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It’s almost that time of the year again when Zombie Squaders from around the globe meet up and double the population of Irondale, MO.
Registration ends on May 15th. Don’t miss the greatest Zombie Survival event in North America! Details are here: http://zombiehunters.org/zombiecon2008.php
What is Zombie Con?
Zombie Con 2005
Zombie Con 2006
Zombie Con 2007
For this session of my IFAK Essentials Series, I’d like to touch on the Asherman Chest Seal (ACS). Every serious trauma bag should include an ACS, and IMO, every bug out First Aid Kit (FAK) should include at least one instance of the same. The Asherman Chest Seal is a mainstay of the US Armed Forces and after reading this article, you’ll understand why having one or two is vital to your survival FAK.
In the event of an end of the world scenario, the likelihood of suffering a Gun Shot Wound (GSW) or other serious chest trauma is magnified. By adding a $10 Asherman Chest Seal to your FAK, you significantly improve your patient’s odds of survival in the event of a sucking chest wound or deflated lung.
WHY YOU NEED AN ACS:
Open chest trauma often results in a Tension Pneumothorax (collapsed lung). This is due to the introduction of air into the Pleural Cavity which, after only a few breaths, deflates the lung rendering it useless. With only one functional lung, your patient is now in serious trouble as his body fights for a lack of oxygen.
^Xray of a left side Tension Pneumothorax.
^Cross section of a left side tension pneumothorax.
^Illustration highlighting (in blue) the Pleural cavity.
^Illustration highlighting (note the very edge of the lungs) pleural cavity.
The ACS fixes this condition by allowing only blood and air to escape through the flutter valve shown below. With each breath, the patient will force air from the Pleural cavity and in doing so, will re-inflate his lung on his own, allowing more oxygen into his blood system.
Collapsed lungs can also place undue pressure upon the heart and circulatory system thusly putting your patient in further danger.
HOW TO USE THE ACS:
Simply open the package, use the provided 4×4 of Kerlix (see images below for detailed pictures) to cleanse the wound site as much as possible, expose the adhesive on the ACS and place the ACS directly over the wound site.
^The problem.
^The solution. (Shown here is a properly placed ACS which has resulted in expulsion of air from the Pleural cavity allowing the lung to re-inflate)
DETAIL PHOTOS OF THE ACS
ACS removed from one of my medical kits.
Back of the package which is made of a rather sturdy transparent plastic. Some medics have reported using this plastic on occasion to secure another chest bandage, though I haven’t been able to find any evidence of same.
Package opens from a fold/over corner.
Back of the ACS out of the packaging.
The back of the valve is covered with a small 4×4 of Kerlix type gauze which should be removed and used to wipe away any excess blood from the adhesion site in order to help the ACS stick to the patient properly.
Top of the ACS showing the flutter valve which is essentially a large set of rubber lips (no jokes).
To expose the adhesive side of the ACS simply flip it over and grasp the small circular pull tab. The wax backing will peal off entirely and should be discarded.
Wax backing and exposed adhesive.
Closeup of exposed adhesive with patient end of the flutter valve.
Top of the ACS after exposing the adhesive.
ACS’s AS CARRIED BY ZOMBIE SQUAD MEMBERS
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES:
Thoracic Medical Journal Publishing
ICVTS Review of the ACS as used in clinical trials
EXCELLENT US Army PDF on pneumothorax injuries. Must read for any medic
WHERE TO BUY
Expect to pay between $11-$15 for each unit.
SUPPLY CAPTAIN
GOLDEN HOUR MED
PACIFIC RESCUE
GALLS
EBAY
Thanks for the read everyone. As always, if you’d like to comment on this article, please feel free to visit us on Zombie Squad’s First Aid Forum.
I would like to talk to you today about something that is less conservation oriented, but none the less relevant PAW information. You may have receive an e-mail or been told by a friend warning you about cleaning the top of your soda can because contamination from rat or mouse urine could kill you. Well like most e-mails, rumors, or wives tales only a grain of truth resides in it. While hygienically good, it is mostly false. The widely circulated story is apparently designed to warn everyone to clean the outside of a can before drinking.
The rumor says, for those uninformed reading this, a person (from Maui, Ohio, etc etc) had been exposed to rat droppings in a contaminated area. A couple days later the man is described as feeling something like the stomach flu, achy joints, headache and nausea. Within two days he was weak, ill, had yellow jaundiced eyes, and low blood sugar. He was the, allegedly, rushed to the hospital to the emergency room where he died within hours. According to the story nobody connected his death with the droppings until doctors asked whether the clerk had been in a warehouse type setting, or exposed to rat droppings depending on the version you hear.
Both TruthorFiction.com and Snopes.com has searched the news stories and death records and has not found anything to corroborate these stories. As I said before, like many rumors, it has some truth in it but not enough to link it to a specific name, place, time, or date. The most commonly forwarded rumors are the ones containing health warnings. We mostly care for those we send them to and when we hear something that might be a threat to them we pass them along. The problem with many of these is mostly they hold not provable facts, and have been fabricated to substantiate a person fear.
It’s possible that this rumor was the result of a very real concern over what is called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). According to the CDC Center for Disease Control, this condition can occur in humans and usually results from breathing FRESH, not ingesting dried as the rumor goes, of very specific mouse droppings; such as, deer mice, cotton mice, rice rats, and the white footed mouse.
