Into the wild

[random]

You've misinterpreted my post.

[CβL]

I have indeed, sorry. But I disagree nonetheless. I would say that rich people would not have the equipment (or mindset) necessary for survival. How long do you think a fully kitted out motorhome RV will survive the apocalypse (hint: less than a week)? Will they be able to rent the same sherpa team to carry their equipment across adverse terrain once s**t hits the fan? Would they even be outdoor inclined in the first place - or would the comforts of TV, ethanol, and shopping have distracted them?

I don't think that the common denominator of people ill-equipped to survive is money - but distraction and apathy.

[oxydiser]

You have an urge to go bush and die of starvation like Chris McCandless? I've seen the documentary and I think the concept is awesome but it would be kinda hard to prescribe to in the real world. You would definitely have to supplement your diet with supplies brought with you, limiting the amount of time that you could go bush for... which appears to be about 113 days if you are trying to emulate that doco.

Remember, you have to eat around three times per day to survive. You'd be spending most of your day trying to find food to eat! Don't forget, there aint no moose here in Australia either! On day 43 you would have gone hungry!

To echo Santiago's post about a dreamer all full of bravado and empty of preparation, take a look at one of the last things he wrote, quite sad actually

Edited February 14, 2011 by oxydiser

[Micromegas]

Ever heard of robert bogucki http://www.russellrobertsmusic.com.au/russells-blog/robert-bogucki/

how does 43 days in the great sandy desert with no water and food sound for getting into the wild?

it's cheap that is for sure. except for the rescue party needed later.

[synchromesh]

I don't care what anybody says, McCandless was no dummy. Anybody who has read the book and seen Call of the Wild would know this.

[tripsis]

Many, many times in my life I've had the urge to go this sort of thing and still do. Increasingly I'm becoming interested in long distance walks, a couple of weeks to 1 month +. The Great Dividing Trail would be incredible, but there's tonnes of absolutely amazing walks all over the world which I would love to do.

[random]

Its all about actually doing it, talking about it isn't going to give anyone the real bush experience unfortunately. And for those of us brought up in the city for whom the concept sounds freakin awesome, would no doubt find the harsh reality of such quite different to what we've expected. I feel blessed in the sense that I have family in a remote area of Australia where people have knowledge to sustain themselves without need of outside influences. But I'd still need to get there and so having no money would mean that attempting to travel so far from home would no doubt create problems. Although the ideal of such is constantly in my mind. And I mean every single day I think about it. But at the moments it's not practical as I have people reliant on me in the place where I am now. But by all means i'm trying my best to prepare for the possibility of going 'into the wild'

[synchromesh]

Money is the number one hurdle? Yeah, I don't think so... Finding the will, and then adapting to the changes which that will brings; those are the real challenges...

[random]

You can't talk on my behalf, and for me personally, money would be the major hurdle.

I'm responsible for alot of family members not just my own personal self.

[synchromesh]

But you can speak on behalf of all of us? Give me a break...

[random]

Whats with everyone arguing today? I'm speaking on behalf of myself, I never attempted to do anything other than put forward my own personal opinion, as is the point of forums.... people are allowed to state the facts or fiction as they personally know them. But yeah, great have a go at me, its all good i'll just stick to the plant threads from now on and you mob can find someone else to get cheeky to.

[synchromesh]

That isn't your post below? Anyway, just so you know, I was speaking in general before. The post about money was not directed at you.

The problem I have with all this talk of people escaping the materialistic world and going bush is that - to buy the equipment i've seen mentioned, to get the books about such, to undertake practical treks into the bush to practice said knowledge, to travel off into the unknown, well all of this USUALLY TAKES MONEY. So when the inevitable happens and we all have to fend for ourselves, how are those of us who were unprepared due to having NO money going to do it? Yes I hate materialism and capitalism and greed but I also have no money. So I guess the poor people will die, and those who already prepared themselves due to having spare funds with which to set themselves up initially, will survive. So once again the rich will be the ones surviving while the poor are stranded and will die? Doesn't sound very appealing to me at all.

