Bag the Chlorex dude, it isn't dependable. You will be EXTREAMLY unconfortable if you get a bug. Boil the water. You just need a rolling boil. If there is junk in the source, strain it through a bandana before boiling. If you hear about a new technique from anyone, even me, check it out in the library before checking it out on you. And read, read ,read. I strongly suggest reading "Into the Wild". You are obviously smart and enthustastic, don't let that get you a case of the trots, or worse. Take good notes, and have fun.
Biscuits

If you hear about a new technique from anyone, even me, check it out in the library before checking it out on you. And read, read ,read.


Don't worry, cross referencing is standard practice with me. Just ask some of my teachers or my parents. They get annoyed when they catch me asking someone else the same question I just asked them. I had pet turtles once and used clorox to 'disinfect' my hands after cleaning their aquarium and got salemenella, I learned that lesson well. No need to reinforce.

Well, as for the time I will be spending, it varies from anything like a 1 hour walk to something of Thouraeian (Think, Why I went to the Woods) proportions. I know a couple plants for certain already. Cleaning stuff in the kitchen is alot easier than in the field, so I guess I'll do that. Is there some way to stop the animal your skinning from smelling bad, or does that just go with the territory? I am always careful not to cut the intestines, but they always bug me with smells.

By the way, since you will be out in the wild, you should know something about bears. Do you know how to tell the difference between a black bear and a grizzly bear? To find out, you sneak up behind him, give him a good swift kick in the butt and climb a tree real fast. If the bear climbs the tree and eats you, he's a black bear. If he pushes the tree over and eats you, he's a grizzly.

Hardy har har har. I know how to identify bears. Coydogs is what you have to worry about up here. I have had a run in with bears and they just ran away. Smart move. Had the big 20 with me. Whats your favorite type of shelters for summer or winter?

work for a while as an inner-city EMT and the more natural smells of butchering dinner won't bother 1/2 as much. If you are smelling anything other than blood during your butchering then you have cut or shot some part of the animal that you shouldn't have. If you open any part of the digestive tract it will stink. and that goes for most of the organs as well. disconnect such parts from the animal without puncturing them or the fascia that surrounds them. If you wish to eat organ meat then the least stinky ones are the liver and the brain. I wouldn't suggest eating organ meat since it is usually where the body does the bad chemistry - stick to muscles and seperate them from the beast as cleanly as possible. Varmint and fish are treated just about the same. Unzip from chin to rectum, scoop the loose stuff, rinse, skin and roast / toast / fry / bake and then chew. Many will have scent glands in various places which you want to avoid. Learn these locations in the animals you harvest regularly and learn how to remove them without squeezing / cutting them and letting their contents loose. These are commonly found on the head and in the groin but that is probably not the only places and you will want to be able to recognize and locate them during butchering so get educated. If possible, spend some time with a local butcher or hunter and learn their tricks. If you find a semi-retired / retired old coot they will be glad enough of your honest interest in their skills that they will teach you more than you think you need to know (which is probably less than they could teach and less then you really need to know but that is the nature of youth.)

Keep at it and along the way you will have many interesting adventures and deliscious meals!

Understood.

We used to have bears show up at the campsites when we'd go camping. We'd just yell at them and make a lot of noise by banging pots and pans together, and they'd amble off. I think they'd rather not interact with people if they don't have to.

I wouldn't want to get too close to one's food or cub, though. I've seen the damage one can do when it gets ticked off, and they're nothing to mess with. They might look slow, but they aren't, and they are very powerful. I used to want to do some bear hunting until I did some studying about it. If you shoot one, you'd better hit him just right with something of sufficient power. If you just wound one, you can be in a lot of trouble. After dark, the hunter becomes the hunted. I am a very good shot, but the thought of being gnawed on by Gentle Ben doesn't interest me in the least. I'll stick with rabbits, squirrels and deer, thank you.

You asked about my favorite shelter. I will assume that we're talking about me finding myself in a situation where I have to rough it, and I have no control over the time of year, the weather, etc, and all I have is my emergency equipment. If a cave is available, and it is sound, I might consider that rather than bother with putting up a shelter of my own. I might also consider a culvert or under a bridge, if either were available. Otherwise, if the weather was warm enough, I'd pitch a lean-to. If there wasn't going to be much dew in the morning, I might just sleep under the stars. If the weather was colder, I would probably fashion a pup tent of some kind or something like a willow shelter with plastic sheeting laid over the top and fastened to the ground, and it would be facing away from the prevailing winds. The ideal location of a warm weather shelter is different from that of a cold weather shelter. If we're talking about a bitterly cold winter situation, and there is sufficient snow, I might consider a snow cave. If the materials were available, and there wasn't time to put up one of these shelters, something like a log shelter (not the same as a log cabin) would do for a night or two. It's not a good permanent shelter, though.

Shelter options when dumped in to a situation with no / little gear are limited by the amount of time you spend on them.

I would generate a debris hut for night 1 - 10. If I was intending to stay I would start building something larger on day 2. By day 10 I would think you could build something with logs and thatch that would resemble this

>>After dark, the hunter becomes the hunted I'll stick with rabbits.<< You've obviously never seen "Night of the Lupus" <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Fraid not. I supose there's quite a few reconstruction iron age villages around Briton. But it would be something like the dwellings you saw on that. Do they show UK history programmes in the US then?

I guess I missed that one. Did Thumper go off his meds?