Even More Adventure In The Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest

   As mentioned in the previous blog post, my friend Sticker and I had a good long day of it, exploring that portion of the state forest. We were having so much fun, that time just flew by. It would have been even more fun, had there been some other Minnesota or Wisconsin or even Iowa BushcraftUSA members there to join in. It was a near perfect day for getting out.
   We had the chance to meet a few people who were out on the trails getting in some hiking and walking their dogs. The first of the people we met were two women and their dog, whose name escapes me at the moment, but they were making the long trek up the hill to get to their vehicle and it was at that point that Sticker and I realized there would have been an easier way up to the look-out, but probably not as fun. They asked us about wild edibles and other signs of nature and we made them a quick walking staff to help in their climb and we wished them well.
   Later we met another hiker, a man our with his short hair dog and he seemed a nice fellow and we talked a long time about the forest and about bushcraft and primitive skills and how we were collecting resources for friction fire and for using improvised flint and steel. He told us that the mosquitoes get pretty bad in that area and he did not understand why that is. He was a local native and we listen intently.
  Finally we met one last hike and his dog, as we were headed back to the nature center. We talked for awhile about bushcraft and he mentioned that he had seen and heard of BushcraftUSA and that he was a knife collector. He showed us his new Bark River knife that was a little smaller then my Aurora but a little bigger then the Little Creek model. I was not sure what model it was, but I liked it and was going to have to look that one up after I got home.
   So here is part two of our adventure and it is a little longer, but shows we had a lot of fun and practiced a few good skills.

   I am so looking forward to going back one day and hopefully doing it with a larger group of bushcrafters. As I posted up this same report to the BushcraftUSA forum site, I mentioned that I hoped it would make a lot of the Minnesota guys jealous that they did not go. Some of them were jealous, so my plan worked.
   I hope my friends that you enjoyed the video and the story line and I look forward to bringing you the next adventure. It's going to be a great summer. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

A Recon Of The Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest

   Well as promised, I finally made it to the RJD Memorial Hardwood State Forest and had the chance to spend a good nine hours playing in the woods. In that time, my friend Sticker and I covered a lot of ground, including both over land and the landscape that is bushcraft and some of the required skills sets. Here is a list of nearly all the activities we touched on in our time at the woods.
    We worked on navigation with our topo maps and compass, gathered tinders, found chert for improvised strikers for improvised steels, practiced with magnifying lens and chaga, gathered false tinder fungus, and gathered pine needles for tea. Then we gathered basswood and ash for bow drill and spindle parts, looked for water sources, practiced tree identification, looked for wild edibles (found some near ready fiddle heads), worked some knifecraft with batoning and carving, practiced shadow stick method for direction, played with making natural cordage made from basswood inner bark (not in the video), used flint and steel to start fire, and finally made some pine needle tea and relaxed.
   The established campground was on a hill nearby and had plenty of trees to hang hammocks, open areas for tents and fire rings and vault toilets. There was also a hand powered pump that worked for water.
   We got there at 9AM and stayed until 6PM. The weather was perfect for an outing, with sunny skies, temperature high near 40°F and little to no wind.
   As Sticker put it when we got there, "We needed to get out of our comfort zone." and he was right, we had gotten really familiar with things back in our usual stomping grounds.
   But we discovered as always, that bushcraft and bushcraft skills travel with you, and before long we were comfortable here in this new place, and we were soon gathering resources and having fun like a couple of boys playing in the woods.
   So here is Part One of our great adventure.