[santiago]

i spent a good 3 hours reading up on Mccandless last night and like many others i have been touched by his story, i simply found the movie contrived and fake, however a real eye opener.

have come to the conclusion that his death is romaticised because of the way he died, for example if he had of been killed by a bear would there be a discussion or a book about him now.

some facts that are quite interesting are that the crossing back to safety and food was 400m away not kms as i mis-stated above, there was a emergency shelter with emergency food supplies a close distance nearby, he had a map in the magic bus where he died...a map out of there and even though its portrayed that he was in the middle of nowhere he actually wasnt even that far from civilisation. seems he didnt try that hard to get out of there. some theorise it was a elongated suicide.

im looking forward to recieving ''into the wild" the bestselling book in the next few weeks, there is another on coming out in april this year and one day if i ever get the chance somehow i would really like to go visit that magic bus on the alaskan stampede trail. i really dont desire to be like mccandless at all but i would rather visit the magic bus any day than a thousand empire state buildings or grand canyons.

[botanika]

Into the wild? - cripes I'm lucky if I get to spend some time on my balcony

[synchromesh]

seems he didnt try that hard to get out of there. some theorise it was a elongated suicide.

 

Who has theorized that?

[strangebrew]

McCandless was a bit odd I'm sure. Too self-absorbed and seeming to lack the ability to make emotional connections. Probably not schizophrenic like some have guessed but possibly somewhere on the schizophrenic spectrum.

I think hanging around the bus is what killed him. If he hadn't had that to shelter him he probably would have realized he was out of his depth sooner.

Not fishing was also puzzling. People in the know said there was fish aplenty around there.

[santiago]

i think he tried to make a beaver style dam strangebrew, i remember seeing that on the movie and it was in his diary style notes...something like "failed beaver dam" midway through his bus stay.

if i can find the source syncro ill edit it back in here regarding the suicide theory..i read through about 5-10 websites last night by memory it may have been on the first which was wikipedia, alot of them are very biased towards the hero worship style and are not very objective. probably the best one was..

http://www.christophermccandless.info/

even though its still a bit biased

the elongated suicide theory is probably because with a map to find an alternate route out, not bothering to at least find a crossing across the river, not exploring the area more thoroughly (emergency food supply shelter nearby), not taking any provisions initially, not even attempting to cross the river may contribute i feel to him subconsciously not really wanting to leave to save himself. with all the survival stories over history its pretty well known humans at a basic level will do extraordinary feats to survive...and he didnt seem to do that.

i loathe the part where he kills the moose, he took the advice of a warmer weather climate style and smoked the meat and it became spoiled, apparently in the region of cold your meant to thinly slice and air dry...........i find this kind of weird too, surely anybody with a bit of common sense would not try preserve all the meat smoke wise and cut little cm chunks and store them in the bus or similar to have a sooner to eat supply or at least thinly slice it, does this point to him not having much common sense.....we can only speculate.

[herbal_hindsight]

wow... a lot of heavy aggressive responses in this thread... why does it ever need to get personal people really?

I happen to agree with meeka that money is a number one hurdle... to last out in the wild you need to be properly prepared.. that doesn't always mean supplies or equipment but knowledge and for a city folk to gain that knowledge unless they have good contacts who can teach them will have to pay MONEY to learn the skills required besides anything else...

I also dream of a such an adventure... it would never be FOREVER but I definently want to do it over a long period... perhaps invest in a small boat and travel the length of the murray... take a backpack, water storage, fishing rod and dried fruits for energy not to forget cooking supplies and sufficient clothing depending on the time of year.

All that stuff costs money... if I am going to do it I am going to survive and return to tell the story, naturally I would lose weight but if I am well prepared I will do it healthily and break a lot of bad habits I find I have.

There are numerous reasons I would love to do this but for now; seeming as I have just committed to full-time study I won't be doing it in a hurry... perhaps at the end of the year as a reward for my hard work.

But hey... if the world is going to fuck up royally sooner rather than later there is nothing I personally can do about it to stop it from happening so why live my life in paranoia of what ifs? Life life for the miracle it is... day by day!

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift; that is why it is called 'the present'!

[strangebrew]

Re the McCandless suicide theory.

It all seems to stem from a letter he sent that contained the following -

"If this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again, I want you to know your a great man. I now walk into the wild."

[santiago]

micromegas..the robert bogucki story is a trully amazing story isnt it !

did anyone see that abc telemovie last week on bogucki........ironically he comes from alaska, now thats a bloody story.

apologies for the drawn out quote next but this is gold........everybody knows the media are pretty much scum but this takes the cake.

source http://www.abc.net.a...ipts/s49998.htm

A Current Affair Catch Their Bogucki-man.

