Howard stalked "Indian" style, which requires a little practice (and balance), but it certainly quiets the footsteps in the field. Basically, the idea is to place the ball of the foot, which is the roundish muscle at the base of the big toe on the ground first, then roll forward and out (away from the big toe) onto the toes. In normal everyday walking we place the heel of the foot on the ground then roll onto our toes. There are several reasons why you should place the ball of the foot down first when stalking:
1) The ball of is much more sensitive than the heel. It is much easier to detect things like sticks, stones and other potentially noisy debris with the ball of the foot. When you feel something under the ball you can easily adjust your step to miss that obstruction.
2) By placing the ball down first you are walking with a drastically reduced footprint which limits the amount of ground surface the foot contacts during the step. Less surface area should mean less noise. Only about 1/3 of the foot contacts the ground with this stalking method.
Now remember that Native Americans, for the most part, walked barefoot so the sensitivity of the foot was higher than if one was wearing shoes. Wearing thin soled shoes will allow the wearer to feel debris underfoot much easier.
A very important aspect of this stalking style is balance. If you try to stalk rather stiff legged standing straight up like you do when you walk normally it won't really work. Your balance will be thrown off as you try to walk on your toes. In order to stay balanced you need to crouch a bit by bending at the knees and bending at the waist to place your center of gravity over the feet. You're going to look a bit odd, but this technique works really well. It does take a bit of practice, so I try to use it when I'm out hiking around the woods when nobody's looking :D Good luck.
Topic: HH bug got me ... Part One! (Read 153039 times)
