Dave Kauffman, was born and raised in the mountains of southwestern Montana. He currently resides in Montana City, Montana where he has been self-employed as a custom knife maker since 1989.

Dave has a tremendous love for the outdoors.  His hobbies include hunting, fishing, anything outdoors.

Dave is  training  two Red Heelers Radar and Hawkeye for Search & Rescue.

Dave has been involved in search and rescue since 1997.  In that time he has responded to over 90 search and rescue missions and is currently a search coordinator for Elkhorn Search and Rescue in Jefferson County.

Dave is highly trained in rescue response and holds certifications in Fundamentals of SAR, SAR Tech III, Managing the Search Function, Incident Command System, ELT-downed aircraft location and First Aid/CPR.  He is extremely proficient in Navigation and the art of Man Tracking. Dave is a great asset to our team.  He has been on numerous searches with the dog teams and is always ready to do whatever is asked of him.  Dave is very  proficient  in search management and in field skills and understands the needs, as dog team support.