History
Mike Hull’s Personal History
Special Agent Mike Hull of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries retired from the state May 1, 2008 after 27 years as a Game Warden. Hull has held a law enforcement position for a total of 36 years now. Hull currently works part time for Wintergreen Police Department when he is not teaching tracking and is a special deputy in three counties.
Mike Hull has learned tracking and foot impression evidence preservation from experts such as Tom Brown Jr., Dale Hall, Charles Worsham, David Scott-Doneland, William Bodziac, and Joel Hardin. Hull has spent his whole life experiencing the outdoors. He has successfully applied his tracking skills in the field and develops specialized law Enforcement classes in tracking and rural operations to Local, State and Federal Police Agencies
Some Personal Tracking Training Accomplishments
Developed and taught visual tracking classes for Virginia Game Wardens, Hunter Safety Instructor’s and other DGIF functions.
04-07-05 Received “Directors Award” by the first Recruit Class of the VDGIF basic academy. Primary instructor of a 40 hour Tactical Tracking Operations Level I class and voted best instructor of the academy, by the recruits.
Initiated and taught tracking classes at the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Training Center Basic and In-service Schools to make field officers more “track conscious” when investigating crime scenes.
Developed and taught classes in the use of visual tracking when investigating plant thefts and other environmental crimes for US Park Rangers along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah National Park.
Distinguished as a Subject Matter Expert in Visual Tracking and Woodland Operations, National Park Service-Blue Ridge Parkway.
Developed and taught visual tracking classes for ATF National Canine Training Academy to enhance canine handlers’ effectiveness when deploying canines in search for explosives and firearms.
Certified as an expert witness in tracking. Circuit Court Bath County Virginia 9/14/07
Instructed over one hundred and fifty Virginia Game Wardens in the week long Tactical Tracking Operations Level I School making Virginia DGIF the leading police agency in the country with trained tactical trackers.
Have documented over 500 hours teaching tracking classes to public groups such as boy scouts, Wild Turkey Federation Jakes Events, Hunter Safety Instructors, Camp Jeep and Search & Rescue groups.
Have documented over 1900 hundred hours training local, state and federal law enforcement officers in the value of visual tracking as an enforcement and investigative tool, footprint evidence collection and preservation, enhancing a canine handlers mission and Tactical Tracking for armed and dangerous subjects.
Adjunct Instructor for David Scott-Doneland
Adjunct Instructor for Rob Speiden
Related Formal Training
BASIC MILITARY POLICE SCHOOL 06/12/1974
DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS BASIC SCHOOL 12/23/1976
40 HOURS OF DISTRUBANCE CONTROL TACTICS 06/10/1977
VEPCO SECURITY BASIC SCHOOL 10/17/1978
BASIC GAME WARDEN TRAINING 05/22/1981
BASIC LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING 07/17/1981
HUNTING ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION 03/29/1992
HUNTER SAFETY MASTER INSTRUCTOR 06/1993
SURVIVAL, TOM BROWN’S STANDARD COURSE (50hr) 04/3-9/1995
TRACKING – Del Hall (20hr) 04/21-/23/1995
EDIBLE PLANTS – Del Hall (20hr) 08/ 4-5/1995
MAN TRACKING – Worsham (40hr) 04/13-19/1996
ANIMAL TRACKING – Worsham (40hr) 10/05-11/96
ADVANCED MAN TRACKING – Worsham (40) 04/1997
FOOTWEAR & TIRE TREAD EVIDENCE – Bodziac (2hr.) 08/6/1997
MANTRACKING – FBI Special Agent Reightner (24hr) 05/5-8/I998
TACTICAL TRACKING OPERATIONS – David Scott-Donelan (45hr) 09/21-25/1998
SEARCH AND RESCUE FIRST RESPONDER 10/28/2001
TACTICAL TRACKING OPERATIONS SCHOOL LEVEL II (45hr) 09/19-23/2002
GPT 2006 TOTAL STATION-FORENSIC MAPPING 02/24-26/2003
FOOTWEAR IMPRESSION EVIDENCE, WILLIAM BODZIAC (20hr) 04/3-5/2003
BASIC FORENSIC SCIENCE AND MEDICINE SEMINAR 09/22-26/2003
SHOOTING INCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION, HUESKE (16hr) 10/19-21/2005
MAN TRACKING, JOEL HARDING (20hr) 03/02-04/07
VA. DEM FIELD TEAM SIGN CUTTER CERTIFICATION (40hr) 11/16/2008
