Our Instructors

Craig Caudill is the Chief Instructor at Nature Reliance School. Craig was blessed to grow up with parents that enjoyed the outdoors. He spent his childhood years exploring creeks, and woods at his home and at the family farm. He spent many weekends with his dad and other friends, sleeping in tipis and lean tos in reenactment events as well as caves and other wild places. He also spent a great deal of time hunting and fishing, and was taught very important "woods ethics" by his dad.

At an early age he challenged himself with two distinct "woods sabbaticals" in which he walked into the wilderness with very minimal supplies (a knife) and stayed for nearly 30 days each.

These two experiences left him understanding the limits to his knowledge of bushcraft and wilderness living. It was those two experiences that have led him to the last two decades of practicing and honing practical wilderness skills alongside, primitive skills (i.e. Native American and other aboriginal culture skills)

He has cooperatively worked with the Kentucky Departments of Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources to help bring the land he has been entrusted with back to a healthier place after decades of abuse from others.

He has trained with notable instructors including, Richard Cleveland of Earth School, Tom Laskowski of The Mid-West Native Skills Institute, Rob Speiden of Nature Awareness Tracking School, Joe Kellam a fantastic tracking instructor, and Dave Canterbury of the Pathfinder School and co-host of Dual Survival on the Discovery Channel.

Mr. Caudill is also an accomplished author and has written a weekly column for his local newspaper, The Winchester Sun. He has been featured on Kentucky Education Television for the show Kentucky Life with host Dave Shuffett. He has also written or been featured in several magazines including Self-Reliance Illustrated, Kentucky Afield, Wilderness Way, Backwoodsman and Kentucky Monthly. He loves teaching both adults and youth, especially to those who are new to outdoor experiences.

Tracy Trimble grew up near Cave Run Lake which is located in the Daniel Boone National Forest of Central Kentucky and the Appalachian Foothills one of the oldest mountain ranges that exists on Earth. With little to do in rural Kentucky Counties, outside of sports, many days and nights were spent camping, hiking, and horseback riding in the woods. It was a common practice for a group of kids in the area to spend the day exploring the woods, cliffs and trails and then camp for the night. What is often times considered survival training for others was simply a day of fun in the woods. Family vacations were centered on camping in the area as well. Today, Tracy spends his time in the woods hiking, camping, horse riding, squirrel and turkey hunting.

Tracy spent seven years in the Army Reserve where he spent equal time as a Tank Commander and Drill Sgt. During his service he developed map/compass and land navigation skills, and as such, his primary position with Nature Reliance School is to assist in these areas. Tracy often leads land navigation classes as well as field exercises. He is an avid student of all things outdoors and is therefore often present at other NRS classes continuing his learning and assisting others whenever he can.

Shawn Cox spent his formative years in the rural Central Kentucky farmlands hunting, fishing, hiking and camping. He learned and practiced much of his bush- and field-craft on outdoor trips with his father, an avid outdoorsman. He has supplemented this knowledge with years of intensive outdoor training with Nature Reliance School. His outdoor methodology has also been influenced by the teachings of Ron Hood, Jon Young of Nature Awareness School , Tom Brown, Jr. of the Tracker School, and Bradford Angier.

He is very active in the Boy Scouts of America as an Assistant Scoutmaster to a local troop, a certified Leave No Trace Trainer, and a Wood Badge holder. He has taught numerous seminars on outdoor skills and ethics to scout groups and to the public. His interests include survival methodology, animal and tactical tracking, primitive skills, traditional scout-craft, orienteering, and general preparedness.

Jon Moore's love for the Primitive Arts has grown substantially over the years. He has been making primitive works of art for many years. From arrow heads to primitive jewelry, Jon can do it all. He has chipped with some of the most esteemed flint-knappers in the country in their works and events. Most of what he knows is thanks to fellow knapper Ronnie Hazlett II, Johnny Faulkner, Justin Eldridge, and Perry Smith. You can check out Jon and his work at www.primitivearts.org

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