Woodsmanship skills that you use

[achigan]

Know your limitations.
If you are in a hole, know to stop digging.
What to do when lost.

[Sam McMichael]

1. Slow down
2. Hunt the wind
3. Sit still & be quiet.

There are many skills that could be added, but since most of my stands are within sight of the house, I don't always need the prowess that you guys who really get back in the bush need to absolutely master.

[Traditional-Archer]

I agree but, personal limitations. Everything mentioned here will have to be put into place according to those limits you put on self.

[beaver#1]

Common sense is the the woodsmen skill that's has been lost the most.

[PeteA]

Building a fire using ferno rod a man made tinders, jute cord, char cloth. Cooking with use of a simple alcohol stove. Navigation using a compass. Identifying edible plants. Harvesting fat wood for fire starting.

[Brock]

using a compass, building a fire, improvised shelter for overnight, knowing how to field dress an animal and properly care for meat, tracking (prints and blood), know characteristics and methods of other animals like the bark of a red squirrel alerting you to something else being near......or circling of buzzards or crows or magpies on dead animal....or animals that are gut shot heading toward water.

[toddster]

all, lol
land navigation/star's navigation
tracking
nature awareness
plant/tree awareness
fire making
water purification
stalking

[Brianlocal3]

In a "worst case scenario" I feel , as had been said people should know the basics. Pretty much what an 11 year old Boy Scout is competant in we should all be able to do.  

Now, like Sam stated, alot of us are after work hunters in close by places or a little jaunt away so the needs for all out "survival skills" is not as pressing but I do feel you should always have a way to make fire and keep some H2O for that "just in case"

[buckeye_hunter]

The 2 biggest hunting skills I use to get close to deer are finding good funnels and using wind/thermals correctly.

[Sixby]

I know enough to use a compass, carry the necessities for survival with me in a fanny pack and to let someone else know pretty much where I will be  and when to expect me back. I carry cordage, heavy knife or small hand axe, a couple of butane lighters, el cheapos, tp in a plastic bag, fire starter in a plastic bag with waterproof matches, I always have a lighter in my pocket with compass to check the wind when I am hunting and I use it often. I know to orient myself to all local roads and landmarks before I hunt in an area I am unfamiliar with. I never get in a hurry. Maintain location at all times. Never do anything that will get you hurt when hunting by yourself. I have a huge list of do nots for safety purposes that have served me well.
this is important when hunting alone in dangerous terrain. One of them is not climbing up on or walking on deadfalls or lodgepoles,. another concerns crossing creeks on slick rocks or on logs. Its better to get wet and use a strong stick for a third support. ect ect.
Don't be afraid but be careful.
Don't ever get into a situation that you cannot get out of safely./ For instance. a few years back I decided to walk across a spring fed pasture on a mountain slope instead of skirting it and walking out of my line of travel.
About half way through it the ground became extremely unstable,. I should have turned around , skirted the area. Instead I stepped off into quick sand and instantly sank to my chest with no bottom I could feel. I got out but it took a long time and I honestly feared for my life. Now I will refuse to take shortcuts or when I do and run into a bad area I will go around. Same applys to extreme slopes which turn into bluffs and no where to go. When it gets really bad. Go back, It may save your life. Nature does not respect persons.

God bless and have a great time instead of a tragic experience .
Oh, maps are a great thing.

