"Only intimate and rather prolonged contact with the wilds seem to allow any significant revelation of its inner secrets." - Calvin Rutstrum

By the time you graduate from high school you've spent twelve years learning the ways of our culture, but the vast majority of people are still strangers in the natural world that gave rise to it. They have no knowledge of how to take care of themselves. They don't know how to identify common edible plants, read the sky to forecast the weather, navigate by the stars, build a comfortable shelter out of natural materials, or make a fire without modern equipment. They don't know the simple, rural, outdoor life that most of humanity has lived.

Many people are motivated to learn and experience more, but most won't do anything except check out a few websites and learn some buzzwords. But this doesn't aid you significantly with regards to reaching your goal of being competent and comfortable in the bush in all seasons. If you're reading this you probably already have a few books that promise to give you all you need to live in the bush for an extended period of time. But they didn't deliver, so you're looking for more. To really learn the self-reliance of the bush, it takes time and experience.

But people in the modern world are lazy. Why do you think there are so many survival tools and gadgets that didn't exist a hundred years ago when people spent their lives in the bush? Because everyone wants the easy way. Here's a news flash; there is no easy way. You can buy all the gear and fake it, but you'll know you're faking. Or you can go the hard way, the real way, and know deep inside yourself that you're the real deal. How will you know? Experience.

This program provides that time and experience. You spend your time in the bush living the life and pursuing an advanced course of study designed to make you a confident outdoor professional. Life is short. Do you want to let another year pass where you feel like an alien in the bush?

For the past decade we've been providing bushcraft courses and outdoor living experiences for the few who forsake the throng and seek the the bush for what it has to teach. We've run 14 college level, semester length wilderness immersion programs, guided canoe, snowshoe and fishing trips, and taught countless shorter courses. We keep alive the traditional skills of the north woods, and pass them along to the next generation. We invented the genre of immersion semester program in bushcraft and traditional outdoor skills. We've run more of them than any other outfit. And we stay small on purpose.

If there's a faster way to go from city slicker to competent outdoor professional let us know.

2010-2011 Yearlong Immersion Program

The yearlong immersion begins with the the fall term (9 week Wilderness Bushcraft Semester), continues with the winter term (two-week Winter Bushcraft Intensive) in January, and finishes with the spring term (4-week canoe expedition in May). During the interim periods, students will be responsible for nature studies, projects and other bookwork. They don't stay at the field school during the interim periods. We organize the program this way to maximize learning and practical experience while minimizing burnout and exhaustion.

Optional components of the yearlong program consist of:

• Summer homesteading, guiding and instructing internship.
• Alumni Programs
• 9 Month Nature Study Curriculum
• Practical Exam

Other components of the course include taking a firearms hunter education, archery hunter education and trappers education courses offered by the state, and passing the state exam to become a Registered Maine Guide.

The 21 Point Jack Mountain Curriculum

Our curriculum is designed as a cumulative sequence of learning experiences where the resulting outcome is greater than the sum of the parts. This is a much different approach than assembling a collection of random skills and activities and calling it a course. Our goal isn't just that a student is able to "do" a skill. Instead it's to develop their knowledge, attitude and physical skills into a cohesive whole.

Our warm-weather curriculum includes:

1. Wilderness Survival - Basic, intermediate and advanced survival.
2. Fire - Fire making with and without modern tools.
3. Shelter Construction - Building for survival, short-term and long-term stays.
4. Water - Acquisition And Purification.
5. Navigation - Barehand (using no modern tools), map and compass.
6. Canoeing - Paddling, poling, lining, portaging, and using traditional gear such as tumplines and wannigans.
7. Ropework And Knots - Making cord and rope and tying useful knots.
8. Clothing Science - Choosing and maintaining your clothing for the bush.
9. Outdoor Cooking - Stone ovens, pot suspension systems, primitive grilling, sourdough baking, reflector ovens, dutch ovens, etc.
10. Provisioning And Meal Planning For Trips - Choosing appropriate foods, determining amounts, packing, etc.
11. Outdoor Leadership - Becoming a professional outdoor leader, managing groups in the woods and on the water.
12. The Knife - Selection, safety, powerful and efficient use.
13. The Axe - Selection, safety, powerful and efficient use.
14. The Saw - Selection, safety, powerful and efficient use.
15. Trip Equipment - Use and maintenance of nylon and canvas tents, stoves, lanterns, tarps, canoes, paddles, etc.
16. Group Encampment - Safety, cleanliness, organization.
17. Sustainability - Composting, waste management, sanitation.
18. First Aid - Dealing with common injuries. Note: This is not a first aid course.
19. Lost Person - Finding a lost person in the bush.
20. First-Person Ecology - Studies of the natural world including weather (observational forecasting), plants (edible, medicinal, utilitarian and magical uses), mammals and their tracks, birds, fish, fungi, insects (with an emphasis on aquatic insects) and stars and the night sky.
21. Crafts - Building useful pieces of gear such as a bow drill, a saw frame, a netting needle and net, a canoe paddle, campfire cooking rigs, burned spoons and bowls, animal calls, sleeping mats, pack frames, archery equipment, pack baskets, and much more.

