Thanks for any comments or questions everyone. More and possibly the last of the pics in post #4 in case some want to see all the pics. Especially the last pic which is the only pic that was not taken by me and it is not me in case some might think I was misleading anyone.

This post is showing many dead trees that I would like to thin out but I am getting the dead pine trees on my land cut down first and used for future building this past summer and next summer as well as cutting a lot of dead trees for neighbors.

This post also shows the bear ( sorry it is not a better and clearer pic, maybe next year I will have a better camera) also showing more of my underground shelter/bunker which is the only building that the pesky Bear did not get into.

If some have possibly not seen my other long thread with many pics, which helps explain what this pic thread is showing, then please go here > http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=52880

 

I enjoyed looking at these pictures, MMMike. I can't believe you still had snow in June! It is inspiring to look at these pictures and grasp the concept that we have within us the ability to adapt, live and thrive in a primitive environment. For me, this brings hope.

 

I can't believe you still had snow in June! It is inspiring to look at these pictures and grasp the concept that we have within us the ability to adapt, live and thrive in a primitive environment. For me, this brings hope.

I wanted to respond to this quite a while back, forgot about it and now finally responding.

I usually have snow in the shade and by the cold springs until around mid July on my mtn place.
There is snow almost all year, higher up at 11,000 feet around Bridger Peak which is a few miles to the west-NW of my land.

August and Sept. are the most snow free time up there although this past summer in mid August 2009 there was an inch of snow. Which was unusual but sometimes happens.

And you said: " It is inspiring to look at these pictures and grasp the concept that we have within us the ability to adapt, live and thrive in a primitive environment. For me, this brings hope."
Which I also find it amazing that so many people can adapt, live, I think they are mostly just existing but I suppose many think they are thriving in the primitive concrete jungles of Big cities. Just proves what people will do to survive, even "living" in polluted, crowded, expensive, noisy, crime and disease filled ugly cities.

 

This should be the last post with my mostly new pics. I might post a few more pics but in this thread I will gladly answer any questions and even tell some experiences If anyone is interested.

I could say a lot about these pics also and might later. The captions on the pics should tell quite a bit though.

It was a day after the blizzard when I felt the back of my large Ford F-250 go down. I thought it Must be the Bear. He must weigh maybe 400 pounds. It was just starting to get dark and I grabbed my camera. The window was fogged up mainly outside. I tried to wipe it off and then I took the pic of the bear with his head about two feet from my back window. The camera did get a fairly good pic of his claw though.

I had been sleeping in my large pickup truck and just as well for the no good bear tore up a couple of my tents. Not my sleeping tent for it has a strong wire fence around it as seen in a pic in post #1. Although around the end of October just before I left to go back to the city, the bear got into my sleeping tent a little as well. I could have shot the bear but it was quite beautiful with its brown fur coat. A cinnamon brown Black bear - which is the first one I had seen.
I had seen a pure Black bear a couple years ago which he did not do much damage. This brown Black bear must have been raised around a camp ground for he knew what canned food was and he bit into all the canned food he could find. He had taken a partially frozen turkey at a neighbor's cabin a week or so earlier out of an ice chest.

If that bear does come around anymore, such as next year after his hibernation then some neighbors said they will call to have it moved by the "authorities" unless someone not as kind as I might shoot it first...

Also the Only pic that is Not of my mtn place and does not have anything to do with me actually, is the very last pic. I Had to add that humorous pic to show that bears are not all bad.

The bear who raided my mtn place as shown in the above pics, better be careful next year, after his hibernation. Bears have been shot for doing a lot less than he did to my place. He also tore the screens off a seventy + year old guy"s ( Alfred ) cabin about a mile from my mtn retreat. The day before I went back to the city I hiked up about a thousand feet into the national forest, following the bear's tracks in the snow. I found his den as shown in one of the pics above. I could say much more, probably later....

 

Mike, That photo of you and the bear in the back of your truck is PRICELESS!
PS, You have been an inspiration to me.
-Bruce

 

The following may seem like a very long post but it quite possibly covers much, Maybe almost all people need to know about a survival retreat, with an excellent checklist. I will Probably tell some of my experiences this past summer also as I said but probably not today. I told quite a bit about the bear in a previous post in this thread but can tell much more about quite a few things... Anyone who is really interested in survival retreats will surely be interested in the following and comments etc. are welcome >

A retreat is a place to go to Live, Not die. It's a place out of the mainstream of events that contains the means to survive without outside support. It is defensible and built with the understanding of what the dangers might be.

As Ragnar Benson, author of "The Survival Retreat, A total Plan for retreat defense" wrote, "It is a matter of wisely identifying what you have available and turning it into something usable.... Fight If you must but try your utmost to orchestrate events so that confrontation is absolutely the remedy of last resort."

