A Survival Tips and Techniques Blog | UrbanWoodsman.com

**Contains images of whale hunting some may find offensive** From the wonderful BBC documentary, A Boy Among Polar Bears, this video clip shows the Inuits hunting whales. Amazing free video clip from the BBC.

Hunting and fishing is the way many people survive in this world. Rather than going to the local supermarket, many people rely on hunting and fishing to supply them with meat and other nutrients for their bodies.

While some people grew up in families where hunting and fishing was used to supply food for the table, others have found it to be a rewarding experience later in life. Hunting and fishing are also activities that many people choose for recreational purposes.

Deer hunting is the most popular type of hunting in North America. The white tail deer continues to be a great catch, but its challenges often make it nearly impossible to capture. Its wilderness survival far surpasses other deer species because of its extra keen sense of smell as well as sight and sound.

A white tail deer can detect a variety of scents and it also has stronger olfactory senses than many breeds of dogs. Their skittishness also makes them an elusive figure in the woods.

Hunting and fishing is not only a challenge for many people, it gives them a chance to relax and something to focus on besides the usual grind of work and everyday life. Hunting and fishing can be like a vacation in the middle of a weekend or for a few hours after work. It can also give you a chance to be with friends and family who are just as busy as you are.

One challenge that hunting and fishing also provides is the quest for a trophy sized animal or fish. This is one goal that any sportsman secretly, or not so secretly, longs for. Most beginners are glad to catch or take fish or game of any size, but as experience kicks in, the desire to catch something worthy of hanging on the wall intensifies.

Many hunters will begin to pass on animals they could take, in hope that a big one will soon appear. Veteran anglers may begin to get out fished by novices because they refuse to put on the lure that their companions are using to catch anything that will bite. They use big lures designed to catch the attention of big fish that got big by passing on those other lures that the little fish go nuts over.

Hunting and fishing is a pastime for many people in much the same way that baseball is a pastime. As such, outlawing hunting and fishing would only lead to many people changing their way of life.

Whether they go hunting and fishing to supply food for their family or simply as a means of relaxation, it is enjoyed by people who truly understand the importance of it.

Hunting trip to the North Woods. 4 guys hunting hard for almost 4 days produced one 142 # doe. Tough Hunt, but loads of Fun and Beauty.

Hunting for Elk can be very demanding, especially considering the type of terrain that hunts are typically carried out on.  With the right preparation before-hand you can turn a so-so hunt into the hunt of a lifetime.  The American West holds some of the most beautiful country in the United States and for a lot of folks that means mountainous terrain.  The very first tip that I can offer to you is to get yourself into good enough physical condition before considering an elk hunt.  If you expect a guide to piggy-back you around, you are probably going to be a little let down when the time comes to start trekking into the heart of Elk country.  Conversely, if you are hunting public land, the very first thing to consider is getting a little background knowledge on the area you are going to be hunting.  The reason guides are so successful and oft-used is due to the fact that they live and breathe the land they are responsible for guiding on.  Elk guides know the habits of the particular population of animals in their area and play by the rules dictated by the Elk.  Another variable that makes guides so popular is that they know their quarry.  If you want to perform at the level of a guide, you must have background knowledge of Elk habits.  Armed with this knowledge of territory, the typical habits of Elk and being in shape enough to tackle back country, you can become an effective hunter.

Choosing a Guide / Outfitter:
Hiring an Outfitter or Guide is an excellent way to cut down on the preparation that is typically required for a successful Elk hunting trip.  Your guide supplies the brains and you supply the bullet or arrow.  The main drawback to hiring out a guide is cost.  Elk hunting is typically not a cheap endeavor, but if you want guaranteed results in almost every circumstance, a guided trip is the way to go.

Another benefit of hiring an outfitter is that once you put the animal on the ground, they will haul it out for you.  In addition, a majority of guide services either offer butchering or have very solid working relationships with processors due to the amount of business they typically bring in. oogle_ad_client = “pub-5569030158825604″; /* 468×60, created 11/22/09 */ google_ad_slot = “5171795343″; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; // –> <!– google_protectAndRun(“ads_core.google_render_ad”, google_handleError, google_render_ad); // –>

One of (if not the most) important benefits of hiring a guide or outfitter is the amount of knowledge you can glean from these men / women.  For the most part, guides have spent years upon years perfecting their craft and almost all are more than willing to answer questions and to give insight on animal behavior, etc.

When contracting a guide another perk is that they will typically provide all of the meals as well as lodging.  If you are dragging on a guided trip the chances are that you will not perform up to snuff and may not get an animal.

Do-It-Yourself Elk Hunt:
If you have the equipment and the stamina, there is probably no greater challenge than packing up and setting off for the backcountry on your own.  One caveat to this is that you MUST be prepared and have a working knowledge of wilderness survival if by chance you get lost or injured.

The most simple method of hunting for Elk on your own is to pack up a backpack with enough supplies to ensure you have shelter, food and most importantly water.  The human body can survive for several weeks without food (albeit at lower performance levels), but if you remove water from your daily intake, you survival time drops drastically.  Make sure you pack light as you will have to carry your kit on your back for extended periods of time.  Conversely, you need to make sure that all of your needs with regards to clothing (temperatures can swing wildly depending on the season), shelter, etc. are covered.  Something that I used to do before going on long outings in the wilderness is to test out my pack as it will be loaded during a trip.  Obviously you won’t be carrying your bow or rifle around with you, but a simple test run or two should be sufficient enough to tell you whether you have packed too heavily.  Never sacrifice water for items that are not necessary.  Another suggestion on top of packing an ample supply of water for your trip (several liters for a day or two trip), is to invest in a water purifier.  There are numerous products out on the market, but for my money, I went with the Katydyn Vario Microfilter water purification system. Spending money on a good filter / purifier is an excellent investment.

