Overview
When tracking people, you know intuitively how your quarry moves, behaves, and makes decisions because you are the same species. Using this innate knowledge on the trail gives you a huge advantage.
This course uses human tracking as a training ground to develop core trailing skills. Tracking humans provides a clear, accessible way to train the core skills of trailing: observation, interpretation, anticipation, and problem-solving, without the added complexity of subtle or unfamiliar animal behaviour.
Highly experienced trackers, John Rhyder and Stani Groeneweg, train you in essential tracking methods as used by military units, law enforcement, and counter-poaching rangers. The procedures are stripped back to their fundamentals, focusing on practical skills required to stay on a trail and methods for overcoming common tracking problems, such as re-locating a lost trail.
This course blends immersive fieldwork and guided practice so that participants become confident maintaining continuity on the trail across varied landscapes and substrates.
Tracking humans sharpens observational skills, as humans are another form of animal to follow. This awareness improves a tracker’s ability to read all types of terrain and species. Some may join the course to broaden their general tracking abilities, while others might use it as preparation for tracking elusive soft footed animals. Regardless of motivation, the course provides a practical foundation in human tracking.
Course Content
The Human tracking course develops the tracker’s mindset, ethical awareness, and disciplined observation skills that underpin all successful trailing. You then learn how to locate the first sign of passage, recognise different types of sign, and clearly distinguish human tracks from animal movement. Building on this, you develop the ability to interpret tracks, understanding their age, direction of travel, pace, and how substrate affects them. All while also reading individual versus group movement and identifying changes in behaviour through sign.
With this understanding, you practise step-by-step trailing techniques as used by professional man-trackers, learning to establish direction, stay on the trail, and recover it when sign becomes faint or lost. At the same time, you develop anticipation and awareness, using landscape features, terrain logic, and human behavioural patterns to predict movement and solve tracking problems ahead of time, these skills transfer directly to animal tracking.
These abilities are then applied in practical ways, from outdoor education to fostering ecological awareness, and serve as a powerful training ground for following more subtle animal trails under challenging conditions. Finally, all of these skills come together in hands-on exercises in varied environments, where you work individually and in teams to locate, follow, and interpret trails, building confidence, accuracy, and resilience as a tracker.
This course offers value to anyone curious about the natural world. Aspiring and experienced trackers alike will gain practical, problem-solving skills, while wildlife professionals, educators, park rangers, and guides can deepen their understanding of landscapes. It also benefits search-and-rescue, military, and conservation personnel, as well as outdoor leaders seeking sharper awareness. Ultimately, it provides a solid, transferable foundation for tracking both humans and animals.
Course Dates 2026
- 10-13 April 2026
Course Dates
Human Tracking Workshop
Please read the following information before booking:
- Terms & Conditions – By booking on to our courses you agree
to our Terms & Conditions - The Course Kit List
Please note this is a self catered course and although it is non residential you are welcome to camp at our site if you prefer. It is also possible to arrive the evening before but please call us to discuss this option. There will be some travel to other venues although we will endeavour to car share as much as possible.
NB: Camping is not integral to this programme, it is something we offer for the convenience of our students it is not part of the course fee. With this in mind please be aware that should you choose to stay on site you will be expected to help with the small tasks that facilitate the smooth running of the camp.
You need to be over 18 years of age to attend this programme.
Human tracking 10-13 April 2026 places
Course: Human tracking
Location: West Sussex
Date : 10-13 April 2026
Start/finish: 8.30-4.30
Course Lead: John Rhyder/ Stani Groeneweg
Course size: 10 people
cost per person: £480
