Preview – SHTF – Hunting Humans

Photography by Quoc Ha

Knowing How to Track Can Mean the Difference Between Being Predator or Being Prey

Back in the days when the slow food movement meant clobbering a mammoth to death, humans were more attuned to the signs their prey left behind. These days, thanks to Hollywood, tracking is regarded as something that sits between voodoo and snake charming in the pantheon of “stuff you can’t do with an iPhone.”

Fortunately, the fundamentals of chasing animals or humans based on the tracks they produce are both timeless and, due to the way our brains evolved to interpret the world, easy to reacquire. Well, perhaps easy is the wrong phrase. Tracking, like shooting, is one of those skills that takes five minutes to explain, but a lifetime to master.

One of those masters is Freddy Osuna. A former Marine scout sniper with several combat tours under his belt, Osuna founded Greenside Training in order to teach the art and science of tracking. We attended one of his courses held in the desert and, after three days, were able to hunt down a fugitive over a mile of boulder-strewn wash, hardpan, brush, and baked dirt roads. If we could do it, so can you.

The Objectives
Why track? Any number of reasons. Firstly, because it’s a skill that almost no one in this technology-centric, convenience-oriented world practices, the ability to hunt down a potential adversary if society goes to hell in a hand-basket puts you at an immediate advantage.

Second, if you know what to look for if you have to hunt someone, should the tables be turned, you’ll know what to do to avoid being hunted yourself. Many of Osuna’s clients are fellow snipers who use this knowledge to improve their own field craft and chances of survival.

And if the aforementioned hell-in-a-hand-basket scenario comes to pass, you’ll be able to use the same skills to hunt wild game once your food supplies need to be replenished.

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