Carson Dunaway's Primitive Survival Trip

     For my M-Term Wilderness Survival Skills, I had an objective. I wanted one day to fish enough fish for everyone to have fish for dinner. Among other minor goals like surviving and getting water, catching and bunch of fish was at the top of my goals list. For me, fishing is always a really fun pastime so I wanted to find a lake or pond and see what all I could catch. I also figured that if I could hone in on an important survival skill such as fishing, I could better prepare myself for situations in the future. Since we arrived at Sam Houston National Forest around mid day there wasn't any time to focus any energy or time on fishing. We had to unpack, find water and most importantly make or find shelter. Although while searching for water we found a small pond. Now I knew where I could fish and hopefully soon I would find out what I would be fishing. Well after finishing everything else we needed to do on day one, as expected there was no time to fish. Most of us hadn't even finished our shelters before sun was starting to set and we needed to make dinner. There was definitely no time for fishing. Day one still ended up being a ton of fun and now with my shelter personally being built, I could focus my time on fishing the next day. 

    Now it was day two. After sleeping in and having breakfast most students continued to work on their shelters. I however went out with Dr. Lamell and Nurse McDonald to the pond where we would spend our time fishing. We brought bait, (our chicken innards from last night) Lamells fishing poles, and a type of fishing tool I had never heard of, a snare. We walked to the pond where for a couple hours I practiced with the new tool and then I moved over to the fishing rods which I had more success with and we actually caught some fish. In the end, they were not successful in catching enough fish for everyone for dinner that night. In fact, I only caught one fish. A bass. A bass that was half the minimum weight to eat. So after the catch, we let it go and practiced with our remaining bait. I got nibbles and near snags throughout the next hour but no more big catches. My friend Trey caught his own fish as well which lucky for him didn't have a minimum weight to be eaten so he got to take it back to camp and cook it over a fire. So unfortunately I did not achieve my goal but in the end, I still caught some fish and had a lot of fun so the fishing experience was still very enjoyable for me. 


    Overall I had a really good trip that I would sign up for again next year and plan on encouraging other students to join as well. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 - REI and Shelter Research [Rose]

Image
 Hellooooooooo everybody! Today is the first day of the Primitive Survival M Term! Today we were introduced to the course and a brief overview of survival skills, as well as discussing our hopes for the term. We became certified by Leave No Trace as a group, learning survival and conservation etiquitte.  After lunch we went to REI to buy a water filter, as well as an outdoor gas stove. For the rest of the afternoon we researched and presented on different styles of shelters. Sabrina taught us about lean-tos, Rachel explained tarp shelters, Eli explained supported structures, and Carson presented on Bivvy Sacks. For my presentation I taught about traditional Caddo houses, using a recreation project built in 2015 as an example. Today was really just an introductory day, but fun nonetheless. All of us are really looking forward to the campout next week! 
Read more

Day 4: Fishing, hunting, and toolmaking (Rachel)

Image
Today we planned to learn about hunting in the morning and fishing in the afternoon, as well as practice with snares and collecting materials outside, but it rained all day, so we mostly kept our activities indoors.  In the morning we researched passive hunting techniques, and how to assemble different types of snares. Right before lunch we went to academy to get fishing line and hooks. Those of us over 17 also got our freshwater fishing licenses which will expire in august.  I called Sam Houston National Forest and we narrowed down our campsite for next week. For the last few hours of the day we watched videos on how to tie knots and each worked on individual projects. I built a mini-bow, Eli made a spear, Rose started weaving a basket, and Sabrina made an atlatl. Carson worked on finishing his blog from yesterday. It was very fun and I cannot wait to learn to forage with an expert tomorrow! :)
Read more

Rose's Primitive Survival Experience

Image
 Hellooooo everyone! I'm here to tell all of y'all about my awesome time during our Wilderness Survival campout! When we arrived we all helped unpack the van - there was a lot of stuff! Afterwards we all worked together to scout out the area we would be camping in. Sabrina, Rachel, and Trey set up camp by a massive fallen pine tree at the Western section, while Eli, Dr. Lammel, and I set up our camps in the East across the road. I was partial to that location as it was very clear and the ground was dry and firm. Carson and Nurse Judith opted to camp out right at where we parked the van. One group walked to the nearby Kelly's Pond to retrieve water for us to drink. Obviously we couldn't just drink pond water, so we filtered it through a gravity filter, rendering it potable. They got two huge and heavy buckets and carried them back using a large stick, similarly to the yoke of an ox. With our water needs taken care of, the next step was to begin making shelters. I'm v...
Read more