The Hunter Gatherer Challenge
The Hunter Gatherer Challenge takes place in a remote woodland over four days and nights in Autumn.
You will work alone, taking just a few kit essentials - the clothes on your back, a small knife, a pocket saw, a metal cooking pot, a cloth bag, 3 metres of strong cord and a modest portion of wild meat (plus a small first aid kit and torch for safety). Everything else you need for the entire duration must be found, foraged or made from the surrounding countryside.
This challenge is open to anyone who already has the training and experience to take care of their immediate survival needs with relative ease, completely alone, without instruction and with very little equipment making maximum use of the surrounding natural resources.
You must be able to make a weather proof shelter, a warm bed and light your fire by friction. You must know how to utilise fire for warmth throughout the night, manufacture strong bindings from nature, source and sterilize water. A knowledge of which wild plants can be safely harvested for food, how to prepare and cook wild game and even preserve the meat are essential. Additionally, you must be able to manufacture a primitive projectile weapon, capable of hitting a deer sized target at a suitable hunting range for the hunting challenge on your last day.
For those with the necessary knowledge and skill base, the Hunter Gatherer Challenge is a valuable stepping stone, a training goal, a measure of how far you’ve come and how far you’d like to go. It’s designed to show you what you’ve learnt and bring it all together in the most natural way possible as well as highlight any areas that need work or attention.
Take a look below at one of our previous challengers experience:
What the challenge most definitely ISN’T is an exercise in endurance. Your approach should be from a long term wilderness living and self reliance perspective. Rather than just hunkering down in your woodland shelter until the end of the course, you will be expected to look to the long term by using what you have at your disposal (plenty of natural resources, wild foods to forage, accumulated knowledge and a big slice of initiative) to improve your general situation and increase your level of comfort once the basics have been taken care of.
Your overriding aim must be to walk out of the woods on the final morning considerably better off than your arrival four days before!
Your progress will be monitored and observed throughout and although ultimately only you will truly be able to gauge your performance, feedback will be given where required. Whilst this course is designed as a test of your skills, instructors will be on hand to offer support and suggest strategies if required.
If you like the sound of this exciting and unique challenge but are unsure about the required level of previous experience before booking please email joe@wilderness-survival.co.uk or call Joe on 07718078619 to discuss your current level of ability and a suitable training program if needed. Ultimately you must decide whether you have the practical skill needed to attend.
It's important to realise that while instructors will be in attendance, there will be no instruction given during this challenge. It's essentially 'pass or fail' depending on your ability. If you can't cut the mustard or feel at anytime that you can't complete the challenge, an instructor will take you back to camp to clean up and for you, the challenge will be over!