Sorry but I just have to comment here, and though I feel it may not be my place, I still have to say a bit on this. I grew up on a trap line (in fact my parents had two) and it is important to have a really good understanding of the animals behaviour, biology, eco-system, tracks etc etc etc. I grew up with these things here in Canuck land I have fished, hunted, tanned hides, made moccasins, dried meat, made fish hooks from bone, processed the sinew for thread, cut the eyes for a variety of uses, did moose and caribou hair tufting, processed bladders for pots and bowls etc etc etc and used every part of the animals we either hunted or trapped, but when I got the Northern Bushcraft Book for my husband (he's done a few responses on the forum under Mahikan as well
) I was very disappointed in Ray's lack of knowledge in some fairly common things to do with signs and tracks. Especially the wolf scat, sorry but a few of us Canucks have had a hard belly laugh at his photos on the wolf scat, the "birch" and a few other things in his book that he totally got wrong.
I think (as I've said in a few other forums) that when he does his "stuff" in UK I'm absolutely mesmerized by him, but when I've seen him do the odd thing on this side of the pond I've found him to be lacking and somewhat uninformed.
I don't want to have a go at the fellow, because he is very passionate about what he's doing and I think that is a great thing, but sometimes he has bitten off more than he can chew and seems to be trying to be an expert at everything... I wish he'd focus more on his expertise in UK (rather than trying to impress with a broader based knowledge he hasn't got) and even the other areas of the world where he seems to thrive. I'd actually be inspired to watch his shows then...
I spent my life around bears as well as wolves (not a day that I've not been around bears growing up) and many of his "facts" about bears he's gotten wrong, my husband and I track and get incredibly close to bears (both grizzlies and blacks plus timber wolves and grey wolves) on a very regular basis and have a bit of experience around that.
It is sad, but I hope whoever Ray used as a mentor or teacher had correct information to pass onto him.
Sorry.. rant over
Mahikan