I wish Benson's books were online, for I would clip and post quite a bit from them. Possibly they are but I have not seen them on the internet. Ragnar Benson's books I believe, can still be bought through Paladin Press. His 3 best books about survival retreats are: "The Survival Retreat", "The Modern Survival Retreat" and "Living off the Land in the City or Country" Google them and learn If you are interested in extremely good survival retreat info.

"The Survival Retreat" is a 125 page book written in 1983. I would like to post a few sentences from that book for it is very important for everyone interested in retreats to know.

Quoted from Benson's "The Survival Retreat" >
"By now it should be clear that the retreats we are talking about in this book are not simply log cabins set in pine forests alongside remote, pristine lakes. Retreats, for survivalists, are places that provide shelter from hostile people, elements and nuclear, biological and chemical agents. Under some circumstances a retreat could be both a summer home and a bunker, but for the average survivalist, that is fairly unlikely.

To a large extent, the concept of a defensible bunker and an NBC shelter is a contradiction in terms. A shelter must be a buttoned-up, closed-in place that will protect the inhabitants from a hostile environment.

A bunker is designed primarily to defend strategic locations from hostile intruders. Obviously one cannot defend his bunker if he has his head pulled down so far he doesn't know what is going on outside.

Happily the solution to this is not as contradictory as it might seem. Intruders will not become a problem if your retreat is well hidden, the approaches strong, and the entrance obscured.

Secondly, the time of the most intensive biologica warfare will not be the time when unwanted visitors will come rambling up to your door.

If the collapse occurs as a result of economic failure and mob action is a threat, you will have to rely on the fact that mobs generally have no planned, coordinated goal. You must go out of your way to prevent your retreat from becoming a target.

Weeks after the collapse, random looters will start to be a problem. Then the answer is regular patrols, listening posts, assigned general guard duty, and your on-the-ground defense net. This is the time to turn your retreat from a shelter to a bunker/command post. Your location and circumstances will determine how far to carry this conversion. (If it is remote or not...)

Another phenomenon that is even more insidious is the concept of the collective shelter. Virtually every government and commercial publication on shelters and shelter management stresses the desirability of establishing large, group shelters where citizens can gather and withstand the ordeal as a group.
One of the first duties of a shelter manager, according to these publications, is to disarm
the arriving refugees. I sincerely trust that no true survivalist will ever fall into this trap."

Also from Benson's book "The Survival Retreat, A total Plan for Retreat Defense" >

The Defensible Retreat checklist

Once you have your retreat site picked out or even if you have a retreat, homestead, farm etc. then use a checklist to identify your priorities and establish a work plan and budget. Most of the following points must be answered with a Yes. If there are many answered No, then get to work upgrading your retreat or find another location. There is little fluff in the following list:

Check List

Yes or No

___ ___ Will the retreat hold all of the people who are likely to use it?

___ ___ Does the retreat provide protection from nuclear, biological and chemical threats?

___ ___ Is water available independent of any municipal supply or source?

___ ___ Do I know how I will preserve my food?

___ ___ Have I identified how I will heat and cook?

___ ___ Is it possible to safely store food, clothing, explosives, guns and ammunition at the retreat?

___ ___ Can the location be secured now before it is actually manned during the collapse?

___ ___ Does it have adequate facilities? Can all the people wash occasionally? Will the toilets work?

___ ___ Can the retreat be obscured and hidden now and after the fighting starts?

___ ___ Do any neighbors and friends outside of those who will use the retreat know of its existence?

___ ___ Have I devised a workable defense plan?

___ ___ Can the area be patrolled?

___ ___ Is the retreat actually defensible or am I just kidding myself?

___ ___ Can the approaches be mined and guarded?

___ ___ Do I have the proper equipment to guard them?

___ ___ Is the retreat in an area where I can raise a garden, scrounge and generally set up a viable existence after the collapse?

___ ___ Do I have a library in the retreat?

___ ___ Is the library good enough to provide the information needed after the collapse? If not, what books do I still need?

___ ___ What about medical supplies and information? Have I got that covered?

___ ___ Have I provided for nuclear monitoring? Do I have Geiger counters, dosimeters etc.?

___ ___ Do I have decontamination suits so at least some of my people can leave the retreat to guard, patrol and take care of outside chores?

___ ___ Have I made plans to keep hordes of people from coming anywhere near my area? Such as blocking roads with trees, rocks, logs, dynamiting bridges etc?

___ ___ Have I evaluated my people and attempted to fit them into the various duties the best way possible?

___ ___ Am I psychologically equipped to defend my retreat? Can I or any of my group actually shoot intruders or raiders?

