THis is a video of the deer I took this year during Iowa's early muzzleloader season in October. The shot was made at about 25 yards with a .50 caliber flintlock Blue Ridge rifle firing a round ball pushed by 90 grains of Fffg black powder. The shot was a complete pass through, from one end of the buck to the other. Until this deer I had only gotten one other buck, and that was 20 years ago. The spot I was standing when I took this buck was less than 20 yards from where I took the first one. This spot is one of the best producing spots on the family farm. So much so that has earned the moniker "The Pooching Rock" because standing here almost makes it too easy.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Blog Re-post: Kit fever,healing from it,to honour the gone days of the Finnish woodsmen.
In the spirit of letting other great bloggers do my work for me I have gotten permission from Perkele to repost something from his blog that I read a while back and found to transcend international barriers. I have been following Perkele's blog for awhile now, and I hope you will consider doing the same.
Again today i got to thinking about this never ending kit hoarding,and my struggle with it :)
Every time i see these old men,who have been relly living from the woods,from fauna and flora,by fishing,hunting and gathering,just to live,not for fun...i am ashamed of my self somehow. These gents,in most cases,havent ever been into "kit" stuff,like i have grown with em. Usually here,you see an old hunter,with worn,but clean simple wool & cotton clothing,pair of rubber- or leatherboots,an old pack with loads of stories in it. In their packs that sometimes look more like empty,youll most likely find an old beat-up coffee pot,a frying pan of some type,sometimes even a cast iron model. The following items are usually an old wood handled axe,maybe some saw,or just a saw blade,a pouch containing some salt,sugar,tobacco and maybe some hard butter piece,alomg with piece of bread and a slice of pork meat. Hell be carrying a simple handmade puukko or just a plain cheap mora,and in some cases an compass in some pocket. And besides the kit,these old school heroes carry the most important things like will,strength,endurance and knowledge,that replace the need ( ? ) for heavy load of mostly non-vital gear.
This is something ive always,and now again, cant look bad at all.No sir,i can only admire and envy these old chaps,theyre never complaining,never whing about anything,except for their old ladies:). Juts a day ago i sat next to the fire,with this old man,who came there with his old dog,asked if he could sit there for a coffee and we got to talk about all sorts of things. I was fascinated about his stories,and his spirit,and i just couldnt stop feeling bit silly,wearing all my gear,and fancy outfit,although mine aint even close to modern or hi-tech by any means. He just sat there,talked slowly and stared at the fire,and his dog slept against his knee,till he had his cup empty and he said that he had to go his home,and he has to walk there cause his driving license was taken away due to poor eyes...though he still was hunting with success,legally.He packed up his few items,a pot and his cup,and off he went.
And i cant stop thinking about the "good" old days that he told me about.
I have recently started to get ridd off my gear,i have given,traded,sold something etc,and after that i feel like sick,and i realise its all because we men like to possess stuff just for the sake of it. But after day or two i feel quite happy about the fact that my shelves,boxes and packs are bit less heavy and less filled,and i realise that i.e. i have carried my trustworthy Sabre pack all this summer and fall,and i havent taken a lot out of it,nor havent i added much into it,except for occasional portion of food,filling water bottles,and a pouch filled with dry socks and such. The "kit" itself has been the same all the way and i trust it,it fills my needs more than well,for day hikes and even for two night-long trips as well.
But i am stripping it more in next few days,maybe ill be writing about it too.
Its a kit thing,yes,and for that i am truly sorry,but hey,atleast its about getting to bare bones,getting rid of unnecessary weight & worry :)
Like it says on my favourite sticker... "No School Like Old School"
Again I'd like to thank Perkele for letting me repost his work here. I am working on some of my own posts at the moment so you will hear from me soon, but until then i think I'll continue promoting other bloggers.
