Fundamentals of Mantracking

Fundamentals of Mantracking is the essential guide written by the people who spent most of their lives developing and refining the art of tracking, one of the most important but often overlooked aspects of successful search and rescue missions.

In 2012, there were 661,000 missing person cases opened in the United States. While the majority of missing person cases that get opened are closed quickly, by the end of the year over 2,000 remained unresolved. In many instances, when the missing person is lost in the woods, or in the desert, search and rescue missions become an essential tool that can mean the difference between life and death.

Inside, you will find the history of tracking, information on how to tell when tracking becomes necessary, recommended equipment and tools, and hundreds of indispensable examples of what to do on your way to becoming an expert tracker. Chapters include:

• History of Tracking in North American
• When and Where to Use Tracking
• Definitions and Terminology
• Labeling Tracks
• Detecting Sign
• Aging Sign and Track
• Handling Evidence
• Tracking the Evader
• And much more!

The revised and updated edition of Fundamentals of Mantracking includes dozens of color photographs and detailed illustrations, making it the one book essential to anyone interested in learning how to track, or committed to becoming the best tracker possible.

Albert “Ab” Taylor spent more than three decades in the US Border Patrol, and was one of the preeminent search and rescue trackers of his time. After retiring, he focused most of his energy on efforts to teach safety and awareness to children. Taylor passed away in Alpine, California, in 2013.

Donald C. Cooper has been a student of tracking since 1980, when he first met Ab Taylor in Southern California. He later helped Taylor teach tracking across the United States and abroad. Cooper’s love of climbing led to a career in the fire service, where he served as a fire officer and paramedic, as well as more than three decades of intimate involvement in search and rescue around the world. Cooper lives in northeastern Ohio.