___ ___ Does everyone know which situations will actually trigger the defense plan and when to activate traps etc. and to start shooting if necessary?

___ ___ Do I have a stock of barter goods? Are they properly stored?

___ ___ Do I know how everyone will get to the retreat, unless it is their permanent residence? Do they have at least one alternative contingency plan for getting to the retreat, preferably two?

___ ___ Have I evaluated the various threat possibilities and then made realistic plans to counter them, especially the non-confrontive, non-military threats?

___ ___ Are the immediate approaches to my retreat such that they can be made impassable by booby traps or just plain physical means?

___ ___ Do I know how much time it will take to close the approaches and who will be in charge of this job?

___ ___ Do I have a battle plan that fits everyone into the defense structure? such as shooters, non-shooters, gun loaders, look-outs etc...

___ ___ Do I know the warning signs that will indicate that it is time to put my retreat plan into operation?

___ ___ Do I the correct guns and ammunition or have I been swept away by the armament gurus into believing that tons of hardware can replace the right amount of the proper equipment?

___ ___ Have I planned for retreat communications?

___ ___ Do I know what means and material the enemy at his disposal or even who the enemy is in a realistic sense?

___ ___ Have I put together a psychological plan to keep people away and discourage them if they do attack?

___ ___ Have I planned for special medical/dietary needs of the group?

___ ___ Have I taken care of my group's current medical/dental requirements so these won't be of immediate concern after the collapse?

___ ___ Do I know how to reload ammunition and operate and repair guns?

___ ___ Am I skilled at using alternative means of transportation such as bicycles, motorcycles, atvs, snowmobiles, trucks etc?

___ ___ Am I highly motivated and self-confident?

___ ___ Do I know my home territory?

___ ___ Is the retreat adequately stocked with tools, utensils, barter items for use in the new economy?

___ ___ Do I know where to get the consumable items we will need such as light bulbs, grease, oil, soap, toilet paper, canning lids, salt, needles and thread? Have I thought about these items in terms of my retreat?

___ ___ Are fires a danger. If so, what can I do to counter that threat? Such as have fire extinguishers, defensible space around buildings by cutting away brush, thick trees etc...

___ ___ Is blast a danger? Will my retreat withstand an explosion? ( such as a deep underground blast shelter/bunker with dirt, rocks, concrete etc. on top)

___ ___ Can I properly evaluate situations? Am I prone to hysteria or passivity?

___ ___ Do I have a continuing survival training program? even an exercise program to stay in shape?

___ ___ Have I studied other collapsed societies and how people are surviving?

___ ___ Have I made plans to survive heavy equipment such as tanks and helicopters, If that becomes necessary?

___ ___ Do I know how to use game, fish and wild plants in my area?

___ ___ Do I know how to garden in my area?

___ ___ Do I know how the actual retreat will be ventilated? What about lighting?

___ ___ Is it possible for attackers, raiders to sneak up on my retreat unseen or, more importantly, for them to detect my retreat without exposing themselves?

___ ___ Have I tried to look at defeating my retreat from the eyes of an enemy?

This should cover everything but survival is a personal matter. You have to work out the exact details of your plan."


MM Mike here again. Hope everyone likes the above list which should cover about everything. If anyone has something to add to that checklist please do. Hope it will be useful to some for it took me over 2 hours to type it all out. I would recommend buying "The Survival Retreat" as well as some of Ragnar Benson's other books also. They can be found at Paladin Press website. Google them If any are interested in obtaining some good books on survival retreats etc.

I know that the above list is mostly just for those who own some land, especially land in a very rural area. I did not add a couple questions about explosives. People can think of those themselves If they wish.

For the many who do Not own land and possibly never will, such as those in cities, in apartments etc. then hope you can take what you are able to and what you need from the above checklist. A survival retreat can be part of a farm, ranch, homestead, especially an off grid, self-sufficient homestead (which is pretty rare in the USA) or whatever one can imagine it to be. It is still possible to have a survival retreat even in an apartment. Even the homeless technically have a survival retreat, if they have only a tent, cardboard shack or whatever. A good well stocked survival retreat is good to have but survival is also a state of mind and having the Will to Live, no matter what. Some of us will not give in no matter if society becomes a police state or if there is a complete societal and/or economic collapse. Unlike some who will try to be at ground zero so they will not have to survive to face whatever future may come, there are some who will at Least try to survive NO matter what happens. Suicide is not an option for we are true Survivalists!!

 

As Ragnar Benson, author of "The Survival Retreat, A total Plan for retreat defense" wrote, "It is a matter of wisely identifying what you have available and turning it into something usable.... Fight If you must but try your utmost to orchestrate events so that confrontation is absolutely the remedy of last resort."

