FREE MAN-TRACKING CLASS
Schedule
Sat, 16 Aug, 2025 at 08:15 am to Sun, 17 Aug, 2025 at 05:15 pm
UTC-04:00Location
Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center | Roscommon, MI
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FREE MAN-TRACKING CLASS >> August 16-17, 2025 (Roscommon, Michigan • Crawford County • Northern Lower Peninsula): Taught by Team MibSAR’s Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) instructor cadre -- Nick St. Onge, Michael Richardson, Joshua Isaac, Chris Ozminski, Kelly Robinson, and Michael Neiger -- this class will be held at the Michigan DNR’s spotless Ralph A. MacMullan (RAM) Conference Center in the Education Building, North Branch Meeting Room, 104 Conservation Drive, Roscommon, Michigan www.Michigan.gov/RAMcenter>> TO RESERVE A SPOT IN THIS FREE CLASS, click GOING on this Facebook event page
>> NATURE OF CLASS: Classroom presentations, tabletops ~ Hands-on dirt time scenarios in the bush ~Free tracking form
>> CLASS CURRICULUM: This 50% classroom, 50% dirt-time man-tracking class will focus on:
• Tracking kit & stick
• Tracking teams
• Track contrast
• Footprint dynamics
• Categories of sign
• Impression sign
• Vegetation sign
• Other sign
• Categories of sign
• Impression sign
• Vegetation sign
• Other sign
• Track traps
• Night tracking
• Track aging
>> LODGING, MEALS, CAMPING, CABIN RENTALS:
~ For on-site room & BLD meal reservations, email the RAM Center at [email protected].
~ For walking-distance campsite and cabin reservations, contact North Higgins Lake State Park: https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/parksandtrails/Details.aspx?id=478&type=SPRK
• NOTE: No meals or lodging are provided by the organizer, Michael Neiger, during this class.
>> INSURANCE COVERAGE
• No insurance coverage is provided by the organizer, Michael Neiger, for this class. Participants are encouraged to consult with a trusted professional about the need for life, disability, medical, prescription, dental, eye, evacuation, class cancellation, automobile, etc., insurance coverage.
>> RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT TO BRING
• PRINT OUT 4 COPIES THE FREE 8.5- BY 11-INCH MAN-TRACKING CARD AVAILABLE AT http://www.mibsar.com/trackcard.pdf
• Compass with 360-degree bezel
• Mechanical pencil or regular pencil
• 8.5- by 11-inch clipboard with notetaking paper
• Small- to medium-sized, stiff tape measure with locking mechanism
• Small bright flashlight or headlamp
• A digital camera (smartphone camera is perfect)
• A small magnifying lens (or use one built into compass)
• A small mirror (or use one built into a mirror-sighting compass)
• Several dozen bamboo skewer sticks
• Brimmed hat (ball cap or boonie hat)
• Provided by instructors: 48-inch-long tracker sticks, with movable castration bands (loaners)
• GPS unit (smartphone with mapping app is fine; a free mapping app – CalTopo -- is available at www.caltopo.com or your favorite app store)
• Daypack recommended >> (lined with a water-proof garbage bag to keep contents dry) containing: rain jacket, rain pants, warm jacket, warm hat, spare polypro shirt, ready-to-eat snacks, water bottle, electrolyte mix for water, eye protection (for bushwhacking), toilet paper in plastic bag (please don't burn toilet paper as it is an extreme fire hazard; either pack it out or bury it), insect repellant (100-percent DEET recommended), bug head net, basic first-aid kit in zip-lock plastic bag, one-gallon ziplock bag for handout and gear listed above, and a zip-lock bag carrying essential survival items (if you don't carry them in your pockets on lanyards, which is recommended): waterproof matches, lighter, waterproof fire starters, emergency blanket, whistle, pocket knife, small flashlight, extra battery, small backup compass, signal mirror, etc.
• Non-cotton underwear and clothing is recommended in foul weather. Cotton is the Devil’s Cloth – when it gets wet, it cools the body faster than synthetic clothing, greatly increasing the chance of hypothermia, which is a leading killer of people in the outdoors.
• COVID-19 facemask (optional)
• Hand sanitizer (optional)
__________________
>> TO SCHEDULE FREE SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUP (SOG) TRAINING FOR YOUR TEAM – Foul-Weather Wilderness Survival, Map-and-Compass Land Navigation, Man-Tracking, or Strategies and Tactics for Search and Rescue Operations -- reach out to Michael Neiger at [email protected].
— Michael Neiger, Marquette, Michigan, [email protected], www.MibSAR.com
• Det/Sgt (Ret.), 26 years: Michigan State Police (Manistique, Metro Detroit, Marquette)
• Lead Investigator & Instructor, 18 years: Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue’s (MibSAR) Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG), investigating cold-case murders and long-term-missing person cases in the bush from the Upper Great Lakes to Canada’s Arctic Ocean
• Crew Leader & SAR Tech I, National Association for Search & Rescue (NASAR)
• 7-time Dead-of-Winter Arctic Ocean Expedition Guide; 38-year Canadian Expedition Guide
• Author: Missing-Person Sourcebook for Families Searching for a Missing or Murdered Loved One
Member (or former member) of: International Homicide Investigators Association (IHIA), International Crime Scene Investigators Association (ICSIA), The National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), International Society of Professional Trackers (ISPT), National Association of Law Enforcement Trackers (NALET)
As seen on Fox Nation, ABC’s 20/20, Discovery Plus, Chris Hansen’s Crime Watch Daily, A+E’s Crime (UK), TV Ontario, NBC’s Snapped; in Outside Magazine, Explore Magazine, Recoil Offgrid, Detroit Free Press, Society (Paris); and in the books Where Monsters Hide & The Cold Vanish
#Survival #SurvivalSkills #WildernessSurvival #ColdWeatherSurvival #Navigation #LandNavigation #Compass #Map #ManTracking #Training #SAR #SearchAndRescue #EmergencyResponse #MissingPerson #LongTermMissing #LTM #ColdCase #TrueCrime #Murder #MissingInMichigan #Investigator #Detective #CrimeScene #Wilderness #Expedition #WinterCamping #BackPacking #SnowShoeing
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Where is it happening?
Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center, 193 Conservation Dr, Roscommon, MI 48653-9575, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
