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The situation when a person finds himself in a winter forest without means of communication and other inventions of mankind that help in everyday life can happen to any lover of winter hikes in the forest, hunters, as well as to each of the residents of northern latitudes living far from densely populated areas. You can learn more about how to survive in the forest in winter.
How to survive in the forest for a long time in winter
How to survive in a winter forest
You can find yourself in a winter forest without the usual survival kit in several cases:
- if a person gets lost
- Due to a coincidence of unpleasant circumstances, the means of survival were lost during the planned winter trip
- a car or snowmobile broke down during a winter hunt
The last case refers to situations with the most favorable prognosis, since usually the car is left outside the boundaries of the forest, therefore, in such an area it is easier to find the road to the nearest populated area than in the forest. Let's look at situations where you can survive in the forest in winter without anything.
First steps if you get lost
How to survive in the forest
From the very first moment, as soon as you began to understand that you have absolutely no bearings in the given area, one thing remains important - do not panic. It is necessary to stop moving and use a compass or map, if available. But, as a rule, if you have a compass with you, it is not particularly difficult to navigate an unfamiliar area. Without a compass, you need to try to find the north direction. In winter, you can only navigate by tree bark, since other signs “work” in the warm season. Therefore, you can observe which side of the tree trunks the bark is darker in order to orient yourself to the north.
It is extremely difficult to move through the snowy forest. And therefore, in order not to climb into the impassable jungle, you need to choose large and noticeable landmarks for yourself every hundred meters, and at night choose the silhouettes of large trees as them.
Since the main goal is to get to the nearest settlement, it is necessary to stick to the flow of the river, if there is one, or the least dense areas of the forest.
Organization of overnight stay
How to survive in the forest without anything in winter
If there is no chance of getting out of the forest in the next couple of hours, you need to prepare for an overnight stay, since this will be difficult to do at night. To do this, it is better to find one or a group of fallen trees. Under one of them it will be possible to dig a hole for making a fire. You can also choose a location near a slope or hill. The main thing is that the height of the “platform” to the ground is at least 50 cm. The bottom of the improvised hut needs to be covered with spruce branches, and the top of the hut is also covered with them as tightly as possible. The fire will be built inside, so the branches should be at a safe distance from the fire.
Another option for making a shelter is from snow. You need to find a snowdrift of dense snow and start laying a hut out of it along the required perimeter. Such a shelter can keep the temperature inside higher than a hut made of branches and wood. But you can't light a fire inside it.
Lighting a fire
Lighting a fire in the forest in winter
You cannot survive in winter without a warming fire. It can be obtained in two ways: using matches or a lighter, if you have them, or by friction. Making fire by friction is a rather labor-intensive task. To do this, you need to find tinder, which can be dry moss, fibers from dry birch bark, dry spruce needles, fibers from your own clothes, cotton wool. To make a bow you will need any rope or cord, as well as two wooden sticks. An arc with a stretched rope is made from one of them, in the middle of which a second stick is inserted vertically using a loop. You need to place tinder on a wooden base, then use the bow to make active rotational movements. As a result of friction, the tinder should begin to smoke; it should be placed in the main part of the firewood and fanned until fire appears. Firewood should consist of dry tree bark, dry branches, and logs from fallen trees.
Another way to make fire is to use a lens. To do this, you need to find a transparent ice floe and tinder made of dry moss, twigs, and grass. This method is used only on a sunny day, when the sun's ray is directed onto an ice lens and focused on dry tinder. After some time it will flare up, all that remains is to support it to light a large fire.
Survive in the forest in winter: getting food
Getting food
If you are thirsty, you should never eat snow. If there is no water, you need to collect snow in a plastic bottle or other container and place it on your outerwear. When the snow melts, you can drink it. If you don’t have any container with you, then you need to put snow in your mouth and keep it there, without swallowing, until it warms up. If you eat snow in its solid state, there is a high risk of getting a sore throat and reducing body temperature, which is very dangerous in the forest in winter.
In addition, you can melt snow and brew tea from branches of wild raspberries, rose hips, blueberries, lingonberries, and wild rosemary. Many of these plants with fruits can be found in early winter until severe frosts. It is also very good to use chaga, a tree mushroom, for infusion - it relieves cold symptoms. For the same purposes, you can boil the tips of spruce, pine, and cedar.