Again today i got to thinking about this never ending kit hoarding,and my struggle with it :)
Every time i see these old men,who have been relly living from the woods,from fauna and flora,by fishing,hunting and gathering,just to live,not for fun...i am ashamed of my self somehow. These gents,in most cases,havent ever been into "kit" stuff,like i have grown with em. Usually here,you see an old hunter,with worn,but clean simple wool & cotton clothing,pair of rubber- or leatherboots,an old pack with loads of stories in it. In their packs that sometimes look more like empty,youll most likely find an old beat-up coffee pot,a frying pan of some type,sometimes even a cast iron model. The following items are usually an old wood handled axe,maybe some saw,or just a saw blade,a pouch containing some salt,sugar,tobacco and maybe some hard butter piece,alomg with piece of bread and a slice of pork meat. Hell be carrying a simple handmade puukko or just a plain cheap mora,and in some cases an compass in some pocket. And besides the kit,these old school heroes carry the most important things like will,strength,endurance and knowledge,that replace the need ( ? ) for heavy load of mostly non-vital gear.
This is something ive always,and now again, cant look bad at all.No sir,i can only admire and envy these old chaps,theyre never complaining,never whing about anything,except for their old ladies:). Juts a day ago i sat next to the fire,with this old man,who came there with his old dog,asked if he could sit there for a coffee and we got to talk about all sorts of things. I was fascinated about his stories,and his spirit,and i just couldnt stop feeling bit silly,wearing all my gear,and fancy outfit,although mine aint even close to modern or hi-tech by any means. He just sat there,talked slowly and stared at the fire,and his dog slept against his knee,till he had his cup empty and he said that he had to go his home,and he has to walk there cause his driving license was taken away due to poor eyes...though he still was hunting with success,legally.He packed up his few items,a pot and his cup,and off he went.
And i cant stop thinking about the "good" old days that he told me about.
I have recently started to get ridd off my gear,i have given,traded,sold something etc,and after that i feel like sick,and i realise its all because we men like to possess stuff just for the sake of it. But after day or two i feel quite happy about the fact that my shelves,boxes and packs are bit less heavy and less filled,and i realise that i.e. i have carried my trustworthy Sabre pack all this summer and fall,and i havent taken a lot out of it,nor havent i added much into it,except for occasional portion of food,filling water bottles,and a pouch filled with dry socks and such. The "kit" itself has been the same all the way and i trust it,it fills my needs more than well,for day hikes and even for two night-long trips as well.
But i am stripping it more in next few days,maybe ill be writing about it too.
Its a kit thing,yes,and for that i am truly sorry,but hey,atleast its about getting to bare bones,getting rid of unnecessary weight & worry :)
Like it says on my favourite sticker... "No School Like Old School"
Again I'd like to thank Perkele for letting me repost his work here. I am working on some of my own posts at the moment so you will hear from me soon, but until then i think I'll continue promoting other bloggers.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Guest Post by Oz; Bushcraft Inc
I'd like to welcome my good friend I've never actually met, Oz Muskratt, of Canadian Bushcraft fame to Midwest Bushcraft. Since my muse has apparently taken temporary leave of absence I have asked Oz to do a post for me, and here it is....
Now, I don't want to make this sound anti-Bushcraft Schools, because
well, that would be counter-productive to a person like me, being a
Bushcraft Instructor and all! And I am not against store-bought items,
or else I wouldn't be typing on a laptop, nor would I be the owner of
so many items that range from Bivy Bags to big fancy knives.
However, I have noticed a steady increase in people in this business
increasing the prices of basic tools, because they have a Bushcrafty
theme to them. For instance, the Bushcraft-model Mora knives for the
most part are much pricier at a lot of stores (both in person and
online), than the regular models of Moras. Why? Yes the handles are
formed differently, but does that mean the knife must triple in price?
Personally and professionally I promote Mora knives because they are
able to be bought by anyone. I know a young lad just last week who
bought a Mora knife as his very first bushcraft knife. As well, Bahco
Laplander saws are (in most stores here in Canada) $50.00 or more. Yet
the Bahco Sandvik (really no difference at all except for handle
colour) is usually $30.00, and sometimes less!
Don't get me started on name brands. Oh fine, you started me. Ray
Mears' books, clothing, cookware are all very high-end and pricey.
