This group of hunters whom are headed up by Mr. Angelo Nogara have a mission to put California hunting back on the map, and judging by the wonderful pictures on their site I would say that they are doing a fantastic job and successfully accomplishing that mission. All too often I hear of CA. hunters going out of state to hunt and I think to myself WHY?      

California is one of the most beautiful states in the union and the diversity of terrain and wildlife are completely unmatched.

Where else can you go to see landscapes which range from low to high desert and in the same day go ocean fishing and then travel to mountainous terrain which matches anything that Alaska has to offer as far as sheer beauty is concerned!

Go give the Wolfpack a look see and tell them that T. Michael from Native Hunt sent you!

Folks, I have said this time and again and I will make the same statement right here and now:  You would not even consider hiring an unlicensed contractor to build your Dream Home for you because of all of the obvious reasons such as:  License, State Certified Bonding, Liability Insurance, Workers Compensation Insurance, Disability Insurance, Compliance and Funding for State Occupational Safety And Health Standards etc. etc.

There is a very good reason why you also should be very wary of that Cheaply Priced Outfitter to take you and your family out on the Dream Hunt which you have been saving up your hard earned dollars a full three years for.  They are most likely devoid of any of the above required Licensing, Bonding and Insurance to be able to offer those kind of cheap prices because if they did possess all of the overhead that a legitimate outfitter has to contend with, they would not be able to offer such low cost hunts and be able to stay in business.

We here at Native Hunt hear the same story so many times about how the client was lured towards a cheaply priced hunt only to find Bubba’ standing at the front gate of a piece of property which he claimed belonged to him. And how they were quietly ushered in and spent the better part of the morning being driven around the place only to see a few animals running scared for their lives, (that is if you even see any animals at all). Then everyone is screamed at to jump out of the truck and start shooting!

Then when all of the shooting has ceased, Bubba’ quickly loads the downed animals and doesn’t even take the time to gut them, he just yells at everybody to get back in the truck fast because the animals are heating up and need to be skinned. They all then beat a hasty retreat out of there, and all the while Mr. Guide is looking worried because everyone present has just committed  Felony Trespass and  Poaching upon someone else’s property. Property which your illustrious, and un-licensed guide did not even have written permission to be upon, let alone killing any animals there.

Do the research, ask the proper questions, demand to see a copy of the insurance policy which will cover everyones rear ends if someone happens to have an accident during the hunt. Ask for a license number so that you can check with the Department Of Fish And Game to see if any complaints have ever been filed against the Guide which you have chosen.

because: You would not hire an un-licensed contractor to build your DREAM HOME, so likewise do not hire an un-licensed outfitter to take you and your family out upon your DREAM HUNT!

The Guide Sam and Ming Li

Kats First Hog

Starting the year 2010 with a bang!

No pun intended here but we will be featuring a new section in the Native Hunt Blog.

We here at Native Hunt currently have an impressive roster of  10 Professional Hunting Guides working for us who’s experience and knowledge of the wilderness, hunting and the outdoors can be utilized by the readers of our blog.

This new feature will be added to our Hunting Tips section, and will be a completely open forum. This forum will enable you to have full access to over  100 years of collective knowledge gained from these experienced woodsmen.

Please stay tuned and look for: Ask The Guides to be up and available after the first of the year!

Happy Hunting and a very merry Christmas to you all!

When I was a kid back in Pre-Disney Florida way back in the swamps on the outskirts of Orlando, parasites were a big problem.
When I would become infested ie: Hookworm, Roundworm etc. etc. my Mema (Maternal Grandmother) would make me eat a slice of Raw Irish Potatoe each day for about a week to rid me of the worm infestation.

By golly! It worked!

The pure Eurasian wild boar genetically is the real and original old world swine!  It’s roots can be traced back through several millennia and in fact during pre-historic times there was actually a wild boar which stood nearly 6′ at the shoulders weighing in at almost 2,000 lbs.  Man, that would be a lot of pork for the dinner table!

