For course dates and rates, please see our Schedule.
|
Prepared for a night without a shelter in
the winter woods of northern Maine.
|
A winter survival shelter in deep snow.
|
Courses in wilderness survival, wilderness living skills, and primitive skills often
have their boundaries blurred so as to incorporate components from each of the three
related disciplines. While they are related, they are not the same thing.
Wilderness survival denotes living through a crisis or emergency in a wilderness setting.
Often these are the result of medical or navigational problems, or accidents of one kind
or another. The goal in this type of course is to prepare the student for such an episode
to the extent that s/he will stay alive until help arrives.
Bushcraft, or wilderness living skills, is made up of the skills and techniques that must be acquired in
order for one to live comfortably in an outdoor environment with minimal gear. An emphasis is placed
upon the selection and use of several tools such as the axe, saw, and knife, as well
as understanding the forest community and what it can provide.
Primitive skills are those without the benefit of modern tools. Due to less than
ideal regional lithic resources(for making stone tools), we will often carry a knife for such
courses and outings. Occasionally, though, such courses will be run using exclusively
stone tools.
Blowing a bow-drill coal into a flame.
|
Runs immediately following the Winter Survival Weekend Course.
Runs immediately following the Summer Survival Weekend Course.
Travel cross-country through the north woods with minimum gear, relying on woods skill and
experience. Neither an instructional course nor a backpacking exercise, participants should
have a thorough grounding in wilderness skills and be in decent physical condition.
Offered periodically.
Have you ever wondered which wild plants are edible? How about which ones are nutritious and taste good? If so you should attend our edible and medicinal plant walk and learn about edible, medicinal, and otherwise useful plants from around northern New England and the surrounding states and provinces. You'll also learn an inexpensive and functional method of pressing plants, and the process of creating your own field guide through a combination of plant pressings (or photographs) and background study.
This course begins with a review of map a compass navigation, followed by an examination of the
more subtle arts of barehand navigation, or navigation without any manufactured tools, using the
sun, moon, stars, wind, and more to find our way. Along the way, we will debunk several myths
of barehand navigation and put our skills to the test with specially designed orienteering
exercises.
The safe, powerful and effective use of the axe has become an exceedingly rare skill seldom practiced these days. But the axe remains the most useful tool you can carry with you in the bush. In this course you'll learn about choosing a good axe, how to care for it, and how to safely and powerfully perform the four most common tasks: felling, limbing, sectioning and splitting.
This seminar will teach you the knowledge you need to become a more successful hunter. Taught by Tom and Jim Watson of Watson's Guide Service, you'll learn the tips and tricks of planning and running a successful hunt.
Come and learn how to make fire by both the friction and percussion methods. Students will
craft their own fire apparatus, then put it to use. We will learn such topics as the bow
drill, hand drill, fire plough the flint and steel, and the fire piston.
Learn the basics of tracking mammals, print identification, gait patterns, sign tracking,
making plaster track casts, and learn to read the landscape with the tracker's eye.
|
