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Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking
Utilizing the ancient lore of Native Americans, Tom Brown passes on a timeless tradition that connects humankind to Earth.
This unique volume teaches us the basics of sight, smell, and taste; it shows us how to become one with nature, and how to receive all the signs and signals of the multitude of living creatures with whom we share the beauty and bounty of the wilderness.
� How to restore to our senses all the amazing powers stolen away by civilization
•ÌýHow to move as silently as the Native American scouts
•ÌýHow to spot and identify the tracks of a vast variety of animals
•ÌýHow to find humas lost in the wilderness
TOM BROWN'S FIELD America's most popular nature reference books, Tom Brown's bestselling field guides are specially designed for both beginners and experienced explorers. Fully illustrated and comprehensive, each volume includes practical information, time-tested nature skills, and exciting new ways to rediscover the earth around us.
This unique volume teaches us the basics of sight, smell, and taste; it shows us how to become one with nature, and how to receive all the signs and signals of the multitude of living creatures with whom we share the beauty and bounty of the wilderness.
� How to restore to our senses all the amazing powers stolen away by civilization
•ÌýHow to move as silently as the Native American scouts
•ÌýHow to spot and identify the tracks of a vast variety of animals
•ÌýHow to find humas lost in the wilderness
TOM BROWN'S FIELD America's most popular nature reference books, Tom Brown's bestselling field guides are specially designed for both beginners and experienced explorers. Fully illustrated and comprehensive, each volume includes practical information, time-tested nature skills, and exciting new ways to rediscover the earth around us.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
24 people are currently reading
923 people want to read
About the author
Tom Brown Jr.
29Ìýbooks210ÌýfollowersTom Brown Jr. was an American naturalist, tracker, survivalist, and author from New Jersey, where he ran the Tom Brown Jr. Tracker School.
In his books, Brown wrote that, from the age of seven, he and his childhood friend Rick were trained in tracking and wilderness survival by Rick's grandfather, "Stalking Wolf" (whom Brown stated was Lipan Apache). Brown wrote that Stalking Wolf died when Brown was 17, and that Rick was killed in an accident in Europe shortly thereafter.
Brown spent the next ten years working odd jobs to support his wilderness adventures. He then set out to find other people in New Jersey who were interested in his experiences. Initially Brown met with little success, but was eventually called on to help locate a crime suspect. Though the case won him national attention, he and authorities in the Ramsey, N.J. area were subsequently sued for 5 million dollars for charging the wrong person. Despite this controversy, he was able to build on this exposure to develop a profession as a full-time tracker, advertising his services for locating lost persons, dangerous animals, and fugitives from the law. According to People magazine, "He stalks men and animals, mostly in New Jersey."
In his books, Brown wrote that, from the age of seven, he and his childhood friend Rick were trained in tracking and wilderness survival by Rick's grandfather, "Stalking Wolf" (whom Brown stated was Lipan Apache). Brown wrote that Stalking Wolf died when Brown was 17, and that Rick was killed in an accident in Europe shortly thereafter.
Brown spent the next ten years working odd jobs to support his wilderness adventures. He then set out to find other people in New Jersey who were interested in his experiences. Initially Brown met with little success, but was eventually called on to help locate a crime suspect. Though the case won him national attention, he and authorities in the Ramsey, N.J. area were subsequently sued for 5 million dollars for charging the wrong person. Despite this controversy, he was able to build on this exposure to develop a profession as a full-time tracker, advertising his services for locating lost persons, dangerous animals, and fugitives from the law. According to People magazine, "He stalks men and animals, mostly in New Jersey."
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 1, 2018
I checked this book out after being fairly impressed with audio lectures I'd listened to from the Art of Mentoring, the fohbder of which was mentored by Tom Brown Jr.
I was excited to read this book but found myself pretty skeptical right away. I did some googling and the general conclusion seems to be that Tom Brown Jr's abilities are very impressive to all who have witnessed them, but maybe take his anecdotes with a grain of salt. Which is unfortunate. And as should be pretty apparent upon seeing how many books this author has penned on essentially the same subject, there's a lof of filler here. And a lot is redundant and overly wordy. Not to mention pretty silly. Many of the exercises in this book seem like great practice and many just seem like he was trying to come up with as many exercises as possible, no matter how unlkely someone would be to actually try them.
