Student Visit To Riddy Wood; by Graeme Williams

An account of the recent fieldtrip to Riddy Wood made by the Reaseheath College Game Management course by one of the visiting students.

On January the 12^th 2016 at 12:30pm me, my class mates and our lecturer Geoffrey Guy left Reaseheath college and set off for Cambridgeshire to the woodlands that Geoffrey and his brother Richard manage and where they run recreational deer stalking for Chinese water deer and Muntjac.

I was particularly excited on this trip because I was going to get a go at Chinese water deer stalking, this was my first time deer stalking. We arrived at the farm yard where the vehicle’s where parked for the duration of the trip. Richard arrived with the 4x4 and trailer to transport the food and tools we had brought with us to the campsite while we walked with our rucksacks to the site, once we got to the campsite we went to where Richard had parked the 4x4 and trailer and carried the tools and food to the campsite. We then began to set out our bedding under the shelter that was provided, after a meal of pasta cooked on the camp fire we retired to bed.

cThe next day me and my class mates woke up early to a cold morning, once we all had woken up we decided to go to top camp and have breakfast, boiled eggs and bacon was on the menu, good eating ready for a good days work

'Top Camp' is the main camp at Riddy Wood where we store and process timber and teach.

'Bottom Camp' is also affectionately known as camp coppice and was the original site of our camp when we first started working in Riddy Wood. 

 After breakfast Geoff and my class mates went down near to the bottom camp and started to fell the trees which were to be coppiced with axes and shoot grey squirrels. Me and Richard went off to check that the zero of his rifle suited my eye, we got out of the woods and walked down the side of them. As we were walking along the woods we spotted something running in the wood with a white rump, we both suspected a roe deer as there is a handful with in the area. While walking to a suitable place to zero in the scope, I asked a range of questions to do with game keeping, woodland management, deer ecology and shooting techniques and I found the answers very insightful. As we got to the other side of the wood we spotted the roe buck running out of the wood and away from us. It may have been the same one that we later saw on the trail camera footage. 

When we arrived at the destination and spotted a Chinese water deer running in the distance, Richard set up two targets, one for him to check the rifle on and one for me to practice and make any final adjustments if I needed to. Richard fired a group from prone then I went into the prone position and took three shots with the Remington 700 .243, the three shots were on target within a one inch group at 75 yards with a slight wind, not bad for the first time using a centre fire rifle. 

Satisfied with my level of accuracy we headed back to the others where I joined the group coppicing, felling, removing the felled tree limbs and burning the brash. Around 1:30pm we stopped for lunch were me and Richard grabbed a sandwich and drink and left to go deer stalking. On the way to the 4x4, Richard discussed shot placement with me to recap on what Geoffrey had taught me back at college, it’s always good to have a refresher. We got to the 4x4 and drove to the area where we was to stalk. On the way Richard went through the safety aspects of the stalk and the plan of action. 

We arrived at the destination and set off quietly walking around a field boundary, stopping now and then to take a 360 look around to see if we can see a deer. We got to a small patch of woodland and due to the wind direction decided to go around the wood anti-clockwise. As we started to go around the wood we soon spotted a Muntjac going so we snuck over to see if we could get a closer look, we couldn’t see the deer so we went to the end of the wood to an opening, snuck in and waited for 10- 15 minutes to see if we could get an opportunity to take a shot. The Muntjac wasn’t seen again so we headed out of the wood to continue as planned. 

We hadn’t walked 5 yards when I spotted a Chinese water deer at the other end of the field slowly walking to the edge of the field. We crouched down and following the edge of the wood we stalked the deer to the edge of the field we set up and I went into the prone position, I took off the safety, controlled my breathing and waited for a broadside shot to present it’s self. I squeezed the trigger and hit my mark, the deer went down and managed to get back up for a second the fell down again. I made the rifle safe and me and Richard headed to the deer, Richard did a little exercise with me to see if I could find the site of impact, where the animal had first been hit. 