The defensive grouping which you see here in the photo at the side of this page is indicative of their Old World genetic predisposition and wild trait’s. This sort of behavior will not be seen in modern Feral/Domestic swine and is more closely related to an African plains animals defensive posturing.

This particular sounder of Eurasians were being confronted by dogs here, and grouped together like this and  also by placing the smaller, younger animals inside the center of the herd they were successful at repelling any attacks from the dogs. And in fact one of the dogs was seriously injured by a hog here and had to be rushed to emergency veterinary care.  And that dog was also wearing a protective vest!  The ferocity of these animals is by far the most fascinating thing to witness and none of the hogs in this group would have been more than 100 lbs. at the time.  Also, just for reference should you find yourself in a similar situation, had there been any large Toothy Boar in this group you would not have seen me waving and smiling on the other side like that. I most likely would have been sh*#tin’ and gittin’ it outa’ there with that boar hot on my tail!

Any experienced hunter of wild boar will tell you that a group of Feral Swine will scatter in several different directions when confronted with danger or facing a predator. This Flight Mode is one of the reasons why Feral/Domestic swine have become so successful at proliferating and increasing their numbers as they have done over the years.  They  most certainly will  Run away to breed another day. And I have been witness to feral sows leaving behind their suckling piglets when confronted and not come back for them at all!  And then yours truly here had to rescue those abandoned babies.

The Eurasian wild swine is a 36 chromosome animal while its Domestic and Feral cousins are a 38 chromosome animal. This genetic difference also lends itself to a much different mentality (much more aggressive) than a domestic/feral swine.  And while the two can and obviously do interbreed, the resulting offspring will be a genetically mixed litter of piglets ranging from 36, 37 to 38 chromosome animals.

The meat is a darker and rich colored red while being much more flavorful, along with 0% fat marbling as opposed to domestic/feral swine meat. Also, in fine restaurants around the world wild boar meat which comes from animals that have been feeding upon the mast (natural occurring seeds and grains) and in particular: ACORNS, is much sought after and commands a higher dollar value per LB. than any other swine meat. Hank Shaw over at Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook has cooked up some great tasting wild boar for us out at the ranches.

Another difference is the size of the eyeball itself  thus hampering their ability to see as clearly as the domestic/feral swine do. Take a close look at how small the eye is in the pictured Eurasian Boar here compared to its feral cousins. I also have personally witnessed domestic/feral swine clearly spotting me stalking them at over 100 yards out. The Eurasian wild swine cannot see very well beyond 25 yards.

Long Snout, Gently Sloping Stop, Crested Ridge Back. Are some of the outward Eurasian wild boar characteristics. These photos were taken at Native Hunt where we have free ranged, pure Eurasian Wild Boar.

Even the big boars are tasty!

The meat of the Eurasian wild boar exceeds any “store-bought” pork you’ll ever taste.  The hogs are healthy and fat, but unlike their domesticated cousins, the meat is mostly free of intramuscular fat (not to mention hormone and chemical-free), which provides a healthier meal.  One great thing about wild pork is that you can treat it almost as you would domestic meat (although you have to be careful not to dry it out by overcooking). 

Then there are the sheep, Corsican, Jacob’s, and Barbadoes.  These critters make for great mutton.  The animals are well-fed, and relatively sedentary.  This lifestyle lends itself to some fairly tender meat, even on a trophy ram.  For those who haven’t eaten mutton, its pleasantly unique flavor offers a real treat, and a change from the everyday experience of domestic beef or pork. 

The Four-horn, or Jacob's sheep make a unique trophy and good table fare as well!

YOu can’t forget the bison.  Buffalo meat is available in most grocery stores these days, and it’s quite popular, but it’s hard to compare the flavors of an animal that’s raised and corn-fattened like any other cow to the meat of an animal fresh off the range.  This is what beef probably should be.  Of course, even better will be serving the meat with the trophy head and horns mounted on your game room wall… or the bison rug draped across the hearth. 

