Practice makes perfect

No matter how good you are in bushcraft or survival theory, a lot of the knowledge will be practically useless unless you are practicing the skills regularly. And bushcraft is all about being outside enjoying what nature has to show and to give.

You should find an area close to your home where you can spend time outside as often as possible. Not only when the weather is good because some skills are needed the most when the weather is against you like shelterbuilding and firemaking. But bear in mind that you will need permission to build shelters and make fires unless you are in an actual emergency situation.

I'm blessed in having a forest within 5 minutes walk from my apartment where I can just pack some equipment, food and water and spend time there as often as I like due to Norwegian law that says all outside properties that is not part of agriculture is free for everyone to stay in. There I can practice skill, make an outside meal, camp or simply just have a walk and sit next to the lake for a while.

The more time you spend outside, the more comfortable you will be there. So get out and practice skill as often as possible.

See you soon!

Animal watching

Most people are amazed when they see a wild animal out in its natural surroundings. Normally we see the animals as stressed and disturbed, mostly because they know we are there. On the other side there is nothing more exhilarating than calm and undisturbed animals out in the wild. To be able to experience this amazing thing, you will need some sets of skills and patience.

You must be able to sit perfectly still for several hours, masking your scent, knowing the art of camouflage and of course you must be able to know where to find the different species of animals.

The reasons for wanting to watch wild animals can be many. You may want to get a picture of what species of animals and the number of them recorded before a coming hunting season. Maybe you would like to get amazing photos of wildlife in their own undisturbed habitat. Or simply just wanting to get more great experiences under your belt.

A calm roe deer captured by my game camera

So lets go on to how this is done. First of all you need to do some preparation work. Animals are normally scared of the human scent which means that your scent needs to be masked. For thousands of years there have always been a lot of forest fires witch has put its scent on the terrain, this has made the animals accustomed to the scent of smoke and fire.  To imitate this, get into your warm, comfortable clothes that are earthly colored or camouflaged. Then you sit closely to the campfire until your clothes smells like smoke.

Then the final thing you need to do is to sit next to a game trail in a comfortable position (leaning towards a tree or a rock etc) and not move at all for several hours. The best time for this is very early morning like for example 4- 5 AM all until noon. Trails made by big game is also used by other small game so you can be prepared to see lots of different animals during the morning.

If you are in luck and your preparations are good enough you may be able to touch a deer or a fox so get out and keep trying!

Have fun and see you soon!