Avoiding heebee jeebees

[Biker]

I went out for a night in a small wood in inner manchester one evening to test out a hammock... The wife said "aren't you scared of townies and such" ..I said that the townies don't go in the woods at night because it's out of their comfort zone and scary things lurk in the woods at night..... Like what? she said...... I simply answered.......... ME!!

Dave, given your avatar I can see how that would work.

Funny how those same woods look sweet an innocent in the daytime, yet take on a whole different persona at night. I think most of the time TV programmes are to blame, indoctrining us into believing bad things really are out there just waiting for us to nod off. Once dawn rolls around the woods are just the same peaceful place it was before. Convincing ourselves in the middle of the night that nothing has changed except for the lack of light might be the key to a peaceful night.

The imagination is a two-edged sword.

Another help might be sleeping in a tent and progressing to a hammock and such. Sleeping in a tent gives yu that comfort you're in a protective cocoon where nothing can get you, the more you get used to the night sounds the less the need for that cocoon becomes. I don't mind telling you my night out on my own in the wood in a hammock was a threshold moment. I felt very different having had that experience.

 

[bojit]

Don't watch t.v. or go to the pictures as these will give you a false impression of what is lurking in the woods ready to devour you.

Oh and never go onto the internet and ask silly questions !

remember ignorance is bliss !

Craig............

 

[Squidders]

damn dirty zombies... they wouldn't be so bad if they scrubbed up a bit and varied their diet.

It's all about the "braaaains" apparently and that's a dead giveaway.

If you're in your hammock and you hear a branch snap in the dark and it ISN'T followed by a slow moaning "Braaaains" I think you're safe.

 

[Shingsowa]

Just to let y'all know, we were advised by the local AHOs and Divisional Vetinary Officer to report our 'suspicious sheep attack' to the Police as we could discount 'fox, badger or corvid, and a buzzard that could do that is the size of a lorry'


When I spoke to the wildlife officer and sent him the pics, he just said 'oh, another one'.


But there is nothing scarier than humans out there...

 

[Biker]

Just to let y'all know, we were advised by the local AHOs and Divisional Vetinary Officer to report our 'suspicious sheep attack' to the Police as we could discount 'fox, badger or corvid, and a buzzard that could do that is the size of a lorry'


When I spoke to the wildlife officer and sent him the pics, he just said 'oh, another one'.


But there is nothing scarier than humans out there...

You're making it worse, not better!!!

 

[tobes01]

Something I find useful is to walk the immediate area before setting up camp. Orient yourself around the various tracks and paths. Then you'll have an idea of distances/angles if you do hear something you don't like, and it will be easier to picture/explain it in your mind.

If I'm not alone, I tend to just bung in a pair of earplugs and forget about it.

Oh, and on a couple of occasions I've slept out whilst hunting, it's amazing how much safer you feel with a shotgun tucked in the bivi bag

 

[Bushwhacker]

Go out to the woods in the day, then shut your eyes.
No difference.

 

[Hugo]

Not that I have one but a dog would be the best companion.

 

[ged]

... a shotgun tucked in the bivi bag

Now that really would scare me!

 

[ged]

Good thread here: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43184&page=1

The zombies seem to have eaten my previous post... :yikes:

Oh -- it's come back now!

 

[Shingsowa]

You're making it worse, not better!!!

You're not the one hanging around the lambing sheds at 3 am covered in birthing fluid and wondering what that noise was...

 

[tommy the cat]

The first time I camped on my own I didnt have a fire as I felt that if I couldnt be seen by iijits then I would be ok?
Sometimes being lit up by a fire and the resulting loss of night vision weirds me out.
Mind now I have a massive fire tyres and everything!!!
Dave
(not really tyres I burn zombies)

 

[adestu]

the woods at night are so quiet until you hear a fox screaming!! i take a book with a happy ending and enjoy the quiet and a nice tot of something to bring on the sandman.

 

[Barn Owl]

Just overcome your thoughts.

All that you hear is natural, enjoy it, it's all natural unless you're not far enough from the local doggin' site.

Seriously, take a good crime (city) novel and you'll soon get to sleep.

OR, recce your site and look out for Badger or Fox setts / runs and try and watch them.

 

[gsfgaz]

it's all natural unless you're not far enough from the local doggin' site. brilliant Tam .....

 

[Scottishwanderer]

Spent monday and teusday night out on my own and loved it. First night in the middle of nowhere in a lovely wood with a hell of a lot of pheasants. Truly was a beautifal spot. Slept under DD poncho in leant to style with a wee fire. Great thing was when i woke i looked over and it was still glowing so just blew and had fire again.

I trekked the whole day then gt in another wood and built a quicky brush shelter out of wood i found on the ground covered with some boughs ( The tree had fallen over so i sawed some limbs of at the base) I was very careful removing them you would never know it had been used and any animal sleeping under it would have still been protected. At night i crawled in and tended the fire. Not long later i heard branches being broken, lot's of em and seen a fire going not far away so i put my fire out and got a heck of a fright. Got a bit feart but no one was coming to my spot as it's hard to get to and i was well camoflaged so i nodded of.

Two half bottles of grouse helped lol.

 

[Manacles]

I'm going to be all serious for a moment, but reading this thread I am struck by the very short time humankind has lived in houses (only about 4,000 years) and how long he lived in the woods and caves of the ancient world (100 times longer). I am wondering if the inherited race memory of all the nasties of thousands of years ago lurks very near to the surface in all of us. A scientific approach might tell us that there is nothing in the dark (certainly in the UK) that is anything more dangerous than in the daylight. It sure feels that there is though..........

 

[WolfCub]

Whats the best way to avoid panic when on your own in the woods at night?

realising you are on your own; it's when you start realising/thinking someone/thing else is out there with you the collywobles set in !

 

[WolfCub]

When I was a young Scout a Leader said that in a tent the first you knew some nutter really was outside it was the machete coming through the side, added escape would be nigh on impossible.

:yikes: said in jest but stayed with me a long time

a memory that still pops back to say hello occasionaly at inapropriate times

 

[ex member mick sturbs]

I know my woods like the back of my hand , "not dartmoor hairy" , sorry ! and also Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , wrote Hound Of The Baskervilles, on the estate where i live , and i have camped numerous times alone, but its still a bit wierd when a dog fox gives that bloodcurdling call ! even when you know what a sound is it can be a bit scary , I have only had three strange ones all explainable , left a plate of grub out and woke up to the sound of a zombie flesh eater ! oh no it was a fox sharing my dinner , peered out from my bag a little quietly though . And another was the awful creaking of Ludgate being opened by full moon at about 4 in the morning, "keep fogetting to oil that dam gate " by old father time , oh no it was the local farmer lambing ! lastly probably the scariest my mate Ed was fast asleep in his hammock , i woke from my tent for a wee and came face to face with a roe deer which took off like Usain Bolt , brushing the underside of the hammock , needless to say i didnt know my heart could beat so fast , and Ed needed clean pants !, he spent the rest of the night in the tent with me ...