Survival Family

by Stephen Brandon

  The next morning after checking around his area he started a small fire, thawed and cooked a strip of meat, then put out his fire. Changing from his soft boots to winter moccasins he attached his snowshoes and headed down the mountain in the direction he guessed his opponent traveled. It took three days before he found a leaf that was wrong side up. Scouring the area he quickly found light indications of a trail. It was headed in the direction of the caves. Circling around above the area the caves were in he started checking his trip indicators until he found one disturbed. It had been reset, which meant that the individual was good. Backing out of the area he checked and found one he'd tripped, but it wasn't one of his. Tying a string to his damaged arrow he easily fired his damaged arrow up past his trip indicator and dragged it back along his path and then over the indicator he'd tripped and then backtracked to the rocks leaving a faint trail in the leaves and snow.

  Circling around to the other side of the draw facing the caves he found a thicket and settled in for a long watch. Several hours later he heard what sounded like a twig snap. The silence on the mountain was deafening. Not a sound or any indication of movement below the caves for over half an hour. Then he saw out of the corner of his eye movement where he'd found the tripped indicators. His opponent was stealthily moving along the rocks following his route. He however was wearing boots and every once in awhile dislodged pebbles bounced down the ridge. Over the next three hours he circled the entire area around the caves and finally slipped into one. It was right next to the one he'd checked out as a backup camp. After dark he slipped across and around the brush and into his cave.

  The next morning he watched the opponent depart just before dawn. As soon as his opponent was out of sight he slipped into his cave and searched it. He took a can of peaches and on the way out placed several pebbles just inside the cave entrance. Slipping down the trail his opponent used he tripped all the indicators he'd set up by dragging a small branch tied to his spare bow strings. Finding a good spot to leave the trail he tossed a limb knocking the snow off some pine branches at right angles to the trail. Back in his blind up the mountain he settled in and made himself a good meal of venison with canned peaches as dessert.

  The next morning James picked a spot where he could watch the cave area. His opponent was nowhere to be seen. That evening he spotted the faint glow. It was just about where his first nights campsite was. Since his opponent was several hours hike from his cave, James decided he'd spend the night there and eat his opponents supplies. Approaching the cave entrance he smelled cooking meat. Quietly slipping into the cave he crept back toward the fire. Laying by the fire were several rabbits. Slipping to the side of the cave he crept into the darkest shadow and waited. Moments later he recognized his opponent, Deb. Watching her over the next hour or so she seemed unaware of his presence although she did utter some unpleasant words about her missing peaches. As she was bedding down he slipped out of her cave and over to his. Eating a candy bar he settled in for the night.

  After Deb left the next morning James slipped over to her cave planning to strip all the paper labels off her canned goods only to find everything gone. Now he'd have to track her down. Carefully moving back to his high camp at the blind he cooked himself a good meal. Late that afternoon he prepared himself another meal and as he was eating he heard a rustle in the brush off to his left. “Come on in Deb, he said in a voice just loud enough to carry.”

  Then he heard an exclamation from directly behind him and then movement as she walked into his camp. James picked up a piece of meat and held it over his shoulder and commented, “You should be getting hungry by now.”

  Deb replied, “How did you know I was there, I haven't made a sound for an hour.”

  James ignored her comment and simply stated, “We're both really good so don't be to hard on yourself. Also, you were cute when you undressed last night in your cave.”

  She snatched the meat from his hand, slapped him on the back of his head and demanded, “How long were you there?”

  James smiled and replied, “I was in the cave while you were cooking and left after you crawled into your sleeping bag. By the way the canned peaches were very good.”

  Deb yelled, “You bastard, I'd tell dad but he'd kill both of us.”

  Then a calm voice off to their right stated, “Why should I kill my best two instructors, after all you're both adults. Your mother might rip someone apart, but when I return with the venison she'll be happy to add it to dinner. Now you two figure out who's going to be the senior instructor and I'll see you at the house in a few days.” We heard him snap a branch and then nothing as he moved away.

  They both sat with their mouths hanging open until James commented, “Tomorrow I'll check to see if he found both bags of meat I stashed.”

  “It looks like more snow tonight, I'm going back to my cave.” stated Deb.

  “Give me a hand and we'll move my supplies down the mountain. The cave sounds good.” commented James.

  “James, you aren't sleeping in my cave!”

  With a laugh James stated, “My cave is only a minutes walk from yours. After all I don't think I want to hear you wheezing all night in your sleep.”

  James gathered up the remaining meat from the snowbank and together they moved all his equipment and supplies down to his cave. After building a fire at the entrance they talked most of the night until they heard a wolf howl further up the mountain.

  Deb then said, “James gather some more firewood, I'm moving my stuff over here.”

  James checked his knives, strung his bow, and headed up to a thicket where he knew lots of dead wood would be easy to gather.

  When he got back Deb anxiously said, “What kept you?”

