Way of the Ranger Immersion:
Wilderness Survival, Tracking & The Curriculum of Shadows

Wildlife & Animal Tracking Immersion Program

9-month Weekend Training 1-weekend a month, September-June

Immerse yourself in the core study of Wildlife Tracking. Under the guidance of the most innovative tracking trainers in the field, you thoroughly develop your own skill, knowledge and experience in the art and science of tracking.

The Art and Science of Tracking

This immersive course fully covers all aspects of the art and science of wildlife tracking. Students spend over 9-months delving into the skills of interpretation, trailing and ecological analysis. You learn how to identify individual tracks and sign, extrapolate behavior from the track patterns, key aging methodology applicable in all substrates, deep ecological relationships and most importantly, the ability to trail and follow the animal you are tracking. Graduates of this course develop a set of critical tools rarely found in any wildlife sciences or tracking training program.

In Depth Ecological Awareness

This course is more than simply following footprints in sand or learning baseline naturalist skills. We focus each of our tracking immersion weekends through the lens of a different species of mammal. We start by working with the life of deer, moving to the complex social structures of coyotes. We explore the diversity of wetland animals and pair the fascinating life history of prey species with the large carnivores that hunt them. The program is applicable for both the beginner and advanced student as it includes information not found in many other tracker training courses. Our instructors don't simply give students questions, they engage them in meaningful conversation, tailoring individual discourse to the highest level of a student's ability, thus pushing the learning edge of the entire team.

Wildlife & Animal Tracking Immersion could include...

• Tracking in varied and difficult substrates and soils
• Track Geography (often referred to as pressure releases and gait analysis)
• Interpret behavior from trail movement
• Track identification. Extrapolating presence and absence as a rudimentary exercise
• Extrapolating presence and absence through other relational pressures
• Focus on individual species and habitats: deer, bear, coyote, mice, rabbits, bobcat, raccoon, beaver, nutria, muskrat, otter, red fox and more
• Trapping of invasive wetland species (nutria). Students can option out of this exercise
• Following a track and trail to the animal that made it
• Tactical human tracking and trailing
• Intensive ecological mapping and extrapolation
• Prime Projection as a tracking tool: learn intensive journaling techniques, then learn to work faster without them
• The ability to teach yourself and personally develop new tracking skills and capabilities
• Functional knowledge of wildlife science applications for tracking
• The capacity to teach and help develop more trackers
• A fundamentally deeper awareness of the world around you

Important Dates

Dates for Wildlife & Animal Tracking weekends are as follows….

September 14-16, 2012
October 5-7, 2012
November 2-4, 2012
January 4-6, 2013
February 1-3, 2013
March 1-3, 2013
April 5-7, 2013
May 3-5, 2013
May 31-June 2, 2013

Wilderness Survival & Primitive Skills Immersion Program

9-month Weekend Training 1-weekend a month, September-June

Immerse yourself in the core study of Wilderness Survival and Primitive Skills. The Rangers Guild presents one of the most thorough immersion programs of its kind. This program takes you through the art of survival, then builds upon that foundation into more advanced arts of wilderness living and primitive skills.

Thrive, Don't Simply Survive

This immersion program gives you the fundamentals of wilderness survival. Then we ask you to perfect them in all seasons and conditions. Even beyond that, delving into nearly 1 million years of human history, we bridge the gap between survival and long-term wilderness living.

In this program you get hands on experience building and actually sleeping in various single and group shelters. We cover water finding and purification, along with how to boil it with primitive pots and heat sources. We intensively train you in effective fire making methods and drill you on your ability to get a flame in any conditions. Wild plants are studied from a sustenance perspective, along with how to care for all the resources you harvest, making your presence on the land more sustainable. Primitive fishing methods are covered, along with wildlife tracking with a focus on trapping and hunting. From these fundamentals we also create a culture of more advanced primitive skills craftsmanship. We go in depth into flint knapping arts, bow making, basket weaving, leather work and much more.

A Community In Which to Learn

For both the beginning and advanced student, the pace is high and the days are packed. We have you not simply build one bow drill for friction fire, but we have you make several from many different woods throughout all seasons. These consistent trials and rapid scenarios are performed with each skill until a certain level of mastery and ownership is accomplished by each student. Along with the expertise of our instructors, one of your greatest assets as a student is the collaborative learning community we develop. Similar to a martial arts dojo, different levels of student experience actually enhance the continuous learning environment.

Wilderness Survival & Primitive Skills Immersion could include...