Bear Gryllis isn't any different, and really no one in this business
that puts their name on a product is any different (Tom Brown Jr, Ron
Hood, myself, etc). This is a business now for many people, and the
best way to make the business run is to sell something. Whether that
be an extremely expensive course, or an extremely expensive knife is
no different. It is no longer just bushcraft, it is Bushcraft Inc.
Growing up, when I didn't have something, I wanted it badly. I would
save money up for the biggest, most pricey item for the woods I could
find, and than expect it to do everything for me, for so-and-so uses
one. Only by my mid-teens did I realize that it wasn't who endorses
the item, or how expensive the item is, but who uses it. I made my own
buckskin and wool clothes, made my own billy cans, and though I had a
nifty blacksmithed strike-a-light kit, I began to carry a hacksaw
blade with a chunk of quartz instead.
The point of bushcraft at one time was wilderness self reliance, but
now it has gained popularity and grown. As things grow, they become
more corporate. Ask Grunge Rock or anything else that claims to be
anti-establishment, and then suddenly becomes the big thing. People
will continue to sell knives and certain pieces of gear for
extraordinary prices, and courses will continue to be offered at
unheard of rates.
But do we have to give into it? Though I do like a really nice knife
or posh anorak, I have overtime returned to my mindset of
“do-it-yourself” for a great deal of gear. Do I expect to make
everything myself? No, but I remember that the further I pull away
from a corporate mindset, the more I gain an independent heart.
Bushcraft Inc. is not going away, but it doesn't have to rule us or
our decisions. Yes, I still have high-end gear. But now I partner it
with handmade kits, with grassroots knowledge.
Be smart about the marketing you see regarding certain outdoors gear.
Sometimes it's true, and sometimes it's not. Read in between the lines
and make sure your money goes to something that is worth it. Make
Bushcraft Inc. work for you.
Thanks for stopping by, and thanks again to Oz for covering for me. I look forward to the discussion this post will generate. I for one am in agreement with Oz. Many of the products endorsed by bushcraft "celebrities" are way to expensive, and go against everything that I believe is important in bushcraft. I would like to insert a disclaimer here though... I really like Ray Mears...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Mr. Harn's Paradox (and my response)
I just read a thought provoking post over at The Countryside Round blog of Casey Harn (who some of you may remember from Wandering Owl Outside fame). Mr Harn's post raises an interesting question that I've rehashed a thousand times in different ways while getting my degrees in Conservation Social Science and Wilderness Management. What is the best way to protect a resource? Close it off from the public, or open it up and educate the public?
As an environmental educator and blogger I feel some of the same struggles when doing my job, or writing for this blog. As a naturalist I am supposed to tell children to stay on the trails, don't pick flowers, and leave the acorns, rock, leaves on the ground but I just can't do it. Which does more harm to the resource? Protecting it from the children? Or fostering a curiosity about the resource by telling them to get off the trails, pick the flowers, take home the rocks, acorns and leaves.
I lean toward the former being more harmful in the long run because of how I was raised. I am passionate about the outdoors because I was allowed (or rather encouraged) to fully explore the fields, streams, and woodlands and to immerse myself in nature.
Am I doing the wrong thing? I know what I think. I want to hear from you... (and be sure to let Mr. Harn know your thoughts at The Countryside Round too!)
As an environmental educator and blogger I feel some of the same struggles when doing my job, or writing for this blog. As a naturalist I am supposed to tell children to stay on the trails, don't pick flowers, and leave the acorns, rock, leaves on the ground but I just can't do it. Which does more harm to the resource? Protecting it from the children? Or fostering a curiosity about the resource by telling them to get off the trails, pick the flowers, take home the rocks, acorns and leaves.
I lean toward the former being more harmful in the long run because of how I was raised. I am passionate about the outdoors because I was allowed (or rather encouraged) to fully explore the fields, streams, and woodlands and to immerse myself in nature.
Am I doing the wrong thing? I know what I think. I want to hear from you... (and be sure to let Mr. Harn know your thoughts at The Countryside Round too!)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Weather Predictions through Nature Observation
I don't believe I am the first person to have said it, but I often start off the hikes I lead by saying "The forest has a story to tell, if you are just willing to listen". The story that the forest tells is very adeptly written and has a mind boggling cast of characters and countless subplots. Today we are going to delve into one of those subplots, the weather.