An outbreak of the HPS took place in 1993 in the four corners area of the United States (the area of the US that Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet for our international readers). The CDC emphasizes that it is not spread by ordinary house mice or common rats, nor can be contracted by breathing dry fecal matter, or injecting dried matter.
As said before it’s a good idea, hygienically to clean your can.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantavirus_pulmonary_syndrome
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/raturine.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/r/raturine.htm
Your Personal Evacuation Plan, collecting the proper gear for your Bug Out Bag, and First Aid Training are only parts of the whole Zombie Squad philosophy of being prepared for anything. A good Physical Fitness plan is also a key component to your survival. After all, you can have all the training and gear in the world, but if you can’t run more than a half a block without weezing and throwing up, you’ll be nothing but a Flesh Twinkie for the undead in a Zombocalypse.
A while back, Blogger The Slackmistress created The Post-Apocalyptic Workout, a blog dedicated to her inspiring journey to transform herself into a finely tuned instrument of survival against the shambling hordes. With the ultimate goal of not ending up on the menu of the walking dead, The Slackmistress is training herself physically and mentally, and she’s sharing her progress through videos, updates, and personal challenges to her readers. She shares her incredible story with Zombie Squad’s favorite whipping boy, Kyle, who interviewed her via email:
What exactly is the “Zombie Workout” or “Post-Apocalyptic Workout” and where did the idea come from?
Literally, this is how it came about:
http://www.zombieworkout.com/2008/03/intermission-fo.html
My husband and I were sitting on the couch on Christmas Day, drinking beer and eating cookies and watching the remake of Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead.” I started to think about Post-Apocalyptic Movies and how most everyone had some sort of skill or plan. When I got right down to it, my plan was “stay put until help arrives” or “scream loudly.”
The workout is to get myself into fighting shape for the zombie revolution and the post-apocalyptic world. Everything from being able to grow food to firearm use to RUNNING FOR MY LIFE. I was thinking of this as a year-long project but jokes aside, this is really a lifelong project. Which can be kind of overwhelming, when I think of it. Which is why it’s broken down into eight-week chunks.
What sort of reaction do you get from your friends and family in regard to this workout plan? Have they started whispering about you or putting more space between you and them? Have you motivated any of them to follow your lead towards getting prepared?
They think I’m crazy. Not Asylum-Crazy, but “isn’t it cute, she’s preparing for the Zombocalypse” ::pat pat::. First of all, my family is a bunch of smartasses, and so are my friends, so I popped out of the womb prepared for razzing. However, most of my family is sort of Post-Apocalypticly Useless (see: http://slackmistress.blip.tv/#700164 ) so THEY WON’T BE LAUGHING WHEN THE ZOMBIES COME, WILL THEY?
Alas, I have not motivated any family, but Internet Friends and Blogreaders have stepped up to the task. Sadly, none of them live nearby so I can’t slack off and then count on them when the proverbial poop hits the fan.
I do tell my husband that I love him, but he’s got a brain and opposable thumbs so I’m saving the dog and he’s on his own. Honest communication: a key to a happy marriage!
What are some of goals and training classes you have planned for your Post-Apocalyptic Workout?
I’ve already taken Basic First Aid and Infant, Child, and Adult CPR at the Red Cross. I’m going to learn lockpicking and firearms during this challenge, and I’ve got growing food, storing food, foraging, water purification, starting a fire sans matches, climbing/buildering, and orienteering. Of course, all of these skills aren’t a do-once-and-you’ve mastered them so even after I’ve learned them, I’ll continue to hone them with practice.
Physically, I’ve been doing a lot of running. I started out not being able to run longer than a minute and now I run 45 minutes a day, three times a week. I’m working on increasing my endurance and some basic muscular endurance and strength training. I’m also trying to pare about 10-15 pounds off my frame to make me a little faster (or to make me look like Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2.)
What has been your favorite part about this training regimen so far?
The people I’ve met and corresponded with have been incredibly generous with their time and knowledge (that includes you Zombie Hunter folks!) If all y’all are representative of who’s going to restart civilization and begin a new society, I’d say let’s get this Apocalypse over and done with already.
It’s also given me a new perspective on personal responsibility and physical fitness. Clearly I’m not a one-woman Post-Apocalyptic Action Hero. I may never be one. But I’m thinking of health and welfare in a broader perspective - more than “wow, I need to lose fifteen pounds to fit my ass into a size 2″ and more “I need to get in shape to be able to outrun something that thinks I’m food.”
Is there anything in particular that you’ve learned during your training journey that surprised you or changed your opinion on the way you felt about something?
Hunting. Mind you, I haven’t done it yet, and I don’t know if I can or could. I wrote about it in a blog post (http://www.zombieworkout.com/2008/01/day-19-hunt-the.html) :
“It’s not the act of killing that scares me. It’s the idea that animals seem innocent. Hapless. Minding their own business. If I knew that Mr. Deer was a jerk who cut people off on the freeway on the way home from his job at the puppy-kicking factory, I’d be picking venison out of my teeth as I type this.”
People wrote about their hunting experiences - compared to how most meat is raised, hunting is way more…kind? Maybe that’s the wrong word. Humane? I eat meat, and even though I search out grassfed and organic and cage free and free range and all that garbage, I don’t think I could pick out my lunch and kill it. I am the first to admit that I am the most annoying kind of dirty hypocrite.
