Learning to Track?

After work I went to a class on winter tracking. The instructor was a forensic tracker. I think this was poetic just for all the people who have been in a Unix class that I gave. A lot of information coming at you fast. One amazing data point was that an adult male wolf can cover up to 26 feet feet in the air when they are at full speed. 

I learned that the picture of prints that I took from my lost hike on Saturday was most likely an otter.

Last but not lest, after the class I received my can of bear off. I also learned that you want to wait until the grizzly is charging you and about 30 feet from you. Again I want to remind you that you are standing still and waiting for the 900 pound grizzly running at you to get just about 30 feet away. At which time you are spray for 1 full second. I learned that you just want spray a little that first time because if it doesn’t phase him and assuming you haven’t sprayed yourself, oh and by the way you haven’t passed out. If he is still coming you should unload the can directly into his face and then run. If he turned back on the first spray then you are ready to spray again when he decides to charge again. A data point for reference, if you are hiking in the winter one can “should” be enough. During the spring and summer you should have two cans. Last point of instruction is to have the spray very handy. Being in your backpack will not give you enough time if Mr. Grizzly is charging.  “Bear in Mind”.