30/8/1999Richard Ackland: Channel 9 spirits its trophy away - and the crew are over the moon:

 

 

Pilot: I thought Channel 7 were the bloody winners.

 

Cameraman: Bad luck, we are the winners now...

 

(ACA camera tape)

Richard Ackland: The footage you won't see anywhere else! The story of how the current affair team got their man - and what they did with him.

Welcome to Media Watch - and a program dedicated to the finest morsels of journalistic endeavour.

Alaskan fireman, Robert Bogucki, had been stumbling around the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia for over 40 days. He emerged from the bush into the arms of a media maelstrom.

 

 

Mike Munro: Well today Robert Bogucki was found and not by the special team of searchers flown out from America, but by our camera crew covering that search.

 

(Channel 9, ACA, 23/08/99)

Richard Ackland: And wasn't he fortunate to be found by the Packer TV network?

 

 

Reporter: Cameraman Wayne Waller, sound man Russell Warman and Chopper pilot Andrew Beaumont were heading to the rescue group's base camp when they saw a man trudging through a gorge.

 

"We saw this man and his head was down, and he didn't signal to the helicopter at all."

 

(Channel 9, ACA, 23/08/99)

 

Richard Ackland: Strangely they didn't mention the photographer from the West Australian newspaper who was also on board the chopper.

Bogucki had the benefit of some concerned examination by the pilot and the cameraman:

 

 

Q: Have you got any food left?

 

A: Oh no.

 

Q: So what have you been eating?

 

A: I haven't been.

 

 

Gary Adsed (reporter): 20 Kilograms lighter, out of food, and drinking muddy water, the dazed Robert Bogucki was still worried about keeping a promise.

 

Bogucki: My girlfriend bought me this shirt a while ago, and I haven't worn it yet, so...

 

Adsed: When he showed our team what he had left it was even clearer his days were numbered.

 

Q. And do you think you'd ever do this again?

 

A. No it's a once in a lifetime thing for me.

 

Q: What would you like to say to all the people looking for you?

 

A. Gee, I really appreciate it.

 

(Channel 9, ACA, 23/08/99)

Richard Ackland: So what did the Current Affair crew do with its find? Did they take him to the rescue camp 5 minutes away where there was medical help?

Well, no.

The photographer from the West Australian was ditched, they radioed to another chopper to come and get him. Oh, and they mentioned they'd found the man everyone was looking for.

 

 

[vision: From helicopter of land]

Richard Ackland: As they ferried their find on the long haul to Broome, police say they tried several times to contact them on the helicopter radio - they received no answer.

Meanwhile Bogucki was being provided with all the comforts of the Packer search and rescue apparatus.

 

 

Peter Harvey: "On the chopper ride back home there was finally something to eat."

 

(Channel 9 News, 23/08/99)

Richard Ackland: Finally at Broome, Mr Bogucki emerged into the hands of the medical staff wearing a crisp, blue Channel Nine shirt.

 

 

[vision: Bogucki in ambulance]

 

(Channel 9. News, 23/08/99)

Richard Ackland: The Packer team had put its stamp on him: This is our boy!

It was in Broome that the media barney warmed up. Bogucki agreed to a pool interview for the benefit of the other media. Channel Nine was livid. Their boy was slipping from their grasp. They tried to stop it.

 

 

Sue Short (reporter): Well, they obviously felt that they had some kind of rights over Mr Bogucki having found him in the desert this morning. When we were granted another pool interview for the other stations that are here in Broom, they attempted to, well they actually did get word to Mr Bogucki to say basically you've given us a commitment to speak to us and to speak to us alone. But Mr Bogucki told camera man through the general manager of the hospital that he had no recall of ever giving the commitment and the interview went ahead, much to the despair of the Channel Nine crew.

 

(ABC 7.30 Report, 23/08/99)

Richard Ackland: Well, you can imagine their hurt, after all they'd given him a shirt and a banana.

But Nine had another trick which stymied the opposition - it had already solidly booked the only satellite bearer.

Both the ABC report.

 

 

Sue Short: From his hospital bed Mr Bogucki told how he'd survived the 400 kilometre trek from Sandfire without food.

 

(ABC News, 23/08/99)

Richard Ackland: And the Channel 7 report.

 

 

Bogucki: ... saw a helicopter overhead. I said, 'oh, a helicopter, I wonder if he's here for me'.

