has a very fragrant ammonia smell, the
target is likely dehydrated. If it has a fruity smell, there’s a chance
he’s diabetic.
Man peeing
Woman peeing
The relation of a urine stain’s position to a set of footprints can
tell you if it came from a man or a woman. If the urine stain is in
front of the footprints, probably a dude. If the stain is in the middle
of the footprints or near the heels, likely a lady who popped a squat to
do her business.
Audio and Olfactory Indicators
As a tracker, you can’t just rely on your sight to track down your
target. Sounds — heavy breathing, talking, crying, movement in brush,
coughing, etc. — can provide insights as to where your target is.
Smells can also provide useful clues. The smell of smoke can lead you
to a campfire where the target is currently or has been recently. If
the target’s been without a shower for a couple of days, he might also
be giving off some pungent body odor.
Bottom line: as you scan and search with your eyes, don’t take your
nose and ears offline. They can provide useful information you’d be
missing using sight alone.
Identifying and Interpreting Footprints
While you should be scanning and searching for signs and indicators
like blood, trampled grass, and broken cobwebs, footprints will be one
of your primary ways of following and tracking your target.
A professional tracker is so adept at tracking footprints that he can
identify individuals simply with a glance at the impressions in the
ground. They can also immediately tell if the person is running,
carrying a load, carrying another person, or even walking backwards.
The ability to create this dossier on a target simply by looking at
their footprints requires some careful observation. Here’s what to look
for when identifying and interpreting footprints.
Collect Information on a Footprint Data Card
A footprint data card is your police sketch of your target’s
footprint. (John has a template in his book.) You’ll draw the pattern of
the sole of his footwear on the card, determine if it’s a boot, shoe,
or sandal, and make measurements that include the length of the print
overall, the width of its heel (and its length if it’s a boot), and the
width of the ball of the foot. You’ll also note if the impression
reveals any manufacturer or sizing labels and if the toe is rounded,
square, or pointed. You’ll want to record the time and location you
located the print and the direction of travel as well.
Hurth recommends putting a nickname on top of the footprint data card
based on its salient characteristics. So if you see a “Vibram” logo in a
print, you can call that print “Vibram.”
If the target is barefoot, you’ll want to note whether he has a high
arch, regular arch, or is flat-footed. You’ll want to measure the width
of the ball of the foot and the heel. Make notes about their toes too —
missing digits? Hammer toe?
Interpreting Footprints
If you look closely enough at footprints, they can tell you a lot about what your target was doing when he left them.
For example, the spacing and depth of the impressions can tell you
about the target’s gait — whether he was running or walking. Impressions
that are far apart from each other and deeper in the toe or the heel
indicate that the target was running; impressions that are shallower and
closer together indicate walking.
If the gait is shorter and the impressions are deeper, the target was
likely carrying a load like a backpack. If you see a short gait and
deep impressions, along with intermittent additions of another set of
prints next to the target’s, you can deduce that he was carrying a
person (and occasionally putting them down for breaks).
A set of impressions that have a circular indention to the side indicates that the target is using a walking cane or stick.
If one foot leaves a deeper impression than the other, it likely
means the target is favoring that leg and that the other leg is injured.
So as you look at footprints, don’t just stop with the observation
phase. Try to put together a story of what your target was doing, as
this can help you develop a theory as to what he’s likely to do next.
Determining the Number of People in a Group by Footprints
Sometimes counting the number of people in a target group is easy
because there are distinct sets of footprints that you can count. But
often the footprints overlap and mix together. How do you get a count
then?
One way is to use the Box Method to get an estimate. Draw a line
behind one print and then measure 48-60 inches forward and draw another
line. Count all full and partial prints between those two lines (round
up if you end on an odd number). Divide the total print count by two,
and you’ll have a rough estimate of the number of people in your target
group.
Practice Reading Footprints
Reading and interpreting footprints is a skill that can be acquired
through practice. A great way to do that is to create an artificial
track trap out of sand and then have your friends walk through it in
different ways while you’re not looking. They can run, limp on one leg,
carry each other, walk and then kneel, drag a body, pretend to fight
each other, etc.
After they’ve left their tracks, go to the track trap and interpret
what they did by looking at the tracks. After you’ve recreated the
scenario your friends acted out, use a rake to clear the track trap’s
slate and have your buds walk through it again.
I did this exercise with Hurth at the ITS Tactical Muster and had a
blast. It’s pretty cool to be able to determine whether a fight went on
or if someone was carrying a rifle simply by looking at footprints.
Putting It All Together: Creating a Story of Your Target
Tracking requires you to be hyper observant of your environment while
simultaneously orienting your observations to the mental models in your
head. This back and forth observing and orienting allows you to create a
story of what’s going on with your target even though you weren’t there
to observe them firsthand. By creating this story about your target as
you collect evidence, you’ll be in a better position to figure out where
they’re headed so you can find them.
_____
Sources
Combat Tracking Guide by John Hurth (If you get the chance,
take a course from John. He’s extremely knowledgeable and a great teacher.)
Tracking Humans by David Diaz and V.L. McCann