New Zombie Squad members often report that they find themselves spending more time analyzing their surroundings throughout the day to decide how they would survival a zombie out break or other disaster if it happened at that moment, while at the grocery store, work, school, laundry mat, etc. Have you noticed any new found obsession with this since the workout started?
YES. Now I’m 35, so I took Driver’s Ed back in the spring of 1988. They showed us all of these groovy films (yes, FILM!) on driving safety and such, and one of the films was ALWAYS LEAVE AN OUT, meaning always leave yourself an escape route when driving in case a madman comes barreling onto the freeway. Whenever I go somewhere new, I always think “where’s my out?” This is also why I think Buildering - scaling buildings - would be an awesome zombie-evading skill to have, because it gives you “up” as an escape option.
Your blog focuses on your individual development in preparation for the coming zombocalypse. Recent training films have showed us that sometimes working as a team can be more effective than remaining on your own. What steps, if any, have you taken to create a team of like-minded people who can be relied upon in an TEOTWAWKI* situation?
Working as a team is way more effective, I think. I must admit that I have taken no steps, minus putting out the blog. So, um, when the zombies come, I can just give you guys my number, right? Hello?
Your goal of conditioning yourself to be able to run away from zombies is great. Have you also given thought to where you will run and how you will survive once you get there?
Yes! Orienteering, building shelter, foraging, food growing and water purification are all Yet To Come. I also play a MEAN game of charades.
When are you going to start preparing for robots and aliens? We all know those are the real threats to our way of living.
Robots: I already worship at the Altar of my MacBook, so I’m pretty much screwed here. Aliens? There’s an anal probing joke to be made here. Just imagine I made it.
You guys rule, and I promise to stop in more often. I am always in need of people to help me out with the Post-Apocalyptic Workout, so if you’re in the Los Angeles area, look me up!
A simple desire to feed the birds may set up a food chain that includes predators and scavengers.
My neighbor used to toss seeds onto her driveway every morning for a flock of pigeons. Soon afterwards, a red-tailed hawk took up residence in a large cottonwood tree with a clear view of the driveway.
Slowly but steadily, the number of pigeons dwindled, to the delight of some homeowners who didn’t want the birds roosting and defecating on their houses. After the supply of pigeons disappeared, however, the hawk remained. It fed on a variety of songbirds that were attracted to birdfeeders.
When it started killing songbirds, some of the neighbors weren’t as happy about the hawk.
When people in cities complain about predators hanging around their homes, my first question is: Do you feed birds? Most say, ‘Yes’. Anytime you set out food for birds, you start a food chain that often extends far beyond the birds you had in mind.
Bird feeders bring in songbirds, but they also attract mice and other rodents, including squirrels. In turn, these prey animals attract more predators, such as house cats, red foxes and coyotes. In some cases, bird feeders can become the equivalent of a predator feeding station.
Feeding birds in winter and early spring can help them survive when food sources are scarce but in the late spring and summer, when birds of prey and other predators are feeding young, birds at feeders are hit hard.
People often create sources of food for animals without realizing it. Yard and streetlights that remain on all night attract a variety of wildlife. While walking my dog on a winter evening in a Kansas City suburb, I watched an owl swoop down from its perch on a streetlight to catch a mouse eating seeds that had fallen from a feeder. Lights also attract insects, which then bring in bats, frogs, toads and other predators that eat them.
Water gardens, a popular addition to many city and suburban backyards, provide a year-round source of water, and another place where predators can find a meal. Sometimes your pets become prey. For example, people who purchase expensive Koi fish for their water gardens often train the fish to come to the surface for food. This works to the advantage of raccoons that find easy pickings in the shallow water. The Conservation Department’s urban wildlife biologists also receive complaints of herons snacking on pet fish.
In a water garden my friend owns, he uses black plastic to line the rock waterfall that aerates the pond. One day, among the goldfish he had rescued from the bait shop, he discovered an eastern garter snake. Not only do snakes love to hang out in rock gardens looking for insects, but they also like to lie under black plastic liners that absorb the sun’s rays and allow them to warm up quickly.
Personally, I like snakes and would rather have them in my yard than the mice and crickets they eat. But people who are not enamored of reptiles should forgo building rock gardens, stacking firewood or placing black plastic near their homes.
Feeding dogs and cats outdoors is another way people start food chains. Bill Heatherly, a former urban wildlife specialist in Kansas City I spoke with, received a call from a couple who regularly fed their pets in the backyard. Before long, a raccoon family moved into the couple’s attic to be close to the steady supply of food.
Another Kansas City resident fed her cat indoors, but allowed the feline access to the house through a pet door, said Heatherly, who is now a wildlife programs supervisor. The woman wondered why her cat was suddenly eating more food and splashing water all over the floor. It remained a mystery until early one morning when the woman confronted a raccoon in the hallway of her home.
A single raccoon can be a nuisance, but imagine the man in Kansas City who started out with one raccoon eating his dog’s food. It wasn’t long before the food attracted more and more raccoons until 30 were scratching on his door demanding food each evening. The man and his small dog were afraid to go outside, and he was afraid to quit feeding them. Wendy Sangster, a wildlife damage biologist in Kansas City, suggested that the man move the food away from the house a little at a time until the raccoons stopped coming to his deck. Eventually, the man was able to stop feeding the horde altogether.
