CARPET QUIVER
After you’ve made arrows using some of the hacks previously mentioned, you’ll now need a quiver to put them in. A water bottle, a scrap piece of carpet, and a roll of duct tape can make a very durable and functional quiver. Roll a water bottle (at the bottom) and a roll of duct tape (at the top) in a scrap piece of carpet or even an old welcome mat and wrap it with cord to hold everything together and to provide a shoulder sling. The roll of duct tape makes for a solid opening, and the water bottle (with the top cut off) makes a good puncture-proof bottom. This quiver is lightweight, easy to make, and will safely hold up to 10 arrows with no problem. This hack is from my friends Hank Gevedon and Dave Mead of Reptile Toolworks and online at Kentucky River Trading Company (www.kyrivertradingco.com).
BALLOON BOTTLE SLING
The most basic of dart or rock slings can be manufactured from a balloon and the neck of a trash plastic bottle. First, cut the neck off the bottle a few inches below the mouth. It should resemble a small funnel. Remove the cap and stretch the mouth of the balloon over the threaded bottle opening and wrap cordage around the balloon to hold it tightly over the grooved threads where the cap would twist. Place a dart or ball bearing through the large end of the bottle and pinch it between your index finger and thumb inside of the balloon. Hold the neck of the bottle with one hand and retract the projectile back as far as you can pull. When released, the elasticity of the balloon will fire the dart or ball bearing with enough force to kill small birds or distract a stalking man or beast.
TRAPPING HACKS
A BETTER MOUSETRAP
Although mice aren’t a choice wild-game meat, they can make good bait (live or dead) for a variety of larger game. You can make a very effective mousetrap from a 5-gallon bucket, a straight rod (either metal or wood), a water bottle or wheel, and some peanut butter (or other bait). Thread the wheel or water bottle over the straight rod so that it freely rotates with just a touch. Drill a hole on each side of the bucket with your knife so that the rod and spinning wheel/bottle is suspended in the center. Smear some peanut butter on the wheel/bottle and place a stick or board ramp to the edge of the bucket. When a mouse climbs up the ramp and jumps to eat the peanut butter the wheel/bottle will spin and dump the mouse into the bucket, where he will remain until you come back to retrieve him.
25-CENT MOUSETRAP
I’ve used mice to catch everything from fish and opossums to snakes and raccoons. Nearly everything in the forest will feed on mice when given the opportunity. One of the simplest mousetraps ever hacked involves just a quarter, a glass, and some bait such as peanut butter. Turn a wide-mouth drinking glass upside down with its front lip propped on the top of a quarter standing on its side. It may be tricky to balance at first, but this “hair trigger” is necessary. With bait placed under the glass, a mouse must scurry inside and past the quarter to take it. The slightest bump of either the quarter or the glass and the trap collapses, enclosing the mouse inside a glass cage. Peanut butter smeared on the inside of the glass will ensure a quick capture. Slide a stiff piece of paper or cardboard under the glass and mouse, and you can transport him with ease.
DEADFALL TRIGGER
A No. 2 lead pencil makes one of my all-time favorite deadfall trap triggers. I call it the break-notch trigger. Start by sawing a notch in the middle of the pencil that goes exactly halfway through it. Now, turn the pencil over and saw another notch halfway through; this second notch should be about 1" above or below the first notch on the other side. Now, with your thumb on one notch, snap the pencil into 2 pieces. It will almost always snap to create a perfectly mated trigger that makes a very sensitive deadfall trigger. The Toilet Lid Live Bird Capture hack in this chapter describes a great live capture trap using this trigger.
TOILET LID LIVE BIRD CAPTURE
Yes, a toilet lid can catch you dinner! Using bricks or wooden blocks, build an oval frame the same size as the toilet that is anywhere from 2" to 4" tall. When you place the toilet lid on top there should be no major gaps or escape routes. The bricks/blocks will provide a support for the lid. Using the Deadfall Trigger hack in this chapter with the No. 2 pencil, prop up the lid and tie 2 lines of dental floss (or thread) to the bottom half of the trigger stick and then to 2 separate pegs in the ground toward the back of the interior space. Finally, sprinkle seeds or bread inside the trap. When a bird goes into the trap for the bait it will trip the lines, which will collapse the trigger stick and cause the lid to drop, capturing the bird(s) inside.
BUILD A BIRD BOTTLE NOOSE-APULT
Here’s a cool hack based on an old bird snare. This cool little trap uses the bottom of a plastic bottle (in the original plan for the trap, it was half a coconut shell) and 2 flexible twigs to launch a noose around a bird’s neck. It’s a very inventive design that is triggered by a bird’s natural pecking behavior.
Start by cutting off the bottom 2" of a normal plastic water bottle (anything up to about 4" in diameter will work). Bury this so that it’s flush with the ground. Next bend 2 flexible twigs in an X pattern so they make a crossed arch over the opening of the bottle. (See illustration for details.) Finally, lay an open noose over the flexed twigs around the rim of the bottle and place bait (typically seeds) in the bottom of the bottle. When a bird pecks for the seeds it disturbs the bent twigs, which cast the noose upward around the bird’s neck. The bird will jump when the twigs release, and this action will cinch the noose tight.
POTS, PANS, AND UTENSIL HACKS
THE 2-LITER SPOON
Did you know a 2-liter pop bottle can yield 5 spoons? If you look closely you will see several spoon bowl shapes along the bottom. Cut out one of those extrusions along with an extended piece as a handle to extract a nearly perfect spoon for wild soups and stews or scavenged urban canned goods. The leftover top of the 2-liter bottle makes an excellent bowl with the cap on or a funnel with the cap removed. Did you know the mouth of a 2-liter bottle fits perfectly into the fuel tank of a car or truck for an emergency refueling funnel?
LOOP STICK POT HANGER
A long, flexible tree branch can be quickly converted into a pot-hanging tool. Start by cutting off a branch less than 1⁄2" in diameter just below a Y junction. Trim the shorter of the two Y branches to only 2" long. Bend the other, longer Y branch into a loop and lash it back on itself, using a whip knot. This loop can be slid over a traditional spit stick, and a pot can be hung from the 2" Y hook that dangles below. Multiple hangers can be made at different heights for a variety of cooking temperatures or pots. Note: Basswood, mulberry, maple, beech, and willow all make excellent loop stick pot hangers. In spring, you can use the bark of the basswood, mulberry, or willow as the lashing cordage.