 

(Channel 7 News, 23/08/99)

Richard Ackland: ...only got to air by using portable satellite equipment brought in by Seven.

But they wouldn't share the interview with Channel 10, which just had to make do.

 

 

Police say the Alaskan tourist is in good spirits, and had water with him when he was located.

 

Yeah he did have some water

 

(Channel 10 news, 23/8/99)

Richard Ackland: With some plump photos, and someone's boots on gravel.

The next morning, the 'West Australian' had its chance to claim glory for the find:

 

 

The Alaskan firefighter was rescued yesterday by a helicopter chartered by The West Australian and a television network in the sixth week of his 400 km trek.

 

(West Australian, 24/08/99, p3, "Gifts of life spring from the desert heat")

Richard Ackland: And it took a swipe at the television network in question:

 

 

A Channel 9 crew dumped photographer Robert Duncan in the desert after he had helped them find Robert Bogucki. The nasty side of current affairs invaded the Great Sandy Desert.

 

('The West Australian", p.7 ' TV crew dumped West man')

Richard Ackland: This gave rise to an acid little comment from the newspaper's cartoonist.

 

 

"Hey.. Another scoop... West photographer lost in desert."

 

(West Australian, 24/08/99, p2, cartoon)

Richard Ackland: Nine was incensed by this reading of events, but there was more to come.

 

 

Police investigate TV role in Bogucki rescue...

 

Police are investigating the conduct of the Channel 9 crew who whisked Robert Bogucki back to Broome - before searchers or police were able to check his medical condition or even speak to him...

 

(West Australian, 25/08/99, p4)

Richard Ackland: The police called for a report into what went on when the lone trekker was discovered by the Channel Nine heroes.

 

 

Roast: Given the fact that it is correct then I would consider that sort of conduct is highly inappropriate.

 

(ABC News, 24/08/99)

Richard Ackland: Channel Nine was feeling the heat. Tracey Grimshaw from the Packer 'Today' show appeared for the defence.

She cross examined the helicopter pilot, Andrew Beaumont.

 

 

Grimshaw: In effect you're saying that there was no unnecessary delay in informing the searchers that you had found Mr Bogucki?

 

Beaumont: Not at all.

 

(Channel 9, Today, 24/08/99)

Richard Ackland: The executive producer of A Current Affair, David Hurley, was also quizzed on your ABC's wireless.

 

 

Glover: Did you do the wrong thing on this occasion?

 

Hurley: Absolutely not.

 

(2BL, Richard Glover, 24/08/99)

Richard Ackland: Hurley gave his version of events.

 

 

Hurley: Ah we conducted a short interview, and I gotta say it was pretty short, I don't know exactly how many minutes it ran, but we're talking minutes here, and then we put him on the chopper.

 

(2BL, Richard Glover, 24/08/99)

Richard Ackland: Really and truly. Just a few lousy minutes? Not according to a copy of the Channel Nine camera tape which recorded the event and which has carelessly drifted our way.

Less than two minutes from the camera rolling, Bogucki showed he was keen to go:

 

 

Bogucki: Yeah, well enough of this walking around.

 

Q. Had enough?

 

A. Yeah. Ah, so where we going to?

 

(ACA camera tape)

Richard Ackland: But they couldn't go yet, they had a few more pressing questions.

Two minutes later Bogucki asked again:

 

 

Q. A lot of people thought you were dead.

 

A. Yeah, all right, so Broome or..?

 

(ACA camera tape)

Richard Ackland: But the crew needed some shots.

He obligingly drank for the camera. And then was asked:

 

 

[Vis: man drinking water]

 

Q. So is there water down here?

 

A. Yeah there's water down here.

 

Q. Can we just go down and have a look at the water?

 

Richard Ackland: And walked for the camera. Bogucki hinted again he'd like to go.

 

 

Bogucki: I just carried what I needed. Anyway there's the water. You guys want a drink? (laughs)

 

(ACA camera tape)

 

Richard Ackland: But his ordeal wasn't over yet.

 

 

Q. Do you mind just showing us what you've got in your back pack there?

 

A. Yeah... Head towel, head towel, water bag...

 

Q. What's that in there?

 

A. This is my 'done with the trip shirt.

 

Q. So this is to celebrate to get out?

 

A. Well when I was going to get out I knew I was going to look like a grub, so I figured if I wanted to hitch hike I'd want to have a nice clean shirt to put on.

