First of all I would like to say hello to everyone on BushcraftUK, this is my first thread.
I am quite a young fellow and I have only recently discovered the wonders of bushcraft. Someone once said to me: "During your life you should focus on the things that you liked doing as a child, only that will make you happy."
Well, me and my friends used to run around in the woods playing indians and soldiers, using trees as outposts and bushes as shelters.
So about a year ago I finally figured out that pursuing the knowledge of bushcraft will bring the same warm feeling back to me.
Now for the thread: Saw a Czech Republic thread here and thought of posting some pictures and info about my home country - Estonia.
Estonians have always called themselves people of the forest, and this is quite true. Over 50% of our country is covered in forests and bogs.
It's quite amazing when you talk with old people, the knowledge they possess about wild edibles and animals. Foraging for mushrooms and other wild edibles in the autumn is a national pastime. Had a chat with my father recently and he said the eggs of a duck taste the best, he said to have tried every egg when he was young.
Anyway, our country isn't big, but neither is the population. We have about 1,34 million people.
What truly makes our country wonderful is the wildlife: even though our area is not that big we have one of the best preserved natural habitats in Europe for large mammals.
A newspaper article about 1 week ago had some numbers:
- Over 35000 roe deer
- Over 22000 wild boar
- Nearly 17000 beavers
- Over 12000 moose
- Nearly 3300 red deer
- Over 2000 lynx
- Nearly 900 brown bears
- Nearly 800 wolves
And these are just the big mammals. Unfortunately due to the harsh winters the populations of roe deer have gone down greatly, there used to be over 100000 of them.
The sheer number of animals means that there's almost always a possibility of spotting one when out and about. I live about 20km away from the center of the capital, yet there are thick woods and large bogs around my village. On Tuesday I was waiting for a bus and two young moose came running over the road about 100m from me. Truly amazing.
Now for some pictures of the State Forest Management Center:
Beautiful!
Anyways, thanks for reading! I suggest everyone to come and visit if this sounds even remotely interesting. Our country is amazing. Travelling here and staying here is cheap, the people are friendly and best of all - we have the principle of everyman's right, similar to Scandinavian countries. You can go where you want, pick wild edibles and make a fire.
For those who are interested: http://www.maaturism.ee/index.php?lang=en
Anyways, thanks again. This is truly a wonderful forum and I hope to gain a lot of new knowledge here.
Best regards,
Jaan
I am quite a young fellow and I have only recently discovered the wonders of bushcraft. Someone once said to me: "During your life you should focus on the things that you liked doing as a child, only that will make you happy."
Well, me and my friends used to run around in the woods playing indians and soldiers, using trees as outposts and bushes as shelters.
So about a year ago I finally figured out that pursuing the knowledge of bushcraft will bring the same warm feeling back to me.
Now for the thread: Saw a Czech Republic thread here and thought of posting some pictures and info about my home country - Estonia.
Estonians have always called themselves people of the forest, and this is quite true. Over 50% of our country is covered in forests and bogs.
It's quite amazing when you talk with old people, the knowledge they possess about wild edibles and animals. Foraging for mushrooms and other wild edibles in the autumn is a national pastime. Had a chat with my father recently and he said the eggs of a duck taste the best, he said to have tried every egg when he was young.
Anyway, our country isn't big, but neither is the population. We have about 1,34 million people.
What truly makes our country wonderful is the wildlife: even though our area is not that big we have one of the best preserved natural habitats in Europe for large mammals.
A newspaper article about 1 week ago had some numbers:
- Over 35000 roe deer
- Over 22000 wild boar
- Nearly 17000 beavers
- Over 12000 moose
- Nearly 3300 red deer
- Over 2000 lynx
- Nearly 900 brown bears
- Nearly 800 wolves
And these are just the big mammals. Unfortunately due to the harsh winters the populations of roe deer have gone down greatly, there used to be over 100000 of them.
The sheer number of animals means that there's almost always a possibility of spotting one when out and about. I live about 20km away from the center of the capital, yet there are thick woods and large bogs around my village. On Tuesday I was waiting for a bus and two young moose came running over the road about 100m from me. Truly amazing.
Now for some pictures of the State Forest Management Center:
Beautiful!
Anyways, thanks for reading! I suggest everyone to come and visit if this sounds even remotely interesting. Our country is amazing. Travelling here and staying here is cheap, the people are friendly and best of all - we have the principle of everyman's right, similar to Scandinavian countries. You can go where you want, pick wild edibles and make a fire.
For those who are interested: http://www.maaturism.ee/index.php?lang=en
Anyways, thanks again. This is truly a wonderful forum and I hope to gain a lot of new knowledge here.
Best regards,
Jaan
