Beyond Survival | The Wilderness Living Challenge 2016 S01E02 - A PROMISING START

As the first evening came to a close, we enjoyed our day s catch of pike. It was a good lot for just a few hours spent paddling about on an otherwise soggy day. It also set the stage quite nicely. A close observer might notice that we had a few extra items tucked away in our gear. Along the voyage came a banana that I didn t leave at home due to it s immanent risk of spoiling, as well as a nearly finished tub of hummus. These were to be consumed on the first evening along with a few others in order to produce an official start date the next morning. From there, we d complete 4 full days - ending the final day in the early morning. However, we agreed that night to start right away and continue our challenge through to 2 pm on the 5th and final day. Thus, rather than 4 days total, we extended our challenge officially to 5 complete days, right down to the exact hour. To make things legitimate, the hummus and banana were discarded. Toxicity was another concern we had to face during our challenge. Our fish consumption food guide produced by the government is quite specific when it comes to eating big top level food chain predatory fish such as pike. It says that certain water bodies contain high levels of heavy metals such as mercury and lead which are known to cause ill effects in large quantity. In fact, many tested water bodies in Ontario contain fish that should only be consumed once per week by an adult male. Women of child bearing age or pregnant women and young children are to avoid eating fish such as pike altogether, especially large ones. Older children should only eat pike from certain water bodies and in careful moderation. However, pike make an easy target for the fisher and attack a lure with voracity and with regularity. Putting a spoon, spinner or crankbait in front of a pike produces regular strikes. As long as the lake is healthy, getting pike is usually only a matter of effort. Trout, on the other hand, can be quite finicky and therefore are unreliable to catch which is why our efforts did not revolve around those species. Pan fish make a great alternative and are low in toxicity, but it can take 50 or more perch to make up the meat found in just one large pike. However, the choice was less about healthiness, than it was about targeting something reasonably achievable - so as the main table fair, despite their potential toxicity - pike was it - and we d have to get used to it. One Wildcrafter (Jeremy): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy7HUXYD7Ua6zPR384d1ETg Merch (t-shirts): https://teespring.com/stores/the-wooded-beardsman