by Tim MacWelch
salves, 207
side effects, 210
teas, 201–204
tincture recipes, 208
menus, planning, 174–177
milkweed, 125
mint, covering scents with, 058
moose, 032
morel mushrooms, 118
mulberries, 124
multifora rose, 121
mushrooms, 114, 135
to avoid, 115
dos and don’ts, 116
identifying, 114–118
spore prints, 117
muskrats
flavor, 049
trapping, 072
mustards
covering scents with, 058
wild, 120
muzzleloaders, 039, 040
N
names of plants, learning, 109
needles, defensive adaptations, 130
negative stereotypes of traps, 062
nightshade berries (poison), 132
noodling, 011, 014
notching
arrows, 046
bows, 045
nutrition of game, 100
nuts
acorns (oak nuts), 136
buckeye nuts (poison), 132
pine for tea, 031
tree, 119
O
oak compresses, 212
oak nuts (acorns), 119, 136, 138
oats, wild, 123
oils
cooking, 171
defensive adaptations of plants, 130
infusing herbal, 205
olives, autumn, 124
omnivores, trapping bait for, 060
onions, covering scents with, 058
opossums
flavor, 049
nutrition of, 100
scat, 543
trapping, 074
optics, rifles, 037
ovens
building stone, 160, 161
cooking in Dutch, 163
oxalates (poison), 134
ox-eye daisy, 125
oyster mushrooms, 118
oyster plant, 125
P
packing
first aid kits, 102
survival kits, 102
Paiute deadfalls, 080
parks, gathering plants in city, 141
pasta, 17
patterns
branch, 110
leaves, 112
paw paws, 124
peg snares, 084
peppermint tea, 204
percussion, bipolar, 166
perennial plants, 190. See also plants
permanent smoke houses, 030
persimmons, 124
personal safety, 128
pests, preparing pantry for, 173
pine trees, 031
covering scents with needles, 058
pine needle teas, 204
pits, building steam, 162
planning
gardens, 184
menus, 174–177
plantain, 120, 143, 209
planting. See gardening
plants
allergies, 131
berries, 121
botany basics, 108
cattails, 127
chameleon, 129
in cities, 140–142
dandelions, 113
defensive adaptations of, 130
drying, 196
Echinacea, 200
edible roots, 126
fruits, 124
gardening. See gardening
global varieties of, 143
grains and seeds, 123
herbs, 190
high-calorie, 192
learning names of, 109
leaves, 110. See also leaves
mushrooms, 114, 135
pine trees, 031
poison berries, 132
trees, 122
vegetables, 125
weeds, 105
wild greens, 120
wild onions, 077
yarrow, 182
plugs (fishing lures), 004
points, adding to arrows, 046
poison
berries, 132
first aid, 132
mushrooms, 115
types of, 134
pokeweed berries (poison), 132
porcupine scat, 053
poultice, 209
pound-test fishing line, 003
povidone iodine, 146
pre-packaged survival kits, 005
preparation of food, 174–181
preserving
brine, 027
fish, 024
prints, mushroom spore, 117
processing
drying foods, 196
small game, 096–99
pump-action rifles, 039
purslane, 125, 143
Q
quarries, hunting, 032, 047
queen bees, 218
R
rabbits, 032
flavor, 049
nutrition of, 100
scat, 053
shotguns, 051
tracks, 052
trapping, 073
raccoons
fishing like a, 019
flavor, 049
nutrition of, 100
scat, 053
tracks, 052
trapping, 076
ramps (wild leeks), 126
raspberry, 121
rats
preparing pantry to keep out, 173
scat, 53
recipes. See also cooking
balms, 206
brining fish, 027
canning meat, 181
cicadas, 093
compost tea, 186
Echinacea tinctures, 200
eggs, 087
insects, 091
jewelweed tea, 202
krauts, 198
making jerky, 178
maple wine, 217
pine nut/needle tea, 031
poultice, 209
salves, 207
smoking fish, 024
tinctures, 208, 211
recurve bows, 041
redbud trees, 122
red foxes
scat, 053
tracks, 052
rendering fats, 179
rice, 123, 171
rifles
adjusting for wind, 038
cleaning, 036
ranges of, 035
scopes, 037
types of, 039
rocks
building stone ovens, 160, 161
types of, 167
rods and reels, 001, 006. See also fishing
rolling snares, 084
roots
dandelion, 113
edible, 126
gardening, 185
ropes
body-grip traps, 067
tying knots, 168
rotating pantry stock, 176
rules, mushrooms, 116
S
salads, wild, 175
salt, 171
brining fish, 027
and spice marinades, 027
sap, pine for glue, 031
sassafras trees, 122
saving seeds, 194
saw palmetto, 125
scales (fish), cooking, 022
scaling fish, 020. See also fishing
scaly chanterelle mushrooms, 115
scat, 053
scents
covering, 058
de-scent with allium, 077
hiding human, 057
using pine to hide, 031
scopes for rifles, 037
scouting hunting grounds, 034
sea grapes, 124
seasons
food availability through the, 169
hunting, 032, 033
trapping, 033, 056
seeds, 123
planting, 189. See also gardening
saving, 194
storing, 195
self-bows, 041
semiautomatic rifles, 039
setting fishing traps, 008
shaping bows, 045<
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sharpening stone spears, 165–167
