Customer Reviews

Tom Brown's Science and Art of Tracking

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've read some of the other reviews, and you can bet that the negative ones came from people who, for whatever reason, weren't able to do what was necessary to understand. Like one of the other gentlemen, I too spent a couple weeks with Tom, and his senior instructor at that time, "Little Frank", and I found the course to be perfect for a clumsy, city-conditioned imbecile like myself.

Tom is charismatic, but he doesn't use it to make friends and converts. He uses it to help the reader make the transition from a shell-shocked city-dweller to someone who can feel safe to explore the mysteries of the untamed wild. If you already feel comfortable with nature, Tom, in this book and his teachings, will then help you to move from seeing just big things, to seeing very small details. Some people, such as the earlier reviewer might have had great difficulty with this. After all, not everyone can fathom the benefit that comes from getting down in the grass and watching how beetles duke it out.

As for the skeptic who did not believe that a mouse could be tracked across gravel: I experienced it. Something inside me is changed for ever now that it has entered my direct awareness that such a thing is possible. It leaves me open to what else is possible. The moments leading up to 'tracking the mouse across gravel' were well-orchestrated. We were tracking when the sun was at the most optimal point in the sky. We had started way down the trail near Tom's barn, and he would write details on pointed popsicle sticks and place them with the point touching the back of the animals tracks. We were told to first step back, go wide angle vision while maintaining awareness on the track area, and to just try to see what it was that Tom saw. I can't say this is easy for anyone to do, to try to see as if someone else (but interestingly, this is also necessary for one to become compassionate, so you see his teachings were not simply for the sake of tracking, but for being a finer kind of person.) I continued down many feet of trail, viewing track from rabbit, fox, skunk and even a Bobcat. This continued to the end of the dirt trail right to the edge of his gravel driveway. The mind was now so focussed from finely attuning to all the previous tracks, the detail, and the 'event' that it recorded, so that when I reached the last popsicle stick, the words on it literally sprung into my mind like an eruption, because I had been waiting for this very moment since the first day when he made the promise that we would be able to track a mouse across a gravel path. At that point, I was deely aware of a shift in my awareness. I did not need to squint, or look hard despite the countless spaces between the large pieces of rock. Clear as day there were a set of tracks from a mouse going across the gravel path. I remember my heart-rate increasing and my mind becoming very still. I was, one might say, "in the present moment.", and that is what it was about.

The practice of tracking helps one to become present to what is. All around you, this very moment, there are many tracks. You are leaving many tracks. Don't let anyone feed you their negative experience. They did not have a grateful attitude and are expressing resentments. You can get this book and even if it contains a lot of information that is in his other books, you can learn something essential about yourself, and the many worlds within 'the world'. So much life and death around you now at every moment, and your eyes are towards the sky. Learn to track. Anything is fine, just learn to track something, and you will see it is not about what's 'out there.'

This is a great book for beginning trackers and nature lovers. The book shows how anyone willing to put forth a little effort to go out and practice and get some "dirt time" can learn to follow even the tiniest tracks across the most difficult surfaces. Tom uses a common sense method of tracking that examines a track in terms of "pressure releases." For example: a heavy foot displaces more "dirt" than a lighter foot, a foot traveling fast will displace more "dirt" to the rear of the foot than a foot moving slowly. By measuring the size of these pressure releases one can tell a myriad of things about the creature one is tracking: its size, its direction of travel, its speed of travel and its head position. Eventually, by studying micro-pressure releases inside the track one will also be able to tell whether the animal has a full stomach, whether it is male or female and dozens of other cool details about the animal. Tom will teach you how to see the animal as you track it. Some people seem to doubt whether the stories Tom tells are real or not. Kevin below states that there are no oak trees in Montana. This is false. The bur oak is abundant in the state of Montana and it grows up to 70 feet high sometimes. The best use of this book I feel is to use it in your everyday life. It teaches one to look at the details of life one might miss.

there is a good summary of basic pressure points and many of the important complicated ones. If you are at a point in your tracking studies when you are ready to start working beyond basic animal signs to reading track movement, this is a good guide. But you might not need it for long, because all of its exercises are carried out in a tracking box with relative ease. It is very hard to teach this stuff to yourself, as I am finding, so find yourself a teacher to set you on your way. Or go to Tom Brown's tracking school for more detailed instruction. If you want to be inspired and drawn into tracking for life, read The Tracker first, then read his other books. A lot of stuff is repeated amongst all of his books, so don't buy them unless you really need them. This is the only book with really concrete tracking instruction, which is why I bought it. Kind of sad really, I wish he would write more books about this and less about old man stories.

