Diploma Group Skills Weekend

This weekend we held our Woodlife Trails Diploma Group this weekend.

The Diploma group are a dedicated bunch of guys and girls who have signed up to our three-level programme of tuition conducted over a period of time to learn Bushcraft, Tracking and Natural History. It entitles them to attend any Woodlife Trails course and additional events like this one.

After the downpours of Friday morning, the weather started to clear and the rest of the weekend brightened up to give us good weather throughout the weekend.

 

Friday night provided a interesting culinary diversion to the norm as an injured duck previously dispatched by Hannah was prepared by her and, with Richard’s help, was cooked to flambé perfection.

Much of the Diploma is made up of practical assessments and the group were able to successfully show their competence and skill at various disciplines such as self-aid, knife safety, wild camp set up, and equipment as well as being shown new skills.

All the tracking section was ticked off where different types of tracks, scat and feeding sign were successfully found. The tracking culminated in a challenging track interpretation where fallow deer had been spooked by something (possibly a dog). The tracks showed a bomb-burst of deer in multiple directions from the middle of the path.

Damp conditions proved challenging for the fire-lighting assessments, but in the circumstances feather sticks proved the most reliable method.

On the way back from a Forest walk on Sunday afternoon, I managed to stalk up as close as I dared to a Fallow deer fawn. After observing the doe muzzling the fawn at a distance, we noticed her move away to forage leaving the fawn alone. I took the opportunity to get as close as I dared without frightening the fawn to take a couple of pictures with the iPhone.

I made no apologies for being slightly emotional when I returned. For me this is what it’s all about. Using Bushcraft as the vehicle, Tracking as the road with Wildlife as the destination.

It was a great weekend with skills being learnt and shared. Congratulations to everyone who managed to achieve great results.

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