• Tracking from the perspective of trapping and hunting
• Various single person and group shelters, actually sleep in many of these shelter options
• Beginning and intermediate bow making
• Water gathering, purification and safety
• Primitive food prep and cooking
• Fire methods applicable to nearly all seasonal conditions
• Basket weaving
• Hide-tanning and leather working
• Stone and bone tools with beginning to advanced flintknapping instruction
• Harvest of wild edible and medicinal plants for sustenance
• A fundamentally deeper awareness of the world around you

Important Dates

Dates for Wilderness Survival & Primitive Skills weekends are as follows….

September 21-23, 2012
October 12-14, 2012
November 9-11, 2012
January 11-13, 2013
February 8-10, 2013
March 8-10, 2013
April 12-14, 2013
May 10-12, 2013
May 31-June 2, 2013

The Curriculum of Shadows Immersion Program

9-month Weekend Training 1-weekend a month, September-June

Immerse yourself in the core study of The Curriculum of Shadows: Stealth and Nature Awareness. Through mentoring by our experienced instructors, you set about 9-months of awareness, stealth, martial arts and business strategy training that will forever change how you see the world.

Nature Awareness and The Way of the Ranger

This immersive course fully covers all aspects of nature awareness and beyond. Students spend over 9-months literally shifting how they move in the world. We take invisibility and silence from simply a philosophy and turn it into functional art. The Way of the Ranger trains calm in the center of a crises, the ability to live and walk on the edge, the awareness and scope to truly see beyond your senses and a deep connection to the natural world. One that seemingly stitches you into the shadows of the wilderness and beyond.

Honing the Body and Mind

The Curriculum of Shadows is not simply a philosophy. It is physical and emotional conditioning on a deep level. This is not a course for self-improvement, this course is about becoming "truly useful" to your village, family and the land you live. From live-action stealth evasion to developing sound fiscal plans for family businesses, we train scenario after scenario that builds both a finely honed awareness of the world and also an innate capacity of highly efficient action. You begin to understand that both survival and life strategy emerge from a deep root and flow with the natural world.

Indomitable Spirit

An indomitable spirit is a survival tool few people understand. It's often confused with the hubris of dominance. Yet an indomitable spirit has more to do with listening, learning and faith that the land will care for you. To quote Miyamoto Musashi, one of the greatest swordsmen that ever lived...

In order for a warrior to follow the path of Heiho, it is necessary to keep in mind that the essence of Heiho is to build an indomitable spirit and an iron will; to believe that you cannot fail in doing anything.

He went on to outline his steps to cultivate an indomitable spirit...

FIRST: Do not harbour sinister designs
SECOND: Diligently pursue the path of Niten Ichiryu (Musashi's school of Two Swords) 
THIRD: Cultivate a wide range of interests in the arts
FOURTH: Be knowledgeable in a variety of occupation
FIFTH: Be discreet regarding one’s commercial dealings
SIXTH: Nurture the ability to perceive the truth in all matters
SEVENTH: Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye
EIGHTH: Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters
NINTH: Do not engage in useless activity

For number two we replace Niten Ichiryu with the The Curriculum of Shadows. You can also interchange that with particle physics, writing, medicine or much more. As Musashi also said, "from one thing, know ten thousand things."

This program teach that mastery let's us experience the intrinsic depth and beauty of all things. Great learning is rooted in understanding the dynamics and patterns of all relationships. Cultivating an indomitable spirit is born from this articulate navigation and flow through the rivers of life.

The Curriculum of Shadows Immersion includes...

• Optimization of physical reaction time
• Silence and calm through real world crises
• Consistent stealth and awareness scenario training
• Foundational training in primitive & modern weapons and martial arts
• Bad ass awareness skills
• The Way of the Ranger: Flow in wild foraging, survival, tracking and everyday life.
• The art of invisibility: stealth, camouflage and silence
• Bird songs and calls as a tool to track movement in the forest and see more wildlife
• Hyper-adaptive learning
• How to move through both landscapes and systems virtually undetected
• Long term systems thinking; reviving and protecting the village now and 100 years into the future
• A fundamentally deeper awareness of the world around you

Important Dates

Dates for The Curriculum of Shadows weekends are as follows….

September 28-30, 2012
October 19-21, 2012
November 16-18, 2012
January 18-20, 2013
February 15-17, 2013
March 15-17, 2013
April 19-21, 2013
May 17-19, 2013
May 31-June 2, 2013