As a new method for dealing with any nonlinear or non-Gaussian distributions, based on the Monte Carlo methods and Bayesian filtering, particle filters (PF) are favored by researchers and widely applied in many fields. Based on particle filtering, an improved extended Kalman filter (EKF) proposal distribution is presented. Evaluation of the weights is simplified and other improved techniques including the residual resampling step and Markov Chain Monte Carlo method are introduced for target tracking. Performances of the EKF, basic PF and the improved PF are compared in target tracking examples. The simulation results confirm that the improved particle filter outperforms the others.