God bless, Steve

[LB_hntr]

its actually a shame that these things are not taught and handed down like they once were. I had always considered my skills to be very good outdoors. But once I had kids and they were of that age where i thought they would enjoy this stuff i got them involved. I make it a game for them and a couple times each week all summer long every summer we pick one skill and make it happen. then after they master it we go to the next one. They love it!!!!!  Now after 3 years of teaching them, at the ages of 10 and 9 (boy and a girl) they both have more outdoor skills than most adults. they have made between 50 and 100 fires each with nothing more than a fire steel/knife. they know how to use and make a bowdrill. they know how to make figure 4 traps and how to set them. how to make fish hooks from sticks. how to purify water with tablets, boiling, pumps, hot rocks, etc. they know baseline navigation, how to eat a cattail, mkae summac lemonaid, eat winter green, make pine needle tea,and are always chewing on sweet ferns. how to use and sharpen a knife, every aspect of what a fire needs and how to prepare it and make tinder bundles. how to skin and process animals, and clean fish. the list goes on and on! currently we are working on how animals use terrain for cover, food, and travel. if more people in the world would introduce themselves and thier kids to the wonderful experiences nature has and the skills our ancestors used there would be a whole lot less time being wasted on xbox, facebook, and televison sets.....lol

[Sixby]

Survival skills are great and very interesting to know. However I never want to be in that situation where I would have to use them because that would , in most cases, mean that I have already done a no no as a woodsman and gotten myself into a situation I should have avoided. In a real ememgency, like a plane wreck ect they would be invaluable . In most of our lives this scenario and others like it will never be a problem. Still those survival skills are good to know. However as a woodsman I carry the means to make fire. ect. and do not actually have to rely on making a fire with a bow drill and setting snares to have food. I do want to know all those things and do know most. I actually got smoke out of a fire drill. Never got a fire though.
Watching pros trying to build a fire in life and death situations just to have a fire to boil water and in one case it took three days due to the materials he had to work with. I bet he would have loved to have had my pack with a zippo and tender.

Oh one other thing,. Never leave without it. I jumped out of my truck to try to get on a big buck up in the mountains once. It was in a spot that I knew like the back of my hand. I got down in the canyon and a fog blanket moved in that was so thick that I could not see 10 feet. This is serious stuff. I had left my pack on the seat of the truck. It took several hours before I found a road that was over a mile from my truck/. When you cannot see, have no bearings, no compass no fire , no space blanket you can get in real trouble , real fast.

Henseforth. I now never leave the truck for any reason without my fanny pack and life essentials.

God bless, Steve

God bless, Steve

[Legolas]

Hightecredneck has it right PATIENCE.

In this instant information society we have become, patience will be a lost art. Get rid of the Iphone, GPS, and learn to be still.
Ancient forms of meditation used stillness as a vehicle to explore the inner world. "Be still and know that I am".

Try peeling an apple with your pocket knife and do it in one continuous piece. You soon find out how anxious you are.
Sit in the tree stand with your eyes closed and identify how many sounds you hear,both within like breathing and outside.Identify the moment that it is getting dusk by the insects beginning to chirp.

[Steve D]

Use the almost forgotten "sixth sense" or "gut feeling when in the
proper situations.

[JEFF B]

stalking. and patience and the ability to take the animal that i hunt

[Bama Recurve]

Scouting.
Knowing and recognizing food sources.
Playing the thermals in the mourning/evening.
SLOOOOOOWING DOWN

[Bama Recurve]

Oh yea
How to dress.
Loose layers, cant beat some fine Wool!!

I see so many people freeze because they bundle up too tight.

[swamper]

Being always aware of your surroundings'and what your doing,

[eflanders]

Originally posted by John Scifres:
I think woodsmanship and experience are one in the same.  It's not a set of skills so much as it is a calm and confidence that you know what you are doing out there.  I am hard-pressed to put into words the reasons I am a better woodsman now after 30+ years of hunting.  I do know that there isn't a single thing that scares me when I am out there.  Except methed up rednecks or unabomber type whack jobs.

Well said John!  But I also have to add one to your scary list, Armed Trespassers!

[jhg]

Knowing wilderness first aid.  There aren't ambulances to bail your ass out in the wayback...

Wilderness first aid teaches you how to keep someone or yourself alive for a longer duration than standard first aid. Help can be a day away or more.

I knew a guy who could call several animals in with just his voice. He was deadly with crows. Pretty cool woods skill.

Joshua