Electives - In addition to our general curriculum, there are other aspects of the bush life that participants can explore if they're interested. These include primitive living (going without modern gear), primitive fishing, fly casting and fishing, and firearm safety and marksmanship. There are open hunting and fishing seasons during the program. If you want to hunt or fish, you'll need to get a Maine hunting and/or fishing license. They can be ordered online at Maine Department Of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife. If you've never held a hunting or bowhunting license, you'll need to take a hunter's safety course in order to get one. This is best done before you arrive so check with your state or province to learn more. We're very particular about not breaking any fish and game laws on our courses, so you'll need a license even if you just want to put a hook in the water one time.

Sustainability - There are also daily lessons on living a simple, sustainable, rural life. Building and using outdoor showers, composting toilets, solar and fireless cookers, food preservation and storage, organic gardening, and much more.

For more detail on these topics, see the Jack Mountain Bushcraft Student Handbook.

Who This Program Is For

Our yearlong immersion is for people wanting to become bushcraft and wilderness survival instructors, professional wilderness guides, ecotour operators, naturalists and outdoor leaders. It's also a good fit for people taking a year off before or after college, those looking for an amazing immersion experience into self-reliance, and those seeking a more intimate contact with the natural world.

Our Goal

To make our students equals. We work side-by-side to bring you up to speed as quickly as possible. You see how we do things and do them yourself. We don't want to be the sage on the stage.

How We Accomplish That Goal

1. Knowledge Learn from some of the best and most experienced instructors in the world, with a curriculum that's been refined over a decade of running extended courses in remote areas.

2. Experience Experience is where our program departs from the norm. This is wilderness living, not just wilderness living skills. Spend your time living, traveling and learning outdoors, working together with master guides and instructors.

3. Documentation Keep track of what you learn with our assessment system. Far superior to any "certification" program, it keeps track of what you've accomplished, not just what course you took.

4. Verification Finish the program with our practical exam. You'll demonstrate your knowledge and competency in a variety of specific skills.

Are we the most comprehensive program? Compare us:

There are many outdoor education programs available these days, but there are huge differences in content, educational philosophy, and curriculum between them. When we explain what we do to people with no concept of bushcraft, they often remark, "so it's just like (insert name of national outdoor company here)". We reply, "No. In fact the only thing we have in common is that both of our programs emphasize the benefits of being outdoors."

The large, national companies who advertise in the major magazines offer backpacking and mountaineering programs as their staple, and their ads feature plastic-wrapped hikers carrying huge packs and urging everyone to tread lightly (if you think these ideals are at odds, so do we). While these programs get people out in the natural world, the focus is on human interaction and high-tech gear, not the traditional skills of the wilderness.

There's also a new genre of program with a focus on tracking and nature awareness that offer yearlong programs, but they meet just 3-4 times per week during business hours. These programs are great, but their focus, curriculum and methodology is much different than ours.

Our program is different. We're located in remote northern Maine. The curriculum is organized around intensive outdoor living experiences with an emphasis on traditional skills, nature knowledge and the skills of the professional wilderness guide. In addition to the curriculum, there are many lessons learned as a result of living outdoors that can be learned no other way. The focus is to make you better, more knowledgeable, more confident, and more at home in the forest.

Group Size

Group size is limited to 10.

Tuition

Tuition for the 2010-2011 Yearlong Program is $10,500. An additional discount of $400 is available if you bring your own canoe to the fall and spring courses. This does not include hunting or fishing licenses, which must be purchased through the state. Tuition Financing is available.

We have a rolling admission policy for all of our programs. We're accepting applications for this program until June 1st, 2010. The minimum age to enroll is 18. Apply Now.

Housing, Meals, College Credit and Other Information

Information on housing and meals, as well as other background information, is located on the Field School Programs Background Information page. College credit is available. For details visit the credit information page.

Get More Information - Videos, Photos And Student Work

To get a better idea of what takes place during the semester, check out these resources:

• Photo albums of past semesters
• Student testimonials
• Student papers, logbooks and field journals
• Slideshow
• Online videos - Jack Mountain Bushcraft Journal episodes 8-16 were shot as a video diary of the fall, 2007 semester course.

Questions?

If you have questions, visit our frequently asked questions page first as the answer might be there. If it isn't don't hesitate to email, call, or stop by with them.

•  Registration Information

•  Tuition And Payment Plan Information

•  College Credit Information

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