Tracking Skills on the Frontier (Part 1)

[@FrederickMohler]

Today, tracking is nearly a lost art. Notedly, have found myself sitting in the bush on a hunt while others passed me by never noticing my presence. Likewise, far too many even have difficulty tracking deer that they have shot looking for where it has dropped. My appreciation is granted you for the numerous fine videos.

[@thedeerskindiary]

I really appreciate your appreciation of this endeavor. It is the reason that I enjoy it so much.

[@lusolad]

It doesnt seem to me like many hunters today have actual hunting skill like their ancestors. Hiding in a tree stand and waiting around hoping you get lucky enough for a buck to come around. Is that really hunting? Or just being an opportunist?

[@thedeerskindiary]

@@lusolad I also do not hunt from a stand normally. I like the challenge of a ground hunt. Sidenote: I also hate the snorting of a blown opportunity!

[@TheWoodlandEscape]

A brilliant introduction to this episode, Anthony. You’ve eloquently set the stage for this trilogy and I patiently wait for the the next two.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you sir!

[@johnovanic9560]

Excellent video. will be looking forward to the next segment

[@thedeerskindiary]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@wanderlustjake]

Thank you for choosing to cover the subject of tracking. I’ve read quite a bit and have wondered, just recently, how they were able to track adversaries. Particularly in areas that may not reveal much of a trail. The skill to be able to see signs and keep on the lookout for the enemy is an art. I am looking VERY forward to you teaching us more. As others have mentioned, I don’t think many people slow down to read their surroundings anymore.

[@thedeerskindiary]

These smartphones have done a lot to dull our senses. We need to pay more attention to what we pay attention to.

[@almartin9500]

Good to see a fellow tactical tracker!

[@thedeerskindiary]

Thank you! Glad to see someone else here too.

[@doctormax54]

I was intrigued by your comments regarding 19th century literature. I own and have read Seedtime on the Cumberland and more than one James Fenimore Cooper title. I have multiple children's fictional books written about the Ohio River Valley, the Kentucky settlements, and life on the American frontier. These books, many of which were in series or trilogies, were extremely popular with readers and were part of a writing trend which revisited the founding of the United States after the centennial anniversary. Seeing how clothing, accoutrements, hunting, a variety of different woods skills, including tracking, the "Noble Savage", Native tribes and customs, a minister, African Americans, male and female "teenagers", and historical figures are portrayed by the authors is quite fascinating. One particular trilogy has a skilled woodswoman, actually a teenager, something which was highly unusual for this time. As a librarian who has read thousands of books, in all of the books which I have read about the 18th Century, I found her appearance in a novel for children to be quite amazing and she was appeared long before anyone else was eliminating stereotypes or juggling history. The reason why I reenact, hunt with flintlock firearms, and learn and practice wood skills and began buying books decades ago is because of the books I read in the 1960s, which continued this literary tradition of writing about the heroes from this earlier time.

[@thedeerskindiary]

The presence of a woodswoman is indeed fascinating. Do you remember when that book was written? Like you, I was first hooked by Cooper and later by Eckert. I continue to find value in them today but when researching material culture I start from scratch with 18th century specific works. It sounds as though you have done the same!

[@doctormax54]

Shod with Silence is the first book in the Boone and Kenton series by Edward S. Ellis. It can be read on Google Books as a pdf among other sites. Project Gutenberg has other titles by this author. That way you don't have to pay an outlandish cost for a hardback copy. Paperback reprints exist. According to GoodReads "this work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it." The first title came out in 1896. Agnes Altman appears In Phantom of the River and In the Days of the Pioneers, also. I enjoy the historical cultural view that the author take. It is very interesting to read what the author thinks is relevant and is important enough to provide details. I have multiple books by this author. One of his books is The Life and Times of Col. Daniel Boone, Hunter, Soldier, and Pioneer, with Sketches of Simon Kenton, Lewis Wetzel and Other Leaders in the Settlement of the West. Have you read Romance and Tragedy of Pioneer Life by Mason? or books by Elijah Kellogg? Regarding tracking on page 13 from In the Days of Pioneers -"The keen vision of the American Indian, which enables him to follow a fugitive's footsteps over the leaves with the unerring certainty of a bloodhound, is often at fault when confronted by solid rock, where a man can travel without leaving the slightest impression." These books were read by those who later fought in WWI and others and World War II. Their molding impact on multiple levels cannot be underestimated, even if the contents may be not totaling accurate, the storylines are compelling. Eckert's works are amazing. Love to hear what you think of these books.

[@SirFrederick]

Tracking, hunting and trapping are three things I haven't learned yet.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Hopefully these videos will get you a little bit of a start!

[@NDFlyFisher]

Looking forward to the next episode.

[@thedeerskindiary]

Me too! Lol

[@NDFlyFisher]

@@thedeerskindiary Any idea when it will be available?

[@thedeerskindiary]

Within the next two weeks for sure. I have a lot of it filmed now it is time for editing. It is the only video I am working on at present as I have to do these one at a time. I am a one man show which is a blessing and a curse.

[@NDFlyFisher]

@@thedeerskindiary Excellent! I’m subscribed so I’ll watch for the notice.

[@outdoorlife5396]

There was a show out of Canada, called Mantracker, I think. It was a guy who was a rancher and worked EMS, to find people. He would track you down and if he found you, you lost. I think it was bragging right only, kind of like stupid and afraid. But I think it would be a good show.

[@thedeerskindiary]

I interviewed for a similar show on Discovery. My work would not let me do it and it did t matter because it never made it off the ground.

[@wanderlustjake]

Forgot to ask if you could please list your book references in the description? I enjoy finding them and researching. The transcript doesn’t always get the spelling correct. Thank You!

[@thedeerskindiary]

Yes I can start doing that. A lot of these references came from Daniel Trabue’s Westward into Kentucky and James Adair’s The History of the American Indians

[@lusolad]

Were settlers as good in tracking as the natives?

[@thedeerskindiary]

I would say on average probably not BUT there were definitely non natives who excelled enough at the skill to be paid for it.

[@lusolad]

Isnt there an account of natives wearing buffalo hooves on their feet for deceptive purposes? I think they might have been Catawba?

[@thedeerskindiary]

Yes there is. The third episode in the series will focus on counter tracking. I have a bear paw, turkey, feet, and bison hooves. I have no idea how to make them work. That one’s going to take some time.

[@lusolad]

@@thedeerskindiary i would like to see what you come up with

[@2gpowell]

I watched a Kit Carson documentary. He tracked some natives that kidnapped a pioneer woman 200 miles. He followed the horse she was on with her kidnapper because the back hooves of the horse dug in a bit deeper .

[@thedeerskindiary]

The stories that came out of the American West are nothing short of extraordinary.