The Tactics of Mantracker Part 7

This post highlights my thoughts on beating mantracker.  As I have discussed in the past, mantracker likes to play the hunting prey game on his terms.  He uses the tactics I called A & A : antagonize and ambush. And he is very successful at being cranky and winning the game in 2 days or less.

The antagonize and ambush plan plays out like this:  he tries to run down the prey and he pushes the prey to waste their strength and make mistakes. He finds the prey's tracks sooner or later, estimates the overall direction of travel, and tries to think one step ahead to find the best spot to run out and ruin the prey's day.  The first day is not about winning, it seems he waits until the second day to make sure he can catch the prey.  This is a smart goal because he doesn't want to risk losing the prey for good.  He wants to know the real direction so he can guess the final destination.  This happens to be his last resort for information.  If the prey keeps heading in the same general direction on day one, then he has the prey figured out and it becomes a matter of time.

Antagonizing the prey makes them exhaust themselves whacking through brush, draining their strength, and forcing them off path.  Antagonizing makes for good television, it makes the prey seem desperate and the tracker seems better than normal. 

Ambush requires the right direction of travel, a good guess at where the prey are, and where they will cross the dangerous areas. Ambush works this way; the mantracker finds a track behind the prey long enough to predict the next move then scouts a way around without being seen, and then moves ahead of the prey without detection to wait for the prey to approach.  Mantracker likes to catch the prey in a spot where they have no cover and the horses can run them down in any case.  Getting ahead is no problem if the mantracker can hide his approach and the horses are twice as fast as humans in open ground. But he can't spring the trap if the prey don't stay predictable long enough.

Mantracker's  A & A strategy is successful so there's no reason to change until it doesn't work.  This is the main weakness you can exploit: he uses a predictable strategy on a predictable schedule.  Of course, the mantracker is very experienced at his job and the prey are first time victims so this is a real advantage unless you start the game off with a better strategy designed to defeat him before you start running.

My recommended tactics to beat this is a game plan I call D&D: distance and deception. This strategy can beat Mantracker's A & A strategy if you follow it religiously.

The first part of my proposed plan - Distance - requires the prey to run from cover to cover and hide in the cover when the mantracker antagonizes them.  If you play mantracker's game you need to make up a lot of distance in a hurry.  Prey seem to think they can trick the mantracker by hiding in bush and deception tactics alone.  And then he rides up behind them and they run disorganized into trouble.   I would argue that he is very good at tracking, so don't assume you will keep him lost for long. The prey waste time learning that he is very good at tracking. And he gets lucky. Instead of hoping the deception works, you need to make the distance.  Expect he will catch up from time to time and that's when you run for cover, hide or change directions and then resume course.  Above all else, you need to make it across over half the distance on day one.

I would argue deception on day one should focus more on hiding the true direction of travel from the mantracker.  If your true heading is North, then you should run Northwest or Northeast for most of the day.   Most of the time mantracker lost on past episodes the prey accidentally travel in the wrong direction so long, mostly by bad orienteering, that it confused and befuddled the old cranky mantracker so he can't take advantage of this key information. It's ironic that the best efforts to hide and run normally lose and the worst accident's succeed.  The reason seems to be that this erratic heading does more to change the outcome than all the other reasons combined.  The prey are unpredictable.

 The prey must use routes to travel the distance quickly and use the bush and cover only when the mantracker nears.  You may need to hide quiet for long periods and let the mantracker pass ahead.  Or you may need to back track until the mantracker cannot find your direction. Your movement must be unpredictable but along a general correct direction.  Keeping to the roads will speed up travel and allow the prey to rest for day two.  You will give the mantracker the false direction of travel so this isn't a complete waste of time. If viewed from above, the prey's travel should look like a zig zag, where the prey move from cover to cover and hide where they are appropriate.

Day one should end with most of the distance covered and the prey healthy enough to sprint when needed.  This allows the prey to wait patiently for mantracker to pass them on day two because they have the time to make up the final distance.

I wouldn't recommend sleeping that day one night: drink lots of  water and keep going.

Day two's main tactic is deception.  Mantracker is going to try to ambush you all day to catch you.  He will get ahead of you and then make your life difficult.  You need to change your direction of travel,  hide and wait, and other deception tactics.  Part of day two will be needed to watch for mantracker. You will need to know where he is so you can go the other way.

The first travel on day two should be in a different direction: 90 degrees from the original course on day one.  When he sees these tracks, he will be lost as to the right overall direction and then he can't predict your general travel.  Then in a kilometre or so, change back to the true heading for a period to make up some time.

If travel on day one resembles a zig zag, then travel on day two should be even more messy. Reading a map and understanding which ground is best for travel needs to be augmented with a prediction of what mantracker thinks you will do.  If he figures you will stay to a trail along the original heading then you must deviate out of your way to stray outside his view.  Mantracker doubles back when he thinks he has lost the trail, and you can make him keep guessing long enough to make up the distance from your deception tactics.

Day two is when you employ all those deception tactics people have tried in the past.  Deception tactics like reverse boots, covered boots, track decoys, double back, wiping tracks, sound decoys, body decoys, wolf/bear urine, and so on will have more effect because on day one you didn't try those tactics - he will assume you won't try them on day two because you didn't try any on day one and make that one critical mistake you can benefit from.  I doubt it will work for long but it may work long enough.


The goal of day two's travel is to keep him guessing long enough to avoid ambushes and have him in the wrong ambush spot when you cross the finish line.