This book, the latest in tom brown series, focuses on the study of the track. Specifically, the "pressure releases" contained therein. This book is a must field guide for you trackers out there, and a must for scientists everywhere. Many of the same patterns discussed in tracking, follow the same science as when a meteorite slams into the earth, or the geological processes of erosion. Tracks, of course are tiny versions of these. Having said this, the book is more a field guide than previous Tom Brown, and for those that are more interested in philosphy or accounts of Tom Browns youth, well you should read the other TB books first! All and all, a very sharp and defined book full of tons of facts!

Probably best tracking book on the planet

howard

THIS BOOK TEACHES THE BARE MINIMUM YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TRACKING. BASICALLY, EVERYTHING YOU LEARN IN TOM'S STANDARD ON TRACKING IS OUTLINED VERY NICELY IN THIS BOOK. THIS BOOK WILL NOT ONLY HELP IN YOUR AWARENESS OF ANIMAL TRACKS BUT ALSO OF EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE. IT TEACHES YOU TO LOOK CAREFULLY AT EVEN THE SMALLEST DETAILS. THIS IS THE ONLY COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO TRACKING ON THE MARKET THAT I KNOW OF. IF YOU SEE ANOTHER BOOK REFERING TO "PRESSURE RELEASES," YOU KNOW IT CAME FROM TOM BROWN JR.. SOME PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK THAT THE DETAILS IN THIS BOOK ARE JUST TALL TALES. DO A QUICK EXPERIMENT IN YOUR GARAGE. CHECK OUT THE DUST ON THE FLOOR IN THE MORNING GET DOWN CLOSE TO THE GROUND , USE A FLASHLIGHT TO GET THE FLOOR BETWEEN YOU AND THE LIGHTSOURCE. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU WILL EASILY SEE THE TRACKS OF ALL THE LITTLE CRITTERS THAT HAVE BEEN ROAMING YOUR GARAGE AT NIGHT:MICE, BUGS,CATS ETC. MY GOODNESS, YOU'VE JUST TRACKED AN ANIMAL ACROSS SOLID ROCK. JUST ONE OF THE SIMPLE THINGS REVEALED IN A CONCISE MANNER IN THIS BOOK. NO TALL TALES HERE BELIEVE ME

This is a great book on three levels. 1. On the practical level it will make you a better tracker because of its simplicity and organization. 2. On the scientific level it will help you analyze and synthezise tracks because of its system for measurement and classification. 3. On the metaphorical level it will help you connect the search for the unseen in tracking to the search for the unseen in your psyche, spirit or soul. It is rare to find a manual that moves from the worldly or practical to the religious or spiritual. Buy it you'll learn and live better for it. Roberto

Some of the stuff is a little too huggy feely for me, but if you work through that stuff, there's a lot of EXCELLENT information in this book about tracking. This book will make you a better outdoorsman. All you've got to do is read and practice.

I hate to say it, but even though I've gone to New Jersey and learned tracking from Tom, I'm thoroughly convinced he's a lot more hype than reality.

As the fellow below mentioned, sure you can see mice and ant tracks on dusty cement, but Tom claims to be able to see them on totally clean, smooth rocks. In fact he says he can track spirits! I've just known from my own experiences and from having numerous friends work for Tom, that he has amazing charisma, and an incredible talent to inspire people, but really doesn't know the skills very well.

On the plus side, I do think a lot Tom's exercises he has people do are excellent, and he is far more knowledgable about tracking than he is at the other skills he claims.

Personally I recommend you check out James Halfpenny's tanning books for the real knowledge, and Tom's for the inspirational story telling. Halfpenny's a professional tracker, who is very good at teaching it in a realistic, useful manner.

A wonderfully written and concise instructional manual. I have a degree in fish/wildlife management and have spent most of my life in the outdoors. I know a good outdoor book when I read one and this is GREAT!! But what else could you expect from TOM BROWN?

Clay

This book is a must buy for all "Brownies" who have attended his Standard classes and had as much a hard time as I did taking notes. I went to his school in early March and my pens kept freezing up. There was Tom, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, never even shivering! This book will help complete any notes you might have missed. For new readers, this gives a good insight into just how good Tom is at what he does. Tom is the master. There is no one anywhere like him.