I have been using nature to help me predict the weather ever since I was a boy bailing hay as a hired hand during the summer months. More often than not the only way I would get a day off was if it rained. Since I hated watching the news I needed another way to learn the likelihood of impending changes in the weather. My Grandma Emma always used to say "If you see a Cardinal it will rain within a day". I thought it sounded dubious, but i watched for cardinals regardless. The amazing thing is that she appeared to be right! Every time I saw a male cardinal it would usually rain within 24 hours.
Over the years as I have observed nature more acutely with the help of a barometer I have adapted my late Grandmothers folk weather prediction. Whenever you hear a male Northern cardinal sing there will be a change in the weather;usually rain. I know you are skeptical, everyone is when i tell them. All I ask is that you observe it for yourself and get back to me.
Now I don't simply rely on the Northern cardinal for weather predictions when I'm in the field, I also look to the trees. The two trees I rely most heavily on are the Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) and the genus Oak (Quercus spp.). As there is a change in the weather, or more specifically, a change in barometric pressure the leaves of the Silver maples and oaks will turn over showing their lighter colored undersides. The reason for this is that the petioles (the stem that attaches the leaf to the tree) is thinner on one side than on the other. This causes the petiole to stretch, or shrink at different rates with changes in barometric pressure which in turn "flips" the leaf to show it's underside.
It takes only a slight change in barometric pressure for the Silver maple to turn it leaves which I use as an early warning system. Used in conjunction with the singing of the cardinal I can give myself advance warning of impending shifts in the weather. Now if I look to up a little later and see that the oak leaves have turned over I K-N-O-W that I am in for a serious change and I should start to look for shelter.
Now I'd like to put this all in the context of a scenario:
I am out hiking on relatively calm, pleasantly warm summer day. As I move down the trail I here a male cardinal start to sing his "What cheer! What cheer! What cheer!" song so I look for a Silver maple and notice the silvery green undersides of the leaves, I also note the the prevailing breeze is from the south. An hour later I come upon an Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) on an upland and I can see that it's leaves are turned over too, and that the breeze has picked up and shifted to the north. I decide to shorten my hike and head for the car. As I am driving home the anvil shaped thunderheads are looming on the horizon bringing with them rain, wind, and lightning.
So to wrap it up. Does the singing of the male cardinal guarantee rain in 24 hours? No, but I'd say that it works close to 90% of the time for me (yes, that high). Does the turning over of Silver maple a,d oak leaves always mean rain? No, it does however mean a change in the weather (i.e. It's hot and humid today, it will be cool and dryer tomorrow. It's not raining now, it will be later. It's been raining for two days, it will stop soon, etc...)
Of course there are other predictors of weather like if there is dew on the grass in the morning it won't rain that day, and I hope to visit these with you more in the future. Until then get outside!
I have been using nature to help me predict the weather ever since I was a boy bailing hay as a hired hand during the summer months. More often than not the only way I would get a day off was if it rained. Since I hated watching the news I needed another way to learn the likelihood of impending changes in the weather. My Grandma Emma always used to say "If you see a Cardinal it will rain within a day". I thought it sounded dubious, but i watched for cardinals regardless. The amazing thing is that she appeared to be right! Every time I saw a male cardinal it would usually rain within 24 hours.
Over the years as I have observed nature more acutely with the help of a barometer I have adapted my late Grandmothers folk weather prediction. Whenever you hear a male Northern cardinal sing there will be a change in the weather;usually rain. I know you are skeptical, everyone is when i tell them. All I ask is that you observe it for yourself and get back to me.
Now I don't simply rely on the Northern cardinal for weather predictions when I'm in the field, I also look to the trees. The two trees I rely most heavily on are the Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) and the genus Oak (Quercus spp.). As there is a change in the weather, or more specifically, a change in barometric pressure the leaves of the Silver maples and oaks will turn over showing their lighter colored undersides. The reason for this is that the petioles (the stem that attaches the leaf to the tree) is thinner on one side than on the other. This causes the petiole to stretch, or shrink at different rates with changes in barometric pressure which in turn "flips" the leaf to show it's underside.
