Survival Tips for The Hunter

Sometimes it’s easy to lose your way in unfamiliar woods. Being familiar with an area before you hunt there, is a good way to avoid losing your way. It is also a good idea to carry some essential tools with you that can aid you in the event that you find yourself lost. Educate yourself with some basic survival skills before your hunting trip. Knowing what to do if you become lost, or experience trouble in the woods can help you avoid disaster. Build yourself a survival kit and take it with you on your next hunting expedition. This kit will be a great addition to the equipment you are already carrying as a hunter.

What to Include in a Hunting Trip Survival Kit:
Compass and map. Quickly finding your way back is the best way to avoid a more serious situation.
Flashlight. Be prepared to navigate in the dark in the event you fail to find your way out before nightfall.
Extra batteries for your flashlight
Alternative flashlight that require no batteries. The flashlights are operated by shaking them.
Matches in a waterproof case. You may need to start a fire for warmth or to boil water.
Sharp knife
Traditional Bowie knife. This is a large knife that can be used for multiple purposes.
Swiss Army knife. This tool has multiple functions to meet multiple needs.
Needle and thread. These materials can be used to repair torn clothing. You can also stitch up a wound to stop heavy bleeding in case an injury occurs and you cannot get medical attention right away.
Granola,
candy bars
dried fruit
A bottle or two of drinking water is necessary also. Humans can survive for weeks without food but only three days without water.

Learn a Few Basic Survival Skills

Know how to build a fire.
Gather larger logs and sticks.
Choose an area away from trees and shrubs, and line your fire pit with small boulders or stones to help contain the embers, and create a windbreak.
Gather small twigs and dried grass to use as kindling.
Build a tee pee out of the larger pieces of wood.
Place the kindling at the base of this tee pee.
Light the kindling with a match
Blowing gently on your kindling will help your flames catch hold. Use pine boughs to shield your fire from wind if necessary. You can also use boughs to stand or sit on if snow is present. This will help insulate your feet from the cold while warming yourself near the fire.

Find a water source.
You will not want to drink any water found on the land without boiling it for several minutes first, to kill off any bacteria or parasites.
Snow can be melted to use for drinking water.

Find Shelter.
Most hunters carry a six to eight-foot length of rope to help drag their game back to the truck or haul equipment up into a tree stand. This rope can be used in many ways if you are stranded in the woods for an extended period of time. Angle some pine boughs against a standing tree and tie them into place. For a quick shelter.
Find an out cropping of rock with an overhang. This offers shelter from the wind.
Dig yourself into a snowbank in winter conditions.

Tips
Never eat any plants or berries unless you are familiar with what types are poisonous. If you are unsure of the safety of a plant or its fruit, don’t eat it. Risking an illness while stranded in the wild is not preferable to an empty stomach.
It’s important to follow usual camp safety guidelines when starting a fire under any conditions in the wild. Always triple check to make sure a fire is completely out before leaving the area to prevent flare-ups and a potential forest fire.

Rope can be used for first aid purposes or to secure equipment during your trek. You can even string up a makeshift clothesline to dry wet clothing should you fall into standing water. Be sure to keep your rope with you and not in the truck.
It is a good idea to wear a belt when out hunting. A belt can be used as a tourniquet in an emergency, as well to help secure a splint to a limb if necessary. A belt is one first aid item that you don’t have to cart around either.