While tracking you might find many of the indications listed in the Tracking Terms Glossary in one footprint. Or, you might find only the slightest hint of one of them. Teamwork will be critical for two reasons.

1) In difficult terrain only one team member may have the right angle to see a sign, so it is important that everyone contribute to the best of their ability

2) There are decisions to be made, for example: Is it a track or not? Do we go on, or do we go back to the last track we were sure of? Should we take a break?

(Above right - myrtle and low, hearty ground cover can tough to track in
Left - Tall ground cover like these ferns are much easier to find sign in)

By focusing everyone from three different angles on the "Prime Sign Area" determined with a tracking stick, the team will eventually find some indication of a footfall. Then you work it as a team to find as many items as you need as a team to convince yourselves that you have a track. If you don't find anything else after a focused team examination you must decide as a team to go back to the last track and start the process again.

After gaining a little experience, some prints will almost magically appear. And I don't say "appear" lightly. There are times when you can look and look and see nothing, and then one little item is spotted and suddenly, the entire footprint appears to the whole team. I believe this phenomena  is a direct result of training your eyes to see sign.

(Right - A marked line of sign in difficult tracking terrain)

It is helpful now and then to stand up and look back at the marked "line of sign." That is the line created by flagging each heel print that indicates the path the subject has traveled. The line of sign tends to go in a relatively straight line because that's how people walk, unless a natural barrier is in the way, like a fallen branch or a large puddle. Then you have to figure out which route they took around the obstacle.