Not all stories turn out as well. At the Lake of the Ozarks, a man was intentionally feeding a pair of foxes from his back porch. After the foxes had a litter of kits, the man fed them, too. As they grew older, the kits, which were not afraid of people, began chasing children and fighting with dogs in the neighborhood. Local Conservation Agents asked the man to stop feeding the foxes so they would stop associating people with food. When the man refused to cooperate, the foxes had to be trapped. Luckily the story ends well with the foxes being relocated to my Forest Preserve. They have reintegrated with the wildlife and are suitably feral again.
Whether fed intentionally or not, crows, starlings, opossums, skunks, foxes, coyotes, bears and other animals are attracted by pet food. Commercial dog food is so high in protein and other nutrients that much of it passes through the animal’s system undigested.
Rats stay well nourished by eating dog feces in urban areas where people don’t regularly pick up after their pets. If rats are well fed, predators move in to eat them. Red foxes and coyotes are two species that do well in urban areas by preying on rodents, carrion, squirrels and, occasionally, pets.
In West St. Louis County, coyotes are attracted to subdivisions surrounded by green space. Many people admire picturesque backyards with no fencing, so they use underground electronic fences to contain their pets. For coyotes, these fences present no barrier and make it easy for them to occasionally prey on cats and small dogs.
Coyotes clean up a lot of rodents and carrion. There are many benefits to having coyotes around and, besides, they are here to stay. If we have the habitat, we will have predators. We need to learn to live with them, but not to attract them too close to homes.
In addition to removing food sources, I recommend making noise to scare coyotes away when they get too close to houses. If coyotes aren’t challenged, they won’t run away from people and may become so bold that they have to be removed.
Sometimes it’s hard to know when you are adding an element to a wild animal’s food chain. Cities that require people to use plastic trash bags for curbside garbage pickup provide a feast for many animals and birds, especially crows that are adept at breaking open packages. This may help explain why some crows peck holes in black leather car tops in the St. Louis area. A vendor at a suburban St. Louis golf course had no idea that his outdoor concession stand would become part of the urban wildlife food chain when an enterprising crow discovered it could open potato chip bags.
Most people expect to deal with nuisance animals when they plant vegetable gardens. Tender, young plants, as well as their fruits, attract raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, skunks and groundhogs. Simple fencing will keep out most animals. Avoid planting sweet corn unless you are willing to share with raccoons, and don’t grow nut trees unless you are prepared for an abundance of squirrels and other rodents.
Plants that are not normally thought of as food also may become a link in a food chain. Scott McWilliams, a wildlife damage biologist, told me about a man in a small community south of Joplin who landscaped his well-manicured yard with roses he planned to enter in a flower show. He called the Conservation Department after the deer found the roses to be tasty. McWilliams’ solution was a wooden fence, which saved the roses but changed the owner’s landscaping plans.
Conservation Department Ombudsman Ken Drenon hears from lots of people in Kansas City, St. Louis, and Springfield who have discovered that their new landscaping projects attract deer. Flower bulbs, hostas, clematis and willows are some of the more popular snacks. Drenon offers another solution to prevent deer damage; planting vegetation that deer don’t like to eat. Some examples of native plants reported to be deer-resistant are purple coneflowers, butterfly milkweed, wild ginger, wild geranium, American holly and most varieties of ferns.
The Conservation Department’s “Grow Native!” program can help you attract birds and animals to your yard by providing a natural supply of native foods and habitats through the use of native plants.
Conservation Department animal nuisance complaint specialists suggest that people avoid trying to attract as much wildlife as they can. Provide water, food and shelter only for a limited number of animals. Too many animals can become a nuisance for a neighborhood, cause substantial property damage and spread diseases among wildlife.
For most people, it’s a thrill to observe wildlife close to home. Just be sure you are prepared for the extra company. Try to anticipate how your activities might set up a wildlife food chain, or you, your neighbors and wildlife will pay the consequences.
ZS totals for 2007:
- $6195.20 donated to charity
- 136 pints or blood or 17 Gallons of blood
- ~5000 lbs of food
- 56 volunteer hours
- hosted 2 disaster prep education seminars
- hosted 1 Disaster Fair
- Number of people eaten by Zombies: 0
The breakdown:
Direct Relief Aid for the fire disaster in CA: $525.00
Feed My People: $470.00
Youth in Need: $2100.00
Juvenile Diabetes research foundation: $264
Red Cross for tornado disaster in Greensburg, KS: $2701.00
Project S.H.A.R.E. $135.20
Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean County, NJ: 2,345 lbs of canned food
Feed My People: estimated over 2,000 lbs of canned food
Blood: 136 usable units of blood (177 attempted donors, 34 First time donors)
Habitat for Humanity home build in Fort Smith, Arkansas: 1 day with 7 ZS members
Disaster Awareness Fair in St. Louis: 1
Disaster preparation seminar @ Dragon con
Disaster preparation seminar @ Tin Ceiling Community Theater
Nice work everyone! We the events planned for 2008 so far we might very well double our goals for 2008.
