Torkel Norling does 200 to 300 wounded game recoveries a year. He gets called by Swedish police in the middle of the night to track traffic-hit wildlife, hunts brown bears and lynx with dogs he's bred himself, and just wrote the book on modern blood tracking. Literally.
In this episode, we cover the massive differences between Swedish and North American hunting culture, what happens during a real police tracking callout at 2 AM, a brown bear charge that stopped two meters from his face, the mental framework that separates good trackers from great ones, and why the "never quit" attitude matters more than breed, gear or method. Whether you track with dogs or alone with flagging tape and a headlamp, this one's for you.

Guest referral by Erik Rohdin of Nordic Tales and American Trails. - https://open.spotify.com/show/0S6FLXVhVbXXD802ws5j1w

Instragram - https://www.instagram.com/torkelnorling/
Modern Blood Tracking Book - https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/modern-blood-tracking/

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Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4
Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

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Time Stamps

[00:00:00] Intro and welcome
[00:02:12] Swedish government-hunter relationship vs. North American friction
[00:04:53] 12,000 wildlife accidents a year: Torkel's tracking operation
[00:06:00] Moose population decline, wolves and Allemansrätten (right to roam)
[00:07:44] BC vs. Sweden moose numbers and management philosophy
[00:10:02] Why Sweden shoots cows and calves first, the science behind it
[00:13:52] Wolf politics, the rural-urban divide
[00:16:00] Two hunting traditions: independent forest dogs vs. continental driven hunts
[00:18:48] Travis's Swedish hunting experiences, from Sollerön to the Norma estate
[00:25:18] Advice for hunters without dogs, and why Torkel says there's no substitute
[00:28:18] Police callout walkthrough: what happens when the phone rings at 2 AM
[00:33:33] Hulda the scent hound, trained to only track on asphalt
[00:36:22] The two-dog system, switching from tracker to bay dog
[00:38:25] Close calls with wounded game, the mentality that separates good from great
[00:40:52] The brown bear stories, dog sacrifice and a charge in the dark
[00:46:36] Why Torkel felt zero stress with a bear two meters away
[00:48:33] Travis on tunnel vision: skiing, motorcycles and a grizzly survivor
[00:51:24] The stair model for stress, starting low and staying below the red line
[00:53:14] Inoculation training: visualization, close-range drills and the safety bubble
[01:01:02] Physical fitness as the foundation for mental toughness
[01:02:16] The never-quit attitude, what elite trackers all have in common
[01:06:21] Breaking tracking into single missions: find the start, follow the track
[01:08:00] When you lose the trail, go back to the beginning and find your mistake
[01:13:53] Practical tips for tracking without a dog
[01:18:11] Drones, night vision, thermal: what Sweden allows after the shot
[01:20:55] How Swedish hunt teams self-regulate without conservation officers
[01:24:00] Bear hunting regulations, the two-dog limit and Plott Hounds from North America
[01:29:44] Dog injuries and the reality of close-quarters predator work
[01:35:05] Old methods vs. new, why emotion and tradition block progress
[01:40:22] Top performers share knowledge freely, ego kills development
[01:44:27] Where to find Modern Blood Tracking and how to connect with Torkel

Nathan James, known online as Sir Drifto, holds the world altitude record for the highest electric paramotor flight and has flown hundreds of miles in a vintage open cockpit biplane with his dad. He's also the kind of guy who once tried to fly a paramotor under a bridge and lost his sponsorship in the process.

In this conversation, we talk about what happens when the risk-to-reward ratio flips, why real adventure can't be bought through a booking agent, the Camel Trophy / Defender Trophy comeback, growing up on dirt bikes and two-strokes, what every young person should experience at least once, AI and predictive surveillance, and why the simplest eras might have produced the most capable people.

Nathan is heading to British Columbia for the Defender Trophy, the successor to the legendary Camel Trophy, and this conversation captures exactly the kind of person they'd want behind the wheel.

Silvercore Podcast 182 Nathan James - Sir Drifto

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sirdrifto/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SirDrifto

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Silvercore Club - https://bit.ly/2RiREb4
Online Training - https://bit.ly/3nJKx7U
Other Training & Services - https://bit.ly/3vw6kSU
Merchandise - https://bit.ly/3ecyvk9
Blog Page - https://bit.ly/3nEHs8W

Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and the Sir Drifto origin

01:34 Life is short and the risk-to-reward ratio

03:03 When risk stops falling only on you

05:20 Dirt bikes at eight and the berm that changed everything

08:33 Counting birthdays you didn't expect to reach

10:13 Regret as the real balancing act

11:50 Contrived hardship vs. real challenge

14:23 What every young person should experience once

17:36 The Wall-E problem and the softening of capability

22:01 Technology, instant gratification, and lost patience

24:06 Face-to-face connection as the future commodity

27:21 Photoshopping a report card and the sinking jet boat

30:29 The world record electric paramotor flight

40:42 The altitude and would he do it again

42:12 Why winter was the only option

43:22 Flying a Piper Cub cross-country with his dad

47:15 The broken fuel gauge and cornfield contingencies

52:11 The Defender Trophy (Camel Trophy successor) in BC

57:56 Whether it'll be televised

01:00:23 Safety third

01:01:17 Flying a paramotor under a bridge

01:04:12 The helicopter laser incident and federal consequences

01:12:28 AI, facial recognition, and pre-crime prediction

01:16:54 Favorite movies and books

01:22:06 Write down your bucket list and challenge every excuse