Archery has been around for thousands of years. And during all that time, the majority of the bows that have been made were simple “one stick” wooden bows. I’m sure most of us have made toy versions of wood bows as kids, but we can still have a lot of fun as grown-ups when we tie a string to the ends of a hardwood stick and send a few arrows into the bull’s eye. And besides being entertaining, if you spend some time making and shooting your own bows and arrows, these skills can greatly increase your odds of getting meat in a survival situation.
Before the advent of chemical tanning of hides to make leather, animal skins were subjected to all kinds of strange concoctions to degrease and soften them. Urine, wood ashes, tree bark acid, and even toxic substances like mercury have been employed over the centuries to tan skins into useful leather.
But few natural substances have had such a long and successful track record as animal brains. How does it work? Brain tissue is full of very fine oils that condition and soften the animal skin, if the skin is moving while it dries. If the skin just lies there and dries out, brains or no brains, the glues in the skin naturally set up and you have “raw hide” as the result—great to let the dogs chew on, but not so great for making clothes.
Here’s what we know: A small northern Russian village had an unpleasant visitor last week. A polar bear wandered through town and considered having a local woman for a snack. The name of the town hasn’t surfaced yet, nor has the woman’s name or the extent of her injuries.
In the clip you can see the animal clawing at her and flinging her body into the air like a rag doll before the polar bear is finally scared away. The bear retreats after one bystander makes a great shot, hitting the bear in the face with a can.
As we get ready for hunting season, it's time to consider the survival gear that we will be taking along with us. And as we wander off the beaten path, we should be carrying the equipment to handle the most common emergencies that we could face in the field.
1) If you need daily heart medicine, blood pressure pills, insulin or any other vital meds, bring an extra supply of them on all your outdoor trips. Also bring any event-related medications like asthma inhalers in case of an attack, or epinephrine pens if you are allergic to bee stings or certain foods.
2) A fully charged cell phone or 2-way radio in a waterproof container could be your ticket home.
3) Wear appropriate clothing and outer wear. Skip the cotton in most conditions, unless you are trying to activate your life insurance policy.
With the fatal grizzly bear attack inside Yellowstone National Park last month, and more than a dozen non-fatal grizzly bear attacks in North America so far this year, you’d think that the average Yellowstone visitor would be a little more cautious than normal. However, a recent video shows a number of park visitors within feet of a free-roaming grizzly bear, and acting as if they were at petting zoo.
While securing shelter, administering first aid, signaling for help and performing a host of other chores rank as top priorities during an emergency, the first question that tends to pop out of most people's mouths is, "So what are we going to eat out here in the woods?"
A quick rule of thumb is that you can eat anything on land with fur or feathers, as long as it is properly prepared and cooked thoroughly to kill bacteria and other pathogens that would make us sick. That means mammals and birds are good to go, although palatability is never guaranteed.
