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Survival and romance.
Alright, i'm not talking about bumpin uglies in the woods. I'm talkin about the romanticised idea of wilderness survival. To some degree we all have this romantic idea about wilderness survival. We watch the movies and read the books and it leaves us longing for a similar experience.
The truth of the matter is, wilderness survival is tough. you have to do it all yourself. there,s no grocery store, quick snacks, drive through's or TV's
I haven't slept in a warm comfy bed in over a year now. many night's were cold and damp. but you get used to it, you adapt. I've learned the value of insulation and how to make myself more comfortable. The biggest blunder a person can make is not insulating themselves from the ground. The ground can suck the warmth right out of you, even when it's warm. More insulation underneath, not on top.
Another thing we get all warm and fuzzy about is hunting and trapping. we figure if we have a gun or set a few traps, then we'll be just fine.
In reality, it's more difficult than you think. Hunting on the weekend and getting something leads us to believe survival is easy.
If you have to hunt for long term survival, you'll be walking your *** off because the game is spread out over huge areas, and the closer you hunt to camp the sooner you'll hunt that game out. then you have to either walk further or move camp closer to new hunting grounds.
Another thing we may assume is that if we set a hundred traps or snares, we'll get a hundred animals. try ten to fifteen. same with fishing.
Once you get some experience, you do become more successful. you begin to see that animals live in a neighborhood, just like people, and they have habits too. once you get to know the neighborhood you can begin to hunt much more effectively.
The other day I talked to a guy that was bowhunting for deer. I watched him get ready for the hunt. he put on his camo overhauls, hat, gloves, and a facemask. then he bagan to spray his gear with this bottle of stuff. I asked him what it was. He said it was scent blocker, he sprayed everything. He began to tell me how important it was to mask all his smells.
A year ago I probably would have agreed with him, but not now. I believe that I could go hunting in a polkadot zoot suit and bag a trophy buck. The reason is, is that I've spent enough time in the woods now to understand the animal much better. I think that all that fancy hunting gear helps to make you feel good and make someone else lots of money.
When I hunt, I do so in what you could call typical street clothes. The clothes that I normally wear.
Understanding your quarry is the most important aspect to getting your game. All that other stuff is secondary, even UNneccessary.
I'm nowhere near as good a hunter as I wan't to be but, I'm well on my way to being that awsome Indian hunter that I've read about.
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the thing about hunting (and i am no expert) is to understand your animals but i do know animals and i know the longer you stay away from civilization and its smells the more you blend in the less of a threat you become the more successful your hunt will be, and i agree with your hypothesis on ground insulation
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I'll agree with most of what you say, but I certainly wouldn't discount the importance of scent when hunting deer. A good blocker (like fox urine) and a good attractor make a world of difference - if used properly.
I like to use natural scents. I usually save the rear leg gland of a doe in estrus for an attractor, and for a blocking scent - a trapper friend has a caged fox. He gets $25 per ounce for the urine, and he can't make that fox pee fast enough to keep up with the demand.
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I dont know that scent bloked would make much dif here. I mean when I sleep in the woods the deer sometimes come pretty close to stepping on me so...
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Nomad, how long have you been hunting in the bush? When you go out, how long are you out there?
I know I largely romanticized the concept of "the wild". My first trip to British Columbia woke me up to the harsh reality of sleeping in a shelter you build yourself in negative 20 degree weather, building a fire in snow, etc. It's not easy, but because of that, there is a greater love for the entire process.
When I head up to Alaska this summer I will be facing all the challenges you brought up. Hunting, trapping, fishing, all of these will be essentials for my success or lack there of. I'm not going to pretend I am the most experienced, far from that. I need to learn a lot. I want to get a fair amount of hunting in this winter to put more experience under my belt before heading to Alaska.
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Hemingway have you done reseach on subsistence living laws and stuf up there?
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[QUOTE=Hemingway;80187]Nomad, how long have you been hunting in the bush? When you go out, how long are you out there?
I live in the bush. I come to town a couple days a week to make some money as I have younguns to help support, but other than that I'm in the woods everyday.
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