Photo Credit Jerry Tate

By Jerry Tate
JT s Guide Service

As mentioned in his previous three articles, Jerry Tate can get in touch with nature to awaken his senses and sensitivity, but this is not for everyone; you cannot just go out and expect to get your senses heightened without being prepared first.

Tate has said it takes at least three days in the field to become proficient and be able to rely on all his senses. For beginners, he suggests going out on a full-moon night.

Now, imagine a walk with Tate in September no moon and very little wind, but a slight breeze. He is projecting no fear and no harm to anything.

Instead, Tate is projecting out and receiving in the sense of other life forms. This is most important: If you project fear to the life forms in the forest, or wherever you are, the animals will feel they need to protect themselves from harm, which is coming from you.

If you project fear, the animals will have fear, but their fear will be caused by you. Project no harm and receive no harm.

In Jerry s Words

This is an actual walk: It is 3:30 a.m. and very dark and as, I cannot even see the trails I am walking on, I have to use all of my other senses. While walking, I use a small pin light, putting the beam down in front of me, not on my feet but on the path directly in front.

I must be as quiet as possible. At no time should that light beam be raised to project light out from me. This walk starts on an old logging road, and I am slowly moving and just opening up my mind and all my senses feeling as if I have my eyes closed, as I am watching only where my feet go.

Approximately a quarter mile into the walk, I feel the presence of life behind a tree 7 feet from me. I do not lift the light. I just stand very still and softly say, You don t have to be afraid; you can come out. Slowly out comes a stripped skunk. He does not attempt to spray, and his posture has no aggression. Seeing the glow of light at my feet, he slowly turns up and looks toward my face.

Now remember I am walking on a logging road which has two trails. I speak softly, asking if he wants to travel with me. He crosses in front of me, and I can see him from the glow of my light.

He goes to my right side in the track of the old logging road, staying in the glow of light with me; we walk side by side for approximately 100 yards.

Then, the logging road forks; I stop and verbally communicate with the skunk, telling him I have to go to the left, but he can walk with me go on his way.

He slowly raises his head and looks up as if to say I have to leave now, and he goes on his way not on the road but into the forest. He is gone now.

Listening To The Birds

I am listening to all the night birds the barn owl in the distance and the great horned owl and various types of nighthawks, as I slowly move deeper into the forest. It is approximately 4:10 a.m., and I come to another junction in the logging road.

I walk into extremely dense timber and see the path is overgrown by pine trees. I feel a life form approaching from behind; I know nothing else at this point.

I send out no feeling of fear or harm to this life form, and receive the same from it. I slowly stop and softly ask this form to join me.

I tell this form it doesn t have to walk behind me; it can walk with me. Standing quietly, just listening, I hear something in the dense timber.

I just keep my eyes in front of me, and then I hear a twig break and I know it is with me. We walk together close to a half-mile.

When I slow down, I feel it catch up to me. After coming to the next area, I stop and softly say, I have to go to my left now; you can join me or you can go your way.

I never saw the life force; I just knew something was there. After I turned, I stopped and could hear this force slowly moving and leaving me.

I move slowly through the timber, on no trail, coming to a slight clearing similar to a draw or a creek bed. Feeling no presence but the night birds, I continue on my way up and out of the draw, approaching another old logging road.

I cut back to my right; now I am leaving the clearing into the deep forest 20-foot jack pines, 60-70-foot Douglas fir. It is getting close to 5 a.m.

I am slowly approaching a small canyon; I feel no presence of large animals. I seek out an area to hold up. I start to see the light in the east. I find a large downed tree to camouflage me from everything else, and I sit down at the base of it.

All of a sudden here comes a small rodent. Making sure he knows I am there because he is near my feet, I slightly move, then he slowly moves off with no excitement.

The Sun Comes Up

The sun is coming up and the birds are moving. The small wrens and robins are scampering around me; then here comes a spruce squirrel that pays no attention to me, just looks and goes on his way.

A chipmunk comes along, and out of the high trees, a falcon at great speed in pursuit of his early breakfast. Coming to a screeching halt and landing on a branch 5 feet away from me, he looks me over for about 5 minutes, not feeling me as a threat.

Then, without excitement, he flies off to his perch, waiting to capture his next meal. After several minutes and at high speed, the falcon comes past me, gets the chipmunk, is airborne once again, then back into the trees. What a sight!

After the ruckus the falcon has created on the forest floor, everything is very quiet; there is no movement. It is now 7 a.m. and it s light. I slowly walk back to my campsite and remember all the experiences of everything that has just happened. What a wonderful walk!

Thank you for walking with me.

The next article in this series will be a walk with Jerry Tate during the daylight hours, using all the senses to locate the animals and to identify the tracks of all species of wildlife in the area.