I wish Benson's books were online, for I would clip and post quite a bit from them. Possibly they are but I have not seen them on the internet. Ragnar Benson's books I believe, can still be bought through Paladin Press. His 3 best books about survival retreats are: "The Survival Retreat", "The Modern Survival Retreat" and "Living off the Land in the City or Country" Google them and learn If you are interested in extremely good survival retreat info.

I downloaded a torrent file which had about 15 of his books. It was an illegal download however, so I cannot link it. But I'm sure a google search with the book title alongside torrent should yield some results. Try not to get any viruses though.

 

It looks like some of the trees were nailed with Pine Beetle. I see that a lot up over the pass from Denver to Granby.

If you had to retreat to your place in dead winter, would you be able to make it?

 

Yeah, the pine beetles have gotten most of the lodgpole pines and all but two on my mtn place. Two large - fifty foot ones that is. I have possibly around 100 live pine trees on my sunny hillside but most of them are less than 8 feet tall.

If I HAD to retreat to my remote mtn place in the dead of winter I think I could make it until summer. I do have a great deal of firewood although most of it is not split. Which I could do if necessary even in the winter.

The one pic of my black 55 gallon drum is filled with a couple buckets of wheat, a fifty pound bag of pinto beans, some sugar, etc. Which I should eat starting next year for I sealed those drums up more than 5 years ago. There is another black drum that is also filled, possibly people can barely see the edge of it behind the drum in front. The bear did not even touch these two steel drums for they are well secured. I have quite a bit of canned food also, even though it gets froze solid in the winter. The deeper the snow the less extreme cold for the deep snow, especially on top of my underground shelter/bunker is a good insulator.

But I do have a Lot of work to do before I will even try to live on my mtn place full-time year round. I did stay up there all of October 2008, living inside my bunker on a bunk bed. I burned at least 2 large pickup trucks of wood that month. I should get at Least 10 cords of firewood all ready and stacked inside my large woodshed to make things easier. BUT I do work a lot up there for other neighbors making some $ as I have for the past 3 years. I can make more up there than in the stinkin city especially the last 2 years.

I Hope to live up there permanently in a very few years. Much more I could say but maybe I will tell even more later. I really don't tell Everything, even though some think I tell far too much. As much as people have learned about me in my 3 pic threads and a couple other places on the net, there is much Much more that people will probably never know about me...:thumb:

 

Great pics Mike...Thanks for sharing:thumb:

 

Very nice Mike. You are one of the few who are doing more than just talk the talk. I salute you and your efforts.

Caseyboy

 

And salud to you too Casey. I have read some of your interesting posts. You should write a book. But I guess you have. You can post the link here to it, I think there is a link? I am sure most of the masses have not seen it.

I should write a book also but these pic threads are bad enough : and I am just trying to survive the winter here in the banana republic of Colorado. Seriously, from Ft. Collins to Greeley where I am now to south of Denver it is called the banana belt for its shape and its warmer temps than most of CO and Wyoming.

 

As always, thank you very much for sharing! I really enjoy checking out your pics and reading what your have to say. :thumb:

 

Incredibly awesome and informative Mtnman Mike. Thanks for sharing.:thumb:

 

looks good Mike and it is good that you are back =). Grrrr bears....

 

Here it is Mike, and thanks for the invite:

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=13870&highlight=Caseyboy

I also have a new web page if someone wants to read a preview of my book. It is a bit different than what was posted here on the forum. www.lmichaelrusin.com

Caseyboy

 

Good links and anyone who buys books should buy yours. I might someday but in the winter when I am in the stinkin city I mainly just read on the net. I read books on my mtn place especially when it is rainy and snowy. I read a couple books during the five day blizzard of which I have told some in my other pic thread and I have a pic of the blizzard after effects in a post above.

My other pic thread for the couple people who have not seen it yet > http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=52880

 

I am not absolutely certain but I don't think that most if any are seeing the optical illusion in pics 12 and 12.1 so I drew a red line around them and hope that now people can see them. Looks like an ET or gollum does it Not??

One guy messaged me and said he thought I maybe went crazy and am now seeing things....
I am not saying I believe in ET = extra terrestrials but the pic is very interesting.

Plz tell me I am Not the Only one to see the ET in this pic. I did Not create this pic only took it and then noticed it when the film was developed.

In the 2nd pic everyone Should be able to see it with the red line drawn around its head. See the nose, eye or eyes and half a grin??

 

I thought it was that little rabbit looking thing off to the right corner, so I didn't see what you were talking about at first.

Hey we got another GSD. This summer you missed all the action, but we got a GSpuppy around July and named him Jackson. He died the same week of Michael Jackson. UGH.