It takes only a slight change in barometric pressure for the Silver maple to turn it leaves which I use as an early warning system. Used in conjunction with the singing of the cardinal I can give myself advance warning of impending shifts in the weather. Now if I look to up a little later and see that the oak leaves have turned over I K-N-O-W that I am in for a serious change and I should start to look for shelter.
Now I'd like to put this all in the context of a scenario:
I am out hiking on relatively calm, pleasantly warm summer day. As I move down the trail I here a male cardinal start to sing his "What cheer! What cheer! What cheer!" song so I look for a Silver maple and notice the silvery green undersides of the leaves, I also note the the prevailing breeze is from the south. An hour later I come upon an Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) on an upland and I can see that it's leaves are turned over too, and that the breeze has picked up and shifted to the north. I decide to shorten my hike and head for the car. As I am driving home the anvil shaped thunderheads are looming on the horizon bringing with them rain, wind, and lightning.
So to wrap it up. Does the singing of the male cardinal guarantee rain in 24 hours? No, but I'd say that it works close to 90% of the time for me (yes, that high). Does the turning over of Silver maple a,d oak leaves always mean rain? No, it does however mean a change in the weather (i.e. It's hot and humid today, it will be cool and dryer tomorrow. It's not raining now, it will be later. It's been raining for two days, it will stop soon, etc...)
Of course there are other predictors of weather like if there is dew on the grass in the morning it won't rain that day, and I hope to visit these with you more in the future. Until then get outside!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Bushcraft Definitions
Recently I have been thinking about the definitions of what bushcraft means to me. And so has Tim Smith over at Jack Mtn. Bushcraft. I also have been meaning to blog about it in order to open a dialog among those that follow my musings and rants. As I thought about what bushcraft means to me, how I could sum up my passions and beliefs, I was trying to distill my thoughts into poetic prose that would be quoted for generations. I struggled and struggled with the wording, and the cadence and I grew frustrated with my own clumsy attempts. Then I was sitting down with my oldest watching one of her favorite movies, The Jungle Book when it hit me. I don't need to come up with a poetic definition of bushcraft because Phil Harris, Bruce Reitherman already did it for me...
We could all learn a lot from Baloo...
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature's recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life
Wherever I wander, wherever I roam
I couldn't be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin' in the tree
To make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants
And take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few
The bare necessities of life will come to you
They'll come to you!
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life
Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Next time beware
Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
Have I given you a clue ?
The bare necessities of life will come to you
They'll come to you!
So just try and relax, yeah cool it
Fall apart in my backyard
'Cause let me tell you something little britches
If you act like that bee acts, uh uh
You're working too hard
And don't spend your time lookin' around
For something you want that can't be found
When you find out you can live without it
And go along not thinkin' about it
I'll tell you something true
The bare necessities of life will come to you!
We could all learn a lot from Baloo...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A free lunch?
I didn't get a chance to pack a lunch this morning so I decided to forage my noon meal form the timber surrounding my office. Lunch was a salad that consisted of Basswood (Tilia americana), Dandelion (Taraxacum), Stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), and Meadow garlic (Allium canadense) greens topped of with Trout lily (Erythronium albidum) flowers.
I didn't have any dressing to go on the salad, but I think that's better in this case. Each green had a different subtle flavor and any dressing would have overpowered them. Of all the greens on my salad my two favorite are the Basswood and the Meadow garlic. The Basswood has a light, almost sweet, "green" taste to it, and the Meadow garlic tastes like, well, garlic.
If I were to add anything to a salad like this I think it would be simply oil and vinegar. I wonder how maple sap vinegar tastes...
I was inspired to try my salad in large part to a new post by fellow Iowa blogger Wandering Owl over at his blog. Be sure to head over and give it a thorough reading. He's A LOT better at posting regularly than I am.
Have you done any foraging lately? I'd love to hear about it.
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