   Later, I will post up Part Two showing even more of the fun and I know I will be looking forward to doing even more adventures in bushcraft this year and meeting up with some really fine people. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

Most Recent Bushcraft Adventures And A Planned Recon Of State Forest

   Well, it has finally arrived and by that I don't mean Spring or some new piece of gear or even the myriad number of robins that have populated our yards and woodlands. What I mean is that it is Tax Day 2013. April 15th, some of us dread it and some, well let's just say they probably have their refund already and have already bought their new knives and other gear for the coming spring and summer adventures.
   I realized too that it is the 15th of April and I have yet to post anything in my blog for this month. Where has all the time gone? It's not like I haven't been busy enjoying several bushcraft adventures.
   The following Sunday after my last posting on the "Sights and Sounds of Spring," I met up with my buddy Sticker and we headed out for a long hike to explore some of the places that he had not seen in our area before.
   Along the way we discussed ways of finding directions without a compass and how to tell approximately which direction was "south" by looking at which side of a tree has the most branches, we looked for any large ant hills that might have been built, usually on the south side of a tree, we examined the growth patterns of moss on the usual north side of a tree in the deeper woods, and later we used the shadow stick method to really nail down the east west line and determine north and south, once the sun came out. Sticker had never seen that done before and was very impressed.
   We also practiced some tracking skills, examined mullein stalks as possible sources for a hand drill spindle, looked at several types of scat, found a deer carcass, bushwacked thru some thick brush, and in the end made a small dead fall trap using a promontory peg trigger. I could tell that my friend Sticker was having a good time.
  In the end, we had hike 4.5 miles or so and spent about 6 hours in the woodland soaking up what turned out to be a great day. It was a lot of fun and I didn't take a single minute of video. Sometimes you just have to let it go and be more in the moment.
   Part of our conversation that day was on making plans to recon the Richard J. Dorer State Forest here in southeastern Minnesota for an upcoming three day meetup with several other interested bushcrafters in our area.
   We decided to make the recon a Day Trip and are planning on meeting in the Easy Wheeling Nature Area which is part of the Kruger Forest Management Unit.  We are planning on spending about 9 hours in the area exploring, practicing bushcraft skills and getting the most out of what should be a great day. Here is a link to a map of the area. Easy Wheeling Nature Area
   Hopefully soon, I will complete the video I am working on, on how to make an Ottomani Sun Compass and I will post up my report on the day trip to the Richard J. Dorer State Forest and our day of recon and bushcraft adventure. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
  

On The Sounds And Sights Of Spring

   It started out being a very rain filled morning, but by 9am it had begun to tamper off and all the birds started to become very active. I decided on making it more of a hiking and exploring kind of day, rather than a bushcraft skills practice kind of day.
   Since I was going solo, I knew I could take my time and just enjoy my surroundings. It turned out to be just what I needed to clear my head and absorb the peace.
   It has now been one year since I committed to meeting every Saturday at 9AM, any of my friends who are interested in studying bushcraft and other skills together.
   I have gained a few faithful friends who come pretty regularly and share the expirence and I have seen a few who have faltered but may return with the now fairer weather.
   As for me, I will always continue to get out and explore and to learn and practice my passion for bushcraft. And I will also continue to make videos and share the experience with all of you, my friends. Here is the video of my great day out. I covered about 4 miles total and it felt good to get in some exercise.

  It was good to get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of spring. I am looking forward to yet another good year of learning and practicing at the art of bushcraft. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

On Using A Baton On Your Knife To Split Wood

   It is probably no secret my friends that if you have followed me on my adventures long enough, you know that I choose to use a baton on my knife to split wood for fire prep and other projects. A lot of my fellow bushcrafters also use a baton and their knives to split wood.
   In the world of bushcraft there occasionally arises the discussion as to whether to baton or not to baton. I say, to each his or her own.
   For me there are many reasons I choose to baton my knives. First of all, it's just practical. I go prepared with at least a couple of knives that I know are designed to be "beat up" and abused. I also go out with more than one knife in my possession, and if one were to break, I have back ups.
  In all my time on this earth so far, and for all of that time, meaning multiple decades of bushcrafting, I have yet to break a knife in use. Maybe perhaps I am not having enough fun, but I prefer to think that I am just working smart and not hard.
  Anyway, I fall into the camp that prefers to use the tools that I have and use them wisely and with caution, but I will always baton my knives. Besides, they are much safer to use for splitting wood in the dark or in low light, than a hatchet or an axe. I learned that lesson a long time ago, when I thought that all I needed was an axe and nearly lost my thumb in the dark as the fire light died at the most unfortunate moment.
   To contribute to a recent discussion on knife battoning on the BushcraftUSA website, I put together this short video composed of highlights taken during the 2012 Hardwoodsman Meet in Missouri last year. We did a lot of knife batonning at that meet, and it seemed and was accepted as the norm. We even created "knee high prep" not just knee high flames.
   So here is the video and I hope you enjoy it.