sheds, building fish, 029
sheep sorrel, 120
shellfish, 016
shells, cooking eggs in, 089
shelter, 015, 104
shooting. See also rifles
ranges of rifles, 035
small game, 048
shoots, collecting for arrows, 046
shotguns, 050, 051
showy flamecap mushrooms, 115
sickener mushrooms, 115
sight adjustments, 036
signaling, 104, 144
single shot rifles, 039
skinning carcasses, 098
skunk scat, 053
slugs, eating, 090
small game. See also game
dressing, 094
hunting, 047
nutrition of, 100
processing, 096–99
shooting, 048
shotguns, 050
tracks, 052
smoking fish
building smokers, 030
chips for, 025
cold/hot techniques, 024
hanging, 025
smooth sumac, 121
snails, eating, 091
snares, 055, 081–082
bait-free, 084
baits, 083
soda bottle traps, 010
Solomon’s seal, 126
space blankets, 144
sparks, lighting fires, 155
spearmint, 143
specific plant names, 109
spicebush, 121
spincast reels, 001
spinners (fishing lures), 004
spinning reels, 001
spits, 158
spoons (fishing lures), 004
sporting rifles, 039
spring beauty (edible roots), 126
spruce trees, 122
squirrels, 032
flavor, 049
nutrition of, 100
pole-snare traps, 082
shotguns, 051
tracks, 052
staples, storing, 171
steam pits, building, 162
stills, building water, 148
stir-fry, weed, 175
stocking up pantries, 170–173, 177
stone ovens, 160, 161
stone spears, 165
storing
seeds, 195
vegetables, 199
straightening arrows, 046
strategies, hunting, 032
stringing bows, 045
stumping, 011
styptics, yarrow, 182
sugars, 171, 213–217
sulphur shelf mushrooms, 118
survival kits, 005, 102, 144
survival pantries
rotating pantry stock, 176
stocking up, 170–173, 177
survival to-do lists, prioritizing, 104
surviving three days in the wild, 144
T
tapping maple trees, 213, 214
teas, 171, 201–204
brewing, 203
compost, 186
jewelweed, 202
medicinal plants, 201
pine nuts and needles, 031
types of, 204
vitamin, 175
yarrow, 204
teepees (setting up fires), building, 154
termites, eating, 090
thorns, defensive adaptations, 130
tillers, bows, 045
tinctures
Echinacea, 200
iodine, 146
recipes, 208, 211
side effects, 210
treatments, 211
tinder. See also cooking; fire
dandelions, 113
selecting, 151
sources of, 152
tools
beekeeping, 219
gardening, 191
toothwort, 126
tracks, small game, 052
trails, leaving, 101
trapping, 054–084
bait, 060
beavers, 075
body-grip traps, 064, 065
deadfalls, 078
foothold traps, 061, 063
hiding human scents, 057
laws, 056
live-catch traps, 068
muskrats, 072
negative stereotypes, 062
opossums, 074
rabbits, 073
raccoons, 076
seasons, 033
selecting traps, 055
snares, 081–082, 083–084
tips, 059
types of traps, 054
traps
adding weirs to, 009
fishing, 008
soda bottle, 010
treadle snare, 084
treatments, tinctures, 211
trees, 122
firewood, 150–153
nuts, 119
pine, 031
sugars, 213–217
that produce sugars, 216
trolling reels, 001
trout lilies, 126
trucker’s hitch knot, 168
turkeys, 032, 100
tying knots, 168
U
utensils
cooking, 158
griddles, 159
V
vegetables, 125. See also gardening
brining, 197
krauts, 198
storing, 199
violets, 120
Virginia creeper berries (poison), 132
vitamin teas, 175
W
walnuts, 119
water, 104
disinfecting, 144, 146–149
filters, 147
fishing case study, 015
gardening, 187
medicinal teas, 201
sources, 145
watercress, 120, 143
waterline pocket set, foothold traps, 063
weapons
archery. See archery
rifles. See rifles
shotguns, 050, 051
weeds, 105. See also plants
gardening, 193
stir-fry, 175
weirs, adding to traps, 009
wheat, wild, 123
white baneberry fruit (poison), 132
wild carrot, 126, 143
wild edibles, planning menus, 175
wild ginger, 126
wild grapes, 124
wild leeks (ramps), 126
wild lettuce, 120
wild mustard, 120
wild oat, 123
wild onions, 077
wild rice, 123
wild wheat, 123
wind
adjusting rifle scopes for, 038
brewing maple, 217
location of fire, 155
wine, stocking up, 177
winter sprouts of cattails, 127
wood, selecting for making bows, 045
wood sorrel, 120
woody plants, 108. See also plants
worker bees, 218
Y
yarrow, 143, 182
covering scents, 058
teas, 204
yew berries (poison), 132
FROM THE AUTHOR
This one is for my students! Your years of support and encouragement have been both humbling and empowering. It’s always a good time when we go out into the woods, hunt down wild edible plants, make medicines and wild brew, track animals, and chow down on a primitively cooked feast—but it’s more than just fun for me. You have let me live my dream, and for that, I gratefully offer this book as my way of saying thanks.
