Skip to main content Skip to footer

Outdoor Skills

Bushcraft & Survival Skills for Canoe Country

Course Overview

For the seasoned Bushcrafter a walk in the woods is like a stroll down the aisles of the local superstore. In this field-based course, students will start seeing the woods like a Bushcrafter, from learning the basics of how to live in the bush comfortably, and what to do in a survival situation. Utilizing a minimum of modern materials combined with natural materials students will learn to make natural resources into shelter, fire, transportation, tools, compass/navigation devices, cordage, food, and hunting and fishing equipment. Students will build survival shelters to sleep in (optional), a bow drill fire kit, and work together on constructing a primitive (tarp) skin on frame style improvised canoe. Students will also learn how to light fires under any weather conditions (modern and primitive methods), powerful use of the bush knife, ax, and saw, and the identification of and procurement of available bush foods and materials. The flat terrain, and thick forests of the North have caused many wilderness travelers who strayed, even a short ways, away from camp or main trails and canoe routes to get lost and go missing. If there’s no compass or the GPS fails, it can be very hard to find your way on a gray day. This course will also cover compass skills and primitive methods of navigation through the deep woods, and how to safely deal with a variety of common hazards of going cross country, like stream and bog crossing. This course will meet at North House on day 1, and then take place entirely in a field location. Camping overnight with the group is optional. Participants should be physcially capable of moderate hiking over uneven ground.

Currently Scheduled Sessions


No sessions currently scheduled for this course.

View more courses in the Outdoor Skills category.