It's the beginning of March.

It is windy.

It is cold at snow off and on all day today.

Not a whole lot, but just a little squalls here and there.

There's a last minute decision to come out here with the hot ten, and I think it was a good decision.

A couple days ago with 65 degrees.

Nice sunny day, beautiful weather.

And yeah, that change in a hurry.

So I'm going to get some wood processed before it gets dark.

Try and get enough to last me the night.

Got some beach here, which makes a great firewood.

Very dense wood, so it burns long and hot.

Let's get warmed up for a little bit.

That should last me the night.

Still might get a little more.

Oh, I needed a little break from the extreme cold.

Primitive style camping.

So that's why I really enjoy the hot tent.

That feels good.

That wind out there is howling.

It even let up a little bit.

It was really bad all morning.

It's nice and warm in here, though.

I'll probably make some food in a little bit.

All that wood cutting makes me hungry.

That is putting out some heat.

I'm not going to zip this door shut yet.

Because if I do, it's going to get too warm in here.

It's already plenty warm enough.

I like to keep a carbon monoxide detector in here with me.

So I'm going to be out here for a couple nights.

I'm want to do some scouting.

I hunt this area sometimes.

I've been wanting to explore it more and learn more about it.

Might even find some shed deer antlers.

This is the time of year to do it.

Late winter, early spring when the ground is bare.

Most of the snow has melted so they're easy to spot bucks or shed their antlers after breeding season, usually late December through early spring.

Then they'll grow new ones throughout the summer.

I just like to collect them, and when I do find them, it tells me that a buck most likely lives close by.

So it's a valuable deer Intel.

I have found a lot of them here in the past, so I'm hoping I find some tomorrow.

Look for more camping spots too.

This is pretty wild country, at least by Pennsylvania standards.

I love spending time here.

I've been camping, hunting, and fishing this area for most of my life.

It can be a challenge to hunt though.

There's no shortage of game here, but everything's so spread out.

They have so much space to roam and remote places to hide out in.

You really have to learn the land and how they use it.

Black bears are common here.

They'll leave you alone for the most part.

Lots of coyotes, which I hear more than I see.

A lot of times I hear them howling.

While I'm out here camping, mostly at night, there's also a healthy bobcat population.

Squirrels and chipmunks and everything else.

They like to feast on.

It's been a really bad winter this year.

It's been really cold, a lot of snow, and we get bad winters like this.

It's hard on the wildlife.

Some of them don't make it.

So I'm going to rest up and cook some food tonight.

Get up early in the morning.

Winds picking up again.

So I can see a buck rub.

out there already about 100 yards away or so.

Pretty nice huh.

Check out this buck rub real quick.

A lot of times you can tell how big the buck is by how far the rub goes up the tree.

That one's not real high up, and they're about waist high.

You know, it's a pretty big buck.

To rub smaller trees like this during the breeding season.

In the fall.

Mark their territory.

First, a visual marker to other deer, and they rub their scent on the tree as well.

There's definitely a lot of deer activity in this area.

I'll do more exploring tomorrow.

I'm getting hungry.

Start a big tree.

Fall over there.

And beef stew.

Beef stroganoff.

Chili Mac.

Chicken and rice.

For now, I'm just going to heat some water up and decide while this warms up.

Also got some smoked brats.

And I'm just going to cook this thing like you would over a campfire.

Open this door.

That's good.

Thats.

A little smoky flavor.

Gonna cook another one.

See if I can prop this up somehow.

Perfect.

And we're going to go with the chili Mac tonight.

I have an idea.

That's actually really good.

My bed set up.

Oh, that's nice and comfy.

Well, I'm going to bed.

I'll see you guys tomorrow.

Add some wood to the fire.

Let me go get some more firewood.

I'm fallen trees right over here.

Nice and dry.

They've been burning pretty good for me.

Its my measuring stick.

So I know how long to make these.

So that they'll fit in the firebox.

Carry these bags get them split.

It's a little warmer today.

Not nearly as windy.

I'm happy about it.

That log over here, I'm just going to drag it over it so I can cut it up by the tent later.

And make my life a little easier.

Some kindling sized pieces here to.

Let's get some coffee warmed up.

It was looking like it was going to be a sunny day this morning.

Now we got some clouds moving in.

Well, I'm going to have some coffee here after it warms up, and then I'll head out, see what kind of cool stuff we can find.

Well, I'm going to start my hike.

It's a deer bed.

Lots of deer sign.

It's all through here.

Some pretty fresh tracks here.

Looks like coyote.

Got a coyote hanging around here.

Some more.

There's some nice buck rub here.

Pretty big one.

Looks older though.

A lot of old beaver activity here.

chewed down all these trees through here.

Teaberry.

I collect some of these as I walk through here.

Make some tea with them later.

It's winter green, but I also call these tea berries.

You can also make tea with the leaves of the plant.

Some more coyote tracks.

Pretty big ones too.

Well, I guess that would be why I just happened to look up in the direction where they were going.

So the coyotes have been feeding on this deer.

The torn apart could be a coyote kill.

It could be a deer that just died.

Natural causes.

Not much left of it.

Like I said, it's been a rough winter.

Either way, coyotes really do a number on these deer around here.

Usually they'll target fawns or injured deer that are easy prey for them.

Or they'll scavenge deer that already died.

They hunt in packs a lot of times.

Usually around 4 or 5.

Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Some older buck rub up there and more fresh.

One here.

Deer trail here.

Some coyotes using it.

I brought my mushroom hunting glasses, which are also good for finding deer antlers.

They do help.

So there's definitely a lot of buck activity in this area.

A lot of deer activity in general.

Time for some jerky.

Little snack break.

Clouds went away warmed up pretty good.

I love walk in the woods this time of year.