Once that was done we went to the deer check it for any response by touching the eye, nothing, one good shot behind the shoulder at approx. 115-120 yards, I bagged a nice Chinese water deer buck, please with the shot and please that we will be back at camp before it got too dark we headed back.

My First Deer

Back at camp we all gathered around and Geoff gave us a gralloching and skinning demonstration. The shot had left both shoulders intact maximising the meat that could be collected but did damage the liver. We had deer rump cooked in a Dutch oven under the camp fire. Every one enjoyed the meat, it was definitely one of the nicest venison meals I’ve had. Some of us watched some trail cam footage of the deer that visit the wood during the night and then retired to bed. 

"Interestingly enough one of the haunches from this animal couldn't be eaten as we found a large wound in it, at least an inch deep and partly healed but very swollen and slightly discoloured, probably caused in a fight with another Chinese Water Deer and it's fearsome canines. With wounds like that it's better safe than sorry so we had to get rid of it". Geoff

In the early hours of the next morning me and my class mates was woken up by a Muntjac barking close to camp, after which we went back to sleep for a couple of hours before waking up and going for breakfast. Porridge was up for grabs this morning. We discussed the plan of action for the half a days work we had to do before leaving to catch the buses home. We packed our bags split some wood, cleaned the remaining trees that had been felled and added the last bit of protection from the Muntjac for the coppiced trees. We packed all the gear and remaining bit of food back in the vehicles along with the venison and the Chinese water deer skin that will be tanned and turned into buck skin and left by about 1:30pm. 

All in all it was a good camping trip with interesting topics discussed and a very satisfying deer stalking conclusion. I will definitely think about doing it again in the future.

Graeme Williams 

Bushcraft Session Evaluation

What follows is an evaluation of a bushcraft class I taught to a group of countryside management students at Moulton College in May 2013. The evaluation was carried out as part of the work I submitted for the DTLLS teaching qualification.   

This session gave students a chance to use bushcraft skills which we had covered previously in relation to a range of countryside management skills. Bushcraft includes skills such as outdoor leadership, botany, ecology and green wood work to name but a few. All these skills are relevant to people working in the countryside, and the specific skills covered in this session included, plant and tree identification, green woodwork and team work. I am investigating the link between bushcraft and countryside management for my action research, with the aim of showing that practicing bushcraft can improve engagement and attainment among countryside management students. Observations and comments made by the observer were used to support my action research (for full details of this piece of research see the autumn edition of the institute of outdoor learnings Horizons journal or follow this link; https://www.academia.edu/4102884/The_Value_of_Bushcraft_in_Formal_Education. ) The activity I chose for this lesson was for the students to try to make fire by friction.

Planning, Preparation and Resources

To make fire by friction using the bow drill method four main components are required and the students would have to source material and carve each of these themselves during the first part of the session;

·         A drill and hearth carved ideally from elder but possibly also from willow or sycamore depending on what the students could find.

·         A bow made from inflexible green wood as long as your arm

·         A bearing block made from hard green wood.

To ensure that this element of the lesson ran smoothly I came prepared with a selection of pre-fabricated drills and hearths which I had tested previously and which I knew would produce an ember. If an individual was unable to produce a functioning drill and hearth they could use on of the pre-fabricated ones so they didn’t fall behind. This meant that the task was subtly differentiated as noted by the observer to ensure all students could be involved throughout the session without falling behind. It also meant that should they make a fire kit that for whatever reason would not produce an ember they could switch it for one of mine which had been previously tested and proved to work. To allow students to make their own friction fire kit I also provided saws and knives so they could collect and carve the materials they needed.

I had planned for the first portion of the lesson to be solely an opportunity for students to prepare their individual friction fire kits. Those who had not finished by that time could use the extra drills and hearths I provided. The second part of the lesson was to begin with my demonstration of how to light a fire by friction. Two essential items which I provided for the students which could have been collected from the wild was a string for the bow and tinder for lighting the fire. The length of this session would not allow for this to take place as to make enough string of a suitable strength and quality for a friction fire bow would take an inexperienced person over an hour. Also tinder collection could have been compromised by poor weather.