So now we have another....Troy. He's much bigger now, but I haven't taken any recent pix. I need to do that this week.

 

Haha, now I see what you're going on about.

An interesting shape, but I think it's just a coincident. :thumb:

 

Questions if you don't mind

Hi Mike my name is Ed and you don't know me or owe me anything. You don't even have to answer my questions. It is your right and none of my business but if you would,

First and foremost, I am envious. Congrats on your accompishments and thank you for your posts and pictures.


How long does the snow hang around up there? It looks like tough livin.

How many square feet in the place???

Is it built into the side of a hill?

How long is your grow season?

Why did you have to guard a snow machine trailer and camper? Was it not on your property?

That was fresh snow from this month? Today is the 21st WOW!!!!!

Why did you have to sleep in your truck? I am confused on that.

Do you have a snow machine for winter travel?

Just some questions from a fellow survivalist. Thanks again.:thumb:

 

Hi Mike my name is Ed and you don't know me or owe me anything. You don't even have to answer my questions.

How long does the snow hang around up there? It looks like tough livin.

How many square feet in the place???

Is it built into the side of a hill?

How long is your grow season?

Why did you have to guard a snow machine trailer and camper? Was it not on your property?

That was fresh snow from this month? Today is the 21st WOW!!!!!

Why did you have to sleep in your truck? I am confused on that.

Do you have a snow machine for winter travel?

Just some questions from a fellow survivalist. Thanks again.:thumb:

Thanks for the questions Ed. Unlike many people I like answering questions especially about my survival retreat. I do Not talk too much at all about my retreat, bunker etc. in "real" life. Most "real" people are not interested for they are too busy talking about sports, their jobs etc. etc.

Some years it does not snow until mid or late October on my mtn place. But This year the first snow was mid August when there was an inch of wet snow. Then some in Sept. Then Sept. 30th it started raining which turned to snow Oct. 1st. There was snow on the ground everyday in October. The first time I have seen that since I bought my land in 1987.

And snow does make everything harder. Even just a couple inches of snow makes it slippery especially on my steep hillside. From Nov. to June there is from 3 to 12 feet of snowpack up there. This is hard snowpack which accumulates over the winter. As seen in my first pics in this thread there was still snow on my mtn place in mid June and it did not completely melt until mid July. In the most shady areas by the springs there was patches of snow until July 20th this year which is about two weeks longer than most years.

My land is 3 and 1/2 acres which is surrounded by a million plus acre national forest with much private land mixed in also. But the square feet of my underground shelter/bunker is at least 140 sq. ft. It is 20 feet long by 7 feet wide. Any wider and the bunker is weaker as I got the plans from this free book > www.oism.org/nwss

If people look at all of my pics, which are on 3 different threads now, I hope maybe they can see my bunker is built into a hill - mountainside - the side of the Continental Divide actually. The top of the Divide is about a mile from my land, uphill at Battle pass. Less if you go straight up thru the forest.

My growing season might be longer If I ever move permanently up there for I would have a greenhouse to extend the growing from May to maybe Nov. Without a greenhouse and with so much snow still around until July then my growing season is best from July 1st to Oct. 1st. Which I showed in the pics that broccoli, spinach, lettuce, radishes, carrots and any cool weather veggies are best up there. Carrots take longer and I usually get the carrots the 2nd year. Carrots and spinach etc. live well under the deep snow and come up and grow faster the 2nd year.

The last pics which show the camper trailer and dark colored snow mobile trailer were parked about 30 feet from the paved state highway that is a mile up the dirt road from my place. With the heavy deep snows it was best to park everything by the highway which is plowed into Nov. until the hunting season is over.

I guarded the snowmobile trailer especially for there were 3 nice snowmobiles and a fairly new atv inside it. It was locked but anyone could have backed up, hooked it up and drove off with it. Neighbors left it up there for they had a heavy load of firewood and tools that they had loaded on their pickup and did not want to also haul the trailer to their place near Laramie, WY which is about 100 miles to the east.

All of the pics I have posted show fresh snow. As I said it started snowing the most heavily Oct. 1st and so there has been snow covering the ground ever since and will not melt until next June and not completely melt until next July.

I did not Have to sleep in my large pickup truck but I felt it was best. I started sleeping a day or so before the biggest blizzard which was Oct. 9 and kept snowing off and on until Oct. 14th. Mainly I slept inside the truck because of the bear. I knew this was not an average bear for this one bit into cans. I have seen a lot of bears but this is the first to bite into cans and bags of clothes etc. Usually they just get into garbage if any is around and not cans for they cannot smell the food inside cans. I just felt more comfortable inside the truck and I had about all my most valuable stuff inside the truck also for I thought I might have to leave early. But I decided to stay thru the blizzard. And I wanted to see how easy it was to survive inside a vehicle even though it got down to 20 degrees F. outside and a foot and more of snow. There were 2 and 3 foot drifts by mid Oct.

