Albert Ab Taylor - Fundamentals of Mantracking: The Step-by-Step Method: An Essential Primer for Search and Rescue Trackers

Disclaimer:

This manual is not a complete instructional manual for search and rescue at any level. The materials are not meant to replace field training by competent search, rescue and emergency response leaders or to replace actual experience. The publisher and authors do not endorse any specific equipment mentioned in this book and take no responsibility for the use of this book or any information contained herein. The publisher and authors take no responsibility and cannot be held liable for statements made by instructors who use this book. The purchaser of this book agrees to protect, save and hold forever harmless the publisher and authors against and from all loss, cost, damage, liability or expense arising from, or out of the use of this book. The publisher and authors may not be held liable in any way for any occurrence in connection with an individuals use of the materials and instructions set forth in this book which may result in injury, death or other damages to the purchaser of the book, his or her family, heirs or assigns. It is the duty of every community, organization, volunteer group, agency and individual to obtain the knowledge and proficiency to perform and maintain effective, efficient search and rescue, including tracking. The information presented in this publication will serve only as the beginning outline and body of knowledge for proper tracking operations.

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Copyright 1990, 1992, 2014 Donald C. Cooper

Publication history:

First Printing, First Edition, April 1990

Second Printing, First Edition, December 1990

First Printing, Second Edition, January 1992

Second Printing, Second Edition, June 1993

This Third Edition is the first edition published by Skyhorse Publishing.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Cover photo credit by Thinkstock

Print ISBN: 978-1-62914-762-8

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-62914-961-5

THE DEDICATION:

In loving memory of

Albert Snow Taylor, 1924 2013. He inspired generations with unparalleled dedication to his craft, his family, and the vulnerable,

and

Minnifred Taylor Lewis

who lived for, and loved, children.

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a child.

Forest E. Witcraft (1894 1967)

THE REASON:

Not In Vain, by Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain:

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

A portion of the proceeds from this book have been and will be donated to the support of the Hug-a-Tree and Survive program now managed by the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR). Hug-a-Tree is a program for children that teaches simple wilderness survival techniques should a child become lost. Anyone interested in the program should visit the NASAR web site

(www.nasar.org).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance and support of everyone who participated in the production of this book, including Roger Bryant, Peggy Fisher, Guy Kotch, Penny Brockman, John Cole Mills, Lillian Cooper, and Brian Cooper, who made themselves available when special needs arose. To Judith Gregory, our loving thanks for, during the writing of the first edition, performing the literary equivalent of turning moose feces into rose petals. She is talented, diplomatic and kind.

The first edition of this book could not have been finished without the continuing support of Rick LaValla and Skip Stoffel, who helped with everything from editing to the arduous process of making it all just right. They both helped without concern for personal gain and in exchange only for the knowledge that this important information would be disseminated and the significant legacy of Ab Taylors work would be available to our descendants.

We would also like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of trackers all over the world who use their skill to help others. Their willingness to aid those in need is encouraging in these times when helping others is often relegated to saints and storytellers. There can be no finer legacy.

To our families, we offer both gratitude and apologies. Gratitude for allowing us to pursue what we believe is important and for granting us the encouragement as well as the solitude, whichever was required, to follow through with such a time-consuming task. Apologies for the time, a most precious commodity, when we had to be working, but would rather have been elsewhere.

To Lillian Taylor, whose constant, loving assistance allowed this book to be completed, our fondest regards. By some means, she was able to hold down her husband long enough for him to complete his work in spite of himself. In this way, Lillian has done more to support tracking education across the U.S. than perhaps anyone else. Not only did she undertake the unenviable task of seeing that Ab made it to classes on time, she kept Ab happy, even when he was sober. God bless this special lady.

Finally, a very special thanks to Ken Taylor who, after a significant loss, helped assure that any depiction of Abs personal life and history was as accurate and true as possible.

To you all, we offer our sincerest thanks.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 13: Aging Sign and Track

Chapter 15: Handling Evidence

FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION

For those of you who do not know Albert Ab Taylor, please allow me to take you on a brief tour of his life and career so you might better understand why he was so special.

Albert Snow Taylor, 1924 2013. Photo taken circa 1985.

Albert Snow Taylor was born in San Angelo, Texas, on November 24, 1924. After a long, colorful life of caring and contribution, he died on September 9, 2013, in Alpine, California.

Growing up, Ab worked on his uncles farm and grandfathers ranch in Texas. He was so eager to enlist in the military during WWII that, before he was old enough, he dropped out of high school and traveled to England where he worked as a civilian aviation mechanic for Boeing repairing B-17 bombers. Although some credit Ab and his colleagues with keeping the 8th Air Force operational at a critical time in world history, Ab was more inclined to defer recognition to the courageous pilots and crews that repeatedly climbed into the aircraft he fixed to make another run. When he was old enough to enlist, Ab returned to the U.S. and served in the Navy from 1941 to 1945. During much of his enlistment, he worked aboard the aircraft carrier Hancock (CV-19) in the Pacific under Admiral McCain. He also took up boxing and won Golden Gloves and similar championships. Ab was on the Hancock when a kamikaze attacked it in 1945 and sixty-seven of his shipmates died. He was also on the Hancock in Japanese waters when the atomic bombs were dropped that ended the war. After the war, Ab returned home, finished high school, met his first wife Ruth Coulter, and enrolled in college. He wanted to be a large-animal veterinarianhe loved animalsuntil he learned all that entailed (I have to put my hand where... !?).