To make fire by friction two pieces of wood must be rubbed vigorously together to produce an ember, this ember forms from the charred saw dust created by the friction between the two pieces of wood. Using the bow drill method a drill is spun using the bow against a flat piece of wood (the hearth). The use of a bow makes spinning the drill much more efficient and allows downward pressure to be applied more easily to the drill. To maximise friction at the point of contact between drill and hearth the drill is carved to a blunt point and dry wood of a suitable species is required. Downward pressure is applied to the drill with another piece of wood but at the point of contact between drill and bearing block friction is minimised by using a hard green wood for the bearing block, carving that end of the drill to a sharp point and lubricating the socket with crushed leaves. Once a depression has been formed in the hearth by vigorous drilling, the wood at the point of contact between drill and heart will begin to smoke and char, at this point the drill is removed and a notch about an eighth of the depression is removed with a knife or saw to allow an ember to form from the charred wood dust. Without this notch the ember would not collect or reach the appropriate temperature for combustion. Once the notch has been made drilling can re-commence and once the drill is smoking an ember will begin to build, drilling must continue until the ember is ‘self sustaining’ producing smoke on it’s own with no drilling required. Once it has reached this stage the ember can be transferred to a tinder bundle prepared in advance from dry shredded grass and must then be blow into flame.

Once I had completed my demonstration the students would then use their completed kits to try to make a fire, while they worked individually I could move between them and offer support to those who needed it. As friction fire lighting is such a difficult skill to master it was entirely possible that the students would not manage to produce fire but to ensure that they had as much support as possible so for the final portion of the lesson, before a recap, the students could work as small groups to try and use their kit’s more efficiently to produce an ember.     

My reason for choosing this was that these kinds of bushcraft activities can complement all forms of environmental education, including countryside management, very well. Some previous research that I carried out indicated that general education students engaged better with their countryside sessions when bushcraft activities were integrated with them (Guy, 2011). It has also been recognised in research into the delivery of Forest Schools in the UK this kind of outdoor activity can help students develop personally and socially (O'Brien & Murray, 2006) (Borradaile, 2006). Additionally according to constructionist learning theory (Papert, 1980) as students learn more skills related to their chosen subject of study they can create more links with their existing knowledge and develop their understanding based on more points of reference. In fact this kind of learning which is situated (Lave & Wenger, 1991) in the environment where students will eventually work will prepare them even more for employment that work study which is carried out ‘out of context’ in a classroom. The context of bushcraft in countryside management is not only in its value as an indirect method of teaching plant identification, green woodwork, leadership etc.. but also more directly in the sense that with the increased popularity of bushcraft as a recreational activity many park rangers are asked to run activities to attract visitors to country parks, nature reserves and Wildlife Trust venues and a prospective employee with these skills may well be attractive to an employer.    

Session Description and Reflection

The students participating in this session had been briefed as to what the lesson would involve the previous week. They had a chance to practice identifying appropriate materials earlier in the term and a chance to practice making the hearth and drill that they would need. They were well prepared for the session which I had hoped would mean that there would be time for at least some of the students to successfully produce an ember by friction.

Each student was able to identify appropriate resources without my assistance and most did this in a timely manner which indicated to me that their tree and shrub identification skills had become well developed. Once they had selected the appropriate wood they began to carve it to the appropriate shape and size for use in their friction fire kits unfortunately some of the students became so preoccupied with making one element of the kit that they had by the end of the first portion of the lesson only managed to make either the drill or the hearth. This would have left them without a fire kit to use in the second part of the session if not for the extra fire kits I had brought along. During this portion of the lesson I could have tried to prompt the students to speed up but due to the nature of the task and the fact that it involved using knives and saws to fabricate their fire kits I felt it was more important to coach them on safe technique rather than try and speed them up and possibly cause an accident. In the past I have always taught friction fire lighting either as an intense day long course or regular short sessions where the skills of making a fire kit can be practiced in advance until they can be performed fluently leaving plenty of time for the actual act of making a fire. When next year countryside students have an opportunity to study a unit titled skills for land-based outdoor and adventurous activities (Edexcel, 2011) the regular time tabled sessions will give more opportunities to practice these skills over a longer period of time and develop fluency.  Some of the students who did work more slowly though did show very good attention to detail and produced kits that would have been very easy to work with and would certainly have produced an ember. Those who worked slower created an excellent opportunity to teach some more advanced knife skills which would speed up their work, this opportunistic learning (Hager, 2011) is something that has been noted as often taking place as employees learn on the job at work where they learn new skills, or develop old ones through performing their duties even if this learning was not a planned outcome. Although not a planned outcome of the lesson I was able to teach students a skill called batoning which requires them to use a short wooden baton to drive a knife along the grain of a piece of wood splitting it and removing large quantities of wood quickly, thus speeding up their work.  