 

(ACA camera tape)

Richard Ackland: And we'd been told he'd put it on to honour a promise to his girlfriend.

According to this tape it was at least fifteen and a half minutes before they moved off. But they hadn't finished.

 

 

[vision: Bogucki staggering up hill towards chopper]

Richard Ackland: And they let the starving man stagger up the hill unassisted most of the way.

 

 

[vision: fresh water being drunk]

Richard Ackland: After 17 and a half minutes of filming, he'd finally earned a drink of clean water.

It was actually longer because the filming was stopped now and again - for certain unknown periods of time.

We can shed light on another contentious issue - the decision to fly the hour-long trip to Broome, instead of the much closer base camp.

It was Bogucki's firm decision, said producer Hurley.

 

 

Hurley: Then we discussed with Bogucki what he wanted to do. The helicopter pilot gave him the options as to where he should go, where he might go. And his judgement, Bogucki's, was that he wanted to go to Broome...

 

(2BL, 24/08/99, Richard Glover)

Richard Ackland: This is the actual discussion that took place.

 

 

Bogucki: So where we going to?

 

Pilot: If you want to be taken out of here we can take you to Dampier Downs and you can be flown out of there or we can go to base camp just about five miles...

 

Cameraman: (interrupts) ...straight back to Broome would be good.

 

Pilot: You could go to Broome.

 

Bogucki: Go to Broome?

 

Cameraman: Yeah, we can take you straight back to Broome if we could.

 

(ACA camera tape)

Richard Ackland: It was the Channel Nine cameraman who was so keen on Broome.

The reason why Broome was so alluring? It was where their reporter was holed up.

David Hurley also extolled the wonders of cameraman, Wayne Waller.

 

 

Hurley: ... Wayne Waller does have a first aid certificate, he does know a little bit about these things, and he did have on board, you know, energy drinks and energy supplements and all those sort of things, and mandarins, and apples and oranges. Ah the, and bananas. The banana wasn't a huge success as we've learnt...

 

(2BL, 24/08/99, Richard Glover)

Richard Ackland: It was the banana that made Mr Bogucki ill, after not having eaten anything for a while.

 

 

[vision: from helicopter Bogucki being sick]

Richard Ackland: The crew dropped him back down in the Great Sandy Desert, and sensitively recorded him retching.

This footage, you remember, was shown as though it was the very moment Channel Nine discovered him.

The regurgitation of Mr Packer's banana wasn't all bad. It delivered an important opportunity to shoot some more valuable footage.

 

 

[vision: Bogucki from Chopper]

 

[vision: Bogucki on ground]

Richard Ackland: So it's not entirely true to say the banana wasn't a huge success.

What it's really all about is competitiveness in news gathering.

Who is first with a scalp, a victim - or who has an exclusive with a lost, dazed soul on his last legs in the desert.

It was another point defended by David Hurley in the radio interview. Had they played hard ball with the other media in Broome?

 

 

Hurley: I'm guilty of many things, but I can't be held guilty of that. He had in fact said to Wayne Waller, um, you know when we get back and I'm feeling a bit better, I'll tell YOU the whole story, I'll tell you guys the whole story. After all you saved me.

 

...So he was ah, he ah, he did say he thought he owed us.

 

(2BL, 24/08/99, Glover)

 

Richard Ackland: The camera tape recorded this exchange quite differently - after Bogucki had been asked to unpack his bag for the camera, he seemed a little put out:

 

 

Bogucki: What news are you going to put this on?

 

Cameraman: This is on ah, Channel 9.

 

Bogucki: Tonight?

 

Cameraman: Yeah....

 

Bogucki: Why don't you let me recuperate, I can have a better story for you if you give me a day or two to eat something.

 

Cameraman: Yeah - pull the Mike out Russ, pull the Mike out Russ. Go on top the camera mate.

Richard Ackland: And Wayne has all that medical knowledge too.

It's the victory of being first that's golden. Compassion can take a back-seat.

 

 

Pilot: I thought Channel 7 were the bloody winners.

 

Cameraman: Bad luck, we are the winners now - extra bonus for you (pats pilot on back).

 

(ACA camera tape)

Richard Ackland: And a reward for Mr Bogucki too:

 

 

Cameraman: You can eat that Banana if you want.

 

(ACA camera tape)

Richard Ackland: Till next week, goodnight.

