My name is Dick Blust. I live in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where I serve with the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office. I've trained hundreds of people, including law enforcement officers, rural firefighters, search & rescue volunteers, backpackers, hunters, geocachers, and other outdoor recreationists of all sorts in back country navigation. My approach focuses on a simple, hands-on, practical, problem-solving system that emphasizes using the combined, interwoven resources of map, compass, and GPS.

Kifaru International of Golden, Colorado at www.kifaru.net[/color] , a manufacturer of a line of outstanding weight-critical backpack gear for hunters, is posting my entire training course on its site. The "Map" Section of the training is already posted, with the rest - compass, GPS, and "Putting It All Together" soon to follow. (My approach to maps is grounded in using USGS topographic maps generated by a program called MapTech "Terrain Navigator" that reduces the standard 7 1/2-minute map down to an 8 ½' x 11" sheet and grids it for the UTM coordinate system, enabling accurate, quick position-plotting.)

Access to the course is free. Once at the Kifaru website, click "Enter Hunting" and you'll see a reference to my course, "Back Country Navigation for the Hunter" in the upper left-hand corner, which can be clicked for access. I field questions through the Kifaru message board, which covers a wide range of topics many hunters will find useful, and can handle questions and comments here, as well.

Check it out; I'll be happy to answer any questions that arise.

Dick

Thanks for the info rcblust...and welcome to THL.