Once all learners had a functioning friction fire kit I demonstrated how to light a fire by friction emphasising key points of my technique which they would need to copy to ensure success. Once my demonstration was complete they began working themselves. At first I circulated among the individuals and coached them on their technique. Some were able to adopt an effective technique with very little help but others required more assistance. Unfortunately although some of the students managed to make smoke with their friction fire kits none were actually able to make an ember which they could blow into flame.

Despite the failure of students to make a fire they were able to perform well in all the skills which the activity supported including tree ID and green woodworking. They were also able to identify how these skills would help them in their future careers. To help improve this kind of session in the future  I would, based on feedback from the observer, ensure  I ask more questions to struggling students to prompt them to diagnose problems with their technique and put it right sooner.   

References

Borradaile, L., 2006. Forest School Scotland; an evaluation, s.l.: Forestry Commission.

College, S. E. R. C. @. C., 2012. Cooprative Learning Techniques. [Online]
Available at: http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/techniques.html
[Accessed 16 01 2013].

Edexcel, 2011. Skills for landbased outdoor and adventurous activities. [Online]
Available at: http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/BTEC%20Nationals%20from%202010/Unit_11_Skills_for_Water-based_Outdoor_and_Adventurous_Activities.pdf
[Accessed 24 05 2013].

Texas Collaborative for Teaching Excellence, 2007. Professional Development Module on Collaborative Learning. [Online]
Available at: http://www.texascollaborative.org/Collaborative_Learning_Module.htm#secto3
[Accessed 16 01 2013].

Guy, G., 2011. RESEARCH INTO THE RELEVANCE OF ‘BUSHCRAFT’ WITHIN REAL WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION. s.l.:unpublished .

Hager, P., 2011. Informal Learning - Everyday living . In: P. Jarvis & M. Watts, eds. The Routledge International Handbook of learning. s.l.:Routledge , pp. 208-209.

Hanks, W. F., 1991. Forward by William F Hanks . In: Situated LEarning . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press , p. 14.

Lave, J. & Wenger, E., 1991. Situated Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

O'Brien, L. & Murray, R., 2006. A Marvelous Opportunity for Children to Learn., s.l.: Forestry Commission and New Economics Foundation.

Papert, S., 1980. Mindstorms; Children, Computers and Powerful Idead. s.l.:Basic books .

Petty, G., 2004. Teaching Today. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.

Tennant, M., 1997. Psychology and Adult Learning. London: Routledge.

Wilson, L., 2009. Practical Teaching a guide to PTLLS and DTLLS. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA.

An Activity to Keep Your Hands Warm

It was a rough day to be outside today, the trailer I normally pull behind the tractor to transport students around had the tarpaulin cover ripped off it by the wind this morning. So what do you do with students when the weather is that bad?

I'm currently working with outdoor education and countryside management students at Moulton college as they get involved in skills swaps, the outdoor education students teach my countryside students how to climb and kayak while my students teach them to shoot, coppice and do bushcraft.  To stay warm on such a windy day what could be better than get them all around the camp fire to have a go at making some coal hollowed spoons and bowls.

