Best Bushy Memory of 2011

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Plenty of great moments outdoors with my son and friends as well as solo this last year, saying that now being able to consistently get an ember from a hand drill is up there too. Made plenty of things and enjoyed every minute of it apart from a couple testing days on a particular knife. No downsides to 2011 so that's a massive bonus. Looking forward to another year of passing knowledge and appreciation on to my son in 2012, happy bushcrafting all!
 
Have a few, but hopefully the best is still to come. Taking my son out for the night on boxing day with all the kit he hopes he's getting for christmas. (He is, but shhh!! don't tell him). :-)
 
Waking up in my sleeping bag, more or less anywhere.

This year including:

Calais and nearby (once just outside the ferry port:))
Folly Wood
Limoges
Massif Central
North Wood
Pyrenees
Rough Close
Serra Calderona
Shining Cliff Woods
Spanish Sierras
Toulouse
 
2 for me, Tracking a roe stag and doe from sign to beast, and getting a few shots off Here is one of them:)

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My second is working for and getting the opportunity at the Job of a lifetime(for me):D
 
What with the demands of a young family and a poorly wife, bushcraft times have been very sparse for me in 2011. I have been largely limited to snatched moments in the shed. What times I have had have become more treasured, and the best for me was this one.

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For me, it has to be the wildlife I've seen this year. Otters, Deer, Badgers and some fantastic birds of prey to name but some. Utterly magical. It makes getting wet through or any other discomfort simply fade away to insignificance.
 
For me I have 3 bushcraft memories from 2011

1. Getting my first ember and subsequently fire from a bow drill set.
2. Informing a Mr Mears what his dog had just been eating - I was on my way back from the toilet :)
3. The way my I'm seeing more wildlife than ever before.
 
Funniest moment was seeing the look of horror on Luckylee's face when he saw the state of the blade on my Mora:)

But its all been good really - especially the snow-camps!
 
It's been a great bushcrafting year for me as I've spent weeks outdoors all around the country whilst collecting adder DNA. Possibly the best time I've had was hamocking over a dorset common during those intense thunderstorms. Some real brown-trouser moments, but the experience,smells and sights will be ingrained in my memory forever. Breakfast as dawn was breaking was awesome, everything was so fresh and the colours the most vivid. It felt good to be alive that day.
 
1) October birthday camping bash - nearly a week in the woods. Absolute bliss.
2) Learning how to handle a knife by the blade (thanks Mesquite).
3) Helping people to orienteer at the Bushmoot - hugely satisfying.
 
For me its a toss-up between the night of the spoon, and the night of the ditch diver. Actually the night of the ditch diver wins purely because of Andy's depiction of a medic getting confused by an injured Essex lad, an Irishman in a suit and a flasher wearing just a mac and some boots. Still makes me giggle.
 
Been a good year for me for Bushcrafting, getting over 20 days/nights out, with a week long course with Woodsmoke for my Native, living in a natural shelter for the week was much better than what I expected and would love to do it again....wait I did for one night in September which was different and interesting and involved free falling slugs. :)

Hopefully I can improve on the that next year and get more done.
 

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