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I had leant a camera trap to a landowner I know who had told me of some amazing encounters with otters early in the year. He had set the trap up and was going to leave it for a few days which turned into a week or so. I decided to wander down to check the trap and had another amazing mornings tracking.
A friend was visiting and having sworn him to secrecy and explained the plan we set out at 04:30 in the morning to be sure we had the best chance of spotting otter.
I had forgotten how satisfying taking a cast of a print can be, but once I had set out to create this tutorial many a childhood memory came flooding back and it has given me new vigour to start a new collection of casts. From the unusual to the specific there is something in making a cast that like tracking gives you a kind of direct contact with the subject.
The process is simple and relatively quick, ok its not a digital pic. but it gives so much more definition, detail and realism that its worth the extra 20 minutes or so. I was aware that a new blog hasn't been added for a week or so and have foregone the painting but Im sure that will come soon.
For now here is my not so rough guide to taking a cast of a print.
On this mornings dog walk I was pondering the various reports coming in and taking in all the local news.
More reliable than print, less hyperbole than the radio, no conjecture like TV and more honest reports than the web.
Wondering where my news was coming from?
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Well you've been out and cut your stick, saved a few lambs from emasculation and you are all set to do some tracking.
For the start we will concentrate on man tracking. Although once you have the concept in your tracking tool box the theory can be applied to most walking animals. Of course this isn't an all seeing eye or magic pointer there is still a great deal of dirt time necessary to learn to interpret the tracks and see the stories they tell.
You will be using the stick to guide your eye to the next probable imprint. Just the same as Quantum mechanics this is about probabilities. so always consider the "what if ?" factor; your subject may speed up, slow down or take more stealthy evasive action. However as you read the spoor you will come to see that all changes will be shown in the track.
Many a time has my trusty stick got me out of a fix whilst Ive been tracking, and my mentor Max's words still ring in my ears from the day I passed my advanced tracking course and earned my silver feather "trust your stick."
Tracking sticks come in many forms from striped down ski poles and traditional walking staffs to custom made purpose built sticks. However my preference is for a personally made stick. I have found that as years have passed I have developed a bond with my trusty apple wood stick from the day I cut it to the next time I take it tracking. I know I am not alone and every tracker I know will go to great lengths to make sure their stick is close to hand.
The stick is used to estimate the next foot fall in a track whilst also gauging your following the right track, and with a little pimping giving a good idea of direction of travel.
Well just back from another fun weekend at the head of Canonteign falls, with max and the Shadowhawk trackers.
As always it was an awesome weekend with equal parts instructing , tom foolery and learning. The group was, for a change, mainly made up of bushcrafters so it was nice to see such an advance in skills from clients who on occasion arrive in the woods for the first time wide eyed and looking for guidance. I was a little surprised at the speed in which bushcraft has become so mainstream, only last year I would say that 50% of max's clients where new to the concept of wild camping. Although Novembers course may have a few less bushcraft savvy folk on it.
Well after a mornings tracking thought Id come back for a brew and a biscuit, and ponder over the importance of a zone in. Max of Shadowhawk fame often refers to it as the anvil of tracking and I often feel like a Buddhist monk when I try to master the technique as it is something of a Zen koan.
students on courses often look bewildered when they are first introduced to the technique as we leave them to find out a lot for themselves, sending them off into the wilderness for 20 minutes with not more instruction that go away and sit down. I suspect they often think we are sending them off so we can have an easy life in the camp. However this is one of the most important elements to tracking.
