Lessons Learned as a Boy Scout

When I was young I used to read voraciously. Anything about woodcraft or hunting and fishing adventures I would devour.

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A lot of the lessons I gleaned from learned men like Ernest Thompson Seton and Ellsworth Jaeger, still stand me in good stead when afield. Other bits of woods lore were picked up along the way from cub masters and scouters or other characters met during a lifetime of hunting, camping and fishing. I was looking through an old notebook today and came across some gems.
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• Here is one. “What weighs an ounce in the morning, weighs a pound at night.” Not a lot of explanation needed for this one but I still think about it when loading my pockets or pack. My old Scout Master, Mr. Oickle, used to say it.

• How about this, “If there's only one, it isn't a track, it's an accident”? That simple wisdom saves a lot of second guessing in the bush. Some of the Big Foot hunters might bear this one in mind too.

• “Ducks flying overhead in the woods are generally pointed for water.” Might save you some doubt when walking a compass bearing toward what you hope is a trout-filled still water.

• “If the turtles on a log are dry, they have been there half an hour or more, which means no one has been near to alarm them.” Often we walk right past a likely looking spot because we figure it is too near the road to have been undisturbed. I wonder how many others do the same and leave a beautiful pool un-fished?

• “Cobwebs across a hole mean "nothing inside." Well, nothing but spiders…

• “Whenever you are trying to be smart, you won’t be.” Another one from my Scout Master. It is not very woodsy but it has stuck with me.

This one has likely saved me from a few falls and caused a few when I didn’t heed it, “Never step on something you can step over or walk around”. Think about mossy rocks or fallen logs.

Anyway, for what they are worth, these are some of the proverbs scribbled in the margins of my notebook.

I’ll finish with my favourite;”The worm hears nothing pretty in a Robin’s song” I’ll leave you to interpret that one on your own.

 

Well, carry on boys and don't forget to DYB, DYB, DYB, and DOB, DOB, DOB.