Edited February 14, 2011 by santiago

[synchromesh]

The Call of the Wild: Into the Wild Debunked

IV. Chris may have sustained a shoulder or arm injury of some kind during his time on the Stampede Trail, perhaps debilitating enough to prevent him from re-crossing the Teklanika River.

Do you think there's an arm in that sleeve?

If you look closely at the iconic shot of Chris sitting in front of the bus, taken probably mid-summer (though some confusion remains on our part, due to the fact that some sources, including the Penn movie, indicate that this shot was on his final roll of film, still in the camera when his body was found), one can’t help but notice that it looks as if he does not have his right arm in the sleeve of his flannel shirt. Rather, it appears to be slung somehow underneath his shirt, obscured somewhat by his left knee. Compare the two shoulders, and arms. Observe the shadow and deep crease of the right sleeve. Look at the bulge and pull of the right side of the shirt. Gauge the fall of the shirt on the right side versus his left. Something looks wrong, doesn’t it? Where is his right arm? Had Chris injured his shoulder? And could this be the injury he writes of in his S.O.S. note? Something that healed over time and became useful again, as separated shoulders do naturally (severity and healing times vary considerably: for example, this past NFL season Brett Favre was able to play the week following a shoulder separation…and we’re talking here about an acromioclavicular joint separation and not a shoulder dislocation), an injury that did not prevent him from writing (Chris was right-handed) but was still debilitating enough to make swimming the Tek extremely difficult.

S.O.S. note Chris posted in one of the bus windows

Until now, no plausible explanation of this mention of an injury in his S.O.S. note has been put forth (interestingly, the S.O.S. note was completely ignored by the Penn film…though the idea that he signs his real name here was employed, inaccurately, on the goodbye note that we see near the end of the movie). In any case, the best explanation that anyone has ever been able to come up with is that he either made it up (which doesn’t really fit when you think about who Chris was), or that he perhaps suffered a leg laceration of some sort, something that wouldn’t show up by the time of the autopsy. All along, most everyone had imagined it must have been, if anything, a leg injury that prevented him from walking out, and had never considered, counterintuitively, that it was an arm or shoulder injury. This type of injury, too, already healing somewhat, as indicated in is his final self portraits (his right arm slightly raised), is also something that would not likely show up in an autopsy. Of course, as stated in the documentary, this piece of evidence is by no means definitive, and our attempts to reproduce this visual effect were in the end inconclusive; although it was easier to get an empty-sleeved shirt to look like this photo, it was also possible to achieve this look with an arm still in the sleeve. And thus this image could be simply an illusion, a trick of light and shadow and posture. It could simply be a figment of the imagination. And yet, that being said, once you do see this aspect of the photo for the first time, it is difficult to ever look at it the same way again—it’s hard not to conclude you are indeed looking at an empty sleeve. Be that as it may, and as speculative as it is, it was included in the documentary for the sole reason that it was noticed, that it might help explain the mystery of the S.O.S. note, and that we wanted to open it up for further investigation and debate.

For what it’s worth, in the final stages of editing the documentary, we showed this image to a friend in sports medicine who had never heard of Chris McCandless, and who has been treating shoulder injuries for decades. We didn’t tell him a word about the film, or the Chris McCandless story, or that we suspected an injury of any sort…but simply asked him to take a look at this photo and tell us what he saw. He said it looked to him like this man had injured his shoulder.

[synchromesh]

McCandless was a bit odd I'm sure. Too self-absorbed and seeming to lack the ability to make emotional connections. Probably not schizophrenic like some have guessed but possibly somewhere on the schizophrenic spectrum.

Try telling that to all of the friends he made on the road...

Re the McCandless suicide theory.

It all seems to stem from a letter he sent that contained the following -

"If this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again, I want you to know your a great man. I now walk into the wild."

 

Pfft. Really? What a joke...

i loathe the part where he kills the moose,

"Worst tragedy of my life" ring any bells? Or how about the scene where he lets a moose live because of its nearby offspring?

he took the advice of a warmer weather climate style and smoked the meat and it became spoiled, apparently in the region of cold your meant to thinly slice and air dry...........i find this kind of weird too, surely anybody with a bit of common sense would not try preserve all the meat smoke wise and cut little cm chunks and store them in the bus or similar to have a sooner to eat supply or at least thinly slice it, does this point to him not having much common sense.....we can only speculate.

You've written the preservation techniques backwards... What was that you said about common sense again?