The Dunedin Search and Rescue Tracking Competition 2012 involves 40 trackers from throughout New Zealand taking part in three exercises over the next four days.
Competition search manager Brian Rietveld said the two teams of five, which flew out of Taieri airport yesterday, were part of the advanced competition.
"The idea is to bring together New Zealand search trackers and enhance their skills through competition," Mr Rietveld said.
In the scenario, the Dunedin team, Floppy Jims, was flown to a point in the greater Taieri basin where a group of hunters was last known to have been.
The team has 56 hours to track the missing group through looking for signs of its toilet stops and camp sites. The team builds up a profile of the group and hopefully finds the hunters.
A North Island team, Hamilton, was flown to the Mahinerangi area to act in a similar scenario.
The teams received points for their success in picking up the signs and clues and working out the direction in which the "missing" travelled.
The operational and novice trackers were undergoing training before they headed out on their own 36-hour and 24-hour exercises.
As well as testing trackers' skills, it was a chance to try out new technology, Mr Rietveld said.
In another first, the trackers themselves were being tracked "live" through radio transmitters and these trackings would then be displayed on the search and rescue website.
The exercise was based at Whare Flat.