I told about this near the end of my last pic thread which is here > http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=52880&page=24=post#353

IF I ever permanently move to my mtn place then maybe I will get a snowmobile but for now I have good snow shoes - Canadian military ones with cables and metal frame - and cross country skis. Most people up there snow mobile but they are the ones who also use atvs etc. They seem to never hike or get off their machines.

A few of us up there do hike, snow shoe etc. and try to stay in shape. And we do not like the noisy etc. machines. I did operate a snowmobile with my closest neighbor who has a large cabin at least 1/4 of a mile down the hill. He wanted to go hunting and did not want to go alone. Since the road was covered in at least a foot of snow we took his machines. We went about a mile plus down to Nellie Creek, where we had to stop. Then we hiked around for another mile. It was almost dark when we got back. This was elk hunting and we did see some good tracks. I was just as glad he did not get an elk that day for I would have had to help him haul it out and we probably would have worked far into the night. And I doubt I would have gotten paid, as cheap as they are maybe I would have gotten a couple pounds of elk for helping.
This 73 year old guy and his friends did get two elk last year though.

Well, Ed, I probably answered your questions more than you wanted but that is how I usually answer. If you or anyone have anymore questions please just ask. Thanks....

 

glad you had a great time living it up in the high country.i too had bear troubles this year.especially in late spring time.guess they were extra hungry for some reason.heres a few pic's.

my small chicken tractor before and after pic's.
before

after

bear got in the 300 gallon stock tank and even pulled my 12volt pump from its moutning bucket.he broke riser pipe off and let most of water out and you can see the small catfsih are about to run out of water from damage.

and then he made his way to wellhouse.popped a electrical outlet from the wall.

and he loves my ATV...glad i ddint leave keys in it...roflmao...he likes to take a bite from the seat also and has bit about all my plastic buckets.

 

two questions:
1-Why do people from USA call chickens tractors? one is a 2-legged animal, the other is a machine meant for hard pulling. In Canada we just call them chickens and tractors are called tractors.

2-Why don't you shoot the bear? Where I come from, if you see a bear, you shoot it, long before it can cause any damage. You and mountain-man seem to put up with the bears destroying everything you own. Is it illegal to shoot bears in USA?

 

Great pic's MM thankyou so much for sharing, some points though if I may? lol I'm asking but gunna anyway :

1: Yes I see ET
2: You forgot the guest room........... where am I gonna sle........... wotcha mean I aint invited ? :xeye:

Seriously though always enjoy the pics of your place :thumb:

 

Great pic's MM thankyou so much for sharing, some points though if I may? lol I'm asking but gunna anyway :

1: Yes I see ET
2: You forgot the guest room........... where am I gonna sle........... wotcha mean I aint invited ? :xeye:

But you are invited if they will let you into the US.

You could sleep in the bear's den, I showed one pic of it toward the end of the pics. In the summer he is probably not there.

And I could always use more help such as a good smudger - which I had to look up > from the Urban Dictionary:
smudger
the nickname for a person named Smith
"there goes Smudger again, always after 'is 'oggins"
by theWestHamfan Oct 22, 2003

A universal (curse)word. Can be used for anything.
You're such a smudger.
smudge smudged smudgerr smuj smudg
by Jacoboo Jan 22, 2009

Person, male or female, who uses and frozen poo
Did you see in Bob's freezer he must be a smudger with all that frozen poo.

A trd that once layed requires almost a whole roll of toilet paper to clean up after.
"When you go to the shops get some more TP, ive just done a smudger and used the last roll".

buy smudger mugs, tshirts and hoodies

photographer
Yeah, he's a smudger (Photographer)

If any cannot tell, I am just kidding the Smudge.

 

Squeak and elkhound thanks for all the good pics. Post more if you have em.

Elkhound I think that bears have become a much worse problem for everyone who lives in Their territory anyway.
Especially over the past 2 or 3 years. Over the past five years I have heard that up to 90% of the lodgpole pine forest has been killed by pine beetles. I read over 6 million acres in the USA and over 35 million acres of pine forest in Canada has been killed.

And that makes for less live forest for bears and other wildlife. I never saw bears in the daytime until 2 years ago. This past summer - actually Sept. to late Oct. the bear hung around my mtn place and a large area around it. I think he visited every cabin within a 2 mile radius. Which would be about 30 cabins up there. Hope he goes into another area next summer for I think someone might shoot that bear next year.

The bear killed all of your chickens? Looks like he did quite a bit of damage. You probably felt like shooting him but would you have?

