Shadowhawk Tracking

Ian Maxwell, or Max was born in Africa and introduced himself to the world of nature, wilderness and bush from an early age. He learned traditional bushcraft and tracking from indigenous tribes. His environment was the perfect place to put into practice what he had learned. At a young age he saw the last of the pioneering hunters that roamed Africa in the search for adventure and ivory. This inspired him so much that he was soon in the bush following their footsteps on his own.
Max has tracked on every continent in the world( except the coldest of all), he has tracked every big cat species, every rhino and elephant species. He has tracked most animals , from the Arctic tundra, to the Southern tip of Africa, from Borneo to West coast America, through South America, India and Europe.
Whilst he loves tracking animals, Maxs honed his skill tracking humans.
He has worked with the United States Border Patrol in California and Arizona and has been privilidged to work with the Shadowwolves in Arizona
He is a mantracker and to this day he trains combat and protection rangers in Africa, Europe and Brazil. He also trains police forces and Search and Rescue Organisations in the UK and Europe. He has instructed on tracking courses to The New Mexico State Troopers and Winnipeg City Police Canine Unit.
He is a keen snake catcher and has caught most of the African venemous snakes including Black Mambas, Puff Adders, Gaboon Vipers, Boomslangs and cobras including the Mozambique Spitting cobra.
Max is often called to track the weird and wonderful and to date has tracked the Beast Of Bodmin Moor, escaped pumas and leopards, he has travelled to the Himalayas to track the Yetti (Opens in Discovery Chanel, The Yeti Myth)and has even been called to track at dusk a hyena that turns into a man!
He has presented" Big Cat Track" and "Maxs Big Tracks" on Animal Planet Discovery which has been aired in over 150 countries throughout the world.
Max is a qualified Combat and Tactical Instructor level one and two and three and qualified Tactical Tracking Command and Control Instructor. He is a qualified Search and Rescue Tracking Instructor and has attended a police SAR Management Course.
He is a qualified FGASA ( Feild Guide Association South Africa) Guide and approved to carry a rifle for use in a dangerous wildlife area. He is a qualified Venemous Snake handler and venemous snake first aider.
His passion is tracking, but when he is not tracking, his hobbies are Muay Thai Kick boxing and fencing.
He has received many honours including a medal from The US Border Patrol, he is a Winston Churchill Fellow, A Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society and received a medal from Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace for Tracking and Conservation of Large Cats.
His favourite animals are African Wild dogs and Elephant.
His scariest moment: being charged by a tiger.
His funniest moment: being charged by an African elephant.
His moto( in big cat country) Dinae Get Caught!

Just a quick note about our instructors.
All instructors are Advanced Trackers and been Mentors on the mentorship program and completed at least fve years training. They have also tracked in foreign countries as part of the training program.
They have all completed Mantracking Courses either Search and Rescue or Law Enforcement and have studied all the various styles of tracking, including Tom Brown, Jack Kearney, Abe Taylor, David Scot-Donelan and others. They have clocked up thousands of hours of dirt time, both in mantracking and wildlife tracking.
The program includes a theory exam, and finally they run a Foundation Tracking course. On successful completion they are awarded the coveted Shadowhawk Silver Eagle feather.
The trainee Mentors are tutored by Simon, Dave and Mark ( Mentor instructors) who are excellent trackers and bushcrafters. Their job is teach people good bushcraft around camp. Their standards are very high and my hope is that their standards will be passed on.
I am really proud of all the mentors and instructors, they have all acheived amazing standards in bushcraft and tracking.
Max

Duncan

Nick

Jamie

Jonathan