Essex Outbacks

One of the greater successes within the Woodlife Network has got to be the creation of the Essex Outbacks group. They have a 40 strong membership and as a group have organised some woods in Essex to meet up and practice bushcraft.

The Outbacks meet around every 3 months or so and depending on the time of year, various skills are practiced, large feasts are prepared and the liquid refreshment flows as the “Horn of Plenty” is passed around which normally contains a never ending supply of Port wine.

Last weekend, a group of the most hardy set out and, despite the forecast being icy, (Saturday night’s temperature was actually minus 3 Centigrade) the group were busy collecting wood to build up a warming fire.

After the normal Friday social, the only way to cure a lingering hang-over is to get stuck in to some bushcraft skills. Shelter building was the order of the day and soon a nice leaf litter shelter was built for our newest member, Hazel, to sleep in that night.

Saturday night is traditionally feast night and Vinney’s butternut squash soup was followed by Michael and Stephen’s stew, followed closely by Hazel’s excellent Jambalaya. Who said woodland living should be uncomfortable?

Saturday night was slightly milder but many were prepared for the worse! Well… if you can carry it, then why not use it?

I’m ground dwelling this winter and my own set up this year consists of the Snugpack Stratosphere hooped-bivvy; Exped down-mat; Alpkit Skyhigh 800 sleeping bag with  a Snugpack Thermalon liner. The cover is my trustee Tatonka Tarp 2 3m x 3m tarp. So ground dwelling it is this winter and this set up is snug, warm and light for walking in any distance.

It was a great weekend, and many thanks to Scrivy and the other organisers. It was great to see the old faces as well as meet new ones.

If you would like to join the Woodlife Network, follow the link above. Perhaps you would also like to set up a local group and share the cost of practicing bushcraft skills in a local wood.

Essex Outbacks

One of the greater successes within the Woodlife Network has got to be the creation of the Essex Outbacks group. They have a 40 strong membership and as a group have organised some woods in Essex to meet up and practice bushcraft.

The Outbacks meet around every 3 months or so and depending on the time of year, various skills are practiced, large feasts are prepared and the liquid refreshment flows as the “Horn of Plenty” is passed around which normally contains a never ending supply of Port wine.

Last weekend, a group of the most hardy set out and, despite the forecast being icy, (Saturday night’s temperature was actually minus 3 Centigrade) the group were busy collecting wood to build up a warming fire.

After the normal Friday social, the only way to cure a lingering hang-over is to get stuck in to some bushcraft skills. Shelter building was the order of the day and soon a nice leaf litter shelter was built for our newest member, Hazel, to sleep in that night.

Saturday night is traditionally feast night and Vinney’s butternut squash soup was followed by Michael and Stephen’s stew, followed closely by Hazel’s excellent Jambalaya. Who said woodland living should be uncomfortable?

Saturday night was slightly milder but many were prepared for the worse! Well… if you can carry it, then why not use it?

I’m ground dwelling this winter and my own set up this year consists of the Snugpack Stratosphere hooped-bivvy; Exped down-mat; Alpkit Skyhigh 800 sleeping bag with  a Snugpack Thermalon liner. The cover is my trustee Tatonka Tarp 2 3m x 3m tarp. So ground dwelling it is this winter and this set up is snug, warm and light for walking in any distance.

It was a great weekend, and many thanks to Scrivy and the other organisers. It was great to see the old faces as well as meet new ones.

If you would like to join the Woodlife Network, follow the link above. Perhaps you would also like to set up a local group and share the cost of practicing bushcraft skills in a local wood.

Where’s the Winter?

It was impossible to stay in this weekend. Not that I wanted to. The mist took a little while to disperse, but when it did, the sun shone and it was yet again a glorious weekend here in the east, without any sign at all of the winter.

I went to Broaks wood to see if there was any remnants of autumn to photograph with the big camera.

It was certainly a bit too late for the spectacular autumn colours, but I did manage to capture some shots of the damp, warm wood.

Once again, I swear I saw some Roe deer on the outskirts of the wood. But it was only a fleeting glimpse and could well have been young fallow does. I tried to follow them but lost them in the dense undergrowth. I really must confirm my suspicions one day.