  
      Please consider learning to use your knives correctly and than after that, decide if you want to baton or not. I believe it to be a good skill to master and continue to practice, because one day it just may save your life. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

On Looking Forward To Spring

   I don't know about you, but I have grown tired of all the snow and ice and greasy skid stuff we have around here in southern Minnesota. I mean really, can we get anymore slippery? It seems that the weather has turned so unpredictable lately and there is no telling from one weekend to the next, just what you will get. Is mother nature really that fickle?
   Well, we are now into the middle of the month of March, and this is my first posting for the month. Where has all the time gone? I know I've been busy with a couple other things that have prevented me from getting out much in the past couple weeks, but this past weekend ended the dry spell and after three weeks of trying, I finally hit the trail for some much needed dirt time ...or rather make that snow and ice time.
   The recent warm temperatures and even a few rain showers have raised the level of the local creek and its runoff to the river and this has in turn, helped to break up the surface ice on both. It also means that there is no longer anyway you can just "hop" over it, as it was a small trickle of a stream during the colder winter months.
   By the end of this month, it will have been one year since I committed to getting out every Saturday at 9AM to meet up with local area bushcrafters to practice skills and to enjoy the comradery and fellowship that comes with the love of bushcraft. I think, now looking back, I have only missed about three Saturdays all tolled. It has given me a huge insight into how the seasons act upon the area I choose to explore. It has also helped to fix in my mind how much at home I can be in any of the wilderness I have chosen to roam, as long as I am prepared.
   This past Saturday was a good day to go out and feel and see the signs of spring. My friend Sticker and I both felt we needed to get out. We played with new sharps, practiced some firecraft, followed some animal tracks and sat down to enjoy a good cup of a hot brew. We both agreed though that spring could not come fast enough and we looked forward to getting in some practice on some other bushcraft skills besides always making fire just to keep warm.
   Here is the video of our latest outing. I hope you enjoy it.

   I hope as the spring temperatures finally reach your area, that you are all able to get out and enjoy the signs and sounds of nature coming back to life after a long spell of winter sleep. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
  

Flint And Steel And Milkweed Ovum

   As it turned out, last Sunday was a beautiful and sunny day to get out and enjoy a hike on the snowy Sakatah "Singing Hills" State Trail. My bush buddy and I decided to head out for an afternoon of exploring and to practice a few bushcraft skills.
   He worked on identifying natural tinders such as milkweed seeds and cattail fluff and easily identified sumac for its red berries and wild rose hips for the tiny "apples" they presented, even in winter.
   We worked on direction finding and some tree identification as well. He spotted some willow trees along side the trail and remembered an earlier trip we had made out there and how we had made a willow whistle and a small toy raft and used goose feathers for a sail.
   He also used his firesteel to ignite the trangia alcohol stove and mixed up the hot chocolate for us both of us. I was very proud of him.
   We happened upon a small herd of about ten whitetail deer just as we were about to reach our destination and we both just stood there in awe, as they looked at us and we looked back at them. It was inspiring and a good moment to share together.
   I worked at getting fire with my flint and steel and using milkweed ovum instead of charred cloth. I had succeeded many times before with this combination, but I had never tried it in winter. It felt good to succeed with the milkweed ovum and felt even better to have gotten it done in the winter and the snow.
   After a quick and delicious brew of hot chocolate, made on a recipe my bush buddy had concocted, we packed it up and headed home. It was a great day for a son and his father to enjoy some time together.
   So here is the video of our afternoon adventure.

   Bushcraft is such a good thing to practice with your kids and the adventure never stops. Going out to explore with a child, opens your eyes to see the world in a better way. I hope you get the chances to do so as often as I do. I am a very lucky guy to have such a good friend in my bush buddy. Until next time, Happy Exploring.