Our first Wilderness Immersion Course of the Autumn was an astonishing success. Not only did we have 9 fantastic participants, but we also had some amazing sightings and close encounters of wildlife in Hatfield Forest.

One participant came within 7-10 meters of a large Fallow stag and later some does. Badgers, more fallow deer and even a yellow-necked mouse was seen over the weekend.

JP took the opportunity to add an extra rabbit prep session. We would like to thank the Diploma participants for assisting in the camp set up and take down. They had their own area and continued working on their Diploma projects.

Earlier in the day we investigated a territorial latrine system of two badger clans and in the evening another course participant set a trail cam. The result is below. It might be short but it shows a large boar just finishing off marking the latrine (tail still up) and then coming back into shot using that famous snout to take advantage of a quick forage.

A great course and more to come in two weeks time as we run our second Immersion Course. If it's half as good as this one, it will be great!

Our first Wilderness Immersion Course of the Autumn was an astonishing success. Not only did we have 9 fantastic participants, but we also had some amazing sightings and close encounters of wildlife in Hatfield Forest.

One participant came within 7-10 meters of a large Fallow stag and later some does. Badgers, more fallow deer and even a yellow-necked mouse was seen over the weekend.

JP took the opportunity to add an extra rabbit prep session. We would like to thank the Diploma participants for assisting in the camp set up and take down. They had their own area and continued working on their Diploma projects.

Earlier in the day we investigated a territorial latrine system of two badger clans and in the evening another course participant set a trail cam. The result is below. It might be short but it shows a large boar just finishing off marking the latrine (tail still up) and then coming back into shot using that famous snout to take advantage of a quick forage.

A great course and more to come in two weeks time as we run our second Immersion Course. If it's half as good as this one, it will be great!

For the first time since being established we've had to split our resources. Last weekend saw the annual Woodfest at Hatfield Forest clash with the Scouts Reunion event.



JP set up at Woodfest as we would during one of our courses and Rich, Andrew, Vinnie and Des entertained visitors with bow drill and other exciting demonstrations.




Meanwhile Austin, Hannah and Pablo went to Gilwell Park to greet a couple of thousand Scout Leaders.

In addition to showing off our popular Table of Death, we assisted the Scout Activity Centre stand by running a Match the Track competition where one lucky couple won a place on our Spring Wilderness Immersion Course.

A great weekend for Woodlife Trails and thanks to everyone who assisted.

For the first time since being established we've had to split our resources. Last weekend saw the annual Woodfest at Hatfield Forest clash with the Scouts Reunion event.



JP set up at Woodfest as we would during one of our courses and Rich, Andrew, Vinnie and Des entertained visitors with bow drill and other exciting demonstrations.




Meanwhile Austin, Hannah and Pablo went to Gilwell Park to greet a couple of thousand Scout Leaders.

In addition to showing off our popular Table of Death, we assisted the Scout Activity Centre stand by running a Match the Track competition where one lucky couple won a place on our Spring Wilderness Immersion Course.

A great weekend for Woodlife Trails and thanks to everyone who assisted.

G24

We had a great day at Gilwell 24 where we introduced Scouts to knife sharpening, bow-drill and tracking.

It was great to be part of the Bushcraft Zone with Martin, Sam, Terry, Julian, Eloise, Ray and Jeremy.

We've now had a few enquiries about how we can help Scout Leaders so, please go to this site which will be updated as we develop our Scout Leader Skills Programme.

G24

We had a great day at Gilwell 24 where we introduced Scouts to knife sharpening, bow-drill and tracking.

It was great to be part of the Bushcraft Zone with Martin, Sam, Terry, Julian, Eloise, Ray and Jeremy.

We've now had a few enquiries about how we can help Scout Leaders so, please go to this site which will be updated as we develop our Scout Leader Skills Programme.

Last weekend we combined the National Trust Wildcamp Experience weekend with another one of our Diploma weekends.

The result was some excellent craft benches made by the guys and girls and some very happy participants for the Wildcamp weekend.

Last weekend we combined the National Trust Wildcamp Experience weekend with another one of our Diploma weekends.

The result was some excellent craft benches made by the guys and girls and some very happy participants for the Wildcamp weekend.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Diploma Weekend

We had 5 participants on our Diploma weekend this weekend at Hatfield Forest. At last the weather was kind to us and it was sunny and warm.

What the participants didn’t know as they arrived in the Forest was that this weekend we would be asking them to revisit basic skills such as constructing their own shelter out of available materials given to them, build a fire (of course), locate and purify available water , and construct a natural first aid kit out of plants. Their meal would be provided trout which they would have to cook.

As the participants were at level 2 most of the tasks were not too challenging but it focussed the group on bushcraft tasks instead of relying on kit brought in to the Forest.

We also did two navigation exercises, one during the hours of darkness, and we soon realised that all our Nav skills were a little rusty. Some work to do there!

The weekend finished up with a good debrief with lots of learning and tired but happy participants.

One sour note to the weekend was the discovery of a large number of fire-scars and even human excrement and deposits of tissue paper from a previous event in our area. We cleared everything up (yes! including the excrement - as it may have contaminated the food and, of course, left no trace with our own fire.

This is, of course, a fundamental skill which unfortunately is over-looked by many so-called bushcrafters and even outdoors professionals.

If you are in any doubt as to what you should be doing or not doing in the woods, our slogan says it all; do a course with us and “ We Will Show You How.”

Diploma Weekend

We had 5 participants on our Diploma weekend this weekend at Hatfield Forest. At last the weather was kind to us and it was sunny and warm.

What the participants didn’t know as they arrived in the Forest was that this weekend we would be asking them to revisit basic skills such as constructing their own shelter out of available materials given to them, build a fire (of course), locate and purify available water , and construct a natural first aid kit out of plants. Their meal would be provided trout which they would have to cook.

As the participants were at level 2 most of the tasks were not too challenging but it focussed the group on bushcraft tasks instead of relying on kit brought in to the Forest.

We also did two navigation exercises, one during the hours of darkness, and we soon realised that all our Nav skills were a little rusty. Some work to do there!

The weekend finished up with a good debrief with lots of learning and tired but happy participants.

One sour note to the weekend was the discovery of a large number of fire-scars and even human excrement and deposits of tissue paper from a previous event in our area. We cleared everything up (yes! including the excrement - as it may have contaminated the food and, of course, left no trace with our own fire.

This is, of course, a fundamental skill which unfortunately is over-looked by many so-called bushcrafters and even outdoors professionals.

If you are in any doubt as to what you should be doing or not doing in the woods, our slogan says it all; do a course with us and “ We Will Show You How.”