field guides

One of the best books on this subject
This book covers much more than tracking fundamentals, it gives you a clear picture on how to conduct a patrol in hostile territory with lots of detail and fist hand experience. Examples are vivid and realistic; writer has obviously been there and done that. I read some other books on this subject but others are more inclined towards pure military operations. I would recommend this book to a search and rescue teams and trainers as an excellent theoretical base. It also has several chapters on how to train other people with clear and easy to comprehend instructions. Not to forget this book is an easy reader (unlike some other books on this subject). Highly recommended.

This is a very good reference for tracking. I would suggest this book if you are going to do any type of tracking. I use it as a reference for our Search and Rescue Team.

Ted Fisher
Vermilion County Search and Rescue

The SAS Guide to Tracking is one of the more thorough guides to tracking available today. It is a thick volume in comparison to similar books but is filled with useful information. It details the more common tracking techniques and gives very informative descriptions not only of what you are looking for but why you should look for particular signs and what they mean. It covers various techniques for various terrain types, surface vegetations and track aging. All in all one of the best books on tracking that you could purchase today. I will warn you that while it covers technique and sign reading it does not cover the tracks of various animals to any significant extent, but then again it would be a much larger book if it did and given the thoroughness of the text perhaps a separate book on animal tracks would be warranted. Unlike most tracking books, it does cover tracking people very well.