One of my favorite animals on the ranch is the fallow deer, both because they’re such beautiful animals and for the amazing venison they provide.  I’ve eaten a lot of different kinds of venison over the years, from native whitetail, blacktail, and mule deer, to elk, to exotics like axis and fallow.  I love them all, but of that list, the meat of the fallow deer is hands-down the best I’ve ever eaten (axis comes in real close second).  Unlike wild, native venison, the fallow deer is more mildly flavored, but still rich.  Cooked rare and served with a hearty red wine (like a nice old vine Zin), fallow deer backstraps are the stuff a carnivore’s dreams are made of.

So far, fallow deer is the best tasting venison I've ever eaten.

There are a lot of great ways to remember the hunt, but one of the best, in my opinion, is at the dining room table!

NOTE:  There are a lot of great sites with wild game cooking recipes and techniques all over the Internet.  One of our favorites here at Native Hunt is Hank Shaw’s Hunter Angler Gardener Cook blog.  Besides the fact that we’ve been fortunate enough to have Hank cook for us here at the ranch, his site is loaded with great info, not only on wild meat, but on other aspects of securing and preparing food from the wilder places… even your own backyard. 

The short answer to the question is, “it’s not hard at all.”

But everything has its catches, right?  The trick to travelling well and safely with firearms is to make sure and do your research before you go, and then prepare accordingly.  Not paying attention to the rules and policies can make for delays, inconveniences, and worse, it can even get you into legal trouble.  Here are a few tips to help with your planning. 

Packing
First of all, it’s a fact that baggage handlers around the world are notorious luggage crushers.  You can build the toughest, most resilient suitcase, and these guys and gals will do their damndest to tear it to pieces… often with some success.  Anybody remember that 1970’s American Tourister commercial, where they toss the suitcase in with the gorilla?

When it comes to packing up your rifles, shotguns, or even handguns, keep that commercial in mind.  That is exactly how your gun case will be treated on most airlines.  With this in mind, it pays to get the very best hard-side gun case you can afford.  A few hundred bucks spent on a gun case can save you the cost of a scope, or even a new gun.   And if you’re travelling someplace out of the way for your hunt, replacing a gun may not even be an option.

For my budget and purposes, I settled on a case from SKB.  This is a double-gun roller case that ran me somewhere around $250 a few years ago.  The rollers are great, because even with only one rifle, a gun case can be an awkward thing to be carrying around an airport… especially if you’ve already got a couple of other bags.  The added benefit of such a large case is that I can pack other gear in it, such as coats and coveralls, although you do have to be conscious of maximum weight limits at most airlines.  These limits vary, but it’s not often you can carry something over 50 lbs without paying an arm and a leg for the privilege.  (We’ll get to this in a minute.)

Something I really like about the SKB cases is that the hardware is all interchangeable in the field.  If a hinge or lock gets busted, you can get a replacement and put it in yourself without sending your case off to a shop somewhere.  The locks, by the way, are TSA locks, which means that the TSA inspectors have keys to fit it.  This way, I can lock my gun case when I drop it off, rather than leaving it unlocked for inspection.  They can open the case, do their inspection, and then lock it back up for me.  So far, I haven’t received an unlocked case, although I swear the latch looks like someone has been using a screwdriver on it, instead of a key.

One other tip to consider is carrying on particularly fragile equipment.  I always put my video camera and rangefinding binoculars in my carry-on bag.  While the binos are supposed to be shockproof, it’s just too easy to stick them in my laptop case or overnight bag.  Why risk it?

Many travelling hunters will also pull their riflescopes off as well, but so far I’m not convinced that’s worth the extra trouble.  If I had quick-release mounts, I probably would, but the effort to remove the regular mounts, and then re-attach them and re-zero the rifle is too much.  It’s up to you, though.  I suppose if I were packing Swarovski optics, I’d put them in with the binos and camera.

