Woodland Survival – At Home in the Wild
A few years ago I put myself in the position of living off the land for three days, living in a house which I had made out of sticks, and having to boil water to make it safe to drink. My bed was a mattress of birch twigs and my diet for those three days were wild foods I gathered as I went walkabout.
It was an interesting experience. My mind first questioned why there was not much food, and my body had to cope physically without my usual eating habits for an average day (which at the time consisted of anything from Marmite on toast, having a banana whenever I felt like it, a full roast for lunch and processed foods for snacking).
But I accepted the “new” foods I had at the time and appreciated their delicate tastes. I gave time to every single daily task I carried out, and was learning to survive without having water on tap, a fridge full of food, a mobile phone and watching the news on TV.
I learnt a lot about myself – my strengths and my weaknesses. Surviving for just three days in the wild. It doesn’t sound very long – three days. But when you are burning calories carrying out all the tasks – firewood collecting, re-thatching your shelter, digging up roots intended to be your main meal for the day and collecting your water from a stream in just a billy can (my daily routine) – you soon come to realise what is important in your life and what really matters. To survive.
I wrote a diary and it was interesting how my train of thought changed, even my writing took became more like how I had written as a six year old. Getting lightheaded, I fell into a bed of nettles and, on one occasion, accidentally knocked over my pot of rabbit stew!
But things started to change. I began to notice more, and my senses became in tune with the wild. I was actually tracking for survival now. I found some broken cobnuts, eaten by a squirrel, that led me to a hazel tree. The next day by chance I came across a crab apple tree. Believe me I will never forget that moment – I thought I had struck gold! To make them palatable, I cut them in half and cooked them on sticks pointed towards the campfire until they were roasted golden. I can taste them now – delicious!
Woodland survival … I was at home in the wild.
Annette Stickler teaches bushcraft skills. Visit her website www.campfireskills.co.uk for details of her courses.
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Badgers, Beeches and Blisters
A book about the practicalities of managing your own woodland. Available free here.
5 comments so far
andy
6 February, 2008
I think you are very brave. I assume you did this at the end of the summer/ early autumn. Well done for trying it. I have often wondered what it would be like if society broke down and I had to retreat to my wood of 11 acres, I assume I would similar to you – snaring rabbits/monkjack deer, and collecting nuts and fruit. I am not very good at fungi!
Best wishes
Katie
26 May, 2008
Hi,
Wow that was a very big achievement and i salute you! I however don’t salute people like Andy who unobviously brag about their 11 acres of woodland, no one cares really?
Anyway weel done!!
Ken
24 November, 2008
Annette, Respect! that was a very brave thing to do.
Do you have your own woodland, borrowed woodland or do you just go for it?
How would you suggest a law abididng citizen without a woodland could go about having an experience like this?
Mitch
11 February, 2009
A few close friends and I have been wanting to do some thing to this nature during the up coming summer in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. We are trying to gather as much information as we can so that we can survive as long as we can with minimal supplies. This has brought some inspiration to my upcoming journy.
patrick
22 May, 2010
Living off of the land is a wonderful experience for anyone to have done. But I must stress not everyone can, it takes some knowledge of bushcraft and about what plants are edible and what are dangerous. It took me 5 years to get to know what i can and can’t eat. At this time of year, there are some lovely plants and fungi to eat and I would say get out and have a most wonderful experience.