  “We need to move this meat and hang it in a tree away from the camp, and gather more wood.” After tying the remaining meat in deer skin they made their way over to the thicket. Deb gathered wood as James tied the meat up in a tree. After two more trips for wood, James built a second fire just under the overhang to the cave entrance. Then it began to snow.

  In the morning James gathered small branches and started making another set of snowshoes. Deb told him to go get some meat and she'd cook breakfast.

  When he returned she held up one of his snowshoes and asked where he learned to make them.

  Off the internet. Also they somewhat hide your tracks in shallow snow. After breakfast we'll move to my base camp overlooking your dad's house and go down in the morning.

  * * *

  Chapter 5 Base Camp

  It took half the day to trek down to the creek bottom where his meat was stashed. It was gone along with the sinew string. They then headed around the mountain toward his cave. Half way there James spotted tracks.

  Together they determined that there were three wolves. Changing their bow strings they continued on toward James's base camp cave.

  James started gathering deadwood and had both arms full by time they arrived. Gathering some twigs and smaller branches he started a fire at the cave entrance. Leaving Deb to set up camp he went back out to gather more wood. After several trips he figured he had enough for the night.

  That night they heard the wolves out in the darkness and saw the reflection from their eyes. They counted four sets. Deb tried yelling to scare them off, but it only worked once.

  James pulled his damaged arrow and notched it. Picking the eyes closest in he aimed just below them and fired. There was a yelp and all the eyes disappeared. They could hear the wolves scrambling and growling outside the glow from the fire. Neither wanted to sleep, so they kept the fire going all night.

  Packing in the morning they departed on what looked like a good route down the mountain. Deb spotted a faint blood trail and found his arrow beside a tree. James said leave it, the blood on it will attract the wolves again.

  By late afternoon they were almost to the base of the mountain when Deb asked James if they could make camp. Looking around they found a tree with good bran
ches and climbed. After securing their gear they descended and built a fire and cooked the remaining meat and split the last can of pears for dessert.

  Deb started back up the tree while James put out the fire. As he turned to start his climb he heard the twang of an arrow being fired. Pulling himself up on the first limb he felt a tug on his leg and heard a ripping sound as his pants leg tore. Finishing his climb he looked down and saw two wolves jumping against the trunk of the tree. Deb exclaimed, move out of the way so I can get one of them.

  Her compound bow twanged and an arrow sprouted from the back of one of the wolves. As it started to run it collapsed and the other wolf was on it in a flash, shortly joined by another wolf. She fired again and lost her balance. Her bow bounced off two limbs before it hit the ground as James grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.

  Now we have a problem Deb, “My bow is to long to maneuver for a good shot. Help me bandage my leg.”

  Cutting the arm off a shirt from her pack she wrapped James's leg and then commented, “We've got more wolves, one is licking your blood off the tree trunk.” Then she started laughing, “You peed yourself.”

  “You would too if a wolf tried to bite your leg off.”

  Then Deb asked, “What are we going to do?”

  In the morning they climbed down to the lowest limb, and after looking around dropped to the ground. James had an arrow notched as his feet touched down. Deb had an arrow in her hand as she grabbed her bow off the ground and notched it. Shouldering their packs they started down the mountain and across the valley. Several hours later they relaxed as they closed the gate to the yard around the house.

  Knocking on the back door Deb's mom answered and after taking one look at her blood covered daughter screamed and fainted. Bill was there in a flash with a pistol in his hand. Looking at the kids he said, “You shouldn't scare your mother. Help me get her back inside.”

  James brought in Deb's pack and bow as she helped her father carry her mother to the living room couch.

  Leaving the bows and packs in the kitchen James followed them into the living room. Bill told Deb to get the first-aid kit and then go take a shower.

  After cleaning James's leg Bill told him he'd take him to the hospital in town later for some shots and let the doctor take a look at it, after all wild animal bites should be checked. Then he told James that the shower was at the top of the stairs and towels in the closet beside the door.

  As James stepped into the hall Deb came out of the shower in a towel. All she said was, “You should see your face, I'll get you some clean clothes while you shower.”

  Deb drove James into town, after sixteen stitches, an antibiotic shot, and a visit to the drug store for pills they headed back.

  Deb's mother fussed over them all evening and kept saying that Deb was never to go back on the mountain again.

  When Bill got a word in he asked them what they'd learned.

  James commented, I think we need to build several wolf proof enclosures up there and we should carry pistols for protection.

  Bill then stated, a revolver is more dependable. We'll get you and Deb some revolvers tomorrow and start training. Now, have you two decided who will be the senior instructor and guide. The first booking is only three months from Friday. You two still need to survey camp sites, trails, and figure out your training programs. I'll call a friend and see what he has in the way of wolf proof enclosures.

