Recon Your Property In All Seasons

Not long ago I was out hiking behind my house. It’s winter here and as I walked through the woods I once again thought how different the woods look at different times of the year. The snow can hide different terrain features you might look at for navigation, the trees don’t have leaves on them, which can open up your view, and sometimes young trees can be bent over from the weight of the snow hiding a perfectly marked trail. You just never know what it’s going to look like.

If you live any place that has seasons, or you have a bugout spot in a northern latitude make sure you get up there and check it out as extensively as possible in all the seasons. You’d be surprised how different a piece of land can look from when it’s warm and leafy to when it’s covered in eighteen inches of snow.  You should also get to know it in the dark in all seasons as well.

The better you know your property the more you’ll be able utilize it when the time comes. You might also avoid nasty surprises, for example if you expect to get your drinking water from a stream you might find out it’s frozen in the winter and you’ll have to come up with a different plan for getting it.

That’s it for today folks, nothing earth shattering, but something to think about.

-Jarhead Survivor