I would also consider removing the scope if I were travelling internationally, because while the US baggage apes are bad enough, some of those guys in the third world can be downright brutal.  It’s your call.

Laws and Regulations
What about regulations?  This is where things get real grey, real fast.  My very first piece of advice here is to call ahead and find out, for yourself, first hand.  Don’t rely on someone’s brother’s cousin’s experience.   I haven’t travelled a lot outside of the US, but even here, the TSA and the airlines seem to be constantly making it harder and more complicated to fly.  Rules change without notice, and what went over just fine 10 years ago may not be the case today.

In general, the TSA requires that all guns be flown in a locking case, and all ammo be transported in a separate case.  You’ll have to fill out a form at the check-in counter to declare that there is a firearm in your luggage, and that it is unloaded.   Personally, I always remove the bolt from my bolt-action rifles, and lock open the action on pump guns and semi-autos.  Do yourself a favor, and make DAMNED sure that rifle isn’t loaded before you arrive at the airport.  At best, it’ll make you look like an idiot.  At worst, you could find yourself face-down on the floor under the knee of an overzealous airport cop.

Different airlines have their own rules for transporting your ammo as well.  Some want the ammo in an original, factory container.  Others merely require that the ammo be in some sort of secure container, so that they don’t have bullets or shells rolling around the cargo deck.  Believe me, it DOES make a difference… at least to the lady at the counter.  Don’t push your luck, or your ammo may well be sitting in some administrative office while you’re off on your trip.  Again, the only way to find out is to call the airline you will be flying with prior to your trip, and verify their rules.  That’s the time to ask questions, not when you’re standing in line with fifty impatient vacationers waiting behind you.

Remember that some states also have fairly strict firearms laws that may have an impact on what you can bring or use, and how you need to address transportation.  Hawaii is a good example.  In the Aloha State, you’ll need to register your firearm within 72 hours of arrival, and there are also specific restrictions on how you can transport the gun.  New York City and some others have strict restrictions on handgun possession.  The bottom line is, know before you go.

If you’re travelling internationally, it’s even more critical to make sure you have a clear grasp of the regulations… both in the country you’re visiting, and for your return trip.  Canada, for example, requires visitors to register firearms (and to pay a fee), and handguns are completely tabu.  Mexico has very strict firearms laws, and many outfitters down there actually recommend using ranch guns instead of bringing your own.

Hunters travelling to Africa often have the option of using a local service (usually arranged through your outfitter) to handle the customs forms and registration required for bringing guns to that country.  From a couple of friends who’ve been there recently, it sounds like this service can definitely be worth the extra charge, as it gets you in and out of the airport pretty quickly.  Speak to your outfitter or booking agent to find out more about the availability and costs of this service.

Other Considerations
Ammunition can be a pain to deal with while travelling, but in some cases it’s best to be sure you can provide your own.  This goes without saying for handloaders, but it’s also important for folks who shoot less common calibers.  Don’t take for granted that you’ll be able to find ammo in your destination, even within the US.

On the other hand, if you shoot a really common caliber and standard rounds, you may do well to leave the heavy boxes at home, and pick up a few when you arrive at your destination.  In the US, 30-06 is pretty darn common, for example, and you can get this ammo almost anywhere as long as you’re not looking for some oddball bullet.  Likewise, the .375H&H is pretty much an international standard for big game.

For trips into remote locations, I like to make sure I’ve got some basic cleaning and maintenance tools along.  A cleaning rod or the Allen wrench for your scope rings can save a trip.  Thinking ahead about little stuff like this is just a smart move.  The same goes for bowhunters, by the way… or moreso.   An extra string, release, and even a spare sight (if you’re gonna be way back there).