  * * *

  Chapter 6 Plans

  Bill watched with amusement as Deb and James struggled with their instruction plans. After a week he called them in and told them they were fighting air, they needed to pick valley campgrounds and mountain campsites. No mountain campsite should be used more than once a year. They needed to make maps of the area and detailed maps of the areas around each campsite. The trails and terrain would help them determine what skills they needed to teach the campers after determining their skill levels. Then they should make up a general training plan and from it detailed training plans for each skill and test for the campers to accomplish. Now back to the valley campgrounds, tenderfoot campers will need almost full support such as electricity, bathrooms, showers, marked camping areas, tables, fire rings and grills, full time guides, improved marked hiking trails, and improved trails for their vehicles. Level 2 campers will just need marked camping areas, fire rings, toilet facilities with and without showers, marked hiking trails, and maybe part time supervision or guides. Level 3 campers will just need a place to park their vehicles, a map to their assigned camping area, and a map to the facilities available. Survivalist level 1 campers once they park their vehicles will just need a guide to their assigned camping area on the mountain, after evaluation training in the skills they lack with test and a mountain guide. Survivalist level 2 will simply get more advanced training with test by their guides. Survivalist level 3 will be given an assigned area on the mountain and told when to report back and how to call for help if they need it. This is a rough outline you should consider. Last year I handled nine small groups of what I would consider level 1 and 2 survivalist. This year I have eight survivalist level bookings so far. I want to at least get a level 1 campground operational to generate revenue in the valley.

  After looking over the aerial map of the valley James and Bill picked an area accessible to the main road and roughed out a campsite layout to accommodate ten tents and ten vehicles from pop-up size to a full motor home. The toilet and shower building was planned to be located between the areas. For the tent area, a cooking shack was centrally located with running water. Water lines were roughed in to all the RV pads with a sewer dump between each. The pop-up pads had running water and at each end of the road a sewer dump. The sanitation guy Bill hired recommenced a gray water tank and oversize tile field for the showers. The toilet and cooking areas would have regular septic tanks and tile fields through the woods to the edge of the flood area near the stream. By creating larger than normal tile fields the extra water should not change the vegetation growth pattern in the area. If the town ever decides to extend the sewer system out to the campground it would be easy to tie in.

  Deb and James divided the mountain into fourteen areas with the most difficult on the side facing the town. Six wolf resistant areas were mapped and contractors hired to build the lower four and an emergency station at the end of the gravel road on the town side.

  After building a wolf resistant fence in area thirteen they decided to take a couple of days off before going back to the emergency station and their truck. With their tents inside the fence they went to sleep. During the night Deb crawled into James's sleeping bag and told him she was cold before they both fell back asleep.

  The next morning James insisted they go back because he couldn't remember how she got into his sleeping bag.

  * * *

  Chapter 7 First year

  The first customers to arrive was a family that Bill had taught some skills to the year before. He briefed the kids and told them to take them up to survival site 3 and evaluate their skills. Then start training them on tracking. From the entrance office parking lot it was half a day hike up to site 3. Deb showed them the wolf resistant area and then told them to go find an area to set up their tents and dig a field latrine. James watched them pick an area and then moved off to the side and set up his and Deb's tents. Grabbing a shovel from the wolf fence he dug them a latrine downhill behind some bushes and cut a paper holder. Deb watched the customers set up their tents and then suggested where to build their fire pit. They then moved one of their tents closer to the fire pit. She instructed them how to pick a good area to dig a field trench latrine and showed the oldest son how to select a forked branch to make a paper holder. James reviewed how to set a snare across a game trail and had the father and sons place several after they located trails. Dinner was canned beans and pears.

  The next morning after checking the snares, James took the father and two sons up the mountain and told them how he'd spent two weeks up h
ere last winter. He showed them how to tell if someone had been along a trail by looking for indicators and even showed them one of the trip indicators he'd set. Even though it was tripped he reconstructed it and told them how to make several types. Approaching the caves he told them how he'd set trip indicators consisting of pebbles near the caves and how they could tell if pebbles had been disturbed. It took several demonstration before they realized they could tell which side of a pebble was the top. After that lesson checking leaves and looking for disturbed twigs and branches was child's play. On the way back down he told them how to walk quietly and look where they stepped so as to leave as little trail as possible, but they evidently just didn't get it. A stampeding herd of buffalo could travel quieter.

  When everyone got back to camp there was a stew waiting. Deb had got irritated at the chattering squirrels and shot several with her bow. She only lost three arrows. She'd also started showing the mother several forest plants that were edible and they were in the stew.

  The next morning James took them back to the trail they'd used and explained simple tracking techniques. Disturbed ground cover, broken and disturbed branches, and drilled them on how to look at the forest ground. Then he took one of the boys and had the others follow them. The boy located and explained every sign he spotted for half and hour and James showed him many that he missed. This was repeated with the other son and father for several days. The youngest son even had Deb show him how to make simple moccasins from a pair of rabbit skins that were caught in the snares.