All quiet on the South West hunt

The Moors are a wonderful place to get lost for a few hours. Unless, of course, you can’t find your way back. Luckily there are a team of unsung heroes whose job it is to find you and put you back where you belong, whether that’s your house with a nice cup of cocoa or the prison you’ve just escaped from.  

In the heart of Dartmoor, we recently embarked on an exclusive story to uncover the vanishing art of human tracking - the practice of locating a person by reading the traces they leave on their environment. It's been used for both hunting down escaped prisoners from Dartmoor and rescuing people lost on the moors and is in danger of being lost forever.

At the awe-inspiring location of Meldon Reservoir, Okehampton, we met up with seasoned tracking professionals, Keith Polkinghorne and Johnny Crockett, who were to be my tracking guides. 

Rather than tell us about tracking, they wanted to show us how it worked in practice, and just like that we were granted an experience of the biggest game of Hide and Seek these two reporters have ever embarked upon. One became a Hunter and one the Hunted. 

As we ventured into the rugged terrain, the trackers silently split up, an age-old tactic that has been honed through centuries of practice. It was a heart-racing experience attempting to elude the watchful eyes of the trackers, navigating through dense foliage, muddy fields, and fast-flowing streams.

With each bush climbed through or farmer’s fence vaulted over, the escapee should have been getting steadily further from the trackers, unfortunately the opposite was true. Centuries of wisdom ensured they tightened the gap as they utilised every tool in their arsenal to encircle and trap this plucky reporter (Josh). Every footprint left, branch broken or puddle splattered, Keith and Johnny were able to forensically analyse to paint a picture of all movements, including how heavy someone is. Awkward. 

The real story here is that "Mantracking" is gradually fading into obscurity. In a world increasingly reliant on modern technology like GPS and drones, the traditional art of tracking a human is at risk of becoming a lost skill. Yet, that technology is obsolete in the face of torrid weather, so Keith and Johnny wanted to emphasise that man tracking is as vital as ever, offering unique advantages that modern techniques can't replicate and should not be lost.

According to my new Bear Gryllsy friends, traditional man tracking relies on human intuition, observation, and an intimate understanding of the environment. This makes it not only a reliable method but also incredibly flexible, adapting to any terrain or circumstance. When technology fails or malfunctions, the ancient art of man tracking can step in to save the day. Johnny confirmed it's an essential tool for both good and bad:

"From my perspective it can’t become a lost art because you’re dealing with people's lives.

“If there is a person missing on the hills, them coming back dead or alive is down to the skill of a tracker.

“It’s still absolutely vital when dealing with escapes; I’m talking about the criminal fraternity. If someone has escaped it’s because they pose a threat to society, so it’s vital you have a tracking strategy in place. We saw with the Wandsworth Prison escape recently, without that tracking sense they wouldn’t have found him."

Keith thinks there's a way to combine both the hi-tech future of tracking with the intuitive skill:

"A tracker will be able to follow the directionality, it narrows the field and allows more (technological) resources to hone in on specific areas of interest."

While modern technologies may have their place, they can never truly replace the human connection, intuition, and adaptability that man tracking offers. As we move further into the digital age, it's crucial that we preserve and honour these timeless skills, ensuring that the art of man tracking endures for generations to come.