If SHTF continues long enough, every person alive will eventually need to survive in the wilderness because that will be all that remains. To survive successfully in the wilderness, you must overcome two main obstacles.
The first will be meeting the minimum physical needs for bodily survival; this includes food, water, shelter, heat, etc. The other equally important factor is the importance of remaining undetected.
This is not to say that you cannot go and introduce yourself to other groups who you believe will not eat you or kill you for your supplies and equipment. The issue is you don’t want the bad guys to become aware of your presence first.
To meet this objective, you must ensure you are not easily detected. Either by someone simply stumbling across traces you leave or someone looking for you.
The Dark Forest Hypothesis states that allowing your presence to become known to hunters, predators, or any other party will inevitably lead to your demise. In this article, we will explore some practical tips on avoiding detection and approaching living undetected in the wilderness.
There are two broad categories when you are trying to live undetected. The first is that you should leave no trace of your existence behind. This aspect refers more to the “retrospective” aspect of wilderness survival. The historical record of your presence.
Related: The Best Natural Weapons That You Can Find in the Wild
The second is to avoid having a presence. This may sound weird, but what I mean by not having a presence is the way you conduct yourself when actively moving or living. Do not signal your presence “actively.”
Leave No Trace
This is the most important advice you can get regarding remaining undetected. You must minimize traces and signs of your presence.
Avoid leaving footprints by being aware of the surfaces you cover.
Hard rocky surfaces are the best.
When moving through the wilderness, be aware of the terrain and always try to travel along the hardest and most compact surfaces available.
Thick undergrowth can conceal footprints, but trackers can spot when vegetation has been disturbed by a body moving through it.
If you stay in a place for an extended period, you must avoid taking the same daily routes. Even hard surfaces will start to show signs of regular movement. This is even truer for grass or vegetation as you create single tracks that will lead enemies straight to you.
Always employ evasion techniques. This means changing direction often, backtracking, and circling around. This creates confusion and increases the difficulty of tracking you.
Use misdirection. For instance, let’s say you want to catch water. Start off in the opposite direction. An experienced wilderness tracker will know where water sources are, and if he thinks you are going for water, they can cut you off or set an ambush for you.
You also need to master the art of stealth movement. The slower you move, the less noise you make. Remember that some animals will react to your presence in such a way as to divulge your presence.
Be aware of the noise your feet make on the ground and also the noise your body creates when pushing through vegetation. Dry twigs, grass, and branches make creaking and cracking noises when disturbed.
Camouflage and Silhouette
You need to wear clothing that blends into your environment. This is obvious. Another aspect of moving undetected is not to stand higher than your surroundings. When moving through tall grass, ensure your head is not sticking out above the grass. The same principle applies to shorter grass or shrubs.
⇒ If You See This Plant Near You, Don’t Step on It
Now, it’s understandable that you cannot move around crouching forever. But develop routes that take you through tall shrubbery or vegetation. Breaking the “skyline” makes you very easy to spot; this also applies when crossing open fields or over hills. Move along the lowest parts of a terrain with many hills as far as possible.
Another aspect of remaining undetectable is noise discipline and minimizing movement. Noise discipline is not just moving slowly and thinking about foot placement; it also involves clothing that doesn’t swish or crackle, ensuring that metal objects in your backpack or pockets are not clicking against each other, etc.
Minimizing movement refers to swinging arms or turning repeatedly, a lot of sudden head movements, etc. You spot squirrels easier than you do chameleons for that very reason. Both are camouflaged, but one’s tail is always flicking or zooming around. Be like a chameleon.
Housekeeping, Hygiene, and Odors
Nothing is as easily detectable as a mess. Synthetic materials like plastics and objects like bottles and cans will immediately alert people to your presence.
When you human waste, do it deep enough that it will not be found easily, covering your tracks by brushing over the soil or vegetation with a branch, etc.
Related: The Easy and Practical DIY Snares to Catch Small Wild Game
Remember that grouping is also easily noticeable. If you stay in a place for a while and dig three or four cat holes and cover them, but they are equally spaced or in a square formation, trackers will spot them more readily than random heaps scattered at odd intervals.
Catholes for human waste should be far from your camping site.
Terrain and Situational Awareness
Learn to use the terrain to your advantage. High ground allows for better surveillance of the surrounding area.
Animals will often react to noises before they can hear the noises they are reacting to. They will also react to scent or the reactions of other animals.
Learn to tune into your surroundings—how they smell and sound. Anything out of the ordinary is worth investigating.
Cooking fires, the aroma of grilled meat, and even the smell of human habitation can all travel along the breeze to alert others to your presence.
Smoke and firelight are two of the quickest ways to expose yourself. I would light a fire before freezing to death, but maybe finding a well-insulated shelter is better.
Speaking of shelter, you will need a few of these. Also, safe havens or hiding places where you can disappear if you suspect something or someone suspects you are around.
Getting water is also a sure way to get caught. Rivers and mountain streams all have ” easier ” places for water collection, and dry areas may only have a well or oasis at irregular intervals. These are prime spots for spotting enemies and for enemies to wait for you.
Surviving in the wild is about more than just blending in; it’s about mastering the skills needed to stay off the radar and meet your basic needs. If you want to get serious about wilderness survival, you need more than just tips—you need an all-in-one handbook.
That’s why I recommend the Long-Term Wilderness Survival Guide. This isn’t your average manual; it’s packed with practical knowledge that our ancestors used to thrive in the wild.
Whether it’s finding food and water, building a shelter, or staying undetected, this guide covers it all. Make sure to get your hands on this essential tool before it runs out of stock. When staying untraceable in the wilderness becomes your only option, you’ll be glad you did.
