When you see a set of bear tracks do you wonder how long ago it came through here and if it's still around? How can you find out? You have to age the track. But, how do you do that? Practice! Tracks degrade over time, by the weather; (rain, sleet, snow, sun).

The single most important factor in track degradation (and thereby aging) is weather. Gravity is the second major factor. The third factor is the type of soil. The only way to learn to age tracks is to observe a track degrade over time with given soil and weather conditions. Soils are classified from 1 to 10 with 1 being sand and 10 being clay (soft to hard). You must estimate the soil classification first. Then keep an accurate record of weather changes and by observing a track you will develop a sense of how a track degrades in that type of soil with those weather conditions. Weather conditions to be aware of are temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, and hours of direct sunlight on the tracks.

The art of aging tracks is not magic. While no one can teach you how to age a track, you can teach yourself with the two greatest tools a tracker can have: awareness and experimentation.

First, you must build a firm foundation of experience. To do that you can use a tracking box. A tracking box is a 4 by 8 foot (or whatever size) box filled with sand about 8-10 inches deep, basically, a large shallow sandbox that is used to study tracks. The purpose of a tracking box is to be able to practice your tracking skills in a controlled situation. A tracking box can be built either indoors or outdoors. An indoors tracking box is used for the detailed study of pressure releases in a controlled environment, in the absence of weathering factors such as wind and rain. An outdoors tracking box is used for this as well, except the tracks and marks are subjected to wind and rain. The effects of these weathering agents can then be studied. An outdoor tracking box will also show the tracks of whatever animals and birds walk through it. Either type of tracking box can be used for studying human tracks, and can be used for scenarios. For example, one person can walk through the tracking box and perform certain actions, and then the effects of these actions on the tracks can be studied. These are pressure release studies.

A tracking box is basically a large shallow sandbox, used to study tracks. Use three boards, 8 feet long, one inch thick and 10 inches wide. One board will be cut in half for the ends. If you are building an outdoor box, you may want to use cedar. You will need enough sand to fill the box. You will also need a plastic sheet to place in the box to put the sand on to keep it from being washed out by the rain. You will need approximately 16 three-inch galvanized nails to nail it together, four on each corner. You'll also need something to smooth the sand (a 2 x 4 works well) and a garden rake to smooth out the tracks and marks and to fluff up the sand.

Whether you build it indoors or outdoors, place it a location where you can move around it from all sides. You will need to be able to stand, crouch, or lie down on any side.

If you are building it outdoors, and you want to encourage animals to walk through it, place it on or near a well-used animal route (trail of some sort) or try putting a little peanut butter in the center of the box. You might also want to place it where debris is less likely to fall into it from above, such as from trees and shrubs. Also consider whether you want it in the sun or shade or a balance of both, since tracks age differently in the sun as opposed to the shade. Place the box where it's easily accessible. The sand should be dampened and fluffed up. How much you dampen it and fluff it depends on what you want to do with the box. For example, you would pack it down harder if you want to study tracks in harder sand. Then smooth it over with a 2x4 or something flat and smooth.

Wherever you build the tracking box, that spot is where it's going to be forever: sand is pretty heavy! If you build it outside, level the spot where you build it. If it's not level, then all your track analysis will be done with the effects of the slope showing in every track. You might forget this and then all your training will be skewed.

Either type of box can be used for studying human tracks. Look at the tracks carefully for about 10 minutes to print onto your subconscious what they look like. Write down the weather conditions: temperature, cloud cover or sunny, time of day, wind, etc. Come back in one hour and look at it again; two hours, three hours, etc., for a period of at least 24 hours, making sure that you keep track of the weather conditions.

When you come back say, at 4 hours, make a second set of tracks beside the first ones and compare the two from that point on. This will make more of the changes stand out. Study both of these for ten minutes. This will give you a good comparison of the track degradation at 4 hours, 8 hours, and 24 hours. After that, go back every 24 hours for seven days so you will see the track age over a week. After doing this spring, summer, fall and winter, you will begin to learn how to age a track to within two hours of it being made.

Next, try this with different soils so that you can see the difference in soil type and track degradation. The more varieties of soils, the more accumulation of experience.