Most impressive trackers?

[WAB]

Bushman....

Agreed, what they do is beyond tracking. They can follow an animal where there is no visible trace.

 

[steve white]

Let's not overlook the Benoits out of Maine...they often dry ground track deer for 15 miles and get them most of the time! Also notable--the better dry ground puma trackers in the American southwest.

 

[TheGrayRider]

I think the bushman trackers in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana could track an ant over polished granite.

Amazing work from these men on our leopard hunt last Labor Day weekend. Happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider.

 

[channelkat]

Let's not overlook the Benoits out of Maine...they often dry ground track deer for 15 miles and get them most of the time! Also notable--the better dry ground puma trackers in the American southwest.

I didn't know about the Benoit tracking school. I would certainly be interested in SW guides who have maintained that tracking heritage.

 

[revturbo9967]

The only tracking I witnessed was in Zimbabwe and some of the best moments were tracking kudu . We tracked and bumped them for hours. Never got a shot but it was a great experience.

I find some of the best tracking to be in the north woods of Maine after big deer. The Benoit’s are legendary in tracking whitetail in the snow over miles and miles. I’d like to try it again one day.

 

[RR 314]

Bushman....

Man, I watched a couple Bushmen track for a week and it was crazy impressive. The older gentleman gave me flashbacks as he cut a green switch from a tree, but thankfully he just used it a pointer and would methodically use it to “follow” tracks as a pointer. It was awesome to watch him work.

 

[uplander01]

Never had a bad tracker, they are all amazing to me. “Washington” , Gary Duckworth’s tracker at Makore in Zimbabwe is definitely at the top of the heap from my limited africa experience. Once you get to know him and are relatively familiar, they call him “Bones” because his entire life he has left a trail of bones where ever he walks. He was a poacher before he got his real job.

 

[russ473]

Its the individual..... Zulu, Shangaan,Zimbabwean, Khoi and San, there are many underrated and excellant trackers and it is unfortunately a dying skill due to modernization and urbanization

 

[PietVis]

The Bushmen/San people certainly have the reputation of being the best trackers.
I've had the opportunity to hunt with Bushman several times in Namibia and Botswana. When I was at Uni a friends had a farm in Northern Namibia and I spent several winters hunting Kudu with the young Bushmen that grew up in the farm. What struck me was how in incredibly acute their senses was. I remember one of the guys, sitting me down because he spotted a clever old kudu cow's head pearing through a partially build game fence >400 m away. I eventually spotted her through my Binos, I could not see her with the naked eye at all, even after I knew where to look. They could also simply hear and see the spoor far better than I could.
Much later I had the honour of hunting elephant with a former South African Defence Force Special Forces (Recce) tracker. He was an old man by then, but he made tracking look so easy. Almost not tracking but simply walking where he knew the elephant would go.
Interestingly, all the Bushmen trackers used by SANDF in the 27 year border war in Angola had to be trained before they could be used to track human prey.
There are still many good trackers where herdboys grow up herding cattle. Some of the best trackers I have hunted with are men who spend day after day looking after their herd, and have to track errand animals (and of course are on the lookout for some meat). A good herdboy can identify most of the animals in his care by their spoor alone.

 

[Aaron N]

I remember Major Khan referring to a certain tribe and their remarkable tracking skills, I believe their name started with a “G”.

Reading you guys talk about the skills of the bushmen reminds me of one of the Courtney books where one of the sub plots was two bushmen trying to out smart each other. One day I would love to watch an expert tracker exercising their trade.

 

[Shakka]

I have only been to Africa 8 times so I am far from being an expert, but I would THINK that it would be hard to say who the best trackers are because each tracker is accustomed to tracking in his own environment.

For example, I bet that the pygmies of the jungle regions couldn't out-track a bushman in the desert and vice versa.

Also anatomically, a tiny pigmy who evolved in the jungle, might not be able to withstand the blistering noon sun of the Kalahari, just as an Irishman would get cooked without 50+ sunblock swimming in the surf in Jamaica.

My 2 cents anyway

 

[Dirtdart]

A friend that served with Koevoet once told me the Bushmen and Himba were excellent trackers but when contact was imminent, the Himba were fearless.
Probably not the type of tracking the OP was referring to but that man knew of what he spoke.

 

[John Telford]

View attachment 579401
Kalahari Bushman - Tholo Safaris - Botswana

These guys aren’t San Bushmen although I’m sure they are pretty good.

 

[John Telford]

A friend that served with Koevoet once told me the Bushmen and Himba were excellent trackers but when contact was imminent, the Himba were fearless.
Probably not the type of tracking the OP was referring to but that man knew of what he spoke.

These were the best of the best. The next generation have lost the skill largely due to the fact that tracking is no longer a daily requirement.

 

[IvW]

San Bushmen use to roam Lesotho, Botswana, RSA, Zambia, Zim, Namibia, Angola......so surely there is some blood left......

 

[IvW]

Its not only their tracking skill but the ability to track at a trot.....much like an old eland bull....once it gets that pace it can keep it up all day and then some.....

 

[Kelly G]

These guys aren’t San Bushmen although I’m sure they are pretty good.

Correction:

Tracker on Right = "Besa" Kalahari Bushman
Tracker on Left = "Israel" Kalahari Bushman
Center = Driver, not Bushman.

 

[Pondoro]

Bushmen..

 

[WA Dave]

Correction:

Tracker on Right = "Besa" Kalahari Bushman
Tracker on Left = "Israel" Kalahari Bushman
Center = Driver, not Bushman.

I've just returned from Botswana and the absolute privilege of hunting with Besa. An incredible experience tracking Eland with him at the front from sun up to sundown through the Kalahari sand. And his sense of humour helped enormously. I'm home 3 days, and would go back tomorrow.

 

[Philip Glass]

My last hunt was one long tracking affair. We were in Zim hunting with Johnny Russell and his trackers Cheidza, Boni, and since the area was new to them Luke who was from the Omay. At times I could stay on the track but when the going got hard I would have to use my imagination to even dream that a track could be found. 7 days of watching these magicians following this wounded buffalo with a twisted track was something to see!