DISCLAIMER: I did not write this article, I merely re-formatted it in WordPress for this article’s original author Dak Kovar. All credit goes to him, I’m just the formatting lackey. Enjoy!
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As some of us have discovered there is no real good way to attach a sleeping bag to most of our smaller packs, especially the something as large as the Army’s Modular Sleep System (MSS) bags. The first set of photos show my small ruck and my MSS/shelter roll. The second set of photos is of a light weight bag and a Gor-Tex bivy.
I am using surplus US Army Sleeping Bag Carrier and a USGI general purpose carry strap (I’ll call it a sling for this article) as used on field phones, 2 qt canteens and field aid bags. These two items are very inexpensive and easy to get if you know where to look, more on that later.
OK, what’s in the big first bag?
The MSS by itself, using the compression sack, packs down fairly tight. It grows in size as you add stuff. In this example I have elected to carry some items instead of putting them in my pack. This saves room in the pack for other things. This combination weighs about 16lbs total.
The MSS bag has in it:
MSS sleeping bag-complete
Air mattress
GI Poncho
Ground Cloth
100’550 Chord
Water shoes
Mosquito Net for my head
Beanie Cap
The next three photos are of the whole unit ready for carry.
The photos are deceiving. My friend, Fabio, who modeled for me is very thin. The bottom picture is most representative of the real size of this load.
Note that on the outside is a USGI shelter half (Item in green). The whole thing comes out to about 15-17lbs. As you can see in the picture this set up has a built in carry handle and there is enough room in the straps for more stuff, like a field Jacket, shovel, ax, etc.
Here is a picture of the same rig using a Mountain Hardware sleeping bag and an MSS bivy cover. This was done without a compression strap. It is very light and carries very well. It would be an easy fix to come up with something like this out of other materials such as 550 chord, belts, webbing strap and many other things.
Mountain Hardwar/MSS bivy (Top) and the MSS/shelter roll.
Here are pictures of the carrier and the sling:
Here is how it goes together:
1. Lay the straps out flat.
2. Put your sleeping bag and/or other items on the carrier.
3. Secure the two main straps and tighten them alternating back and forth until it is tight.
4. Secure the two side straps. If the straps won’t reach you can make a bridge by tying in a section of 550 chord.
5. Once the carrier is secure attach the sling.
Once the sling is in place it can be worn over the shoulder on either side.. If you have a heavy load you can use a t-shirt or something to cushion your neck. I would recommend shifting sides at every rest break.
At the suggestion of another member here, the roll can also be placed loose on top of a small back pack and steadied using the sling straps as shown in the next three photos.
Where to Find:
Here are some sources for the carrier/strap I found by way of Google. These are only examples and I am not affiliated with any of the sellers and I have not done business with them unless noted.
For the carrier:
Google search was done by: Google, images, Army sleeping bag carrier and looking for pictures of the item. I’ve found this save me time when I’m looking for a thing.
US Military Surplus
Army Navy Deals
More Militaria
For the strap/sling:
Sportsmans Guide
Charley’s Surplus
(Scroll down to Universal Gun and Carrying Sling)
New Style:
Go to e-bay, “sleeping bag carrier”, and search. You will find new style bag carriers as well as the old style which is the focus of this article. I have not used one of these but they do look nice. Folks from southern states may do well with one of these. Advantage: enclosed and self contained. Disadvantage: limited by size to what can be carried.
Improvised Carry:
Another method is to place your sleeping bag, packed as tight as you can get it, into a garbage bag, and that in turn into a pillowcase. You can carry it over your shoulder, or using a second pillow case (filled with food or cloths) tied together and hung around the neck or over a sturdy stick, hobo style. Good quality garbage bags could be used as well. Result will vary due to materials and construction.
Summery:
Together, these two items are a very useful piece of inexpensive gear. It can obviously be used as intended, which was hung off of a pack frame, or used as described above using the sling. It is also handy to carry firewood back to camp. Don’t forget to put your items into some type of water proof covering. If you have any questions feel free to contact me by way of this site. I hope you have found this article useful.
Dak Kovar
If you’d like to comment on this ZSS Feed Article, don’t hesitate to visit us at Zombie Squad’s Forum By Clicking This Link.
Ever see a little stone pile that doesn’t look natural at the bottom of a stream or creek? Well if you have, that would be the nesting area of the Stoneroller or Hornyheaded Chub…no I’m really not making these names up.
They dig a small trench in very shallow waster during their spawning season. Different fishes use a plethora of spawning methods. Some nest in the open, some nest in cavities, and others just broadcast their eggs out into open water.
Other nesters don’t get as elaborate as the Horneyheaded Chub or the Stoneroller. Sunfish, Bass, and Goggle Eye fan out bare spots in gravel for a simple nest site. Catfish are generally cavity nesters and prefer hollow logs, large rock rubble, root wads, etc. in which to lay eggs.
Catfish(usually the males) will guard their nests from predators and fan the eggs laid in cavities to keep them oxygenated and free of sediment. White Bass, Paddlefish, Walleye, and Suckers spawn in open water, usually where a riffle of moving water takes care of the sediment from settle on their eggs.
Another interesting point about fish spawning, shared by a local Fishery Owner, is that Bluegill are multiple spawners, up to NINE TIMES EACH SEASON under ideal conditions! This capability is why Bluegill will be an important fish to stock in the PAW.
