Nature Daddy

Nature Daddy Bushcraft, survival and outdoor adventure from Alberta, Canada. Field tested gear. Real trips. Shelter builds, fire craft, hunting and fishing.
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01/06/2026

Built a lean-to this weekend. Tripod for the ridge pole, wood leaned in tight, spruce boughs on the sides to cut the wind.

Then we made a bow drill and pulled fire from the forest floor.

Smoke to bundle to flame. Stew on the fire before dark.

No lighter touched. No tarp used. Just the skills and what was there.

This is what wilderness survival actually looks like when you slow it down and do it right.

What is the hardest primitive skill you have tried to learn?

01/06/2026

Two guys, a dog, and a pack into the Alberta backcountry.

Eagle and James Lake delivered. Waterfalls, clear water, dead quiet forest, and a fire big enough to cook steaks the right way. Cut your own wood, build your own fire, eat your own meal. That is the whole point of going.

Link to the Wild Ones in the first comment if this is your kind of trip.

What is on your overnight menu when you are out there?

01/06/2026

We started with bare ground and left with four walls and a fireplace.

Post holes dug by hand. Frame set. Rafters in. Walls up. Stones hauled one at a time for the fireplace. This is what a full shelter build actually looks like from day one, not just the finished shot.

Still a lot of work ahead but every piece of this came out of the bush around us. That is what makes it worth doing.

What part of a build like this would you tackle first. Drop it below.

31/05/2026

We dropped the first poles for the A-frame this week and I want to show you how we’re actually building this thing.

Felled the poles on site, stripped the bark same day while it was still easy to peel. Dug post holes by hand with a pickaxe and a shovel. Cut the notches to seat the ridge pole, then we set the Y-posts and let the shape do the work. Braced everything tight before we called it.

Then we walked down to the creek and ate lunch. Some days that is the whole point.

This is a real build on a site we scouted after building our cabin. No shortcuts, no prefab. Just what works in the Canadian boreal.

What is the trickiest part of any shelter build you have done. Drop it below.

30/05/2026

Three days, two lakes, and a steak cooked over a fire in the BC backcountry.

Have you ever fished a lake you hiked to? What did you catch?

30/05/2026

mud and moss from 10 feet away and those gaps seal up tight.

we mixed creek water into a thick mud paste, packed in handfuls of moss for structure, and pressed it into every gap in the cabin walls. hardens almost like concrete once it dries. no bags, no store, just what was already there.

this is how they built before hardware stores existed. primitive skills that still hold up.

what would you have used to c***k the gaps?

29/05/2026

A night in the cabin.

cots are down, bags are laid out, fire is going. the kind of warm you feel in your chest before you even close your eyes. we built this thing from the ground up and tonight we finally sleep in it.

been a long time coming, boys.

have you ever slept in a shelter you built yourself?

29/05/2026

took the grill out to the cabin this week.

built the fire, set it up over the flame, and cooked the steaks right there inside the shelter. eating a meal you cooked over a fire in a cabin you built yourself. that is hard to beat.

what is your go-to camp cook setup when you are deep in the bush?

28/05/2026

dead standing burns clean.

Found a good one today, dropped it, split it down, and had a fire going in the cabin before long. Dead standing trees are the move for firewood in the backcountry. They dry on the stump, no waiting around. You just have to find them, process them, and get them inside before the cold does.

There is nothing like that first crackle when the fire catches in a place you built with your own hands.

What is your go-to for finding dry firewood out there?

28/05/2026

Second layer is going in on the wall.

We dry fit every stone before a single scoop of mud touches the first layer. If it does not sit right dry, it will not sit right wet. Once the fit is good, we mix the clay and water, trowel a bed across the top of the first course, set the stone, and work the remaining mud into the joints with the trowel tip.

No mortar. No hardware store. Just what the land gives you.

What part of a natural build surprises people the most when they see it in person?

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