Officers of Sterling, CO used tracking to narrow down a perimeter and successfully capture a fugitive.   The following article describes how they combined tracking with their ATV, Air and K-9 units to close in on the fugitive.

"...With the area secure and teams given their assigned locations, dogs, planes and all-terrain vehicles were brought in to scour the fields for evidence of the fugitive.

 

Just before noon, the word came that Alward was in custody. "

 

Read the full story here.

The following photos illustrate the difference between most animal trails and human trails.   The human trail shown below (last two photos) was the result of 3-5 subjects, over a two week period,  travelling over an existing game trail that originally looked like the first two photos.   

This particular trail led to a Marijuana grow hidden in the woods. In addition to the obvious trail, officers found two additional "escape" routes that showed where the subjects may have been spooked on a previous occasion. These were less obvious tracks that showed longer, running strides leading away from the site and into the woods, but eventually reconnecting with the main trail.  The lush vegetation allowed officers to get a good gauge of where, when, and how frequently the subjects were coming to this location, and where they may run if approached. They were apprehended the next day.


As you can see below, most animal trails are thin with minimal disruption.