Wild Country

[Alpine Addict]

I know it sounds a bit crazy but my friend and I want to live in the bush for a couple monthes just to get away. I was thinking Aug-Nov. Because game is open and therefore we could harvest our own meat. I was thinking somewhere up burns lake area? the only hard part is getting a hold of someone who would know where a old trappers cabin may be. Then we would fix it up and hopefully last the 4 monthes. I know it sounds a bit "childish" but any suggestions on what area? I just want it to be as far from people as possible, but also accesible by float plane for supplies ect.

[mark]

Brokeback mountain may be just the right place for ya! :p

[ARGR]

MY GOD. do you ever say anything intelligent or worth reading? your posts are nothing but gibberish!


Brokeback mountain may be just the right place for ya! :p



Good luck on your plan Alpine. sounds like something most would like to do, but just can't.

[happygilmore]

Spending 4 mon in the bush- isn't that just called hunting season?


ARG- 8) goosefrava....goosefrava, rub your earlobes and take 10 deep breaths, hunting season will soon be upon us.

[EvanG]

Sounds like an adventure sort of like that alone in the wildermess program on pbs, it always made me wanna give it a try

[wolverine]

You wouldn't be the first to think of trying that. You brought back a real flood of memories for me when I read that. Three of us young guys, just graduating High School planned to do the same thing. I guess we got laughed at too but we decided we should go and give it a try for a while. Kind of a "see if we can make it work trip". So we headed off for a month. We had tents and went to where we knew there was an old homestead cabin that needed a lot of work. We were sooooo green....... I laugh out loud just telling this.... Well, we lasted about 9 days before the bugs ate us alive and the food started to run out. We weren't as crafty at living off the land as we thought we were and Mother Nature had a real laugh at our expense. The final straw was Beaver Fever. Yup....everyone of us came down with the screaming drizzle shits. No Tp.... just leaves. So after getting ass kicked for 9 days we made our way back to civilization. Man was it nice to sleep in a real bed and have a steady supply of "Dr. Fowlers". So.... please go and enjoy yourselves. Hope you make it longer than we did 32 years ago. It was a great experience and has provided me with some really good memories, a lot of laughs and a bond with the two other guys that we still have today.


P.S. BOIL the HELL out of your water!

[guest]

Best be a forgittin dem lakes, they can freeze harder then a Wedding pole in November, I'm a reckon they may be pickin yaz up in January with ski's on the bird instead of floats.
c/t

[ElkMasterC]

Why does "Into the Wild" come to mind...lol.......not a good ending...
Everyone just RAVED about that movie, and I thought it sucked......
But I digress..

Just make sure you know what you're getting into...maybe this year try a 2 week deal within reach of a town, (read: HELP!) and see what you figure out for needs, i.e. food ,fuel, shelter, bedding, etc etc etc. And use that info and experience gained to plan a bigger trip next year. You'll have a much better handle on what you need.
Having said that, I have always wanted to do a river rafting trip. Like down the MacKenzie R in to Great Slave Lake. Fish and hunt all the way. or the Yukon River, or what have you. You might wanna consider that.

Also, try to find a video called "700 Miles Alone". or words to that effect. A dude goes sheep and caribou hunting on his own. Good vid, and a really great experience. (Oops, never mind, I got the link http://www.bucktrack.com/Alaska.html )

Good luck in whatever you decide!

[Avalanche123]

I wanted to do that when I was in my early twenties but I did not do it. Very cool idea. Plan it really well. Leaving it until November though is too late for float plane access and too early for ski plane. You need to give that a little more thought.

Best of luck to you if you go!

[GoatGuy]

There are a few abandoned trappers cabins I can think of, but there's a reason they're abandoned and it's major $ if you're flying supplies in to eat, live and fix them up. There are also legalities involved.

If you're going to do this I'd go in during the winter, stock the place, take building supplies and take your gear in and spend the next year in there.

You might be able to find an outfitter who's willing to give you rental during the off-season.

Maybe consider doing a trek from point a to b. Do something big and take a couple months at it, get supplies dropped off every couple of weeks.

Late June and July are tough months to be up north. Some of the areas are absolutely unbearable when it comes to bugs.

There are cabins that are still up at a couple of the old mines sights up north that are useable. Might be your best bet.


Just idle thoughts.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I remember seeing a show years ago on The Knowlegde Network where a guy walked into the bush in the "Okanagan Highlands"(wherever that is) and documented his survival techniques. In the beginning he used witches' hair to weave a blanket...and finally in the end he built a bow and actually killed himself a deer. Of course, this was after many attempts and failures that included hitting a deer and the arrow just fell to the ground.

At the end he saw a moose and started to drool realizing how much meat he could get out of such a large beast.

I thought it was pretty interesting. Anyone else remember that one???

SSS

[ElkMasterC]

I thought it was pretty interesting. Anyone else remember that one???

SSS

Crickets Chirp... ...tumbleweed rolls through.........wind noise...

