Tag Archives: squirrel hunting

Survival Weekly – 1/22/15…

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Welcome to another edition of Survival Weekly, where the real wilderness survival “reality show” plays out everyday, in the wild places around our world. These unscripted stories will give you insight to the true threats and challenges you may face in your outdoor pursuits. So sit back, relax, and read on to get a dose of reality to sharpen your most valuable survival tool. – BPO

Featured – 

Four teens rescued from chilly overnight (with paradoxical undressing) –  http://www.paradisepost.com/general-news/20150119/four-paradise-youths-rescued-from-snowy-high-lakes-area

News – 

Record breaking year for LASD – http://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/2014-lifesaving-record-year-for-search-and-rescue-teams-119577

Drones to be used in Arctic waters – http://arcticjournal.com/business/1266/norway-looks-drones-aid-search-and-rescue

Winter Sports – 

Lost skier rescued – http://helenair.com/news/local/lost-skier-rescued-on-macdonald-pass/article_f201ac0b-f0e0-50ff-a28f-aa59c3fb9fc7.html

Injured snowmobiler rescued – http://www.standard.net/Local/2015/01/14/Cache-County-Search-and-Rescue-help-injured-snowmobile-rider-in-Idaho.html

Hiking – 

Unprepared hiker rescued – http://globalnews.ca/news/1779756/hiker-tells-chilliwack-search-rescue-thank-you-for-saving-my-life/

Hikers rescued – https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2015/01/17/hrc-news-short-search-and-rescue-locate-2-women-dog-ledged-up-in-snow-canyon-park/#.VMGkd0dQMsM

Missing hiker rescued – http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20150118/missing-chatsworth-park-north-hiker-found-by-search-and-rescue

Hikers rescued – http://ktla.com/2015/01/17/helicopter-team-rescues-3-adults-1-dog-from-mountaintop-in-angeles-national-forest/

Hikers rescued – http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-17/two-german-bushwalkers-rescued-from-world-heritage-wilderness/6023010

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Hunter-gatherer – 

Lost lumberjack rescued – http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/288707251.html

Squirrel hunter still missing – http://mymonticellonews.net/news/article_c3f25a82-9cd0-11e4-8f80-ab2a160aaffd.html

GPS dog collar saves missing hunter –   http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/123702/gps-leads-searchers-to-lost-dog-missing-teen-hunter

Climbing – 

Fatal climbing accident – http://www.kptv.com/story/27912647/search-and-rescue-crews-respond-after-man-falls-off-cliff-near-colton

Climber fatality – http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/01/20/apu-student-killed-in-climbing-accident-on-mt-yukla/

Climbing accident kills three – http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/01/12/mount-joffre-ice-climbing-accident-kills-three-people/

Water Safety – 

Frozen lake fatality – http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/01/22/evergreen-drowning/22162599/

Vehicles – 

Four rescued from grounded vessel – http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/four-people-rescued-from-sinking-fishing-vessel-near-sitka/30801066

Sailboat crew rescued – http://www.wcti12.com/news/sailboat-runs-aground-two-people-rescued-near-fort-macon-state-park/30790626

Urban – 

SAR underway for Alzheimer’s patient – http://wjcl.com/2015/01/22/scmpd-red-cross-join-search-efforts-for-missing-wayne-county-man/

Interested in learning skills to handle emergencies like the ones you read in Survival Weekly?   Check out BigPig Outdoors Survival 101 class  – http://www.bigpigoutdoors.net/survival-101-1.htm

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USRSOG Race-Dragon project- 22/45 Lite

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I first read about the concept of a .22 pistol as a survival firearm is one of my favorite survival books “Six Ways In, Twelve Ways Out” by George Jasper, founder of USRSOG. http://www.usrsog.org/manu.htm

“Swack”, as he is known on his forum, makes the argument for a light weight .22 as a survival firearm for military personnel. Discussing the AR-7, Papoose, and Springfield M-6, he argues that a lightweight, accurate pistol is a better choice for a soldier. Well I am not a soldier, but contemplating survival guns is an ever present dilemma of mine and I needed a new .22 pistol for the trapline. At least that is how I justified another pistol.

Years ago, I owned an AR-7 and I thought it sucked. My 50th Anniversary Ruger Mark II was more accurate, so Swack’s ideas made perfect sense to me.  http://www.usrsog.org/surfire.htm

Keeping up with the times, the Tactical Solutions lightweight barrels for Ruger 22/45’s and Browning Buckmarks are now the choice on the forum. http://www.tacticalsol.com/tshome/

Ruger followed suit, and came out with their lightweight version releasing it first in some crappy gold version. When I saw this year’s black version, I sold my old Mark II and pulled the trigger on buying the 22/45 Lite. Weighing in at only 1.5 pounds, it’s name is well deserved.

So today while roaming around baiting some cornholes for hogs and foraging a bit, I slipped into the woods to see how she would run. I missed my first squirrel at 20 yards, but put the sneak on another two and connected at about 10 yards. A thinner front blade is definitely on the list, as the blade is pretty thick obscuring the squirrel’s head. Disconnecting the annoying magazine disconnect, a gun light, and a suppressor, since it is already threaded, may be in the picture as well.

Is it the ultimate survival firearm? It may be part of the equation. As a secondary to a primary long gun, I think it has great potential. It is nothing the guys over on USRSOG haven’t been saying for years, but I am just excited to have one in my hands.

Special thanks to the guys at Bill’s Outpost for the ordering and transfer help. http://www.billsoutpost.com/

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Fur – “fish & game” – lough

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A family trip to Florida and my 20 year high school reunion left me with a decision to make. An “essential” employee, I was told I could cancel my leave or they would furlough me. Maybe I get paid, maybe I don’t, but I chose my family and friends and have managed to keep out of the nonsense for at least a couple more days.

This did however, worry my 11 year old niece to no avail. Concerned about me being “on layaway”, she took it upon herself to write her Congressman a letter about my “unfortunate” case. When Payton asked her mom how I was going to feed myself without a job, my sister laughed and told her not to worry since her uncle would eat just about anything he could catch or scrounge up.

And so I broke out my 10/22 takedown project rifle, and began my Fur-“fish & game”-lough that morning with my first squirrel of the season.

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I went on to shoot 2 more with my niece, who learned the ins and outs of cleaning a squirrel and tasted her first pawpaw.

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Later I took both my nieces frog gigging, but because of the silted in pond, we used the rifle scoring 3 frogs for the pan.

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I had a great time at my reunion and had a discussion about amaranth with a classmate. As I was foraging the next day, I snapped a pic for him when he reads this post. I harvested some greens and the grain to process later of spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus)

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The Fur-“fish & game”-lough continued yesterday when I found a nice crop of Chestnut oak acorns on the hill

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and sat down to my meal of squirrel and frog on a wild salad – (chickweed, wood sorrel, lady’s thumb, amaranth, curly dock, and black nightshade berries). I seasoned the meat with spicebush and one of my classmate’s family recipe seasoning that he kindly gave me at the reunion.

Moral of the story: Government is shutdown?? Grab your gear, take a kid, and go get some grub. You don’t need the government to provide for your immediate needs. If you want something great to season your next meal with go to http://murffsmix.com/

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