I’d also like to thank my team at Outdoor Life: John Taranto, Andrew McKean, Alex Robinson, Gerry Bethge, and Martin Leung. It’s a privilege to work with you guys every week. And thank you to my friends at Weldon Owen Publishing. Bridget Fitzgerald, you have been a phenomenal editor, helping me to find the words that you knew I meant to say. And to the artists of the group, Barbara Genetin, William Mack, and Conor Buckley, your talent with photos and illustrations has made this book even better than I could have imagine
d.
Thanks also to my family, for continuing to put up with me when I’m in “writer mode” (grouchy). And to you, the reader, I thank you most of all. I hope this book will give you that push out the door to practice these skills, and bring you a greater sense of meaning and appreciation for the wild things around you.
ABOUT TIM MACWELCH
Tim MacWelch is the author of the Prepare for Anything Survival Manual and has been an active practitioner of survival and outdoor skills for over 26 years. His love of the outdoors started at a young age, growing up on a farm in the rolling hills of Virginia. Eating wild berries, fishing, and learning about the animals of the forest were all part of country life. Tim became interested in survival skills and woodcraft as an offshoot of backpacking as a teen—while out in remote areas, it seemed like a smart plan to learn some skills. The majority of his training over the years has involved testing survival skills and devising new ones, but the biggest leaps forward came from his experience as a teacher.
Tim’s teaching experiences over the years have been rich and diverse, from spending hundreds of hours volunteering to founding his own year-round survival school 18 years ago. He has worked with Boy Scouts, youth groups, summer camps, and adults in all walks of life, as well as providing outdoor skills training for numerous personnel in law enforcement, search and rescue organizations, all branches of the United States Armed Forces, the State Department, and the Department of Justice and some of its agencies. Tim and his wilderness school have been featured on Good Morning America and several National Geographic programs, and featured in many publications including Conde Nast Traveler, the Washington Post, and American Survival Guide.
Since late 2010, Tim has written hundreds of pieces for Outdoor Life and many other publications. Tim’s current and past articles and galleries can be found at survival.outdoorlife.com and you can learn more about his survival school at www.advancedsurvivaltraining.com.
ABOUT OUTDOOR LIFE
Since it was founded in 1898, Outdoor Life magazine has provided survival tips, wilderness skills, gear reports, and other essential information for hands-on outdoor enthusiasts. Each issue delivers the best advice in sportsmanship as well as thrilling true-life tales, detailed gear reviews, insider hunting, shooting, and fishing hints, and much more to nearly 1 million readers. Its survival-themed Web site also covers disaster preparedness and the skills you need to thrive anywhere from the backcountry to the urban jungles.
A NOTE TO READERS
The information in this book is presented for an adult audience and for entertainment value only. While every piece of advice in this book has been fact-checked and, where possible, field-tested, much of this information is speculative and highly situation-dependent. The publisher and author assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions and make no warranty, express or implied, that the information included in this book is appropriate for every individual, situation, or purpose. Before attempting any activity outlined in these pages, make sure you are aware of your own limitations and have adequately researched all applicable risks. This book is not intended to replace professional advice from experts in survival, combat techniques, weapons handling, disaster preparedness, or any other field. Always follow all manufacturers’ instructions when using the equipment featured in this book. If your equipment’s manufacturer does not recommend use of the equipment in the fashion depicted in these pages, you should comply with the manufacturer’s recommendations. You assume the risk and responsibility for all of your actions, and the publisher and author will not be held responsible for any loss or damage of any sort—whether consequential, incidental, special, or otherwise—that may result from the information presented here.