Another reason for taking the big camera was to try and get some shots of the conifer area of Broaks for an up-coming article in Bushcraft and Survival Skills magazine.

In fact the area is home to some young Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). Even these young trees are impressive as you stretch your neck to look up to their tops.

Once inside the grove, a different world emerges as the temperature rises and the damp under-storey plays host to different mushroom species; but not much else. The top layer full of fallen pine needles provides a dry, soft seating area and it was here I had my lunch.

As I did, a squirrel came along to try and find his lunch!  The photo opportunity was too good to miss and the obvious caption would be something like: “I know I buried it here somewhere!!”

He came closer and closer and didn’t seem too bothered as I snapped away.

 

Eventually, it seemed he was the one studying me. I put the camera down and carried on with my lunch. He sat in front of me and we both enjoyed the sun streaming through the thick conifer canopy.

After a while we went our different ways.

Thanks for the visit.

Where’s the Winter?

It was impossible to stay in this weekend. Not that I wanted to. The mist took a little while to disperse, but when it did, the sun shone and it was yet again a glorious weekend here in the east, without any sign at all of the winter.

I went to Broaks wood to see if there was any remnants of autumn to photograph with the big camera.

It was certainly a bit too late for the spectacular autumn colours, but I did manage to capture some shots of the damp, warm wood.

Once again, I swear I saw some Roe deer on the outskirts of the wood. But it was only a fleeting glimpse and could well have been young fallow does. I tried to follow them but lost them in the dense undergrowth. I really must confirm my suspicions one day.

Another reason for taking the big camera was to try and get some shots of the conifer area of Broaks for an up-coming article in Bushcraft and Survival Skills magazine.

In fact the area is home to some young Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). Even these young trees are impressive as you stretch your neck to look up to their tops.

Once inside the grove, a different world emerges as the temperature rises and the damp under-storey plays host to different mushroom species; but not much else. The top layer full of fallen pine needles provides a dry, soft seating area and it was here I had my lunch.

As I did, a squirrel came along to try and find his lunch!  The photo opportunity was too good to miss and the obvious caption would be something like: “I know I buried it here somewhere!!”

He came closer and closer and didn’t seem too bothered as I snapped away.

 

Eventually, it seemed he was the one studying me. I put the camera down and carried on with my lunch. He sat in front of me and we both enjoyed the sun streaming through the thick conifer canopy.

After a while we went our different ways.

Thanks for the visit.

Woodland Tracker

At Woodlife Trails we rarely stay still. I’ve been dreaming up the Woodland Tracker course for some time, trying to find tracking techniques that would work better for the difficult environment and substrates of the British woodland than those techniques designed for warm climates.

This weekend the dream was realised as ten brave souls came out to trial the course. The result was an unmitigated success, even though I knew there’s a bit more work to be done.

The continuing mild weather made things quite comfortable and tracking on the main pathways of Hatfield forest was easy, which was great to test out a few theories. Unravelling individual prints contaminated by human traffic, however, wasn’t so easy. As we tracked deeper and deeper into the forest, things also got even more difficult; but the feedback was that the techniques worked well.

Following tracks and trail leading to the deeper parts of the forest also produced some stunning close encounters for everyone including foxes and the ever present fallow deer. The techniques from the Immersion course also helped and, for some, it was obvious that things were really coming together.

We also tried out some  new casting plaster from a company called “First Forensics”. We are still trialling this but first impressions are quite positive in relation to the quick-drying properties, although the plaster can’t be spread too thinly or it will crack. It’s also not very easy to separate from the woodland floor.

Thanks to everyone who came along and to Scrivy for being Marigold.

I’ll leave you with a small clip of the fallow.

Thanks for the visit.

Woodland Tracker

At Woodlife Trails we rarely stay still. I’ve been dreaming up the Woodland Tracker course for some time, trying to find tracking techniques that would work better for the difficult environment and substrates of the British woodland than those techniques designed for warm climates.

This weekend the dream was realised as ten brave souls came out to trial the course. The result was an unmitigated success, even though I knew there’s a bit more work to be done.

The continuing mild weather made things quite comfortable and tracking on the main pathways of Hatfield forest was easy, which was great to test out a few theories. Unravelling individual prints contaminated by human traffic, however, wasn’t so easy. As we tracked deeper and deeper into the forest, things also got even more difficult; but the feedback was that the techniques worked well.