So pretty mixed feelings. There's some really solid stuff here and I'll definitely slowly put some of it to practice. I suspect this is his most practical book, but that's not saying much. I forced myself to finish the book, skimming at times. Cant really recomend this as a good read, but worth skimming, especially to glean a few tips to put into practice next time you're in the woods.
I was excited to read this book but found myself pretty skeptical right away. I did some googling and the general conclusion seems to be that Tom Brown Jr's abilities are very impressive to all who have witnessed them, but maybe take his anecdotes with a grain of salt. Which is unfortunate. And as should be pretty apparent upon seeing how many books this author has penned on essentially the same subject, there's a lof of filler here. And a lot is redundant and overly wordy. Not to mention pretty silly. Many of the exercises in this book seem like great practice and many just seem like he was trying to come up with as many exercises as possible, no matter how unlkely someone would be to actually try them.
So pretty mixed feelings. There's some really solid stuff here and I'll definitely slowly put some of it to practice. I suspect this is his most practical book, but that's not saying much. I forced myself to finish the book, skimming at times. Cant really recomend this as a good read, but worth skimming, especially to glean a few tips to put into practice next time you're in the woods.
April 7, 2008
I don't know much about tracking but this book opened my eyes to a whole new world of human activity that I previously had no knowledge or appreciation of. Given how important hunting and tracking must have been to early humans, and the incredible details that can be learned from simple observation, I imagine this activity played a major part in the evolutionary rise of human intelligence.
January 2, 2020
Flipping through the book when I bought it, I thought it was about identifying animal tracks by the size and shape. And the book has very detailed information about identifying tracks. What surprised me was how in depth the author was on being spiritually present when observing nature. There were lots of nuggets of wisdom interspersed throughout the book and I was pleasantly surprised that it was not a dry technical manual.
October 17, 2019
This book has been useful in my research.
Shelved as '700-799-arts-rec'
January 7, 2020796.5
January 4, 2023
One of the first guide books I ever read, cover to cover. It got me hooked on the subject and I learned a lot about tracking various North American animals and people.
November 7, 2015
This book is full of wonderful advice on how to observe and appreciate nature. Much of Tom Brown's lore comes straight from the Native American traditions. The information in this book could be used to simply deepen one's experience with nature, or, with tons of practice, develop awesome tracking and stalking skills.
September 18, 2021
An enthusiast's guide on how to get started out in tracking. I found the nature observation part of the book helpful in that it gives you tips on how to slow down and contextualize your environment in different ways. Even if some of the skill descriptions appear to border on the supranatural, there is plenty of interesting detail.
December 12, 2008
Recipe for a good day: Read this book, go out to the woods, track a deer, sneak up on it, touch its tail. All the skills to blend into the wilderness, observe and track animals are in this book. AWESOME!
November 3, 2010
Fantasitc book on tracking. Easy to read and understand, entertaining stories and personal experiences and very informative. It has illustrations, not photographs which some may find disappointing, but I didn't think it was a problem at all.
October 13, 2012
Certainly taking nature observation to the next level. The author is honest in his repeated comments that "dirt time" is the only way to go. Interesting to read, but I will also be honest and say that I don't want to devote as much time as it will take to be as good as he is.
February 17, 2008
This guys knows what he's doing! Plenty of cool exercises I've turned around and taught to kids, or friends or whatever. Fun.
September 9, 2008
great ideas - now i just have to PRACTICE!!
April 28, 2011
Good book for outdoors folks and survivalist, title is true for contents, this is one of the Tom Brown that are a must.
June 16, 2011
This is more a reference manual than other books by Tom Brown Jr. (e.g. The Tracker) but given that you know that, it is one of the few books that continually seems to live on my bedside table.
April 23, 2015
Tom Brown is amazing. It is almost unfathomable that someone can do the things that he does and he is trying to teach others the tricks. Amazing.
May 16, 2015
tHIS BOOK IS A VERY GOOD READ!!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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