My Biggest Survival Advantage

**Alaskan Survivalist** · 04-12-2010, 09:10 PM

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A map? What’s the big advantage? I have been writing in information on every trip I have made for a long time. Which lakes have fish in them and which ones don’t. Game trails and places where moose bed down are marked. When the snow melts, how high the water was etc. Blueberries patches are marked. All my favorite fishing holes, where and when I saw animals and even mineral deposits I have found prospecting. Locations of my stashes are in here too. All I have learned over my life about Alaska is in this atlas. Do others keep journals and find them as advantageous as I do?

**crashdive123** · 04-12-2010, 10:28 PM

Excellent idea. Sounds like a treasure trove of information.

**Rick** · 04-12-2010, 10:48 PM

You know, I don't know why I never thought of that. I take a topo map with me on every trip and always write in stuff like that. So I have these scattered maps that have bits and pieces of info on them. I have a state Atlas as well that has incredible detail. I guess I'm going to have to transcribe stuff into it. Thanks, that would be an incredible advantage to have if the chips were down. Cudos and rep...again.

**Sourdough** · 04-12-2010, 11:34 PM

Great Idea.......

**Alaskan Survivalist** · 04-12-2010, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by Sourdough

Great Idea.......

Especially for Alaskans. You know the importance of staying on top of migrations. Even local ones up and down the mountain and the water columns.

**mccaw69** · 04-13-2010, 10:43 AM

Even though we don't have the vast expanses of country here in ky. like u do in alaska,I've always marked my topo's with notes like water sources,springs,larges eadible resources,etc...I even carry a notebook to write down other info that i might use in future hikes/hunts/camps.Surprisingly it comes in very handy from time to time.

**canid** · 04-13-2010, 10:54 AM

i pretty much keep most of it in my head.

i have detailed locations, dates, etc for spotting wolves and elk in idaho, hotsprings, and chantarelle and porcini patches in washington, oregon, california, pike in mighigan, trout in the sierras and all video-documented on the screen of my memory.

i suppose i could write it down, for the benefit of others, though i've always enjoyed it when friends come to me for info, share stories, etc.

**crashdive123** · 04-13-2010, 11:02 AM

AS - how many "volumes" of that atlas have you gone through over the years? Do you transcribe the info to the newer ones, or just keep all volumes on hand?

**hunter63** · 04-13-2010, 11:47 AM

AS, OMG, that map book still has a cover! Must be new.
LOL, Talk about thinking the same way...................

This is my state Bible:

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Also pictured is a US map book for over land trips.
Kinda looks like I need a new one, LOL, but I mark out all the different areas with "Highlighters".

Wisconsin has a lot of private land and a good amount of State, Federal, County forests, parks, camp grounds etc.
There is also a lot of land that land owners have taken money from the state and feds, and they are supposed to allow you to hunt if asked.

So the Bible has all the info marked out in different colors,w/names, addresses, phone numbers, notes of all kinds.

I never go anywhere with out my "Bible".......and been known to go out to the truck when discussions turn to "secret spots", and have people fill in the names address, directions etc.
Beats trying to find dirt roads at o-dark thirty, to arrive some where in a timely fashion.

Also has proved BS wrong when someone starts with 'I know a secret spot, I'd tell you but you would never find it" crapola, so I drag out the Bible and say
"Show me".

There also a "Boat version", that stays in the boat, in one of the water-proof Mortar tubes.
Then there is a water proof canoe bag version, with different river maps, marking portages, landings, water, camping etc.

**klkak** · 04-13-2010, 12:24 PM

I've never been much at writing things down. But it is a great idea.

**rwc1969** · 04-13-2010, 03:41 PM

I have the same exact book AS, except mine's for Michigan. Great book! If I ever sold it would be for much more than I paid. It, along with my other books and maps have so much info that I've noted into them that it would be priceless to a local forager, hunter, etc.

Even the best maps don't include every road, two track, pond, creek, old orchard or fencerow, etc. etc. As detailed as the maps and books are these days, they don't include all the details. LOL!

I've actually seen books, journals, etc. for sale on E-bay and the like. The bids go pretty high for some, usually morel related. I would never sell mine and think it's sacriledge to do so.

**hunter63** · 04-13-2010, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by rwc1969

I have the same exact book AS, except mine's for Michigan.

LOL, mine is the same as well, but is for Wisconsin, just hard to tell, in it's current condition.
I also have several Plat Books for various areas listing land owners, new ones comeout every 10 years.
I do need a new one as looking at it today, noticed that a couple people have moved or died since I listed their info.

**Camp10** · 04-13-2010, 05:16 PM

I've been doing this for a while now also. I started many years ago when my brother and I stumbled onto a place to camp/hunt on the edge of a great little pond up in Bald mountain township...someplace. I've never found it again and searched for a few years. After that, I've marked everything.

**Alaskan Survivalist** · 04-14-2010, 12:38 AM

I keep my Atlas at home and have smaller maps I take to field. Lately I have been using my Garmin 400 GPS and transfering info on computer but I always get it logged in Atlas. I don't trust these damn contraptions yet. I have also started to collect pictures. I have thought I may write a book about Alaska Hiking trails and canoe trips when I retire. Not a survivalist book but for people that just like to get out and explore off the beaten trail.

**wildWoman** · 12-31-2010, 05:14 PM

Another excellent post

When we first moved to the area, we marked down this kind of info on our topo maps, too. Good campspots, fishing holes, berry patches, major game trails, where to get sand and gravel etc etc. However, since we don't range very far for our activities, we soon knew this info by heart.

I think what's really important to make this mapping system work even better is to understand the dynamics between weather, plants, and animals. If a winter with below average snowfall is followed by a dry summer, small swampy areas will dry out that previously, you couldn't easily walk through. Or that some berries still thrive with fairly little rain. Figure out in which valley it tends to be moister/colder - you may still find a berry crop there even though a few kilometers further, everything has failed. Know which plants are likely to grow with which plants and where. And in turn, which animals will eat them. Understand how a higher snowpack affects the movement of game - where will they be in that case, in comparison to a "normal" winter.
There is a lot of fluctuation involved.

**klickitat** · 12-31-2010, 06:28 PM

I have been wanting to do that with a calendar so that I remember when certain fish come into the sound and where I was when I had good success, but I LOVE THIS idea even better. This is way better! I already have these maps for both Washington and Idaho, but never thought of using them in such a way.

I have to redo my map bag around this idea. CP points on their way.

**hunter63** · 12-31-2010, 06:37 PM

Well, I'm fixing to head up th Arkansas tomorrow, should have picked up on for that state.

I find my maps/notes to be a valuable asset as AS pointed out.
Knowledge makes things so much easier, and I guess I too old to learn the same things over and over.
Keeping track always made sense to me.

If any of you remember the old Cub Scouts books that the leader would check off what you did?
I guess this is just a continuation of that.

As far as the GPS's, I guess I just haven't learned to use them yet.
Mine are good at telling me where I have been, but if you don't have an address....you are kinda out of luck.

**Camp10** · 12-31-2010, 07:02 PM

The maps work great with the GPS. I use both quite often. Lots of the logging roads up here can circle around into each other and some are to new to be on the map. When I come to something unfamiliar I just check my coordinates on the GPS and find that location on the map. The Mapquest programs on the GPS are pretty thorough and it isnt often that I need the maps with the E-tracks handheld but it is nice to have something to double check.