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Wildlife Tracking Courses

Alderleaf offers several wildlife tracking courses. Learn to identify, interpret, and follow animal tracks & sign at our courses. Choose from weekend classes up to ten month programs.

Wildlife tracking skills enhance outdoor experiences, are a valuable tool for wilderness survival, and can be used to contribute to wildlife research & conservation. Learn to see the natural world through new eyes as you become a wildlife tracker. There is a story within every animal track that unfolds as you learn the ancient art of animal tracking.


Courses include:

Introduction to Wildlife Tracking (Online Course) - Discover the skills that reveal the hidden world around you, and are vital for safety, survival, and deepening your connection to nature.

Half-Day Wildlife Tracking Walks - Discover the fascinating world of wildlife tracking! Learn to identify the tracks and signs of seldom-seen wild animals while exploring local forests and riverbanks. Guided by an experienced instructor, each walk covers a variety of evidence left by animals large and small.

1-Day Wildlife Trailing Class - Learn how to locate fresh animal sign; follow the tracks and subtle clues, and find the animal, approaching without alerting them at this Wildlife Trailing Class.

Weekend Wildlife Tracking & Trailing Course - Discover the fascinating world of wildlife tracking. This course covers track identification, interpreting behaviors from track patterns, and trailing skills. The course is a mixture of engaging presentations and ample hands-on field practice along beautiful local rivers and forests.

8-Weekends Wildlife Tracking & Trailing Apprenticeship - Discover the stories in animal tracks and sign. Become a wildlife tracker. In the wildlife tracking apprenticeship you discover stories of your own while growing as a tracker and naturalist. You learn basic through advanced tracking & trailing skills and gain an understanding of animal behaviors and their environments.

Nine-Month Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program - Our most comprehensive course. In-depth training in survival, wildlife tracking, nature skills, and sustainability. The program prepares you to apply nature skills in a variety of outdoor careers in wilderness education, environmental research, sustainable living, and beyond.

Nine-Month Advanced Wilderness Skills Program - A second year of advanced training for Wilderness Certification Program graduates seeking to further develop their skills towards careers. The program focuses on advanced studies and applications of each of our core curriculum areas (survival, tracking, ethnobotany, permaculture, naturalist skills, and outdoor leadership).

2-Day Human Tracking Course - Skills for Search & Rescue - This course teaches the basic sciences of tracking skills as applied to detecting, interpreting, preserving and following sign of the passage of humans, be they lost, missing or evasive.

Weekend Bird Language Course - Learn how bird sounds can help you discover more wildlife! When you learn to notice bird alarms, and reduce your own disturbance in the forest, your wildlife observations will increase dramatically.

Weekend Survival & Tracking for Hunters Course - Learn wilderness survival and wildlife tracking skills specifically applicable to hunting. Survival skills are key for backcountry hunts, while wildlife tracking skills allow you to find game more efficiently.

Weekend Reptile & Amphibian Tracking Course - Learn about a whole new arena of tracking! Filip Tkaczyk, author of "Tracks & Sign of Reptiles and Amphibians", will be teaching about the tracks of these scaly, slimy, and slithering animals. Fil shares information about herp tracks & sign that he discovered through the process of creating the herp tracking field guide!

Weekend Trailing Workshop with Adriaan Louw - Learn how to follow tracks and sign to find wild animals. Alderleaf is honored to host Adriaan Louw from South Africa. Adriaan is among only a small handful of individuals to achieve master tracker designation through CyberTracker!



Online registration is available for many of our wildlife tracking courses.
Visit the Course Registration page to sign up for classes.


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For additional information on the field of wildlife tracking, we recommend TrackerCertifications.com and NatureTracking.com.


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