There's no vegetation on the ground yet.

Most of the snow is gone, so you can see everything that's going on.

Another Teaberry.

So I'm coming up to a place that I call antler swamps.

It's a place where I used to find a ton of shed deer antlers years ago.

I haven't been here for a while, so I'm hoping I find some today.

There's one small one.

But hey, we found an antler.

Make a nice knife handle or something.

It's another deer carcass.

Wow.

The spike.

I don't know what's going on with the deer around here.

Like I said, I don't know if these are coyote kills or if they just didn't make it through the winter.

I used to put trail cameras over deer carcasses that I'd find out here and see what kind of pictures and videos I could get.

It's interesting to see what feeds on them.

Eagles love to scavenge them.

Seems to be a lot more of them around lately.

Lots of ravens to hawks, so lots of birds in general.

Fishers will come by a lot of times.

They belong to the weasel family, but they're a lot bigger than a normal weasel.

Gray fox, red fox.

Which are pretty common around here.

So the deer definitely don't go to waste.

They feed all kinds of things, especially in the winter when other food sources are hard to come by.

And of course, coyotes, which I've gotten hundreds of pictures and videos of some pretty big ones too.

And even bobcats.

One time I got pictures of a family of bobcats that ate an entire carcass in one night.

Here's a scrape.

Deer will come by here, scrape up the dirt and break off a low hanging branch and rub their scent glands on there.

It's their way of communicating with each other.

Another nice rub here.

Not finding many antlers this year.

Just this little one.

That's it.

Nothing else yet.

Coyote.

There was a deer massacre back here.

It's a little beaver dam here.

One way.

I've heard that people trap beavers.

They'll knock out part of the dam.

Set a trap there.

I guess they'll hear the water running then.

Not long after that, the beavers will come to fix the dam and get trapped.

There's a deer Its getting a little windy agai Jerkys good Beautiful area.

Well, my long hike paid off.

We found an antler.

Nice one too.

So hard to see them sometimes, especially in this grass.

So it just looks like two big blades of grass sitting over there.

They really blend in.

It's been out here for a little while.

It's kind of bleached from the sun.

And the weird thing is, I found one several years ago, almost in the same exact spot.

I figured I'd come back and see if I'd find another one here, and I actually did.

Well, it's been a long hike.

I'm going to hang out here for a minute.

Take a break.

It's nice and warm here till that wind blows.

And it's not nice and warm.

Nice little bit of moss here.

That's nice and comfy.

Well, it's getting kind of late.

I should probably get back to the campsite.

There it is.

Home sweet home.

I am starving.

I hiked a lot of miles to find these two antlers.

I'm still happy with these.

I'm going to get the fire going and make some food.

Fire's out, so I'm going to cut some kindling here.

Well, I'm getting a fire started in my wood stove.

I like to do the upside down fire and leave my base down some bigger logs, and I'll put my kindling on top of those.

Start with the bigger kindling first.

Lay them on top at an angle.

Then put my smallest pieces of kindling on top of that.

And I have some of these little fire starters I made just cotton pads soaked in wax.

Break them apart like this.

Lights up pretty quick.

And that I'll just put it right on top.

Makes for much easier fire.

Starting with a couple pieces over the flame.

Gives you a cleaner burn because as the top layer burns, it'll dry off the layers below it.

And by the time they burn, they'll be nice and dry with very little moisture.

Therefore less smoke, which means less creosote.

I'm about out of water, so I'm going to go gather some more.

There we go.

It's getting chilly out.

Got some meals to choose from here.

It's stroganoff, beef stew and chicken and rice.

Need sustenance?

Sounds like the water's boiling.

Probably just going to end up having all three.

I'm hungry.

Gotta find my spoon.

Just mix it up with this for now.

I'm so excited to eat.

Burned a lot of calories today.

Chicken and rice for the win.

Time for the beef stew.

Kind of cool it down.

A little in here.

It's getting a little warm.

I'm not complaining, though.

You guys get to watch me pig out tonight.

But I hope you guys understand.

Sounds like it's snowing out there now.

Fires blazing.

Running low on firewood, though, so I'm going to go cut some.

That'll be my overnight piece.

Snow's coming down pretty good.

Kind of came out of nowhere.

Let's get inside where it's warm.

We got firewood.

We're good to go.

I'm going to make some tea with my berries.

Rinse these off first.

Let's get any dirt off.

Then I'm just going to crush them up a little bit.

I'm just going to let those steep in that hot water for about ten minutes.

Time to zip up this door.

So I just heard some coyotes howling down that way.

Sounds like the same area where I found that deer antler.

Smells good in here.

Smells tea berries tea's about done.

I gotta make this more often.

It's getting late, so I'm going to go to bed.

Beautiful day.

Let's have some pancakes.

Now, I do these a little differently, though.

I usually make these over a campfire, but this will work too.

Some more pancake mix here.

But, I'm going to mix it on one bag.

I had too much water and add more mix.

Let's take it out of the bag.

I'm just going to need it on my stick here, and then I'll just wrap this around.

Just kind of spiral it around it.

Just makes it so I don't have to bring a pan with me.

It's one less thing I have to pack out here.

Stick it in there.

Over the hot coals.

Looks good.

Now we're going to add some bourbon aged maple sirup.

I'm out of butter.

Turned out to be a beautiful day today.

It's warming up a little bit.

That's good.

Pancake on a stick.

To make some coffee.

Bring it to a boil and I'll take it off after about a minute.

And we'll let that cool off out here.

And you can see most of the grounds.

Just settle to the bottom.

Nothing like some hot coffee in the wilderness.

Well, I'm going to hang out here in the tent for a little bit till I get everything packed up and get out of here.

So hope you guys enjoyed the video.

It was a lot of fun making it.

Join me in my next one.