looking to practice survival (midwest)

[mjgish13]

Hello all,

So I've been practicing survival skills for a couple years now (various 1 day trips) but now I want to put it to use. Im from nebraska and want to do a week trip with taking minimal gear with me. Any suggestions on locations that aren't too far but will provide the best possible experience??

[natertot]

Hi mj13. Can you give a little more information about yourself. Things such as your age and what kind of things you have actually learned, practiced, and gain proficiency at would be helpful. Before recommendations are made, we like to know who you are so we can give adequate advice.

btw, what part of NE are you from? I grew up on the other side of the river in IA.

[hunter63]

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome.

There is an intro section to say Hello at:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

[finallyME]

What experience are you looking for? What do you mean by "minimal" gear?

Go to google maps. Zoom in to Nebraska. Look for the green patches. Pick one that is "close enough".

[hunter63]

May want to check out this site....maps to show different wilderness areas in different states....
http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/stateView?state=NE

[finallyME]

Another thing.....

Once you have established the general spot, go to this site http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=38.8,-98.4&z=5&b=t and print yourself a good map.

[kyratshooter]

Another drive by survivalist?

We're getting them all these days.

[mjgish13]

I'm 24 years old based out of Omaha. I'm proficient in primitive firestarting, shelters, and trapping. I took a weekend trip down to Hercules glades wilderness last year with a tarp, emergency blanket, hatchet, and small fishing set. That went well and I want to do a week long trip. Possibly in CO or WI. Just looking to see if anyone knows of some great places or what peoples experiences were?? And thank you for the info already provided.

[finallyME]

That information helps a lot more. Here are a couple of thoughts...

Wyoming is a beautiful place....and unforgiving. Colorado can be...in the mountains. I would look at a few possibilities.
First, you might want to look hard at backpacking instead of "surviving". You will see a lot more, and you still get a lot of that wilderness experience. Some people think you can backpack and live off the land along the way. That really isn't true, unless you are backpacking through farms while the annual crops are ready to harvest. So, with backpacking, you take everything you need on your back... including food, and just enjoy yourself for the week.
Second, you can look at backpacking in to a spot and sitting there for a week. Pick a high mountain lake about 10 miles from your car and walk in the first day and park your butt there until the end of the week and then walk back. Still bring everything you need.... including food. However, you can practice living off the land and only use what you have in your pack when you absolutely need it. If you plan your spot right, you can probably fish a bunch of different lakes without having to walk very far. Avid fishermen (fisherpeople?) do this all the time.

A couple things to think about if you go to the Rockies...
1. Altitude will get to you. Even if you don't get sick, you will still feel it. I live at 5500 feet. I don't get sick at 10000, but I know young people who live in my town who get sick every time they get over 10000. I also can feel the oxygen loss at that elevation.
2. There is a reason why people didn't settle IN the mountains....there aren't that many resources to live off of. All the lakes have to be stocked constantly for there to be enough fish, even the high, barely accessible ones. If you are good, you will be able to catch enough fish, but don't expect much else. You will need a license to fish and to trap stuff.
3. Prepare for 20F weather with snow....even in July and August. Generally night time temps are in the low 30s, but sometimes a storm rolls through and the temps drop real fast.
4. If you are in a National Forest, and you are in one place for a week..... expect a ranger stopping by and talking with you. It doesn't matter how remote you are. They are "ranging" the whole of it. Make sure you are camping the proper distance from a body of water and a trail.

I still haven't told you exactly where to go. That is still for you to figure it out..... which is half the fun. Make sure you look at the link I provided in post #6. That website program will tell you everything you need to know. Not to be rude, but if you need more information than that, then you ........well, I will leave that alone.

Good luck! Take lots of pictures and report back.