:roll:


(Seriously, if you find it, let me know... I'd like to see it.)

[Mr. Friendly]

as kids my cousin and I would plan the cabin we'd need and the supplies we'd need and plot strategies and everything for when we could move out and into the bush.

nothing ever came of it... :(

[mpotzold]

After high school a friend & I decided to live in Northern Ontario wilderness for at least a month. After being tormented by no-see-ums every minute (except when standing by the
fire smoke) the trip ended to be less than a week. Forget about Burns Lake(too many people). IMO Consider a 4 to 6 week + trip in the Spatsizi Wilderness Park by canoe. Remote-the beauty is beyond description- great fishing- great hunting-many wilderness trails to hike. If only I was young & single! Bring along a couple of small tents(I’m not sure about old cabins along the way).Either way Good Luck!
ARGR- I think you just lack a sense of humour!:wink:

[hunter1947]

I hope you do what you plan on doing ,good luck.
Word of advice just don't squat in someones cabin that might come and use it when your in there.

[Wildman]

I did it for eight months. Not straight 184/248 days (in and out) in a cabin we built in the bush. Check out 50, 14', 17" N / 127, 39' 18" W on Google Earth. At the time there was no development as close as it shows, nothing in the valley at all.

[325]

I know it's not the same, but in my younger years I guided in northern BC. I did not see civilization from about July 15 to October 31. I loved it....got to be in the bush, plus hunt all the time. Might be something to consider.

[buckguy]

Well hats off to you. Something I have always wanted to do but have not...maybe later...lol. Plan well as mother nature has no sense of humour espcialy in northern parts in November. Would be interested to hear how you make out later. No harm in trying the true failure would be not to attempt it at all.

Good Luck :-)

[David Heitsman]

Alpine Addict:

Why don't you call or email a few outfitters in your area of choice and offer to wrangle in exchange for room and board and a couple animals.

My guess is that you'd get snapped up fast as they are having a hard time keeping help with the low wages offered compared to logging or the oil patch.

That way you'd be roughing it to whatever extent you chose and probably even earning a stipend at the same time.

Something to think about.

Otherwise their are cabins in Wokpash, their is also a cabin off the Dease Highway that that couple wrote a book about. Their are also cabins on Cold Fish lake in the Spatsisi that are remote.

Maybe call Liard Air and tell Urs what you would like and he would have a suggestion for you.

[Alpine Addict]

Thanks for the input guys. I did take a 2 week guide training course at chilcotin holidays so Im gunna see if I can hook up with a outfitter and be a wrangler and hopefully work up to a full time guide!

[David Heitsman]

AA:

What all did that course entail?

I have been curious after seeing their ads all these years. There are some guide schools in Montana and Idaho I think as well.

[Alpine Addict]

It was a really good course and run well. First day you get to the ranch we jumped right into the basics of handling a horse in the back country, ie. crossing rivers, slides ect. second day we learned how to pack a horse and to trim their hooves and shoe them. Third day we reviewed and went over some basic wilderness survival. And on the fourth day we pcked up horses and rode off into the Mnts to spruce lake which was a 9 hour ride away, everyone having their own turn at getting rope burn from leading packhorses! Then we got to camp, set up. then next day we spent riding all over glassing for game. Griz/goats/deer/blackies/marmmots. Then rode on to another camp for the night and then came back for hot showers and good food! All in all a very good course. But you gotta be 100% interested cuz its ALOT to take in!

[gitnadoix]

After reading the book "Caruso of Lonsome Lake" I had the same vision of adventure, it never came to be. I now look back at it as one of those coulda-shoulda things, before I had a family etc. I also remember reading a excerpt from a diary that was found hidden in the ashes of the wood stove of a very old cabin that was found by a group of wilderness paddlers that had flown into some extreme remote area of northern Quebec or Labrador in the 70's I think. Any way the cabin had three human skeletons, two in the moss by the door and one inside in a bed. Anyway the diary told their story as three young men who had left England on a steam ship to seek fame and fortune in Canada's north. They had planned on living off of the heards of caribou that they had read about......anyway long story short.....no caribou = no food and they starved to death even eating soup made from their leather boots...Moral of the story do more research then them and remember for how long you will be dead once you die. So do every thing you want before then, cause forever is a realy long time.

[jakerazer]

Have great time, and get out there but think hard about the details. i've done a couple of weeks down the spatsizi on a raft. I would have liked to stay longer. We ate Grayling till we could eat no more. then we knocked over a moose and although we ate a slab out of him ,he hastened our departure as we did'nt want the rest of the meat to go bad.
We met a gent up there who went in every year until the river mucked up with ice. He was a photographer but he hunted for sustinence.
He was quiet man but he had learned lot's of lessons of the wild. He even had a small home made solar powered eletric fence to keep his camp from being ransacked by the numerous grizzlies.
Also remember entertainment .Boredom can make you crazy after many long nights in the bush.
Tell us all about it when you get back. The good and the bad.
all the best