Hunting or hiking, particularly in remote areas, is a great experience if approached with due regard for fitness, safety and skill.

 One of the major skill categories is the ability to navigate with or without compass and map. Ideally, no one should head off the beaten track without map or compass, but what if you find yourself in that situation, or you lose or damage your compass? Here are a few basic 'skills' that could one day be of use to you.

 Finding Direction by Using Your Watch.

  If you have a watch that is working correctly, you can always quickly determine the points of the compass as long as the position of the sun is visible.

 The method used varies depending upon which hemisphere (northern or southern) that you happen to be living in. The following methods are described using an analog watch, (that's a watch with an hour and a minute hand) but they can be applied just as well if you own a digital watch - just use your imagination to superimpose the 12 hourly numerals and the relevant position of the 'hour hand' on the face of your digital watch.

 Northern Hemisphere

 1) Holding your watch horizontally, point the 'hour hand' of your watch at the sun.
 2) Note the direction that lies exactly midway between the 'hour hand' and the numeral twelve on your watch. This will be south.
 3) Once you have established this, it will be easy to determine the other points of the compass.

 Southern Hemisphere

 1) Holding your watch horizontally, point the numeral twelve on your watch at the sun.
 2) Note the direction that lies exactly midway between the twelve and the 'hour hand'. This will be north.
 3) Once you have established this, it will be easy to determine the other points of the compass.

  These methods will give you a good approximation of compass direction. If your watch happens to be adjusted for daylight saving at the time, then 'remove' the daylight saving for greater accuracy.

 Another method of determining compass points can be used if you do not have a watch. This method takes longer and also requires enough sunlight to cast a shadow.

 To Find North Without a Watch.

 1) Before noon, on level terrain, position a stick of about 3 feet upright into the ground.
 2) Mark the tip of its shadow with a peg or stone.
 3) Using the tip of the shadow as a radius, draw an arc around the stick.
 4) The shadow will shorten as it approaches noon, pulling back from the arc. It will then lengthen again - where the afternoon shadow once again touches the arc, place another peg or stone.
  5) Now draw a straight line between the two pegs/stones - this will be an east/west line, with the first peg being in the westerly direction.
 6) You can now draw a north/south line at right angles to the east/west line.

 The following (less accurate) method can also be used at any time of the day without drawing an arc.

 1) Peg the tip of the first shadow, then about 20 minutes later peg the tip of the moved shadow.
 2) Draw a straight line between the two pegs, and this will be an approximately east/west line, with the first peg again being the westerly one.

 A typical error when lost is a tendency to wander off what you may think is a straight line bearing, sometimes even slowly circling back on yourself. To prevent this, note an object (tree, rock, terrain feature) that lies directly ahead of you in the direction you wish to travel, then aim for it. When you reach it, take another bearing on the direction you wish to head, sight another object directly ahead of you and repeat the process. In areas of restricted distance visibility, you may have to repeat this quite often over short 'legs' to ensure that you are remaining on course.

 Keeping a Course by the Clouds.

  What if it's a cloudy day with no sun visible to get a bearing on, or the bush canopy prevents you getting a clear "shot" at the sun? Well, if you're lucky, it may be windy with the clouds moving in a constant direction - note the directional flow of the clouds, and adjust your course relevant to their direction. If the clouds are moving from your front from right to left over your shoulders, keep them there, at the same time, sight an object straight ahead of you and head for it.

  To retrace your steps in the same general direction, just do an about turn, then keep the clouds moving from behind and now left to right over your shoulders, and repeat the process.

 Being aware of your surroundings will often pay off, so try to cultivate that habit.

 George Spearing is author of, "Dances with Marmots - A Pacific Crest Trail Adventure". Visit www.danceswithmarmots.com for more information.

  I read in the latest Readers Digest about a way to do after your dog, who we’ll call Earl, after it has been blasted by a skunk.

  That powerful defensive fluid the skunks spray has an odor that is impossible to ignore and may even temporarily blind a dog. The stench is really bothersome to us humans so just think how bad it must be for an animal whose sense of smell is forty times greater than ours.

 I’m sure many have heard or even tried the old wash the dog-with-tomato-juice remedy. I’ve never tried that one myself so I’ll have to take somebody who’s done so at their word as to the veracity of such claims. (I’ve been waiting a long time for the opportunity to use that word. Ever since I found out what my sometime hunting and fishing buddy, Milo, meant when he “doubted the veracity” of one of my fishing claims.)

  Well, we no longer have any dogs but do have three cats we rescued from a barn. And there are lots of skunks around, but how does one get a skunk to spray when asked? I couldn’t think of any. So, we decide to just odor-up Mad Max, the hairiest cat. We mixed cigarette ashes, onion juice, some Jade East and Brut colognes left over from 1973 and three drops of Buck Thorn’s Deep in Dixie Never Fail Fish Attractant and Rust Remover.

 That was easy; getting it on Max, not so much.

 Okay, to make this story as short as it should be, the cat-coating didn’t go well at all. Max resisted strenuously. There was a good deal of him displaying the fact that he wasn’t really into these experimental attempt to emulate Mother Nature. And we don’t call Max ‘Razor Boy’ for nothing. One Sunday he shredded a recliner in the time it took me to go to the bathroom at half time. Now, I admit, at my age, bathroom breaks tend to be longer but still it wasn’t more than five minutes at the most.

 After Jen got the bleeding under control and the debris pretty much cleared out, I decided that I was just gonna believe the Readers Digest article had a great deal of veracity.

  Oh yeah, the Readers Digest skunk odor remedy: a quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide, a ¼ cup of baking soda and a couple of teaspoons of liquid soap. I would use Dawn since it cleans everything I’ve ever used it on. Scrub Earl with liberal application of the mixture then rinse with warm water. If there is a bit of odor still lingering, wash again.

  Uh, just one more thing. I probably should have mentioned this at the beginning, but maybe you shouldn’t let Earl in the house until you get him deodorized. That smell tends to migrate. Why, I remember one time when me and……

  It’s mid-July and I don’t know about you but I am filled with anticipation. The long wait is over and once again it is time to prepare for the hunt! Squirrel season opens August 1st here in Illinois and this is a great time to get back into the woods and sharpen your hunting skills. I love pulling off a successful silent stalk on these sharp-eyed critters; it seems to awaken all of my senses. The sounds of the forest, the feel of the forest floor under my feet, being careful not to step on dead branches, etc. Skills that have not been used for months will once again come alive. Squirrel hunting is also an excellent opportunity to look for that perfect tree for a deer stand, a quest that for deer hunters is not unlike the search for the Holy Grail.

  September will be the opening of dove season and hunting these little feathered jet fighters is always fun. I don’t know who smiles more, me or the shotgun shell manufacturers because, as you know, to actually get a limit of doves may require three or four boxes of shells.

  October will bring bow season for the elusive whitetail deer. I hope all of you have been practicing with your bow this summer.

  November will have shotgun deer hunting, duck hunting, rabbits and quails. So as you can see, now is the time to prepare. Get your bow out and practice, make sure your shotguns are ready, sharpen your knives and make sure you have room in your freezer because starting in August that wonderful magical time is upon us and it is time to hunt.

  I’m Kenny and I hope I have all of you in my corner.