For first attempts there are some really good results here;

A selection of partially completed spoons and one bowl, all the burning and scraping kept the hands and faces warm on such a cold day.

Bushcraft Isn't Fun

I love bushcraft and am passionate about it and of course it is fun but do I feel that it's fun when I'm absorbed in practicing or teaching it?
For me probably not, and I can say that of a number of other subjects which I am equally passionate about, for example when I am engrossed in coaching someone on how to shoot a rifle or light a fire by friction I am not conscious of having fun, this has been described as a 'flow state' (Csikszentmihalyi 2002) perhaps more commonly referred to as being focused or 'in the zone'.
I've seen this in my students as well, recently they have been working on friction firelighting as part of a bushcraft element of the BTEC skills for landbased outdoor and adventurous activities module which I teach them. Although I think they enjoy learning the bushcraft skills I am teaching them there have been times, especially while working on their friction fire projects, where some students who would normally be very prone to loosing concentration, chatting with friends instead of working or surreptitiously using their mobile phones while they think my back is turned have concentrated on their projects to the exclusion of all else. They have found their 'flow state' they will work and work and work. Those that have reached this stage have always been the ones who make fire first. The same goes for other subjects, some students get engrossed in deer management or firearms but for those who find the 'flow state' the subject becomes more than that, they become passionate about it and able to dedicate their time and attention to it beyond what they normally would.

Is reaching your potential and finding a subject to be passionate about more important than fun?


References

Csikszentmihalyi M (2002) Flow London. Rider Press

In Defence of IT

Modern smartphones have ever improving cameras and can be a valuable tool in taking 'spur of the moment' pictures not just of your friends doing silly things but of plants, invertebrates, or in this case a grass snake either for identification later on or just because you can.
This picture was taken with a the camera from a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone.

I recently blogged on the topic of the use of IT and expressed my elation at finding that in an age where the smartphone and tablet have largely replaced the penknife and string in the pockets of  young people that a group of students were more interested in being outdoors than watching a video. However I have found that a group of students I have been involved with this year have been using their phones to great effect and are demonstrating a commendable level of enthusiasm. Just today I have been asked to identify pictures of fungi and seen another student talking animatedly with another lecturer about the picture he had taken on his phone of what he thought was a privet hawk moth.

Picture Courtesy of countryside management students Brady Chabot and Joe Noble of some fungi they had seen. 

Spider !!!

 While taking some students on a walk to identify cover and food value in  a pheasant cover crop yesterday morning we saw this;

I'm no expert on spiders but the students are now determined to work out exactly what it is. On the same day some of the students found stag beetle larvae in a tree stump while setting traps for grey squirrels. It's great to see that they are interested in the things they find outdoors not just what they are being directed to concentrate on.

Can IT enhance outdoor teaching?

Up until the end of the 2012-2013 academic year I have always, as part of my teaching timetable at the college where I teach countryside management, taught a special needs group once a week. The lesson I take them for is their countryside and conservation lesson and effectively what they do with me is a 35 week long forest schools course. This includes animal tracking, firelighting, campfire cooking, willow coppicing, shelter building, woodwork, taking care of quail and pheasants, environmental art and other activities.

I was encouraged at one point to try and include more interactive technology in my lessons (not specifically these sessions) but I thought I would give it a try with this group, I got hold of a bunch of video cameras and asked the group to film all the signs of spring they could find. This was in late March, and they walked around the colleges farm filming buds bursting, shoots emerging, birds nests etc.. They really enjoyed to process of looking for signs of spring, taking turns operating the camera, and for those who were able making a commentary on film. I promised them that I would compile all their videos and make one film that they could watch out in the woods the following week. 

When it was time for their next lesson and I sat them down in the woods around our campfire site to watch the video they had made on an ipad, it took them all of about 20 seconds before they were bored with the technology and wanted to watch the birds in the woods. Using the technology was fine, they were happy to go and try and film birds and plants and tractors and anything else they could find but watching the videos even though they had made them themselves WAS NOT AS INTERESTING AS BEING OUTDOORS! When they were making the film they were in an environment where their attention was automatically on the task at hand (Jensen 2008). There was no need for a special strategy to engage the students, they were meant to be learning about the countryside and they were in the countryside, they had a fun activity to do and they got on and did it and as a result some students with very special needs learned in the course of about two hours to identify several different plant species just from their buds and twigs.  