Crappie are very popular with anglers, but few ponds or lakes have natural populations. Crappie management can be challenging in small impounds, but can be done under certain conditions.
First, your pond water MUST be clear most of the time. In murky ponds, too many Crappie escape Bass and other sight feeding predators, and the Crappie population tends to become stunted.
Ponds also need ample rooted, under water vegetation to be suitable for Crappie. Young Bass need hiding and feeding places to survive to sizes that can eat Crappie and control their numbers. Crappie breed second only to Blue Gill.
Heavily fished ponds need regulation to ensure that Bass are not overfished. One approach is to release all Bass between 12 and 14, or even 18, inches long. The only danger is in taking so many small Bass that few make it into the protected size range.
Stocking prey fish to boost Crappie growth can work, but avoid Gizzard Shad which can grow numorus enough to keep Bass from eating small Crappie. Fatheaded Minnows are the best choice.
You can harvest any number of crappie at any size without fear of “fishing them out”. However, imposing a minimum length limit of 9 or 10 inches produces larger fish in the future.
If your pond has an established population of Bass and other fish, you may be able to get started by stocking 30 adult fish early in the spring. The alternative is to stock fingerling’s at a rate of 50 to 200 per pond acre/per year in June until the population sticks.
For further advise on managing fish in ponds, contact your Department of Conservation or Department of Natural Resources. For Missourinites (yes I made that up) that would be 573-751-4115 or visit the web site at www.missouriconservation.org , and click on Fishing.
Also contrary to popular belief if the DoC or DNR stock you pond your DO NOT have to allow the public to fish it. You have a constitutional right to privacy of person, place, and papers. The Missouri DoC will stock ponds for free once a year. Call them for more info.
7 ZS members went camping up in the Adirondack Park in Upstate NY over the weekend of February 15-17, 2008. We had a great time and, I like to think, learned a lot about winter camping.
We camped on the shore of beautiful Polliwog Pond, at a big campsite that was buried under 1-2 feet of snow. The above picture show Polliwog Pond with the firepit in the foreground.
I set up my tent on top of a heavy-duty space blanket after digging down through the snow to reach (almost) the ground. At the end of the weekend I found that even with my sleeping pad and the space blanket, I had melted out an icy outline of myself under my tent.
CommonHighrise had pretty much the same pad and sleeping bag as I did, but he set up his tent without digging down to ground level, and over a layer of balsam branches. He ended the weekend with light and fluffy (and unmelted) snow under his tent. In future winter camping excursions I will follow his example.
Friday night got down to -17 degrees, so all of the lessons learned were learned the hard way, and should be useful for almost any winter camping situations (I hope that I/you never have to go camping in colder weather than that).
Starting and maintaining fires proved quite difficult at these temperatures, but having firestarters to help things along is a definite advantage. I think the key to the difficulty lies in raising the temperature of the tinder and wood to the combustion point; being able to have a firestarter keep the heat on your tinder and wood for the extra time needed is a big help. Increasing the surface area of your tinder and wood (by splitting or “fuzzing” the wood) will help the fire get going.
Once the Sun went behind the trees (at about 4:30), you need to be sure to have more wood than you think you’ll need for the night and for the next morning. The campfire becomes a focal point of your winter campsite, especially when the temperature drops below zero. The heat and light from the fire provides both an actual and perceived boost to your core temperature.
This picture, although posed, provide a good example of the signs of a party member chilling down too much. Shivering that they can’t stop, and pulling themselves into a fetal posture (arms and legs and head down towards your stomach) is a good signal that the person is getting too cold. The best fix for this is to make sure that the person has dry clothes (and if not, to change into them), get some hot liquids into them (over-strong hot cocoa or gatorade are great for this purpose), and pump some serious fuel into their system (I suggest a couple of big spoonfuls of peanut butter, but anything with lots of carbs and fat will work).
Hot water, and the ability to make it, is vitally important in winter camping. You can actually dehydrate more in wintertime than in the summer, because your lungs will moisten every dry breath that you take into your lungs. If you’re not peeing every 1-2 hours, then you aren’t drinking enough; don’t feel bad, it’s easy to do, for a variety of reasons when winter camping…making water from snow is a hassle and peeing in the cold makes you feel colder.
The pieces of gear pictured above are not typically thought of as winter camping gear, but they can make things go more smoothly. A maul to split wood into smaller pieces will make lighting and maintaining your fire easier. The 15″ Stanley FatMax saw is small and rips through logs of all sizes really quickly (if it binds in the cold, a quick shot of rem-oil along the teeth will help things along). A really solid folding grill can be useful for everything from grilling meat to supporting pots. Leather-handed gloves are great for handling wood and lifting stuff off of the fire. Skip back up to the picture above this one, and you will see a set of angled pliers, which are great for grabbing pots and pans and grills and providing mechanical advantage for freeing frozen parts.
When winter camping, more than at any other time of the year, food should be viewed as fuel first, and as an outlet for creativity and source of pleasure second. We were lucky enough to have some great cooks along with us on this camping trip, and we all enjoyed super chili and steaks and stew and pancakes and such; but I consider those things luxuries. The first line of winter survival is warm food, rich in carbs and fats and liquid: cocoa and oatmeal started each morning for me, and are a great way to get warmth and water and nutrients into you quickly. Pieces of cheese and pep-stick and the occasional spoonful of peanut butter also kept me fueled up and warm.