I felt like shooting that bear especially after he destroyed two of my tents. I actually had 4 tents up but my sleeping tent he just tore a small area because it was surrounded by a heavy wire fence and the tent with my Big Berkey water filter was torn but it looked like the bear took a knife down the side and then he knocked over the filter and water containers which was all there was inside.
My supply tents with much canned food, clothes etc. the bear completely tore apart. I think he must have done it during the blizzard which was the only time I was not out and about. He chewed holes into about 10 cans and bit into bags of clothes, even pulling out a couple sleeping bags which were extras.

When I saw the torn apart tents I got pretty angry and then saw that bear less than a hundred yards away. I just grabbed the nearest board which had a few nails on the end and ran towards the bear yelling. He took off up the mountain side. I kept chasing him but it was a fairly steep hillside so it was not too fast a chase.

He ran fifty feet or so then looked back. I kept chasing and yelling at him and he ran on up again. He could move pretty fast for such a fat bear. I have read and heard and experienced with other bears that it is best to show no fear. With mtn lions and bears etc. never run away. It can trigger their attack response. Especially mtn lions will chase. But these black bears are usually always timid and will run away. The Only time I ever heard of a black bear killing someone was in Colorado about ten years ago when a guy shot a bear. Which just made the bear mad and it killed the guy. That guy was by his camper trailer! He could have just went inside and even just shot over the bear's head like some do.

After I followed my bear for more than a thousand feet I came to a lot of tracks. And I saw a large wood pile that over fifty years ago was a site for a saw mill. There were fox dens in the large pile of wood but the bear took over a fox den and enlarged it for his own. First time I have seen a bear's den. I could and would have killed the bear IF he would have attacked me or even ran at me. But like all bears that I have encountered he ran away. Especially with my yelling and running at him....
I believe that people who live in mtn and wilderness areas, in territories of very wild animals such as bears etc. then people should not be surprised and should not want to so readily Kill bears etc. just because the animals are looking for food and just because they might do some damage. Only kill an animal if it attacks you, which is pretty rare with almost all animals that I have ever known or heard about, in the lower 48 states anyway. I love wildlife and will not kill Unless absolutely necessary.

 

Mike, cool thread as usual! I love reading about your slice of life and seeing the photos of what it looks like up there. Those bears are ruffians.

You should consider some stonework/cement for a more permanent home there. I know it would be a ton of work to haul stone up there, but river rocks are basically free in our part of the country and you could cement em together to make walls, or foundation etc. That's my dream to do someday.

Keep living your dream! :

 

You should consider some stonework/cement for a more permanent home there. I know it would be a ton of work to haul stone up there, but river rocks are basically free in our part of the country and you could cement em together to make walls, or foundation etc. That's my dream to do someday.

Keep living your dream! :

Thanks for the comments. But possibly you missed my first pic post where I told and showed some pics about my underground shelter/bunker? I have 3 pic threads now which If any look at all the pics they should get a very good idea of what I have done and built.
Here is the first pic thread > http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=42447

In that thread I told about using Many - 250 or more eighty pound bags of concrete - which those alone were a ton of work hauling them up the mtnside. And I think there are too many rocks to count that I used such as around the back trap door, the walls which I have not shown all of the walls and an 8 foot tall pillar made out of various rocks especially quartz. So many things I could and maybe will take pics of someday.

I do plan to build a fancier cabin with a couple picture windows looking out to the Snowy Range that is to the east. It will also be built on and into the sunny hillside with the front part above ground. I showed the hole I am beginning to dig just below the solar panels.

But I think my underground shelter/cabin/bunker is pretty permanent. Possibly will last a couple hundred years, hopefully. I know how strong I built it with many rocks, much concrete, some steel beams, steel doors etc...

I know that for many it is difficult to understand everything I do or have built. But I have tried to explain it in 3 pic threads and I will gladly answer anymore questions, thanks.

I could put up more pics but I have in the other threads. Some pics I have shown the rock walls. But the one pic below shows some of the rock wall to the left and the 3 foot thick concrete roof which also has rocks built into it. It should be adequate that even if someone were to throw grenades onto it, they would not do much damage. The dead tree on top is for more camo but despite the snow hope people can see how strong this is. The 2nd pic shows some of the concrete and rocks around my back trap door which also is very strong and hopefully very permanent >

 

I don't Need a lot of thanks and in real life I seldom get any thanks. It is nice but the main reason I like people thanking, such as joes, Undertoker, and Backwoods just did is that I Know that they read my post. That is one reason I give thanks to others in posts to let them know I read their post, that I liked and/or agreed with their posts and to show thanks which I do not do tooo much in "real" life.

