Joel Hardin: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|American man tracker}}

{{Infobox person

| name = <!-- defaults to article title when left blank -->

| image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] -->

| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->

| caption =

| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->

| birth_date = {{circa}} 1940

| birth_place =

| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) -->

| death_place =

| nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->

| other_names =

| occupation = [[Tracking (hunting)|Tracker]], author

| years_active =

| employer = [[Idaho Air National Guard]], [[United States Border Patrol]]

| known_for = Human tracking expert

| notable_works =

| website = {{url|jhardin-inc.com/home|Hardin}}

}}

'''Joel Hardin''' ({{circa}} 1940) is an American expert [[Tracking (hunting)|man tracker]] and author. He has worked for the [[Idaho Air National Guard]] and the [[United States Border Patrol]] before launching his own tracking company.

== Early life ==

Hardin was born in {{birth based on age as of date|70|2010|3|29|noage=y|mos=y}}.<ref name="ABA" /> He became a border patrol officer in 1965 and was stationed in [[El Cajon, California]].<ref name="Duguid"/>

Hardin, after joining the [[United States Border Patrol]], started working at the [[United States-Mexico border|U.S.-Mexico]] and [[Canada–United States border|U.S.-Canadian]] borders. During his time on the U.S.-Mexico border, he learned [[Tracking (hunting)|tracking]] from fellow agents.<ref>Mike Nash. (2007). ''Exploring Prince George: A Guide to North Central B. C. Outdoors''. United States: Rocky Mountain Books. {{ISBN|9781894765497}} p240</ref> He begantracking illegal immigrants who cross into the United States on foot. In 1972, he was sent to [[Bellingham, Washington]] where he worked in an office.

In 1974, he began to develop an advanced-tracking training program. He retired from the border patrol in 1990 and started a company providing training services based on the work he had been doing while employer.<ref name="Duguid">{{cite news |last1=Duguid |first1=Sarah |title=First Person: Joel Hardin |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a481acac-47ce-11e1-b646-00144feabdc0 |access-date=29 March 2023|url-access=subscription |work=[[The Financial Times]]|date=27 January 2012 |archive-date=17 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917191838/https://www.ft.com/content/a481acac-47ce-11e1-b646-00144feabdc0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During his career, Hardin tracked serial killer [[Gary Ridgway]] and the escaped [[Soviet spy]] prisoner [[Christopher John Boyce|Christopher Boyce]].<ref name="ABA" /> In 1982, while he was still a border patrol agent, the [[United States Forest Service]] reached out to Hardin asking him to examine alleged [[Bigfoot]] tracks found near the Mill Creek Municipal Watershed in [[Walla Walla, Washington]]. Hardin determined that the tracks were not made by an animal.<ref name="Jenkins">{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Sarah |title=Tracker Calls New Bigfoot Tracks a Hoax |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-jun-20-1982-3810252/ |access-date=29 March 2023 |publisher=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |date=20 June 1982 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328230614/https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly9hY2Nlc3MubmV3c3BhcGVyYXJjaGl2ZS5jb20vb3RoZXItYXJ0aWNsZXMtY2xpcHBpbmctanVuLTIwLTE5ODItMzgxMDI1Mi8- |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1989, he was part of the search team in [[Whatcom County, Washington]] assisting with the search for missing teen Mandy Stavik.<ref name="Ferm">{{cite news |last1=Ferm |first1=Carol |title=From Herald archives: Clipper teen presumed kidnapped after disappearing while on jog |url=https://amp.bellinghamherald.com/article189561629.html |access-date=29 March 2023 |work=Bellingham Herald |date=26 November 1989}}</ref>

Law enforcement officials occasionally hire Hardin to track suspects. In 1998, he helped police in Washington track a criminal who had broken into 75 buildings. He determined the criminal's favorite trails and police installed sensors accordingly, which led to the capture of a suspect.<ref name="AP">{{cite news |title=Police capture Mountain Man who They Say Broke Into Homes |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-mar-17-1998-3810243/ |access-date=29 March 2023|agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[Syracuse Herald-Journal]] |date=17 March 1998 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328230640/https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly9hY2Nlc3MubmV3c3BhcGVyYXJjaGl2ZS5jb20vb3RoZXItYXJ0aWNsZXMtY2xpcHBpbmctbWFyLTE3LTE5OTgtMzgxMDI0My8- |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since his retirement from the Border Patrol, Hardin is the owner & operator of Oregon Company Universal Tracking Services. The company undertakes and trains clients in human tracking.<ref name="ABA">{{cite news |last1=Hansen |first1=Mark |title=He Tries Men's Soles |url=https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/he_tries_mens_soles |access-date=29 March 2023 |publisher=American Bar Association |date=1 May 2010 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322035643/https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/he_tries_mens_soles |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Linda Jo Hunter. (2008). ''Lonesome for Bears''. [[Globe Pequot Press]]. {{ISBN|9781599217024}} p.8</ref> He is referred to as an expert tracker and he travels through the United States training other trackers.<ref name="Ledden">{{cite news |last1=Ledden |first1=Nicholas |title=Reading the Signs |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-apr-26-2008-3810217/ |access-date=29 March 2023|publisher=Kalispell Daily Inter Lake |date=26 April 2008 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328230643/https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly9hY2Nlc3MubmV3c3BhcGVyYXJjaGl2ZS5jb20vb3RoZXItYXJ0aWNsZXMtY2xpcHBpbmctYXByLTI2LTIwMDgtMzgxMDIxNy8- |url-status=live }}</ref>

* ''Tracker: Case Files & Adventures of a Professional Mantracker'' by Joel Hardin with Matt Condon, 2004, {{ISBN|0-9753460-0-8}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kurcina |first=Michael |date=2022-03-08 |title=Modern Tracking: Art or Science for the Modern Warfighter? |url=https://spotterup.com/modern-tracking-art-or-science-for-the-modern-warfighter/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308204300/https://spotterup.com/modern-tracking-art-or-science-for-the-modern-warfighter/ |archive-date=8 March 2022 |access-date=29 March 2023|website=Spotter Up}}</ref>

{{Reflist}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Idaho}}{{Authority control}}