26/07/2026
We just found a treasure: a post made by the late author Linda Jo Hunter, days before she passed from this world. Here's a short version of the comment we added, in case you don't see it in the link:
By now perhaps you all know that Linda left us 7 days after she made this post, while she was on oxygen and possibly in the hospital. Talk about dedication to her passion for teaching people about wilderness, animals, and good stewardship of Nature! And especially about bears!
As her little sister and publisher (Jolibro Publishing), I am awed by her dedication in getting that book out at the last minute!! She and I worked so diligently on it, but none of us knew would be "last minute" until just about the time she made this post! We thought she'd beaten the cancer 18 mos. earlier but it returned with a vengeance and took her suddenly, within days of diagnosis. She was as brave and determined to face that reality as some of you may have witnessed during her lifetime.
Her last book, *Lonesome for Wilderness, which won a starred review in Library Journal and kudos from so many trackers, is still available anywhere you buy books, in libraries, and online. (I believe Amazon also carries Lonesome for Bears but that was a different publisher so I can't be certain.) If you don't see it on a bookstore's or library's shelf, or especially in an REI store, please ASK for it! It is easy for them to order through the traditional channels. 🙂 She would be so happy to know how many people have found it!!! And even happier if they are trying out her advice!
Modern hunters don’t seem to know how to track. They lose animals after they wound them and go on the internet or find a dog. Tracking the old fashion way is key to never losing an animal. The first problem with learning to track is recognizing when you don’t know how to do it. Being able to see deer tracks in the road is not it. You need to be able to see subtle trails in the bush, hard scrabble ground. Blood spots are the only thing most hunters can see.
However, if you knew you could see it, you can see subtle trails in any substrate by learning new search images of what things look like when they’ve been disturbed. Can you you catch the pale green shade of a turned over leaf? A three way broken stick or a tangled group of leaves on a bush where an animal brushes by.
To teach yourself how to trail go out and lay a marker flat on the ground. Leave. Good first print and walk into the field or forest about fifty feet. Lay another marker on the ground that can only be scene from standing over it. Then, circle back to your starting point and follow your trail. Study each subtle thing that shows your passage. Two things will be readily apparent right away; one that it is not easy and two that you can learn a lot from doing this. If you practice this enough you’ll never lose an animal and hunters will start calling you for help.