Conclusion
So really, travelling to a hunt with your gun (or bow) isn’t rocket science.   It just takes some planning and homework prior to your trip.  In my travel back and forth across the country, I have never had a problem with my firearms (I’ve had much worse issues with my suitcases).

Later, I’ll take a look at coming back home after a successful hunt.

As I lay  fast asleep upon the quiet and isolated hillside deep into the enchanted world of dreamland, I began to dream  about myself and placing a heart pounding stalk upon a herd of elk.  Then suddenly I was awakened from my slumber by a slight crunching noise, and not very far from my head I might add at  this point.

And as I slowly opened my eyes and took a quick surveillance  of my surroundings I was startled into full awareness by a sight which will forever be indelibly imprinted upon my memory. A real herd of Elk were feeding all around me upon the fresh and bright green grass which was growing from the first set of winter rains here. Here, was high up on Cow Mountain which is situated above Ukiah California. And in particular this spot where I lay down for my midday nap is referred to as 40 acre opening. And what did I have for scent cover or camouflage protection from the extremely acute sense of sight and smell of these huge and wary creatures?

Nothing more than a pair of blue jeans and dull green tee-shirt and my natural earthy odors emanating from my body, and that was it!  This Elk herd did not even know that I was even there and laying face up on the ground at their very feet!

As I watch hunters worldwide spend millions of dollars for scent blockers and camouflage clothing, I can’t help but wonder if those large companies which manufacture and sell all of those products are just laughing themselves silly all the way to the bank.    Don’t get me wrong though because some of the technology which goes into a lot of those products are very clever and they do work. But, I would like to point out the fact that if you take a look at all of those turn of the century photos of your great grandfathers hunting parties. You will see them all dressed in nothing more than  blue jeans, flannel shirts and a drab colored hat of some sort.    And pictured there and  hanging right behind them will be 2 to 4 big buck deer carcasses per man in their hunting party. So the fact that camouflage and scent blockers had not even been invented yet did not seem to hamper their harvests one single bit.

Lets start with your scent and try to pinpoint just exactly where most of  your body scent emanates from, and that would be your pubic region. Your under arm hair and genital hair areas should be shaved clean before you embark upon a serious hunting adventure. This will eliminate more than half of your scent right off the bat.

Also by washing your hunting clothes in a simple Dye Free and Perfume Free detergent like: Tide Free, “which has no U.V. brighteners” And hanging them out to dry in the clean air and sun, and then storing them inside of a sealed plastic bag will produce a set of perfectly scent free hunting garments. Oh! and don’t forget to just simply stay down wind from the highly sensitive noses of the animals which you intend to hunt.

There is a body washing agent which I personally use for each shower and it has proven effective time and again and I would highly recommend that a serious hunter purchase this as his SOLE body cleaning product. And also carry a small bottle of it out into the woods with you for your nightly cleaning and that is:

Birch Hill Happenings, unscented shampoo. Birch Hill Happenings Aromatherapy LLC,  2898 Country Road 103  Barnum, MN.  55707                               Phone # (218) 384-9294

Their products are made from pure coconut oil and completely free from Detergents, Perfumes & Additives.

As I stated before, some of the products out on the market definitely are most remarkable at reducing body odors and as far as camouflage is concerned, if it instills a little extra confidence in yourself and your stalking abilities then, more power to you!   Just do not go spending a small fortune on these scent killing and camouflaging products when just a few simple home procedures and commercially available products can help you to achieve the same results!

