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Thread: Learning to track back - Got tips?

  1. #21
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    GPS was outlawed in the OP so I threw yours on the ground and stomped on it. (that was just for show for the newbies).

    I've been in no-see conditions stone cold sober. Lost on a plateau at 3:00 a.m. in pitch black for about 45 minutes. If my tent hadn't had reflective tape I'd still be stumblin' around.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.


  2. #22
    Senior Member wholsomback's Avatar
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    I take reflective tape and copper wire and make two sided reflectors that can be hung from limbs or other vegitation,therefore at night I have no problem getting out.Some of the areas we hunt here in Texas are quite large and they are indepensible.You can remove them as you leave and backtrack out of the area then reuse.Alot easier to take back than a tack and easier to see.

  3. #23
    Senior Member Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Sound like work'
    “There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

    Theodore Roosevelt 1907

  4. #24
    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    Sometimes I just drag a doughnut behind me on a string everywhere I go, and then I smell my way back like a bloodhound!

  5. #25
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
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    I just had my left leg shortened an inch so I wander in smaller circles.
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  6. #26
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I've taken a lesson from Tom Cats. I spray a tree along the trail then sniff for it on my way back. (1st liar doesn't stand a chance 'round here).
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  7. #27
    Senior Member Sparky93's Avatar
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    Just tell somebody that if your not back by sunrise light a BBQ grill up and bring some beer and wait by the road. Then when you start smelling the BBQ you will walk out of the woods into a dang good time lol
    "Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing."
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  8. #28
    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    I've taken a lesson from Tom Cats. I spray a tree along the trail then sniff for it on my way back. (1st liar doesn't stand a chance 'round here).
    No sniffing pee for me, I'll stick with doughnuts!

  9. #29
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I pee'd on the doughnuts, too. Just sayin'........
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  10. #30
    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    I pee'd on the doughnuts, too. Just sayin'........
    Note to self: never go camping with Rick

  11. #31
    Senior Member Thaddius Bickerton's Avatar
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    Best way I have to go back is that I have walked these same hills n hollars for most of my life, for me it is like being in my own home.

    however I have an old dog that I let come with me. When ready to go home I just holler "supper dog", when we get home it is supper time, dog will follow her trail right back to the truck or house every time, and has learned that till I get there no food, so is always running back and urging me to hurry up.

    Can't get lost with a good dog like that.
    (She is getting old, I'm gonna miss her, probably ought to get a pup and see if she can teach it anything. Kinda feels cheap though since we been together so long -- like cheating on her or lining up a new wife to take the old one's place when she dies ya know?)

  12. #32
    One step at a time intothenew's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thaddius Bickerton View Post
    ...........Kinda feels cheap...........
    I understand your sentiment, I really do. But, think about it this way for a moment.


    All we can hope to do in the end (man or dog) is pass on good genes, or skillsets, or both. You, and her, are social creatures. Pass it on to a pup. She'll enjoy it, you'll enjoy it, and the pup will enjoy it. And that pup may pass some enjoyment on to your youngster.
    "They call us civilized because we are easy to sneak up on."- Lone Waite

  13. #33
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Might bite you on the ankle, too. Just sayin'......
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  14. #34
    Senior Member Thaddius Bickerton's Avatar
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    Would not be the first time I got ankle bit.

    I think I'm gonna start looking around, but old girl, she gets to come look fore we adopt.

    :-)
    Thaddius Bickerton

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  15. #35
    Senior Member Daniel Nighteyes's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wildthang View Post
    In anything but dense thickets or jungle, simply looking back where you came form every hundred feet or so helps a lot. Things look different coming back if you dont look back as you go!
    An enthusiastic + 1!

  16. #36
    Ed edr730's Avatar
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    leaning sticks against the trees helps if you are distracted and your nose is to the ground.

  17. #37
    Senior Member Winter's Avatar
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    I lose my backtrail often. Mainly due to heavy brush. It's not an issue as I can walk downhill and hit the ocean. But, if I make it over a ridge, I mark my backtrail so I can find it.

    About marking, make damn sure you can see your mark from the next one.
    I had a compass, but without a map, it's just a cool toy to show you where oceans and ice are.

  18. #38
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
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    Apparently this is something I've got to work on with my boys. My oldest went to spend some time with his grandma down in FL. He took a walk to check out the woods around the place and before he knew it, he was lost!
    He did remember what I told him: There isn't anywhere left around here that is so sparsely populated that if you walk in any one direction for more than a few hours, you'll still be lost. If you keep going in one direction, eventually you will reach a road.

    That's exactly what he did. Then he sat on the side of the road until a car passed, they let him use the phone.
    When he gets home, I'm going to beat the snot out of him for not taking his compass and water bottle... (It's south GA and we still discipline our kids here)

  19. #39
    Senior Member ClayPick's Avatar
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    Familiarity is about the best guide there is and it even lets you down. I do the old school thing and blaze trees with a small hatchet if I don’t know the woods. Here’s the last place I got turned around in. A good heavy cloud cover took dead reckoning and threw it out the window. I followed the dog.

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  20. #40
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    OK, OK....I think I have it figured out, but some folks would think there was something wrong if I didn't ask...............cool pic. What's all that white stuff?
    Can't Means Won't

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