The situation with food in winter is more complicated than in summer. If winter is early, tree mushrooms may remain on the bark of trees, as well as wild berries on bushes, as well as acorns. There are a lot of cones and pine nuts in the coniferous forest. Not far from trees, as well as in thawed areas, you can use a stick to dig out worms, which are a rich source of protein. It is unlikely that you will be able to hunt large prey in the forest without special equipment and weapons, but you should try to track small prey such as gophers and other rodents through their burrows, which look like mounds. Since it is difficult to catch a rodent without a snare, you can fill its hole with water or blow smoke into it, after which the prey will come into your hands. If you have fishing line or nylon rope with you, you can make a trap for partridge, hazel grouse or pheasant. For small forest game, you can also make a snare by making a loop and attaching it to a tree, a strong post or a stone. Of course, you need to take into account the animal’s permeability in this particular place, which can be calculated from numerous tracks and trails, especially if the snow is fresh and soft. The loop must be made in such a way that it immediately tightens on the animal’s limb as soon as it gets into it.
How to survive in the forest in winter: ways to warm up
How to survive in the forest in winter: ways to warm up
If you find yourself in the forest during the cold season, it would be logical to assume that a person will be dressed for winter. However, the main thing when surviving in the forest is to stay warm, in other words, to move. The heat that the body produces when performing physical exercise is enough to survive at minus fifteen degrees. To control the degree of hypothermia, you need to periodically bring your index finger and little finger together: if they are brought together with difficulty, this is a dangerous signal that the body is close to hypothermia.
If you feel like you're starting to freeze, you can do some squats. If you have any other things with you, you can put them on. It is very dangerous to get your feet wet. You need to breathe only through your nose.
In addition, to warm up, you can perform special breathing exercises. To do this, you need to sit on the ground, press your left leg to your body, and place your right leg parallel to it. The foot of the left leg must be pressed as close as possible to the inner surface of the right thigh. At the same time, your knees should be wide apart and your hands should rest on them, palms up. When the pose is accepted, you need to start breathing rhythmically with your stomach so that there is practically no gap between inhalation and exhalation. For the first two minutes you need to try to breathe this way, then you need to slow down your breathing. In this way, you need to breathe for another three minutes. Then return to your normal breathing rhythm, and repeat the exercise five minutes later. Thus, after the second repetition, you can feel the increase in heat in the body. This breathing practice can be done any number of times to keep warm in harsh environmental conditions.
In any case, if you suddenly experience severe drowsiness or attacks of fatigue, under no circumstances should you stop, sit down, or lie down in the snow.
By following the above tips, you will survive at least a week until you can find the slightest sign that a way out to the nearest populated area has been found.
Allowed hunting periods
To hunt on public lands, you must contact the Department of Hunting that controls this territory. There, based on your application and verification of documents, you will be issued a permit for the extraction of hunting resources (voucher) indicating the dates of the hunt. It is allowed to hunt hare from mid-September until February 28.
Private hunting farms on their territories may regulate other hunting conditions - at the same time as obtaining permission, they offer related services, such as escort by huntsmen, cutting up harvested carcasses, providing overnight accommodations, etc. Obtaining a permit from private organizations is usually several orders of magnitude more expensive than a permit to hunt in public lands.
When going hunting, be sure to have a hunting license and permits with you.
Hare hunting with hounds and greyhounds
Hunting for hare is in itself a very exciting activity. The hare is a cunning, fast and cautious animal, so it is often difficult to approach it with a gun at the optimal distance for a shot. In this case, our friends – dogs – come to the rescue. For this purpose, the following breeds are used: hounds - Anglo-Russian, Russian piebald, Estonian and greyhounds - Russian canine, Hortaya, greyhound.
The peculiarity of hare hunting with hounds is that the hunter needs to constantly interact with the dogs: click and encourage. The hound's job is to pick up the hare and drive it out into the open, after which it's up to the hunter. The advantage of dogs of this breed is that they can pursue prey for a long time. And thanks to their relatively small size, these dogs are easier to maintain and transport.
In addition to hunting a hare with hounds, catching a hare with other dogs - greyhounds - is no less interesting. This is a single catcher, but for real hunting it is advisable to have at least a small pack of 2-3 dogs. Unlike hounds, hunting a hare with greyhounds has its own characteristics: the dogs chase the prey silently, and when they catch it, they grab it and strangle it without damaging the skin.
Another nuance - as a rule, fishing is carried out without the use of weapons: this breed is itself a “running gun”. Essentially, a greyhound dog frees the hunter from many actions, which is why hare hunting with greyhounds is called “royal” or “lazy”. A limitation for such a hunt is unfavorable weather conditions for dogs.
In addition to the methods listed above, hunting for hare or hare can be combined - with the simultaneous involvement of different hunting dogs. In this case, the hounds chase the hare along the scent and drive it out to the hunters, who are waiting for the prey with the greyhounds. The hunter either shoots or releases the greyhounds: if they miss or are wounded, the dogs will quickly catch up and take the animal.
Although hunting hares with hounds and greyhounds is much more productive, it is not always and not possible everywhere. However, hare fishing with dogs is still popular and in demand at different times of the year. This fishing without weapons is allowed from September 1, and with weapons - from September 15.
We suggest you familiarize yourself with: Spinning fishing techniques
