Craig Caudill

Best-Selling Author, Backcountry Skills Expert and Instructor, Certified Master Naturalist

Craig Caudill is a distinguished leader in wilderness education, serving as the Director and Lead Instructor of Nature Reliance School. Renowned for his best-selling books on backcountry skills and recognized as a certified master naturalist, Caudill offers comprehensive online and in-person courses that are highly regarded nationwide. These courses serve a diverse audience, including corporate entities, government agencies, and the public.

Caudill's expertise in backcountry survival and tracking has established him as a highly sought-after educator for first responders at all levels, significantly enhancing their skills in these critical areas. His influence extends to academia, where he has facilitated courses in survival, tracking, and wilderness navigation for students from 20 universities across the Southeast. He also collaborates with various conservation and stewardship organizations, using his skills to further their missions and broadening his impact.

Caudill's media presence is extensive and varied, featuring prominently on major networks such as the Discovery Channel and History Channel, where he has contributed as a consultant. His reach and recognition have been further amplified through appearances on prominent platforms such as America's Most Wanted, Fox News Live, CNN and Newsnation. His expertise has also been showcased on Public Education Television through shows like Kentucky Afield, Kentucky Life, Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen, The Lee and Hayley Show, and various regional and local news programs. These engagements have positioned him as a regular figure in national and regional news segments, where he shares his invaluable insights on safety, survival, and tracking skills. This broad spectrum of media appearances highlights his depth of knowledge and skill and solidifies his status as a leading authority in wilderness education and survival training.

He is the author of the books:

Extreme Wilderness Survival
Ultimate Wilderness Gear
Essential Wilderness Navigation (co-author)
Vital Survival (available online in NRS Membership only)
Tiny Survival Guide (co-author)
The Secret Signs of Nature (his first children's book).
Introduction to Animal Tracking Field Guide
Traditional Bushcraft

He has been featured and/or his work can also be seen in Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, Kinute, Backwoods Survival Guide, American Survival Guide, Self-Reliance Illustrated, American Prepper, Wilderness Way, American Frontiersman, Recoild Off Grid and Ballistic. He has a very active blog containing his podcasts (host and guest spots) and guest blogs for Georgia Bushcraft, Rivers Edge Cutlery, LT Wright Knives, and an active Youtube channel providing education on all things outdoors. Craig has designed knives for LT Wright Handcrafted Knives, Outlier Knives, and Rivers Edge Cutlery. Craig is forever a student and continues to train and grow in his skill set.

The following listing is a portion of the courses he has completed:

BBA, University of Kentucky, Emphasis in Statistical Analysis
Certified Master Naturalist, University of Kentucky
National Disaster Resilience Council Consultant
Level II Naturalist, Kamana Training Program
Master Naturalist Program Instructor, University of Kentucky
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, Habitat Improvement Program Cooperator
Kentucky Division of Forestry, Stewardship Forest Cooperator
Lost Person Behavior, Tennessee Department of Emergency Management (no certification)
Basic Search and Rescue - Level 1, Kentucky Emergency Management
First Aid Certified, Red Cross, American Heart Association
Stop the Bleed Certified
Wilderness First Aid Certified, American Red Cross
Wilderness First Aid, Nature Reliance School (led by guest instructor)
80 Hour Survival Training, Earth School
80 Hour Tracking Intensive, Earth School and Midwest Native Skills Institute Combo
80 Hour Scout Reconnaissance Earth School and Midwest Native Skills Institute Combo
60 Hour Level 1 and Level 2 Mantracking, The Scott-Donelan Tracking School
40 Hour Level 1 Building Tactical Acuity for Counter-IED, Enhanced Tracking Applications
40 Hour Level 1 Mantracking, Tyr Group
20 Hour Basic Human Tracking, Natural Awareness Tracking School
20 Hour Visual Tracking Tactics, Hull's Tracking School
40 Hour Low Elements Challenge Course Certification, Eastern Kentucky University
20 Hour Basic Tracking, Nature Awareness Tracking School
40 Hour High Course Elements Challenge Course Certification, Eastern Kentucky University
30 Hour Basic Pistol Defense, Iron Sight Defense
30 Hour Advanced Pistol Defense, Iron Sight Defense
40 Hour Tactical Survival, Iron Sight Defense
30 Hour Team Fighting Course, Iron Sight Defense
10 Hour CQB Rifle/Pistol, Iron Sight Defense
20 Hour Fighting Rifle Level 1 Iron Sight Defense
30 Hour Fighting Pistol, Tactical Response
Certified Defensive Tactics Instructor, Force Options USA
4 Hour Rifle/Pistol Transition Training Performance Edge Training
Certified Shooting Coach 4-H
Training in Judo since 1988
Training in Aikido since 1990, Certified Shidoin Shinjinkai Martial Arts Society
Occasional student of Krav Maga, BJJ and FCS.

AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS WE HAVE TRAINED

101st Airborne, Ft. Campbell Kentucky
FBI SWAT, Mantracking Instructor
DEA, Adjunct Instructor Backcountry Skills
DEA Pilots, Survival and Land Navigation Skills Instructor
United States Border Patrol, Mantracking Instructor
Kentucky Army National Guard, Mantracking Instructor
Kentucky Army National Guard Erad Team, Mantracking Instructor
Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services, Disaster Readiness Instructor
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officers, Backcountry Skills (survival and mantracking) Instructor
Georgia, Oconee County Sheriff's Office, Mantracking Instructor
Eastern Kentucky University, Wildlife Managers Instruction on Backcountry Skills
Bernheim Forest Land Managers and Naturalists, Wildlife Tracking
20 Universities Wildlife Managers Conclave, Wilderness Safety and Survival Skills Instructor
Kentucky Woodlot Owners Association, Safety and Survival Instructor
Department of Defense, MEAC Skills (Wilderness Safety and Survival) Instructor
National Disaster Resiliencey Council, Disaster Readiness Consultant
Electric Cooperatives of Kentucky, Active Shooter and Situational Awareness Instructor
Public Library Program Speaker and Educator, Backcountry Skills (30 various libraries in Kentucky
Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Situational Awareness Instructor
University of Kentucky, Adjust Instructor of Backcountry Skills
Backcountry Skills Instructor (Mantracking and Safety/Survival), Several area Sheriff's Offices and Police Departments
Kentucky Tactical Officer's Association (SWAT, SRT, SRU teams) Mantracking Instructor
Search and Rescue Teams to include several Southeastern States plus some from Texas and Utah.

CURRENT OR FORMER ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR WITH THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS

Mike Hull's Tracking School
Kentucky State Police
Fieldcraft Survival
The Bulwarks
MALC Training Institute
Georgia Bushcraft
Boone County Conservation District
University of Kentucky Master Naturalist Program
University of Kentucky 4H
Berea College Outdoors and Adventure Programs
Eastern Kentucky University Adventure Programs
Eastern Kentucky Ecology Programs
Kentucky State University Ecology Programs
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Programs
Bernheim Forest and Arboretum

Craig was awarded the title of Kentucky Colonel and has also received numerous awards from the various military and law-enforcement agencies he has trained.

Nature Reliance School was recognized as the Outstanding Business for Excellence in Environmental Education by the Kentucky Association for Environmental Education in 2021.