Honestly, i'm considering it. Seems like a very valuable skill set to have.



http://www.trackerschool.com/

I would love to go to that class.  Seems like it would be entertaining

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That's what im thinking. I can get along pretty good in the woods, but the closest im getting to making a fire by hand without matches or a lighter is a flint/magnesium. Shelter building and tracking etc would also be good to know. I'm just scared of all the smelly hippies that are going to be there.



 

I've wanted to do it ever since I saw the Hunted

I'll probably do it once I get a decent full time job

Bump.



Anyone else?



I'm considering going off the grid for a few months for shits and giggles and im not bringing much anything but a knife and a few odds and ends.

Back in the 90s some guys from my platoon went. The unit couldnt pay for it but a deal was struck and they were granted "basket leave" if they paid out of pocket. The intent was to do a "train the trainer" type of thing but a lot of it just doesnt translate without a very experienced teacher. I regret not having done it. I should do it before Mr. Brown retires/dies etc.

I've never taken the class but I hear it has some good information in it.

I learned to track the old fashioned way.

All the ammo in the world isn't nearly as valuable as the skills that can be learned here.

I didn't go to Tom's school, but I did go to one run by an instructor that he taught and endorsed.  It was well worth the time and expense.  I also completed a man tracking course by the same instructor, it was also great.  Based on my experience with this student/instructor of his, I would highly recommend going.

I've subscribed to this thread.  I will consider taking the Standard course next year, and go from there.

How long was the course you took?



 

I have known two people who have attended Tom Brown's school. Both reviewed it badly as more of a spiritual experience than actual tracking.

http://blog.professionaltrackers.com/
http://www.ttos.us/

No financial links with either school, but I have trained with the former, which is run by a tracker who got his start in the Portuguese Army during the Colonial Bush Wars of the 60's and 70's and then transitioned to SWAT/counter-drug work in Nevada and California. The latter school is owned by the Rhodesian Officer who ran their domestic tracking program (not sure that he was a trainer or even a tracker there, but he's been around the art for at least 45 years). TTOS only offers courses to mil/leo; however, Fernando will teach Search and Rescue volunteers (or if a large group of hunters contracts him, something for the civilian world). In either case, you will be training with men who tracked under combat conditions against hostile targets- something that does not seem to have ever been true of Tom Brown. The word among early students is that Tom was a good tracker for SAR and animals but something of a story-teller about the combat/LE side. That being said, I have enjoyed several of his books as being very informative for training yourself. If you require something on the East Coast, one of Tom Brown's early students who eventually took over most of the training left and set up his own school called
http://www.onpointtactical.com/.
Some of the other instructors there do claim mil experience, and he does seem more focused on the mechanics rather than the spiritual journey so his classes have attracted more mil/leo interest than TBTS.

My uncle is one of the Obe Wans of tracking.  He taught the FBI tracking course for several years.  He was one who knew what he was doing long before going FBI.

I know nothing about tracking.  Hoping to learn much about it now that he lives near me.  Starts with this or next hunting season.

The first was about 40 to 50 hours, but not straight through.  It was over about two weeks time - days only, so I don't have any incite into the more intensive courses.  The instructor was a friend of mine and it was a one on one class.  The man tracking course was me and five other cops.  It was a three day course.