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Unless you have been trained in special tactics by alphabet agencies and tactical experts we might not evade observation.
Today’s world of Chinese cheap made cameras, in city and suburban areas homeowners have security cameras hooked into a 24/7 monitoring service.
We have smartphone cameras where most people respond first to anything by recording the action first. Then maybe respond by uploading the video first to social media platforms. Then maybe respond to the situation or continue to record the person dying then helping the person or persons.
If the government or private wants to find us there are plenty of ways to seek us. Back in the last century we had a better chance to hide and get away. Today we have satellites, heat seek thermo devices of several generation technology better.
Short term we can hide for short periods but not long term as we know people talk and are curious of the new people.
Even today’s illegals hiding among us people know who they are, it is do we or the government have the will to do the right thing and deport them?
One tactic to end it, is to pursue your trackers and eliminate them from the get go instead of playing cat and mouse games, period…
With the 15 Million that were here back during Obama’s day and before + DACA hatchling’s and now the 15 million Plus ‘Got Aways’ from both periods, it will be impossible to locate and depart all of them with out Citizen assist. That is why I am trying to put out there a serious need for a new Home Cottage Industry… Citizen Bounty Hunters that would be paid a fee, say $100.00 for every lead that takes LE to a verified ILLEGAL. I believe there would be a lot of interest and participation in this new Work from Home gig….
Pursue the illegal at all costs, Yes a nationwide Citizen Bounty program is a great idea!
The IRS can also give tax breaks on our taxes by giving us tax incentives to turn in illegals, MS13 and terrorist cell members too.
If the SHTF gets bad enough, then only the fittest will survive. And the longer the SHTF continues, the more likely the fittest will start hunting each other. Law of the jungle will apply.
Yeah, The Hatfield–McCoy Feud involved two American families of the West Virginia–Kentucky area along the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River from 1863 to 1891.
The liberals vs the conservatives vs illegals vs terrorists vs corrupt political and legal law 2-tiered government deep state.
What ….? For every thought there is anti-thought…..weird….can’t we all just get along ? Or can there be only one **** **** .why can’t we all be human ? I bet there’s a bigger picture here that we are not seeing .
I got to thinking…..those brain eating worms probably don’t help matters any.
The most important of all rules is : animity , Total blend in , and most of all Patientience
Be Still and know who and that God is , and is the rewarder of those who diligently Seek Him .
Remember Heat signatures , Coverage , Movement give away position
and with tech so easy to get , everyone will have the gear .
That is why is so important to Trust God , Obey God, Follow God thru Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith . by which is must to see God .
Paitience , forgiveness , Faith , Humility , Trusting that God is the final Winner of the battle for the minds, hearts, souls of Mankind
All Who Seek Him with Faith Will Find him .
But you must be sincere, honest, and willing to count the cost of following Jesus Christ and the persecution that follows the faithfull
It is what God wants us to do before he comes again. We must MAGA, take back America from the Marxism destroying our country.
Chinese handlers are in control along with Obama pulling the puppet regime’s strings of Bidenomics indoctrinated public.
No more secrets, no where to run as America is basically close to 100% video audio surveillance in many city urban areas.
San Diego city council and the retiring chief of police has placed smart lights to surveil the public less so of the open border the illegals there.
Who owns the database server farms and who has backdoor access to the data? If they can do to Trump, what can they do to us?
What does God ask of us to do to repel the oppressive state and federal criminals in charge of keeping American safe first, not last?
Amen Brother! Couldn’t have said it any better myself.
My guess and money is that Mother Nature will kill you …..
If you know you will be tracked by dogs, if possible, walk in a 360 degree circle twice if possible, the circle being anywhere from 30 yards to 50 yards in diameter, or done at least once if that is all the time you have, and tangent off carefully on hard terrain that is described as in the article above. The dogs when they get the scent will most often go on INTO the circle and lose their focus and not follow the circle, but almost always give up unless the tracker knows the tactic and is able to follow the circle to the tangent. But time and concealment are major factors for this tactic’s success. If it is raining, and tracks are not an issue, you should be home free as far as scent is concerned. Observation at a distance is another issue entirely. Being untraceable is virtually impossible, but you can improve the odds as long as advanced heat seeking technology is not being used. THAT gets real tricky, but usually can be done if time is NOT a factor.
What I’ve read is that the circle should be done several times to make its scent stronger rather than a single pass.
Bob
Your right on point,
That’s a great Idea.
Lets get that program in place,
We have to take back our country,
Before we do not have one,
We now have a lot of them here in Wisconsin,
Letting them vote if they can get away with it by the DEMS.
Trying to beat out Trump.
There planning for all that is happening right now.
Started in the mid 80s,
The mid 70s to destroy the middle class,
Biden and the Komilla Have to go,
There planning on replacing Biden be for November 5th 2024.
To late, He has all ready done to much damage ,
And the Dems don’t have any body worth running that would win.
And they know it,
And even Komilla dose not want to be president,
I do not think she could take the pressure for all the damage done by Biden,.
The American people are madder then hell. ,
There no longer buy the dem BS,
This country has woke up for the biggest part of them.
And even some of the dem are now putting there support be hind TRUMP.,.
That are in the white house,
Deportation . Getmo. Sent back across the southern boarder ,
They should close the border for two years , Not letting any one come in till we deport
all those that need to leave our county. And they can send Biden with them and The Rino’s and Deep state or LOCK THEM UP. And make sure they can never run for any office in the United States, again.
How many Americans would agree with this,