Developing Observation Skills In The Outdoors?

[Ogri the trog]

Ah yes, forgot to mention,
since giving up the demon weed that is tobacco, my sense of smell has improved manyfold!

Ogri the trog

 

[Stryker]

It's taken me a long while to learn, but as previous posters have said, find a spot to sit down and relax, maybe with your back to a tree. Allow yourself to relax, and if your quiet enough and lucky enough, the locals start to appear.

 

[drewdunnrespect]

tell you whats an ausome game to play and the first time i played was at the 2007 moot and i think it was organised by wayland but could be wrong.

anyway how to play take your chair and a pen and notepad when it is completely dark and then just sit some where in the wood were you are entirly alone

and write down what you see and hear and in what direction from were you are sat you saw it or herd (SP) it. Do it for a few hours and it is quite suprising how much you notice

ever since having played this game i have noticed so much more in the woods and its activitys maybe you could try this

 

[forestwalker]

You could use some form of Kims game. Pick a spot. Now go through it and actively search for things to note. Where is north? How many ways could you corroborate this? What animals can you see? Tracks? Plants? History of the place (ecological succession state, signs of logging, planting, medieval house foundations, trash, invasive species, etc)? If you where stalking an animal, where are good and bad places to go? Where could you hide in order to observe an animal (or Spetznas patrol, if so inclined) unseen? If you wanted to trap something, where would you place the trap? Resources (firewood, potable water, edible and useful plants, campsites, etc). If you were hunting, where would you expect an animal (which?) to pass? Where would you sit in wait for it?

Make a game when out walking; how of this can you spot as you pass though an area?

 

[AIrish]

Here's an article I ran across a few months ago about being aware of your surroundings.

http://www.wwmag.net/aware.htm

 

[Miyagi]

Slow right down, take your time, be silent and listen.

When my children were young I introduced them to shooting and taught them to stalk etc.

I could always get a rabbit for the pot on my own, but when I had my children with me the emphasis was on their learning. They learned separately as there was an age gap etc.

We saw animal activity that most folk miss.

My daughter and I were out one morning when I signalled to her to walk ahead of me. Using hand signals she beckoned me near at a bend in the track and we watched a group of deer resting in a circle not 30 yards away. I was more surprised than she was but didn't let it show. A wee while after that we watched a Stoat explore a woodpile.

Had I been on my own I'd probably have missed these sights as my mind would have been on rabbit near the hedgerow.

They are both better shots than me too nowadays.

 

[HillBill]

As said. in a woodland the biggest opponent to observation is movment. They work against each other, the balance of opposites.

The faster you move the less you see, the more sees you.

The slower you move the more you see the less sees you.

Every other sense picks up after being in the woods for a little while. It just takes time to adust.

Dont look for movement, let the movement find you. Peripherals are better than focusing ( detect movement better)

 

[Monk]

Thanks for the replies, fellows.

I have been experimenting with "splatter vision" in that one looks but not at anything in particular. Hard to describe.

Appreciate the other tips.

 

[tommy the cat]

All good suggestions.
Only thing that I can add is that the way you enter the wood is also important.
I used to just walk straight in and stop when in the wood, now I stay on he periphery and glass the area with my bino's whilst using the edge of the wood for cover.
It makes a big difference it gives you a chance to calm down and slow down.
D

 

[HillBill]

I think i know what you mean, you kind of draw your pupils back to lose focus on any one thing, and try see everything at once. This is how we see when are born, we develop focusing as we grow up, we learn to focus our eyes by things like reading, watching TV etc.

 

[BOD]

Didn't we have a reference to 220 or 200 degrees of vision in the old BCUK website and how natives had effective peripheral vision?

They notice without "looking" for things. If you ask about something they remember "seeing' the plant etc. 5 minutes walk back and then its 10 metres off trail!

 

[SouthernCross]

As has already been mentioned, one of the best things you can do whilst honning your observation skills is to slow down.

It gives you the time to take things in (on both a conscious & subconscious level). We have 5 senses for a good reason, if necessary use them all

Still hunting is a very good example of the benefits of this technique.

A still hunter will move very slowly through the bush, taking the time to see, not just look, at what is within sight before moving on. The still hunter will also be acutely aware of wind direction, available cover, types of plants, animal spore, dry leaves on the ground, sun position etc, etc, etc).

If you are looking for a trainning technique to start the process, try cataloging everything within a small area (types of plants, location of the sun at that time, wind direction, lay of the land, cloud type and movement).

Given enough practice, this will become something you do without thinking about it.

Since IMO, bushcraft is about making use of the resources around you, observation skills are a vital part of Bushcraft because you become increasingly become aware of all the available resources.

Hope this helps.



Kind regards
Mick

 

[Monk]

Thanks again everyone.

HillBill, yes, that's it the way you describe this type of vision.

Southerncross,

thanks for the cataloging recommendation. Will try this out. I had noticed that I was not being observant enough then when I rewalked an area I would note things that I had not seen earlier. Even though I had looked I had not really "looked."

 

[Monk]

Another idea that was suggested to me or I read somewhere(can't remember exactly) was for example when looking at an object such as a tree was to look at the spaces around the tree rather than the tree itself. A tree with leafy branches try to look at the spaces around the leaves/branches.

Interesting how different ways of observing can open up more experiences.

 

[Ropeman]

Get yourself a pencil and a sketchbook. It will force you to slow down and really pay attention to the things you see rather than seeing a green blur with occasional brownish blobs. Sit down and try to draw a plant as true to exactly what's there rather than what you know the plant looks like.

You might also be surprised at what is watching you when you look up from the plant