SURVIVAL STORE

Instructor Jimmy Dunn teaching tracking skills during a Search and Rescue – Fundamentals of Tracking course. The collage includes images of students examining signs on the ground, marking tracks, and using tracking sticks in a wooded and sandy environment.
A group of people in outdoor gear crouch along a dirt trail inspecting sign during a tracking exercise, with a log cabin and pine forest in the background.
Two individuals practicing tracking skills in a forested environment, closely examining ground disturbances using orange tracking sticks during a Search and Rescue fundamentals course.
An older man with long hair and a black cap kneels on gravel, analyzing ground sign using colored tracking sticks during a SAR fundamentals course in a forest clearing.
Two individuals in rain gear carefully study the ground using tracking sticks during a search and rescue fundamentals course in a pine forest.
Two individuals kneel on a dirt path analyzing tracks. One uses a stick marked with blue string for measurements while the other places tracking sticks to mark impressions.
Young man in red shirt studying ground sign in a forest while holding a tracking stick; a dog rests in the background among the trees.
Two individuals examining forest ground for sign in a dense pine woodland, using tracking sticks and pink markers along a mossy slope.

Search and Rescue – Fundamentals of Human Tracking

$395.00

Through both classroom and field exercises Search And Rescue (SAR) personnel, along with others, who are tasked with First Responder capabilities, will be instructed in the methods and tactics of tracking lost persons within a wooded, or wilderness environment. Students will be instructed in both individual and team tracking techniques. By the end of the course, students will be able to discern whether the lost person is moving by day or night and/or intentionally avoiding rescuers. Students will have a basic understanding of various tracking techniques and will possess the tools that will allow them to successfully locate tracks in varied terrain.

Description

Search and Rescue – Fundamentals of Human Tracking

Learn to Track Lost Persons in Wilderness and Rural Terrain

This intensive human tracking course is designed for Search and Rescue (SAR) personnel, law enforcement, and outdoor professionals who need reliable, field-proven techniques to locate lost or missing persons in forested or remote areas. Whether you’re a first responder, ranger, hiker, or rural landowner, this course will equip you with the foundational skills and confidence to track human movement through natural terrain.

Through a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on field exercises, you’ll learn how to identify subtle clues left behind by a person in motion—called “sign”—and interpret that evidence to help guide rescue operations or backcountry investigations.

Who This Course Is For

  • Search and Rescue personnel

  • Law enforcement officers and corrections teams

  • Forest rangers and land managers

  • Ranchers and rural landowners

  • Hikers, guides, and outdoor educators

  • Wilderness survivalists and preppers

What You’ll Learn in This SAR Tracking Course

Students will gain a working knowledge of how to track lost or evading individuals using visual cues, terrain features, and weather patterns. You’ll be trained to determine the direction of travel, whether movement occurred during the day or night, and how to identify when a subject may be actively avoiding detection.

You’ll also develop communication and teamwork skills specific to SAR tracking operations.

Core Training Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to function as an effective member of a SAR tracking team, utilizing visual tracking methods and environmental awareness to locate human track and sign in varied terrain.

Topics Covered Include

  • Roles and responsibilities of individual trackers

  • Duties of a tracking team member

  • SAR tracking team formations and communication

  • Lost track procedures and re-acquisition techniques

  • Command responsibilities during a SAR tracking operation

  • Identifying, aging, and interpreting human tracks

  • Recognizing and documenting “sign” such as scuff marks, disturbances, and environmental cues

Course Benefits

  • Gain real-world skills used by SAR, law enforcement, and military professionals

  • Improve your terrain awareness, tracking focus, and decision-making in remote environments

  • Increase your value and versatility in the field as a SAR responder, ranger, or outdoor guide

  • Be better prepared to assist in locating missing persons or intruders on rural property

LENGTH

3 Days / 2 nights

ACCOMMODATIONS

If students do not wish to camp with us, the town of Cripple Creek is a short 15 minute drive from our location and Woodland Park is 30 minutes away. Students will be responsible for making their own reservations with nearby hotels. We do have a central community campfire location with a few designated campsites but mostly offer dispersed camping. Students will be able to drive their car within 100 feet of the main camp and will not have to hike gear in for long distances.

  • Sanitation/Hygiene: A portable restroom and potable water will be provided at main camp.

 

FOOD AND WATER REQUIRED

Water will be provided but students will need to bring their own food. We recommend quick field expedient meals such as freeze dried hiking meals or MRE’s. They can quickly be made at our primitive camps and won’t slow down the learning process. However, students may bring any food that they wish to cook over the campfire or on their own personal camp stove.
Food can be purchased locally at nearby facilities. Walmart and several local eateries are within a reasonable driving distance.

SUGGESTED GEAR LIST

We do not provide students with gear unless they have purchased it from us ahead of time. Not much gear is needed for our courses, though good equipment does speed the learning process up greatly! Gear does not have to be purchased from our store to attend the course, but we recommend survival gear of equivalent quality.

  • Serviceable Uniform/Clothing (seasonally appropriate)
  • Hiking Boots (broken in)
  • Knee pads (highly recommended)
  • Short cloth measuring Tape
  • Ranger bands, marking tape, and or colored tape
  • Binoculars (optional)
  • GPS/ Lensatic Compass
  • Knife
  • Watch
  • Flashlight and headlamp with colored lenses
  • Backpack
  • Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)
  • Hydration System
  • Eye Protection (Clear lens eye protection is recommended)
  • Wet weather gear (optional)
  • 100’ of 550 cord
  • Pencil
  • Paper
  • Gloves (optional)
  • Camouflage stick, compact or cream
  • Seasonally appropriate hat, underwear, and outerwear
  • Good quality insect repellent with Deet (optional)
  • Folding Chair (optional)
  • Seasonally appropriate equipment to remain overnight in field conditions.

 

Check Recommended Items List for more details!

If it is still not clear what gear is needed for our survival courses, then we have assembled a complete kit that is still high quality but for a budget friendly price. All the items in this kit were hand selected by our instructors to be the best bushcraft tools on a budget. This survival kit is a useful starter kit that can be used in all of our courses. These are all must have tools at a good price. It’s a great survival kit, bug out kit, go bag, or use it as a solid foundation to build a kit that perfectly fits your needs. With this kit and our training anybody can survive like a king in almost any environment!

NOTE

Due to the different levels of prior experience and knowledge among students in each class, individual outcomes may vary. Weather conditions can also be a factor in changing class content slightly. Nonetheless, our instructors will always endeavor to be as accommodating and consistent as circumstances will allow to ensure students get the best training experience and value for money.

Start Time: 9:00AM

End Time: 5:00PM