Surviving Out of Your Backpack: A Guide to Survival

Being an avid outdoorsman, camper, hunter, guide and outfitter and professional horseman, David Skipworth is sharing 48 years of experience with the general public. Throughout these years, Skipworth has shared this wealth of knowledge and experience with many of his friends, clients and students with hands on training in the rough and rugged Rocky Mountains. With adventures from Colorado to Montana trekking on trails only elk and big horn sheep would travel.

These adventures have been a part of Skipworth’s life since he was a young boy being raised on a farm. Living off the land and hunting food was just a way of life. Before he was 12 years old; he was going on camping trips alone for weeks at a time. It was a goal to find the most secluded place where there were no people. The fewer people the more game, the more fish and the bigger the adventure. As a young boy Skipworth began to hone his skills as a hunter, fisherman, tracker and becoming one with the outdoors.

As Skipworth grew so did his passion for the great outdoors. The creeks, rivers and ponds that he grew up with were no longer challenging enough. His adventures began to extend past the southern states that he was raised up in. It was like some invisible force drawing him, calling him to find that far away place where no man had been before. The first time he laid eyes on the magnificent Rocky Mountains; he was captivated by the unknown adventures that were ahead.

The vast terrain and the depths of the territory and land fueled the fire that burned within him. The fire and passion for the great outdoors was greater than ever before. With this vast wilderness came bigger and more powerful animals. The passion for hunting became more than just killing for food. It became a passion to study these animals. How they lived and where they traveled and why they did the things they did, all became questions that needed to be answered.

During this time animals such as deer, elk, beaver, bear, big horn sheep, Rocky Mountain sheep and other animals of the wilderness became subjects for understanding the great outdoors. It was deeper than a passion; it became a kinship with these animals. Every one of them did things for a reason; mostly for their own survival. The tracks and sign they left were all different and had a language all their own. It became a mind game; thinking like the animal, moving like the animal, seeing like the animal, becoming like the animal. This brought understanding and knowledge that only the animal itself could teach. Skipworth’s passion for understanding these animals became the foundation that he needed and transferred to training horses.

Training horses became a greater passion and a way to make a good living. It became a goal and challenge for Skipworth to understand what went on inside the mind of these magnificent creatures. He would sit for hours watching wild horses as they communicated with each other and learned their language and their instinctual behavior. Skipworth brought much of what he had learned from the horses into his training program and it proved to be successful. The horses reacted in ways as if they knew exactly what Skipworth was saying. This training extended into the wilderness bringing Skipworth, the horses and wild animals together. Teaching the horses not to fear these strange animals it had never seen and traveling on horseback made the research and following the animals much easier.

With all of this came the art of surviving in the wilderness. The art of making shelters, finding food and water, how to beat the elements of weather and the disappearing into the vast wilderness became a way of life filled with excitement and peace.