Jack Mountain Bushcraft Podcast

Recorded on November 20, 2023. We just wrapped up the field school season, and in this episode I look back and reflect on the experiments we ran during 2023. I discuss the Expedition Instructor (XI) as a continuous 6-month, residential program, moving the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester back to May and the high waters of […]

Recorded on June 26th, 2023, this is a stab at a new format for the JMB Podcast; doing it solo. The topic for the day is differentiating between professional training and personal enrichment. We embrace both styles of program, but they are definitely not the same thing. The student has to decide what they want […]

Recorded on June 3rd, 2023 at the headquarters of Full Tang Outfitters in Tracy, New Brunswick, Canada. Tim and returning guest Blake Towsley discuss scheming for winter trips, dishonesty in marketing knives from people who have been on the tv show “Solo, By Myself, Without Clothes”, and the currently trending topic of Wild Pooping, or […]

Recorded on May 25th, 2023 in the Guide Shack, with an outside temperature of 43 degrees F, Tessa and Tim talk about the spring, 2023 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester and making hard decisions. It has been a long month and we were both tired while recording this, and we’re still looking forward to the weather […]

We’re back on the grid for two days in the middle of the spring, 2023 Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. In this episode we discuss our recent canoe expedition and the challenges we have been facing on the course. We also discuss not believing the hype about rankings and which school or outfit belongs on the […]

Spring finally showed up at the field school at the end of week 1 of the Wilderness Canoe Expedition Semester. We had a day of sun and made it our first day on the water. On this episode of the podcast, we discuss the arrival of spring and the skills necessary to get our people […]

It’s been a long break, but we’re back. Introducing instructor Tessa Storey and recorded in the Guide Shack, we discuss current events, our upcoming programs and the best beer of 2022. Here are two photos of that beer on the East Branch of the Penobscot that we talked about on the podcast. PHOTOS:Tessa and Tim […]

Part 2 of my discussion with Paul Sveum about simplifying fly fishing. We discuss #6-10 of the top ten things Paul wishes someone would have told him when he was getting started in fly fishing. PHOTO: A Y-stern canoe on the Bonaventure River in Quebec, headed upriver to fish for Atlantic Salmon. Show Notes: JMB […]

This episode featuring Paul Sveum began as a blog post, but we decided to have a conversation about the top ten things to keep in mind when getting into fly fishing. This is part 1, where we discuss points 1-5. PHOTO: Paul fishing an Aroostook County stream. Show Notes: JMB Podcast Episode 111 | Simplifying […]

Matthew Rhode just successfully completed the Journeyman Certification on the fall Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We welcomed him into the studio to discuss the course, his approach to time management, the usefulness of a table, and how to be successful on our program. PHOTO: Early morning during solos, looking east. Show Notes: JMB Podcast Episode 110 […]

We’re nearing the end of the fall, 2021 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. We just finished a 48 hour primitive living experience and are headed out on solos tomorrow. In this episode of the JMB Podcast we discuss these experiences, as for listener input on the next step for our online network at BushcraftSchool.com and ask for […]

We’re back after a long hiatus to talk about resiliency, the need to balance stress with recovery, sleeping out in the cold with no sleeping bag in front of a fire, and the need to prepare your hands for a robust outdoor life. We just finished week 6 (of 9) on the fall Wilderness Bushcraft […]

End of the spring semester. Back from our final trip, the spring 2021 Wilderness Guide Training Semester is finished. In this episode of the podcast Christopher and I discuss two aspects of coaching people and how they differ. First is nurturing them to build their confidence, and second is focusing on accountability and what needs […]

The fourth and final installment in our multi-episode reading of On The Trail; Selected Canoe And Snowshoe Trip Journals. This time I read the journal of a 2001 trip on the wilderness waterway through Everglades National Park in Florida. You can download a free copy of On The Trail from the downloads section of BushcraftSchool.com. […]

“Fly fishing is beautifully regional.” – Paul Sveum Christoper and I welcomed our old friend and Registered Master Maine Guide Paul Sveum into the studio to discuss spring fly fishing in northern Maine. We discuss flies, fly fishing, temperatures that trout like, and a wide variety of other topics. Paul is teaching our Introduction To […]

The third installment in our multi-episode reading of On The Trail; Selected Canoe And Snowshoe Trip Journals. This time I read the journals from a solo canoe trip on Allagash Lake, a canoe trip on the Big Black River, and a ten-day winter camping trip on the Quebec border with no sleeping bag. You can […]

The four main jobs of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School semester instructor are teacher, guide, mentor and coach. Christopher and I discuss this, and how the relationship changes and grows during a long course, in this episode of the podcast. You’ll also hear about the new bird neighbors who have built their nest in a […]

The second installment in our multi-episode reading of On The Trail; Selected Canoe And Snowshoe Trip Journals. This time I read the journals from a 1999 Allagash Wilderness Waterway canoe trip and a 2001 St. John River canoe trip, both in Maine. I’ve run a lot of trips on these rivers in the 20+ years […]

I’m trying something new – creating an audiobook. For episode 101 of the JMB Podcast I read a chapter from my book On The Trail. The chapter is a journal from a June, 2000 canoe trip on the Swan Lake Canoe Route on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The plan is to work through the book so […]

Recorded at the beginning of week 2 of the spring 2021 semester, we discuss the value of a tangible approach to education as contrasted with an abstract approach. Also we discuss a variety of current events and the genuine surprise felt at making it to 100 episodes. PHOTO: Building a hoop house shelter. Show Notes: […]