Photo by: Sylvia Wei Wang Riddle

Each of the two men were stone faced and calm  in contrast to the tense situation, but both were meeting here in this God forsaken place with a quiet and final purpose. To pit their six gun talents against one another, and to shoot each other dead! Now imagine if you will reading this scene from the script to an “as yet to be released” spaghetti western movie and being asked to write the musical score to it without ever even having seen the film itself. And even more amazing, on such a shoestring budget that you did not have access to a complete orchestra, and that you would have to make do with fill in sounds such as:  A rooster’s crow, A man whistling, A train’s whistle, and inexpensive percussion instruments like Pot’s and Pan’s. And also having to recruit the help of an old high school buddy  who played this new fangled instrument just recently invented called: An Electric Guitar….. That is just exactly what famed Italian composer Ennio Morricone had to contend with when commissioned to write the musical scores for films such as: The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Fist Full Of Dollars, Once Upon A Time In The West, Two Mules For Sister Sara and countless others (Wikkipedia “Ennio Morricone” for more detail. The son of Liberia and Mario Morricone, who was an accomplished Jazz Trumpeter, Ennio was born on 11/10/28 and wrote his first composition at the tender young age of 6.

Quite obviously a musical prodigy young Ennio went on to graduate from a highly regarded school of music in Italy by age 11. And from there immediately went to work composing music for a living. As I have discussed here in my previous post:  Tracking And The Art Of Zen, While out tracking and hunting an animal we must  visualize. And  this is precisely what  Ennio Morricone would do when commissioned to write the music for a particular film. He would first read the script and while in the process of reading the story a mental image would form along with what he considered the appropriate musical scoring, and all would be visualized long before even the first musical note would be committed to paper. As you follow the first set of tracks of an animal you must get inside the head of the creature and try to see the world as he sees it. Why did the animal stop in a particular spot?  Which direction did he look in while stopped? Is there a particular scent which permeates the area where he stopped and you are now standing? Again, visualize everything which you can imagine that the animal might see, hear, smell, touch and taste. It is then that you will become more in tune with your surroundings, and also in the process become a better tracker and hunter.

Looking down at the dry floury ground which gave way to the appearance of something more akin to talcum powder than actual dirt,  I closely examined what she had been excitedly pointing to.  “Those are a Dung Beetle’s tracks,”  I said to her, “wanna’ follow em’ and see what Mr. Beetle has been up to today?”

“Sure,” she replied, and then immediately began the meditative ritual which I had taught to her since she was able to walk and accompany me throughout the ranches.

Close your eyes and take two very deep breaths then hold the last breath until you can’t hold it any longer, then hold it just a little longer than that. Then slowly let the air out of your lungs through your lips which should be formed into the shape of a small “O”  just as if you were about to whistle a little tune.  After having completed this learned task we both knelt down upon the ground and began to study closely the pin prick impressions of the beetle’s footprints left behind by his busy meanderings.

The first thing which my daughter noticed was that the beetle seemed to stop and turn circles about every three to five of her little steps, or about every four feet.   “This is because he is scenting the air,” I explained to her.   “The beetle is stopping every so often and trying to catch the scent of something good to eat.”

“What does he eat,” she then asked?

“Well, his main food source is dung, or as you would understand it as ‘Poop’.”

At the suggestion of any creature subsisting off of  another animals feces my little girl scrunched up her face and loudly expostulated, “Eeew’ you kidding!”  

“No, I am serious.  These type of beetles are able to get all of the nutrients and moisture that they need from cow, deer, coyote, pig or whatever animal leaves it’s droppings upon the ground.  Every animal’s feces contains little tiny microbes and other small organisms which the dung beetle then extracts from their excrement.  There is also enough moisture in those droppings for the beetle so that he never has to take a drink of water as well. Now lets get back to tracking this one and see if we can catch up to him.”

“O.K.,” she said happily. 

We continued to follow the insect’s tracks down and across the road where they abruptly seemed to end as it traveled out and across a small grassy glade. “Where did he go?” she asked.

I then told her to sit down at the last visible set of tracks and to stare at them for a little while.  She was only able to sit for about 30 seconds until boredom began to take over and then she stood up shrugged her shoulders and said, “We lost him!”  

I then repeated to her that she must stare a little longer at the last visible set of tracks and imagine where he might have gone to next.  “What do these insects eat?” I asked her.  

“Poop,” she exclaimed.  

