Bushman

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Long-term sustainable wilderness living requires a multifaceted knowledge base. The Bushman Course combines skill sets from survival and bushcraft to create permanency in a wilderness environment. Going beyond short- and extended-term living, the Bushman Course explores true wilderness long-term sustainability—achieved through securing food from the land, constructing tools and furniture in the wilderness, and understanding how to troubleshoot upcoming issues. Following the traditions of the long hunters and pioneers of the past, the Bushman Course will develop the skills needed to live a self-sustaining lifestyle.

FIELD AND CLASSWORK

• Modern Trapping Techniques and Tactics
• Fur Handling
• Hunting Techniques
• Large Timber Work
• Woodland Furniture Building
• Managing Large Camps
• Basic Blacksmithing
• Camp Cooking
• Large Game Processing

REQUIRED KIT

Participants must bring the following items to the course.

Primary Gear (This gear must be carried with you throughout the entire course)

• Fixed Blade
• Forest Axe
• 100’ Paracord
• 1 lb Roll of #36 Bankline
  
• Flint and Steel Firestarting Kit

Secondary Gear (Items you need to have available, but don't need to carry with you daily)

• 24” Bow Saw
• Queen Size Wool Blanket or Sleeping Bag
• Oilcloth Tarp or Hot Tent
• Scotch Eye Auger Bit
• 2 - #11 Double Long Spring Traps
• 2 - Pennsylvania Legal Cable Restraints
• 3 in 1 Trapping Tool
• Dirt Shifter
• Trapping Pan Covers
• 4 - Metal Trap Stakes
• Pennsylvania Furtaker License (Applicable only if you are actively trapping)
• Notepad and Pencil/Pen

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Students will walk approximately 1 mile each morning and will do physical work throughout the day, including splitting wood, hammering, and chopping with an axe.
• Students will be required to obtain a Pennsylvania Fur Takers License for the course.
• Class Location: Ringtown, Pennsylvania
• Class Start Time: 9:00 am
• Students will stay on school grounds during the course and sleep in tarp shelters.
• Students are welcome to bring traditional tents such as wall tents, hot tents, or tipis for this course.
• PortaJohn bathrooms are available on-site.
• Students will have access to their vehicles during class.
• Students will make group meals each evening of the course. All other meals are the responsibility of the student.
• To truly get the most out of this experience, we advise you to pack all of your gear into camp on Day 1 and live as if you were on the frontier.
• An email with additional details about the course will be sent one week prior.

AGE REQUIREMENTS

Minimum age of 18. No exceptions.

PREREQUISITES

Basic Bushcraft Course

Advanced Bushcraft Course