Before setting out, make sure that your trip is planned carefully and that you notify friends or family where you are going to be at what time and when you expect to return.  In the event of an emergency, people need to know where you are, this greatly increases your survival rate if something bad should happen.

One major advantage of a DIY Elk hunt is that you set your own pace, allowing you to set up a small base camp and branch out from there.  Another benefit of packing in yourself is the freedom you have to set up camp wherever you want.  If you spot a couple of 6×6 bulls in the distance, you can move camp easily and hopefully set yourself up to take an animal down when the time is right.

The major challenge despite the obvious physical one occurs if and when you take down an Elk.  If you succeed in your mission you will most likely need to mark the kill spot, return to your vehicle to lighten up and then come back for the animal.  It may even take several trips to do so.  If you do research beforehand, you may find that an area rancher or land owner has horses on call for a fee of money or a couple of Elk steaks after all is said and done.

One of the most important things you can do before going it alone is to go on a guided trip.  Pick the brain of your guide and get as much information as possible from him or her.  This knowledge will prove priceless when in the field and having no one else to rely upon but yourself.

A DIY Elk hunt is the thrill of a lifetime, filled with challenge after challenge.  In the end, if you do take down an Elk, you can take pride in knowing that you did things your way, on your own time.

any good “how to” websites that deal primarily with these subjects?

In survival kits, safety pins, wires and knives can all be used for different forms of hunting. Pack hunting supplies for a survival kit with tips from an experienced outdoorsman in this free video on wilderness survival. Expert: kevin Barrett Bio: Kevin Barrett is an experienced outdoors man who has been honing his survival skills for many years. Filmmaker: Nili Nathan

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It is better to spend a night in the dark wood than getting yourself more confused when you are lost. And it always safe to know some survival tips when you are in that situation. There are many factors that could lead us to get lost in the wood even in the daytime. Reads more on how you could survive in those kinds of situations.

There are times when even the best of woodsmen are forced to spend a night in the wilderness. A man might travel so far into the woods, after a deer that it might be unsafe or impractical for him to try to find his way to the camp in the darkness. He might become lost as to direction, and prefer to camp out instead of risking the chance of becoming more confused by aimless traveling. If, for any reason, it is necessary to spend the night in the woods, knowledge of some of the fundamentals of woodcraft will aid in the comfort and even the survival of the lost person.

People seldom become lost on a day when the sun is shining, so the chances are that cold, wet or stormy weather has to be dealt with. If a person becomes lost early in the day, it is all right to travel (unless he finds that he is traveling in circles) with the hope of stumbling onto some tote-road, which could be followed to habitation. Otherwise it is best to try to make a camp somewhere in the vicinity and prepare to spend the night. Usually one night out is all that is necessary, unless the lost person is a lone hunter and no others know of his absence, or in the case of a continued storm of several days’ duration. In any case the camp should be made as comfortable as possible.

Fire is the most important item in the camp. The hearth is the symbol of the home and nothing does more to make a man feel at ease in the woods than a good fire. Build it against a fallen tree or a dead stub so that there will be a back-log to hold the heat. Gather as large a supply of dry limbs and down-wood as possible, because an open fire can use a surprising amount of fuel in a night and it is no fun to hunt for it in the dark. Gather anything which might burn and which can be dragged. Long pieces can be burned into shorter lengths and damp wood may be dried enough to be burned after the fire has had a chance to get a good start. Sometimes it is hard to find enough dry wood which can be used for kindling the fire, but the dead branches on the lower part of the softwood trees are nearly always dry enough to start with. Any of these branches that will break with a snap are satisfactory. Some of the mosses which hang from fir and spruce branches may be used for tinder if there is no birch bark nearby.

Sometimes a man will be caught with no dry matches or other conventional means of starting a fire. In such cases it is possible to borrow a page from the days of the flint-lock, when the hunter would use his gun as a fire starter. This modern adaptation should not be used except in an emergency, but it is usually effective.

Remove the bullet from a cartridge and empty about half of the powder onto a dry piece of bark. Cover this powder with crumbled, dry punk which is found in decayed stumps or in the interior of dead trees, or stubs where woodpeckers have been working. Be sure to keep this dry. Fill the bullet-end of the partly loaded cartridge with cotton cloth, or, lacking cotton, any cloth of vegetable origin. Place the cartridge in the gun and shoot it in a direction that will permit recovery of the cloth. This cloth will be smoldering from the heat of the explosion. Place this smoldering cloth in contact with the punk and powder, using sticks to handle the burning cloth and being careful to keep the hands and face away from the flash fire which is almost sure to result. Powder will not actually explode in the open air, but will burn very rapidly with an intense heat which will ignite the punk, leaving a mound of glowing coals that can be utilized to start a blazing fire.

There is something that you should learn which could be useful when lost in the woods especially in the woods. These tips given above will help you in your fight to survive in the woods when you are lost in the deer hunting. You can starts practicing them now, if you have any plan to go deer hunting in the near future.