Following tracks and trail leading to the deeper parts of the forest also produced some stunning close encounters for everyone including foxes and the ever present fallow deer. The techniques from the Immersion course also helped and, for some, it was obvious that things were really coming together.

We also tried out some  new casting plaster from a company called “First Forensics”. We are still trialling this but first impressions are quite positive in relation to the quick-drying properties, although the plaster can’t be spread too thinly or it will crack. It’s also not very easy to separate from the woodland floor.

Thanks to everyone who came along and to Scrivy for being Marigold.

I’ll leave you with a small clip of the fallow.

Thanks for the visit.

Fallow Camera Trap

On Friday I collected the trail cams from the Woods. One stand had very little activity while the other was reasonably active.

It shows that there are at least four bucks; one yearling, two juveniles and the dominant older buck. As I reported last week the rutting activity is pretty subdued at the moment. This maybe because of the weather or simply that the dominant male has very little competition.

In the clips you can see a stand-off between two juvenile bucks. They seem unsure what to do, so they just stand there! Most activity around the area is at night or dawn / dusk. During the day, they tend to go deeper into the woods.

Next week we’ll be back in Hatfield Forest for our Woodlife Tracker Course. we have ten participants and it promises to be an excellent course.

Until next week…

Fallow Camera Trap

On Friday I collected the trail cams from the Woods. One stand had very little activity while the other was reasonably active.

It shows that there are at least four bucks; one yearling, two juveniles and the dominant older buck. As I reported last week the rutting activity is pretty subdued at the moment. This maybe because of the weather or simply that the dominant male has very little competition.

In the clips you can see a stand-off between two juvenile bucks. They seem unsure what to do, so they just stand there! Most activity around the area is at night or dawn / dusk. During the day, they tend to go deeper into the woods.

Next week we’ll be back in Hatfield Forest for our Woodlife Tracker Course. we have ten participants and it promises to be an excellent course.

Until next week…

Stuck in a Rut

As I had to stay close to home this weekend, I decided to spend some time observing the rut in my local woods, Poor Park. The woods were wonderful, especially in the evening sun light.

I set myself a number of rules. Firstly, I would observe from a stand-off position and not get too close. If I was spotted by the buck more than twice , I would withdraw for an hour. More than three times and I would leave the woods.

I also wanted to identify a good stand or two in order to leave the camera traps in place for a week. I started my mission by doing a recce of stands. I started on the east side and made my way west.

I knew a couple of areas from previous years and  I wasn’t surprised to see ground scrapings and rutting signs in these places. In fact there were four main areas scattered throughout the woods; but unlike previous years, there was little sign of the aggressive thrashing and burnishing against the trees.

I had heard some bellowing over the week, but again there wasn’t as much as previous years. Perhaps the weather had affected the start of the rut. It has been extremely mild. However, it wasn’t long before I heard the bellowing of the stag deep in the most inaccessible part of the wood.

I managed to get close enough for a sighting with the wind nicely in my favour. The huge palmate antlers actually clashed against low branches as he moved slowly towards the stand to the far east of the wood. I followed on a parallel course about 30 meters behind. To my delight, the stag moved into more open ground, but he was speeding up, making me less cautious where I was stepping.

My National Geographic money photo was getting closer and closer as I moved in. I lifted the camera to get a nice moving shot when, suddenly, it seemed as though the whole wood had woken up. I had stepped on a large twig which sounded not just like a gunshot, but a canon shot! The stag jumped and proinked out of the woods and ran into the open ground and away across the field.

The next day, I was a little more fortunate. I spent all day on and off following and observing the stag. I withdrew quite a few times and I was spotted twice. I was interested to notice that that there was definitely a lack of aggression this year and I came to the conclusion that the rut hadn’t really commenced. I hadn’t witnessed the stag covering any does – and despite another fully formed stag in the area, their was no aggressive display.

My last task was to set the camera traps and sit down for a well-earned break. As I did so, I was concentrating on the ladybird on my notebook so much, I missed a photo opportunity of a young pretentious stag that casually wandered in front of me about 7 meters away. By the time I collected up the camera, I could only get a couple shots of his rear end!

Thanks for the visit.