Tom is charismatic, but he doesn't use it to make friends and converts. He uses it to help the reader make the transition from a shell-shocked city-dweller to someone who can feel safe to explore the mysteries of the untamed wild. If you already feel comfortable with nature, Tom, in this book and his teachings, will then help you to move from seeing just big things, to seeing very small details. Some people, such as the earlier reviewer might have had great difficulty with this. After all, not everyone can fathom the benefit that comes from getting down in the grass and watching how beetles duke it out.

As for the skeptic who did not believe that a mouse could be tracked across gravel: I experienced it. Something inside me is changed for ever now that it has entered my direct awareness that such a thing is possible. It leaves me open to what else is possible. The moments leading up to 'tracking the mouse across gravel' were well-orchestrated. We were tracking when the sun was at the most optimal point in the sky. We had started way down the trail near Tom's barn, and he would write details on pointed popsicle sticks and place them with the point touching the back of the animals tracks. We were told to first step back, go wide angle vision while maintaining awareness on the track area, and to just try to see what it was that Tom saw. I can't say this is easy for anyone to do, to try to see as if someone else (but interestingly, this is also necessary for one to become compassionate, so you see his teachings were not simply for the sake of tracking, but for being a finer kind of person.) I continued down many feet of trail, viewing track from rabbit, fox, skunk and even a Bobcat. This continued to the end of the dirt trail right to the edge of his gravel driveway. The mind was now so focussed from finely attuning to all the previous tracks, the detail, and the 'event' that it recorded, so that when I reached the last popsicle stick, the words on it literally sprung into my mind like an eruption, because I had been waiting for this very moment since the first day when he made the promise that we would be able to track a mouse across a gravel path. At that point, I was deely aware of a shift in my awareness. I did not need to squint, or look hard despite the countless spaces between the large pieces of rock. Clear as day there were a set of tracks from a mouse going across the gravel path. I remember my heart-rate increasing and my mind becoming very still. I was, one might say, "in the present moment.", and that is what it was about.

The practice of tracking helps one to become present to what is. All around you, this very moment, there are many tracks. You are leaving many tracks. Don't let anyone feed you their negative experience. They did not have a grateful attitude and are expressing resentments. You can get this book and even if it contains a lot of information that is in his other books, you can learn something essential about yourself, and the many worlds within 'the world'. So much life and death around you now at every moment, and your eyes are towards the sky. Learn to track. Anything is fine, just learn to track something, and you will see it is not about what's 'out there.'


mfer101@aol.com the keys to become a scout are here   March 10, 2000
 4 out of 11 found this review helpful

i just started working the matrial in this book and it is truly fantastic, i see that the way to becoming a scout is in the mastering of the material in this book , it has captured my attention like the bible has for many years the key to knowing god is his word the key to seeing god is his handy work nature there is so much to learn from this its breath taking, exciting if any scouts read this email me at mfer101@aol.com i could use your help


You ought to check out a more realistic book   December 20, 1999
 22 out of 29 found this review helpful

I hate to say it, but even though I've gone to New Jersey and learned tracking from Tom, I'm thoroughly convinced he's a lot more hype than reality.

As the fellow below mentioned, sure you can see mice and ant tracks on dusty cement, but Tom claims to be able to see them on totally clean, smooth rocks. In fact he says he can track spirits! I've just known from my own experiences and from having numerous friends work for Tom, that he has amazing charisma, and an incredible talent to inspire people, but really doesn't know the skills very well.

On the plus side, I do think a lot Tom's exercises he has people do are excellent, and he is far more knowledgable about tracking than he is at the other skills he claims.

Personally I recommend you check out James Halfpenny's tanning books for the real knowledge, and Tom's for the inspirational story telling. Halfpenny's a professional tracker, who is very good at teaching it in a realistic, useful manner.