 

This year has went terribly fast, faster than usual. Summers and autumn go extremely fast, especially when I am on my mtn place doing what I want and Need to do and LIVING the way I have always wanted to Live!

 

Just want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Impressive as always and Happy Thanksgiving to You.

I did want to comment on the pic titled abandoned cabin. I am amazed at the load bearing capacity of that roof. Can I assume you went with an "A" frame to offset weight issues with snow?

 

I did build my first building in 1990 as an A-frame shed for I knew that there were heavy ( up to 12 foot snowpack ) in the winter.

The cabin was abandoned a couple years ago when I took the pic. But since a guy and his family bought it with 4 acres. He built a nice shower in it and wants to build a deck. A deck will be harder for it will be exposed to the heavy snow. The roof of that cabin had to be reinforced long ago because it was starting to crack from the snows. That cabin was built around 1980.

 

Mtn. Man Mike, so glad you made it back to the low country safely. Been a drought here since you left, we miss your great posts and your adventures up there.
As for the bear, I believe that if a bear is just passing through I let it go. However, as you say, if the bear threatens me or mine, then I have no choice but to take action to stop it's threat. I know a guy who camps regularly in the high country in CAlif., where they have lots of bears. their camp was raided by a bear several times, and they finally saw the bear on a subsequent raid. The bear was wearing ear tags and a collar, indicating it had already been trapped and relocated as a "problem" bear. One night it got to be a much bigger problem, and my friend had no choice but to shoot it. I think that in a remote location as your retreat is in, and the great distance and difficulty of going to "town" for more provisions, if a bear eats my garden and gets into my pantry then he's a threat and I'll have no choice but to take care of the problem permanently. I wonder if you have not let the bear become even more of a problem in future years by not being more pro-active in chasing it off more often and farther. A 20-ga. shell full of rock salt will create a lasting impression on a bear that his presence is not appreciated.
A question brought on by the photo of the "back door" to your bunker. Is that door usable in winter when covered in heavy snow?
Anyway, good to see you're back safe.
Thanks again for the great pics and report on your doings at the mtn. hideaway.

 

Thanks Ed.
I did chase and yell at the bear several times. I did chase it quite a ways uphill towards Battle pass. But I had a lot of other things to do besides chasing bears. He always ran away but I guess I told about that already.

I heard some neighbor shot over its head but seemed to just chase it up to my place. The bear got half a turkey and some other food out of a neighbors ice chest which was better than any food that bear got from me.

I followed his tracks to his den. I was hoping he would stay in the den but hopefully he is hibernating now.

About the back trap door to my bunker is that it is covered in deep heavy snow and is better than any padlock in the winter. Although I have it bolted shut also when I am not up there.

I could open it If I live up there in the winter. I have to make another door on top. The inside metal door which can be seen in the pic opens into the shelter so any snow would drop down and if there is snow pack I could open the door down and then dig up into the snowpack and get out.

I should maybe go over almost every pic and explain better for some, not you Ed or some others, but to some I know who don't know what I am showing and what my purpose and lifestyle is up there.

Maybe later. I will gladly answer Any questions and even If people want to criticize anything I have done then that will be welcomed and answered also.

 

chicken tractors..pig tractors are sjut term used for something portable wer ethy can graze the grass or root up stones and add manure to small sections of ground and moved daily or weekly or what ever you decide the scedule should be.i was jsut trying to let small chicks get some grass and fresh air.but bear has other ideas....lol..also there was no chic food in cage.he jsut wanted ot be troubles to me.

bears.....its a complicated story about bears ad it all depends on what sate you live in.there are official channels to go threw and get permits to kill etc or they come and remove him in a trap.the truth is this is not one bear it is several bear at differnt times....the reason is because of how remote i am.plus in dry times i have only water for about 4 miles....soo..every beast comes ot drink from my pond.my yard is only 20ft wide and surrounded by 1000's of acres of wilderness and deer,turkey and bear pop out of woods right into yard .so if eevrytime i had wildlife going on's i called it would get old.so i have to try and outsmart them critters.electric wire is about only thing knocks them back and keeps them back.you should see what they do to orchard....a 400# bear in a 12ft semi dewarf tree bends it to the ground easy.the bears in 2008 walked up and down the driveway wanting peaches but would not cross the hotwire....lol ...you just have ot be aware at all times and be ready for them.this particular bear might get aggessive abd hurt you ...for awhile i packed pistol doing chores becasue he ahs no fear becasue he is old and a predatory adult male.....he also likes to kill dogs.most people never get to experince or see what a adult male bear with predatory behavior does.only the msot mature bears do this.their habits are difffernt than most bears.its jsut life in the wilderness for me.

in spring/summer i always pack a pistol because of bears being around.