I also found myself keeping my next snack and drink inside my outer (windproof) layer, so that they wouldn’t freeze. As soon as I finished the bottle of gatorade (which I believe is less likely to free solid due to the salts in it) or Clif bar, I would replace it with the next one, and let my body warm it up so that I didn’t have to break it (or my teeth on it) in its frozen state.
My outerwear consisted of pac-boots, windpants, a heavyweight fleece-hooded jacket, windproof coat, fingerless gloves, and mittens. I don’t like to layer up too much, because if I’m too layered, I feel as though the dead airspace doesn’t work as well. If I start to feel cold in all of this stuff, I either start moving, or eat/drink something.
My inner layer includes long underwear top and bottom, heavyweight wool/poly socks, and a balaclava (generally not added unless it’s really cold, or at bedtime). All of these layers, being next to my skin, were likely to become wet, so having multiple sets of each is vitally important. At bedtime I would strip down to a dry set of this layer for sleeping inside my bag; lots of people argue for sleeping without the long undies or socks, but I prefer it.
Original Post: http://myzombieblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/zombie-squad-winter-camping-trip.html
Today we’re going to talk about Stalking, Sneaking, and/or Standing. Deer hunters take one of two (or three depending on how you look at it) general approaches to harvesting their game. They either wait in one spot for deer to come to them, or they move around, hoping to scare up deer, sneak up on deer, or intercept deer that are themselves moving.
The first is called stand-hunting; the second, still-hunting. Which is better? Well, as any grizzled, deer-hunting philosopher would tell you, it depends.
Both methods are pretty simple. Stand-hunters wait in a ground blind, in a tree stand or behind natural cover, or they just remain out in the open, trusting that a lack of movement and noise on their part will allow them to escape the notice of moving deer. Very few hunters actually stand in stands; most sit and a few recline, sometimes luxuriantly.
Still-hunters try to walk into the vicinity of deer. Because deer are reluctant to share their personal space with humans, these hunters either have to be lucky and catch a deer that’s not paying attention, or they have to walk quietly and slowly enough that a deer doesn’t see or hear them.
I like to call still-hunting sneaking. It differs from stalking in the sense that you usually don’t have a specific target in mind. You’re just moving around quietly hoping to cross paths with a deer.
Both standing and sneaking work well some of the time, but neither works all of the time. In fact, the most frustrating thing about both methods is that they usually give you enough time between deer sightings to think that it might have been better to hunt the other way. When you’re not seeing deer in the woods, it’s very easy to imagine deer where you are not.
Oddsmaking
During one of those long mornings when I’d sat in a stand with nothing to look at but trees, rocks and shrubs and only my gurgling stomach breaking the silence, I tried to calculate whether sneaking or stand-hunting is better. I happened to think about those cowpie raffles, in which a field is marked off into sections and the location of the cow’s first deposit determines the winner.
I imagined the woods divided into 100 equal sections and containing only me and one deer. The winning combination would be when the deer and I occupied the same section. Given those conditions, at any given moment I have a 1-percent chance of that deer being in the section I’m guarding.
If the deer moves through five different sections during the time I remain on stand, I have a 5-percent chance of encountering it, assuming that being in the same section as the deer means that I would see it. If I move through five sections and the deer remains still, the odds of having all six legs of the two animals involved occupying the same section at some time during the hunt are also 5 percent.
Because I used only my fingers and my cold toes in the calculations, my math became a little clumsy when I tried to figure the odds should the deer and I both move through five sections during the time I was hunting.
You might think the dual movement improves the chances but, instead, it allows the possibility of me moving into an area that the deer had already occupied, or vice versa. Essentially, I was back to the same 1-percent chance that both of us would occupy the same section at the same time.
In addition to being wonderfully time-consuming, the exercise was constructive. It suggested that if the deer were moving, I would be better off in a stand, but if the deer were laying up somewhere, I’d be better off sneaking.
Of course, I didn’t bother with speed of movement, duration of stay in a section, unhuntable or uninhabitable sections or other complications. The odds only hold for purely random movement throughout the entire woods by either deer or hunter. Fortunately, we can improve those odds by eliminating some of the randomness.
For one thing, we can take advantage of patterns of deer movement. Deer are crepuscular animals, which means they are usually most active near sunrise and sunset. This suggests that your most fruitful approach to hunting early in the morning and late in the day is to sit and wait. If you want to sneak, take advantage of the times when the deer aren’t likely to be moving.
Because deer movement often involves traveling between bedding and feeding areas, we have a better chance of intercepting deer if we sit and wait somewhere between those destinations.
Stand-Hunting Lessons
I used to bow hunt not far from a big field. I was able to hunt a lot of mornings and evenings and got to the point where I could guess pretty well when the deer would be moving and in what direction they would be heading. During the day, they bedded anywhere from a quarter mile to a mile in the woods, usually in the thick stuff. Most evenings they commuted to the field. I suspect they stayed in or near the field through the night, because the deer I’d see in the mornings were usually headed back into the woods.
Once I’d learned the general pattern, I kind of played with it, setting my stand in different places and hunting at various times.