[Rick]

There are sooooo many national wilderness areas. There's probably one near you. Rules can change from location to location but the one here allows you to camp anywhere. There are designated camp sites in places but you do not have to camp there. I've found some nice seclusion in 13,000 acres. I can't imagine how lost I could get in 200,000! There are some in the lower 48 nearly a million acres.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_wilderness_areas_in_the_United_Sta tes

[mjgish13]

This is all great info!! Thank you I have been looking at the mountain regions and this is very for information to take into consideration.

[tallgrass]

Hello all,

So I've been practicing survival skills for a couple years now (various 1 day trips) but now I want to put it to use. Im from nebraska and want to do a week trip with taking minimal gear with me. Any suggestions on locations that aren't too far but will provide the best possible experience??

Have you checked out walking along side the Mo. river. i have no idea about Ne but Mo offers plenty of wilderness type privacy.

[tallgrass]

Another drive by survivalist?

We're getting them all these days.

Throwing rocks at new people is a very effective way to keep the forum membership down.

[kyratshooter]

Throwing rocks at new people is a very effective way to keep the forum membership down.

The growth of forum membership is not a problem, we have 16,000+ members and we had 8,000+ people on line at once at 7:30 am the day after Christmas. It seems that most folks like our straight forward, common sense approach and total distain for political correctness.

And we do get more than our share of one time posting, grenade throwing trolls.

This particular person was not one of those and I thank him for that.

Now if you want to see rocks thrown you need to look up our troll toss thread in general comments and see just what damage can be done to a fragile ego by the kind members here.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?23624-The-Troll-Hall-of-Fame

[natertot]

Have you checked out walking along side the Mo. river. i have no idea about Ne but Mo offers plenty of wilderness type privacy.

Yep, I lived some of my child hood in Council Bluffs, IA which is right across the river from Omaha. There are lots of public spots right on the river which few people attend. Spent many time plinking cans and fishing in those spots. Fantastic sturgeon fishing there. Good memories!

[tallgrass]

Yep, I lived some of my child hood in Council Bluffs, IA which is right across the river from Omaha. There are lots of public spots right on the river which few people attend. Spent many time plinking cans and fishing in those spots. Fantastic sturgeon fishing there. Good memories!

My brother and i built a crude houseboat and put it on the Mo. east of KCMO. We tied up east of KCMO and had to wade to huge swamps. The 1st was waist deep and the 2nd was neck deep and in between was all Fireweed and all i had on was cut offs and no shirt! When we finally made it to the road he said YOU can have that boat. I love it on the river.

[tallgrass]

Inner city Survival! Very dangerous! 3RD AND VINE ST downtown Kansas City,Mo

Be quick, Be fast! Be Smart! Situational awareness is a must!

[DSJohnson]

How much time will you have off? Drive time makes a big difference in deciding where to go. If you have from Friday evening at 5pm/1700 hours till the Monday after next at 8AM/0800 hours you sure do not want to spend two days each way on drive time do you? You are a full days drive to the front range of the Rockies, almost as far to the Big Horns. I kind'a tend to agree with Tallgrass on this one. I would do some looking at the Missouri river for a good wilderness experience.

[tallgrass]

I just thought about checking out some areas of Western Nebraska out in the Sandhills. I remember flying over them at night in April and we were at 7000 ft and we couldn't see any lights on the ground at all. On a clear night that would be a 60-70 mile view. Check it out with google earth. Dirt roads winding around and green spots we saw in the daytime but a big nothing at night.

[billdawg]

Hello all,

So I've been practicing survival skills for a couple years now (various 1 day trips) but now I want to put it to use. Im from nebraska and want to do a week trip with taking minimal gear with me. Any suggestions on locations that aren't too far but will provide the best possible experience??

Go to Indian Cave State Park, it's about 90 minutes south of you. They have some nice hike in sites. We usually go there at least once a year and do similar stuff. You can go back in there and nobody will see you if you go fall/winter/early spring. Summer/early fall lots of RVs, but like I said, they have 4-5 back pack sites, some over a 2 miles into the bush