“Why was this beetle stopping and turning circles every few feet as he was walking?”  

“Looking for food,” was her next answer.

“Now, look out in front of us and what do you see laying on the ground that might entice this insect to go in a certain direction?”  

“Some buffalo poop,” she answered back.

There was in fact a fresh pile of bison droppings several feet out in front of us. I then told her to visually draw a straight line from the last visible set of the beetle’s tracks and out to the bison droppings, and then to imagine which direction the beetle might take if he smelled the feces which lay upon the ground there in front of us.  Then I told her to stare at the last set of tracks again and imagine where the beetle might next step.  There was a very small dirt patch about two feet in front of  where the insect’s tracks ended and that is where she spotted its next set of tracks.  

“There,” she cried out, “I see his tracks!”  

I felt very proud of her, she had learned to imagine in her mind’s eye which direction the beetle might have taken and then followed her instincts and found the next set of tracks. It was a moment very reminiscent of the wizard Merlin’s tutelage of a young King Arthur (whom he called “Wart”) in the art of becoming the animal which he happened to be interested in, and seeing the world through that animal’s eyes.

Now, we were faced with the same problem as before.  Where were the next set of tracks?  The rest of the ground had  became a hard packed and dried grass surface with very little to none of the soft and powdery soil which had made our previous tracking of the beetle easy.  And as we once again came to this impasse, I recalled how my tracking teachers from Tom Brown, Jr’s school of tracking and nature awareness had taught me to “see” with my mind and not only just with my eyes.

You can check out Tom Brown, Jr.s site , and I highly recommend that all serious  hunters consider taking at least one course from him.  Even a veteran hunter will be surprised at what new things can be learned .

An example would be, if you can remember back in the “80″s when those very elaborate computer generated images were the latest fad and were being sold at shopping malls all over the country.  These images, at first glance, looked like nothing but a bunch of multi colored geometric squiggles on a flat piece of paper.  When you would stand and stare at the “mish mosh” of imagery for a few seconds while letting your eyes relax and slightly go out of focus, then all of a sudden a 3-D image would pop out from within the design. This picture could be a number of things from a sunken pirate ship to a veritable landscape of associated panoramic imagery.  Maybe even a dog or a cat, or maybe intricate portraits of a wooded area complete with deer and flowers would transform right before your very eyes..

This is exactly how tracking an animal can become, when you think that you have lost the track then sit down, close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths and then imagine where the animal would step next.  Then, while slowly exhaling your last deep breath.  Open your eyes and then let your mind and eyes relax along with your eyes going just a bit out of focus.  You will soon be introduced to a wonderfully exciting, and color enhanced world surrounding you which you did not even know existed before.  The tracks, which previously were invisible and non-existent, will seem as though they magically pop out at you from the soil, and you will see them as clearly as if they were made upon soft ground.

I could have allowed my daughter to just simply walk over to the pile of bison dung and perhaps discovered the beetle over there busy at doing what a dung beetle does.  But I knew that this was a perfect opportunity to teach her the proper techniques in the “Art Of Tracking.”  

So as we went along, quite laboriously and painstakingly mapping out each newly discovered set of beetle tracks I began to see a a calm come over her as I had never before been witness to. This, then, would be the “Zen” to the art of tracking. She was as focused as any adult that I had ever seen when they were set upon a task of great importance.

I have read stories about the African bushmen and how they would stay upon a certain track for up to one hundred miles, on foot!  I had sat and listened to tales repeated by my own family of past relatives who were known to be able to track an animal for days, even over bare rock!  And as we slowly made our way to the now semi dried pile of bison dung, we finally discovered our quarry. For there, right in front of us was the little black dung beetle busy as could be rolling his balled prize as furiously and fast as he could towards an unseen burrow somewhere off in the distance.

Then suddenly she discovered the massive prints of  a very large animal,  and away we went, tracking the beast to which the native Americans aptly gave title, “Thunder-Hoof”!