FL. Skills Trip(long winded, I'm afraid).

[Bootlegger0173]

Some of my stuff gets either long winded or pic. intensive. If not appropriate, yall just let me know and I'll stop posting such things.

Florida Skills Trip
Keith A. Williams
“Bootleggerâ€Â

 

[oldsparkey]

I know you are new here , ( darn how did I know that , we will not go there OK ) but ya are old in the ways we like things , the information is really great and I for one enjoyed reading it .... After I broke it up into more or less thoughts and not run ons all linked together. It makes it easier for us to read and digest.

OK , You have failed English 101 on southernpaddler , cheer up all of us do that more then you want to know and continue to do it on a daily process. WELCOME to the Club. :lol:

Best thing on here is to think you are talking to your great grandfather .... and do it that way.
The pictures are nice and a short explanation at the top of each one would let us know what is going on and with who.
Heck there were there and you took the pictures , give them the credit for letting you take the picture of them , We are not mind readers , just some over the hill folks that like what you do.

If I have offended you , then send me a NASTY e-mail and I will ignore it or forward it to Kayak Jack , Oldyaker and down under to Harrymick who will also ignore it. . :lol: :lol: :lol:

Welcome to the NUT House and that was a great post , I really enjoyed it

Chuck.
PS .... Looking for more of your trips.

 

[Lazyriverguy]

Hi and Welcome

This was one of the great reads I have had. Sounded like a great trip and learning experience. Good job. Have fun and keep up the good work teaching some of the young folks. Thanks
Joe( At The Outpost)

 

[tx river rat]

Sounds like a nice little stroll and I see your your preference in knives is similar to mine. The ontario machetes are the best made in my opinion, and guys if you have never tried one you don't know what your missing. My next choice is a heavy blade bowie.
The most important piece of survival equipment there is after your brain is a good knife.
Enjoyed the read
Ron

 

[Bootlegger0173]

HA! I have this habit of forgetting that people can't read my mind, and don't automatically know what and who I know... forgive me. I took a crap load of pics, but these went best with the article.

The group pic was at my Dad's place on the Chawtawhatchie. Probably didn't spell that right. Spelling is horrible, and I haven't tried to spell it in quite a while. As you can see, his shed is practically at ground level, but that is OK, as his house is about 15 ft. up to the floor joists. Was at ground level and flooded every year, but was washed off the foundation and into the river in about 1991 or so, I think. Not it sits atop concrete pillars and steel girters. We launched in there and used him as an emergency relay, in case we someone needed help.

Second pic is Nathan with breakfast.

Third is a small Bullfrog.

4th are a few small crabs.

5th is Johnathon with his first snake experience.

6th is Mike with his first friction fire. Took him a bit, but he ended up really mastering the art.

7th is Keri. She and husband George run a primitive skills school in their spare time. They are both teachers. I mean primitive. When I get too big for my britches, they severely humble my skills. They still use bone tools and flake stone for axes and such.

8th is Keri in her little hootch.

9th is George(left) and Nathan building a bird trap.

10th is (L-R) Landy scratching, George getting a quick drink... or shower and Fernando holding the vine still.

11th is Me on one of our lounge chairs, cause you just have to keep civilized.

and

12th is another pic of Keri, just cause I thought it looked cool.

Oh yes, I am a knife guy.

Their school is called Briarpatch Primitives, I think. I won't post a direct link, cause that might ruffle feathers, but if you want to check it out, just do a search for Briarpatch and George Hedgepeth, and it should turn up. They live in MI., but run the gambit all over the place.

Don't worry, I'm not thin skinned. FWIW- the article was spaced and in paragraph form but I cut/pasted it, and something happened I reckon.

How's that for starters?

 

[hairymick]

g'day Bootlegger and welcome aboard mate.

Great post and very enjoyable read. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Wannabe]

Didja eat the snake? Be a shame to let that much meat go to waste.
Bob

 

[Bootlegger0173]

Absolutly.

We ate everything. They were allowed one MRE apiece to last the whole trip, just in case, but were encouraged not to eat it.

I wouldn't let them use gigs or anything, and then only kept the largest specimens, and there was plenty of food to go around.

I even learned a thing or two. Did you know that you can start a fire with an axe and a Gar?

 

[Kayak Jack]

Where do you strike the gar? (That IS a gar pike, ehh?)

 

[Bootlegger0173]

Trick is to strike the axe on the scales, just like you do a flint. Will spark right up.

Started up as a joke... "Hey this guy is hard enough to throw sparks..."

BTW- speaking of gar, I could show you a neat trick for using his ribs to make primitive fishhooks.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Sounds like the kind of a joke that came to life and as real.. Heck of an interesting experiment!

Bootlegger, when it comes to eating fish, as far as I'm concerned the Indians had the right idea. Fertilize each hill of corn with a fish, feed that corn to a cow, and eat steak.

Not only do fish stink, but about 90% the directions of all "how to fix fish the right way" type recipes properly concern themselves with breading and oil. These two subsidiary constituents serve to mask the flavor of the primary one, and profitably so.

Sorry, I relegate fish, like cat food and chocolate covered ants, to the category of "emergency food". If I have to eat it - I know it's a real emergency. Same with tofu and gritz.

 

[Bootlegger0173]

Alas, I am not a big fish fan, either. Just like to catch them. The exception is Catfish. I do like them. Usually try to catch just one or two for supper. That is plenty.