ManTracking - Detecting Speed from Tracks

Rebel wrote me to ask "I found your website from the videos on You Tube. I am not into horses, but was looking for tracking information as I am helping to teach classes to Explorer and Boy Scouts. I also serve as a volunteer on a regional Search and Rescue (SAR) Team. Can you explain how to tell how fast the person who are tracking is going? Thanks, Rebel."

Aside from the obvious extended stride length, there are some pressure release clues. Any one of them could be helpful when the others are harder to discern.

Stride length. From a normal walk on level ground to a man running on level ground, stride length can double. From the picture below you can see the stride stick (aka tracking stick) and the tight fitting rubber grommets I use so I can slide them up and down to measure a stride, track width, off set, etc. of any track I'm on. The picture shows the increase in the stride length from a person walking, to walking fast to running. In this case the stride length from the previous toe to the subsequent heel, which is how I measure stride, is 17 inches for the walk, 24 inches for the fast walk and 31 inches for jog - for example. That will change depending upon the hardness of the ground, weight the person is carrying and the degree of slope. It can be also influenced by the physical condition of the person. Tired people will have a shorter stride and get a little careless on foot falls. Toe gouges and trips may be evident.



With the increased speed and force with a person's foot hitting the ground, the disturbance to the ground soil, vegetation and/or rocks can change significantly. The pressure release would be altered because of the change of pressure on the surface has changed.

The pressure release may be hard to discern on hard soil or ground that is covered by vegetation. Torn pieces of vegetation and bruising on stems, stalks and flowers can be discernible. While you may not be able to see tracks because of ground vegetation, you may be able to feel the pressure-release or gently separate the vegetation in order to get a visual idea on the track.

The picture below shows tracks in sand where it is easy to tell the difference in the pressure releases, changed by speed. The easiest pressure releases to read are toe dirt visible on the fast walk and the wave around the ball of the foot that is created by the foot pushing off. At the print at right, where the person is running you will see a more significant wave and less toe dirt as the person's foot are coming of the ground with the knee bent more, therefore reducing the amount of toe dirt thrown forward. This can change in deeper soil or be indiscernible on much harder ground.



A gouge is another pressure release that is enhanced from speed and sometimes weight being carried. On the above print at the right you will see a gouge created by the heel striking the ground more forcefully at a shallower angle. You will sometimes see a ledge opposite the gouge. This is usually evident on wet soil or soil that was wet when the track was laid then has dried. The ledge visible in the heel of the track at left is due to the foot making a more vertical strike on the ground.  

Hope this helps Rebel.  When you are trying to determine the speed of a track (the person you are tracking), you shouldn't make a determination based on stride along or any one aspect of the pressure release, unless that's all you have. You should pretty much take all the signs together to tell you what that person is doing.

Tracking Questions from Readers

"When measuring stride length, do you go from the heel of one print to the heel or toe of the other print?"

I measure stride length from the toe of one print to the heel of the next. Using a stride stick, also called a tracking stick, I can mark the stride length I'm tracking and if I can't find the next sign easily, the arc that the stride stick makes from the toe of the previous track narrows down where to look for the next sign. My stride sticks are 1/2 inch oak dowels, 36 inches in length. You can make one in the field with any decently straight stick at least 18 inches in length.  You can mark measurements by making notches on the stick.


And what am I looking for? Any flattening, disturbance, regularity or color change.

Using a rubber band or a tight fitting rubber washer is a good way to mark the measurements on your stride stick.  With more rubber bands or washers, you can also measure and mark width in the ball of foot; heel width or length for broken heels or raised heels. Half inch rubber washers will last longer than rubber bands and are easier to move when changing measurements.

In the picture below it appears that I am measuring from heel to heel, but look for the black rubber washer on the stride stick. It is located at the top of the print in front of me (see arrow). The end of the stick now can create an arc so I know where the next stride should be.

It's six of one, half dozen of another if you measure heel to heel or toe to heel. I was taught, 30+ years ago, to measure from toe to heel so that's how I do it...........oh, and sorry for taking three paragraphs for a question that could have been answered in one sentence.




"Can you go into more detail about "Pressure releases" and why or how they are important to tracking?"

When an object such as a human foot or animal hoof hits the ground, it disturbs the ground. It may be so subtle as to be undetectable by the naked eye, but it can compress, or gouge, or leave a regularity such as pattern or a line not seen else where. Disturbed dirt and bruised vegetation can provide a color change to indicate passage.  This is the flattening, disturbance, color change or regularity I'm talking about.

As the foot or hoof pushes off to leave the ground, that release also impacts on the disturbance left behind,  much more so in softer ground than in rocky, hard ground. The weight, speed and angle of the foot or hoof leaving the ground also influences what that pressure release looks like, often providing a clue as to what the human or animal was doing.....increasing stride and therefore speed, jumping side ways, stopping abruptly, looking up, moving with a leg injury, and getting tired are some things you can often tell from reading a pressure release.

So to answer your question, reading pressure releases are not critical to being able to cut sign or track. It just gives you more insight to your target, it's condition and what it may be thinking or doing.  Just one of many factors to consider.