I was delighted that at a time where computers, smart phones, ipads, ipods and TV seem to rule the lives of so many young people that this group of students found nature more interesting than a video.  

References;

Jensen, E (2008) Super Teaching; 4th ed; Corwin

Nature Enthusiasm

In the Digital Age, How to Get Students Excited About Going Outdoors

This fantastic article by Holly Korbey (follow the link above for the full article) highlights the need to get students excited and enthusiastic about the outdoors before depressing them with stories of rainforest destruction, pollution and global warming. Why would they care about the environment before they love it.

The problem with modern education is that this excitement can't be cultivated in schools unless there are big changes. My love of the countryside and environment does not come from geography field trips or biology lessons but from recreational activities such as participation in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, taking part in the Exmoor challenge, working as a pest controller shooting rabbits at golf courses and learning bushcraft in my parents back garden.  I was never advised at school that I could pursue a career in the countryside but was more often than not chastised for not focusing in class and not concentrating on my academic work. I eventually went to a college to study game and wildlife management (which I loved) after putting up with school all the way through GCSE's and A levels but I only found out about options to study a vocational subject at college because I was skipping school to buy ammunition from a local gunshop and heard about courses at Sparsholt College from the owner of the shop.

It was studying at Sparsholt that really enthused me about the outdoors and the countryside and I have worked in the countryside industry ever since. Now I enjoy watching my students develop a passion for the outdoors, whether they study agriculture, outdoor education, countryside management or are just taking part in an activity as a bit of fun, getting them excited and enthusiastic is the key. I often teach friction firelighting to students during their freshers week as a team building activity and I once taught an agriculture student who was so determined and enthusiastic to succeed that he refused to stop trying until his arm became so stiff from trying to work his bow drill that he could hardly move it for two days afterwards. This is the kind of enthusiasm that we need to instill in students who will be the next generation of outdoors professionals.

This diagram by the Swedish Friluftsfrämjandet explains the principle marvellously;

this picture explains the objectives of a skogsmulle (equivalent to Forest School in the UK and aimed at young children) programme and points out that you have to be in nature and enjoy it before you can influence society about the environment. 

Bushcraft Research

Click here; to read my recent research on.The Value of Bushcraft in Formal Education

This research aims to analyse the relationship between the embedding of bushcraft skills into formal countryside management qualifications and the performance of students. It shows through the testing of two cohorts of students one of which received no bushcraft tuition and one which did that the results differ significantly between the two groups. The group which received bushcraft tuition demonstrated much greater skills in the tested topic of plant identification and the potential reasons for this improved performance will be discussed here.

Keeping Students Engaged Around the Camp Fire

When I cook on a campfire with students I often cook cakes or pizza as this is something they probably wont have done before. The problem with this is once the dutch oven is on the fire there really isn't any need for the students to stay involved with the camp fire until it's time to take the oven out of the embers. They might cook marshmallows or do other things to occupy them while it's cooking but they're not involved in the cooking of 'their' cake or pizza.

Today I experimented with a way of keeping all my students involved in a camp cooking task; They had been doing some plant ID looking at Umbelifers and identifying them from stems and seeds, having learned to identify cow parsley and hog weed we collected some hog weed seeds to make biscuits with. Keeping students involved in the preparation of a campfire and mixing of ingredients rarely presents any problems, all of them were fully engaged with lighting the fire, grinding the seeds and mixing the ingredients. Once everything was mixed and ready instead of using a dutch oven as I normally would each students wrapped the blade of a spade with tinfoil and cooked their own biscuit in it. 

This worked really well, everyone was fully engaged with the whole cooking process including checking the biscuits while they cooked and making sure they were done which they would not all have been able to do if we had done the cooking in a dutch oven.