Tracking sense

"He was a skilled tracker, able to sense in advance the most likely moves of his prey."

- Entry on James's gift

Tracking sense was James's skill to predict what a prey's next move will be. The ability is to instinctively know what the prey is likely to do next.

Twilight
During Twilight, James uses his senses to try and track down Bella after smelling her scent at the baseball game. Laurent warns the Cullens that his tracker senses are deadly, and they should be very careful around him. He said hunting is his obsession. In New Moon, Edward explains he gave tracking a try so he could find Victoria. He chased over great distances, but in the end lost her scent.

New Moon
Near the end of New Moon, when Edward and Bella are leaving the Volturi, Edward explains that he did not want to touch Aro's hand again before they left, because he did not want him to find out he had discovered that Demetri's tracking ability is mental. Working from this statement from the book it is fair to assume that thoughts linger or leave behind some kind of trace Demetri is able to pick up and follow. The interesting part of how Demetri's ability works is that it would be ineffective on Bella, "her brain being wired wrong".

Similar abilities

 * Demetri's ability works by sensory location, which allows him to track anyone anywhere, making him a million times stronger than James.


 * Alistair's power works by feeling a magnetic pull to those he seeks.