I saw plenty of deer, and what impressed me most was that they were less creatures of habit than creatures of tendency. They tended to and from the field, but that’s about all I could predict about them. The deer didn’t always use the same trails, for example, and they traveled at different times. Sometimes they were in groups, and sometimes they’d be solo. They also moved at different speeds, poking along one day and rushing as if late for a meeting another day.
I saw the most deer from stands anywhere from 100 yards to a quarter-mile from the field. When I set up right at the field edge, the deer seemed to arrive too late or too early, and they seemed really edgy.
Another drawback to field-edge stands is that I was too close to where they were when I was leaving or arriving. Deer aren’t dopes. From the field, they can hear a hunter climbing into a nearby stand or climbing down from it. They might not know it’s a hunter they’re hearing, but being naturally cautious, they might avoid areas that generate unusual noises.
Even when I set up away from the field, I made a point of approaching my stand from the field side in the late afternoon for an evening hunt and from the woods side for a morning hunt; I left the stand heading the opposite directions. That way I was always approaching or leaving from where I figured the deer weren’t.
They often made me anyway. That’s the only way to explain why I generally saw more whitetails when I put the stand in a new place but fewer the more days I hunted from it. The deer either whiffed my perfume, or spotted me moving my head or hands.
Something About Sneaking
It’s hard to spend long hours in even the most comfortable stand. When I’ve got a whole day to hunt, I usually plan to sit early and late and sneak in between. In fact, it’s while sneaking that I usually find new places (trails or scrapes, for example) to place my stand.
When I’m sneaking, I feel more like a hunter. Maybe it’s because I can’t multi-task. I’ve hoisted books, MP3 players, video games and notepads into my tree stands and still saw deer, but sneaking forces me to be focused and deliberate.
Everyone knows how to sneak. We’re always surprising brothers, sisters, cats and dogs by sneaking up on them — great fun! Sneaking through the woods isn’t much different. We have to travel quietly and slowly, hiding behind trees or brush whenever we can.
Because we don’t know what we’re looking for or where it is, we have to remain extremely alert. Experts tell us that we shouldn’t look for a whole deer, but for parts of a deer, especially the horizontal line marking the bottom or top of the deer’s body. One of my favorite sneaks involves creeping like a box turtle through cedars, looking beneath the limbs for deer legs.
Travel slowly enough that you can spot almost any movement, even the flick of a deer’s ear. Remember, they are as likely to be lying down as standing. Your goal is to see a deer before it senses you. If you’re startled by sudden noise and see a white rump bouncing away through the woods, you’ve lost the sneak game.
I can be quietest when the woods are soggy, but I also like to sneak around in dry, windy conditions. I think strong breezes whisk my scent away quickly, giving only those deer directly downwind a chance to sniff me. Also, the wind rustling through the dry woods provides a kind of “white noise” that masks any ruckus I might make. The same wind shakes branches and leaves, which probably makes it more difficult for the deer to pick up my slow movements.
My most memorable sneak actually was a stalk. I disturbed a couple of deer when I approached my tree stand early one morning. They clumped off noisily in the dark, but they didn’t go far. Not long after full light, I could see two deer milling around in a patch of tall grass about 300 yards away. As I watched them through binoculars from my perch, they suddenly vanished.
The deer had bedded down.
They weren’t coming to me, so I decided to go to them. Before lowering my bow and easing myself out of the tree, I noted landmarks and planned a stalk toward where I’d last seen the deer. I had all morning to hunt and told myself to use it all if necessary to get close enough for a shot — about 15 yards. From the time my foot first hit the ground, I took every step slowly, deliberately and quietly.
The wind that came up gave me a lot of confidence. I was mostly moving into it, so the deer couldn’t smell me, and if I was stealthy they probably wouldn’t hear me. The wind also whipped the grass where they were bedded, so they would have trouble seeing me. Confidence breeds competence: I have never been sneakier.
I plotted each footfall, kept trees between me and my destination and moved only when the wind gusted. If I did happen to snap a twig, I froze for at least a minute before even thinking about shifting my weight further.
A couple of very enjoyable hours passed before I found myself on the edge of the grassy plot without a clue of what to do next. I had an arrow nocked and was ready to draw, but I had no target. The deer were still hidden in the grass. I kept moving forward, extra alert, hoping that I could startle them into standing up without spooking them out of range.
It happened just that way. The deer popcorned up, one right after another, both within easy shooting range and both staring at me to the point of rudeness. I didn’t dare pull the bow, but the deer to my left forced my hand when she began to circle matter-of-factly to a point downwind of me. She apparently wanted to get to the bottom of my sudden apparition. If she whiffed me, I knew they would both be gone.
I slowly drew on the standing deer, even though it was looking at me. I could see its muscles tense, and we both seemed to release at exactly the same moment. It ran off, as did the sniffing deer, and I spent the next 15 minutes locating my arrow in the grass. What a great hunt!
Actually, they all are. It’s not really so important that I see a deer or shoot one when I’m hunting. It’s enough to know that I have a chance to do either, and that I can improve my chances by applying the hunting skills of stealth, patience, woodsmanship and awareness.
As a bonus, I don’t think I’ve ever been on a hunt when I didn’t marvel at or appreciate something wild and natural and worth telling others about. When you take such benefits into account, the odds in deer hunting, whether you’re standing or sneaking, are always in your favor.
