Bushcrafting for profit?

sbkittrell

sbkittrell

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On the Pungo River in NC
Trapping, prospecting, hunting for stone points, fossils, materials to sell or trade to others (flint, edible plants, fatwood, etc.) These are just a few ways to help cover expenses when you are out in the woods. Does anybody here collect, scavenge, hunt or harvest while out in the woods? Any other ideas on this subject? I'm sure we've got some trappers here, in fact I know we do, but I'm talking about collecting other things for trade or sale from ginseng to semi-precious gems. Anything that you can trade or sell? (I'm not suggesting making a living here, I'm just curious)
 
I've considered growing ginseng. It supposedly grows well in coniferous forests but the soil has to be just right and they take something like 5 or 10 years to grow to maturity, lol...


PMZ
 
Never mind, I see I was mistaken. It grows best in hardwoods.

PMZ
 
Years and years ago, back in the eighties, I saw a small bundle of fatwood kindling bundled up in some brass straps in a fancy shop in a mall. They wanted 15.00 for it, and that was almost 30 years ago.
 
When I come across something useful occasionally I pick it up and trade it off.

Believe it or not there's a whole industry of flintknapper types who go hawg wild over "johnstone" (broken porcelain toilet tanks) and red or cobalt glass bottles...

PMZ
 
Gem prospecting would be very fun. I'm going to get into one day, not sure how profitable it is with traditional gear.

A native american guy I knew used to gather wild ginseng & sell it to hospitals for some pretty crazy cash. Not sure if he's still at it.

Gathering animal antlers & selling them at craft shows or online would work.

Gathering unique diftwood, burls, & twisted/figured wood for rustic furniture makers.

Of course there is always trapping animals & selling their hides. Doesn't make money like it used to (or so I hear), but it's still something.

One thing that I know would sell is flint-knapped knives, all of which can be entirely made in the forest (would probably up the cost honestly).
 
I collect and sell Morel mushrooms in the spring. Doesn't take any special equipment and some time in the woods.
 
To me the minute you try to make a business out of a hobby it takes all the fun out of it. If I find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow I will keep it but I won't go searching for it.
 
draco said:
To me the minute you try to make a business out of a hobby it takes all the fun out of it. If I find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow I will keep it but I won't go searching for it.
Click to expand...

My whole point was NOT to try to make a living at it, or business out of it. But when I go walk around in the woods I like to try to find things. I found an old bottle dump once and found some cool old bottles. I was just wondering if anybody collected things they come across in the woods and either keep them and use them or trade them or even sell them. People have been using, trading, and selling things they find in the woods all through history. Heck, I do it every time I go fishing or hunting if you want to count game. I like doing that, but that's just me. Probably shouldn't have used the word "profit" in the title though. :)
 
Yeah I would keep stuff if it looked of value for trading. But I don't think I would wanna have stuff to sell for any kind of a profit that being said if I turned it into cash to buy myself some new gear sure why not turn a bit of a profit from a hobby?
 
IMO I would suggest some caution about this subject. There may be some who visit here that will suddenly get the idea they can get rich on their finds. (antique roadshow mentality). One thing we don't need is a bunch of yahoos invading the bush for "treasure". I know there's no harm in selling a piece of meteorite or a clovis point to another hobbiest, but people see and hear what they want. And it wouldn't take long for things to get out of control in some more sensative areas. It's one reason why we metal detectorists are barred from national parks even though we might just want to scour the campground for chump change. And Murphy's always out there lurking.
 
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I trap in the fall and cut balsam boughs for christmas wreaths and such. I suppose a fella could find crazy sticks and make walking sticks to barter or sell.
 
Most of my hobbies end up being money sinks. I just budget a little bit each month for them, as it is possible, and then get stuff when it eventually goes on sale or make it when the parts finally gather up on my workbench. There are some people, though, who pay for their hobbies or turn a bit of profit by starting a cottage industry. For example, there are a few neat stove designs made by folks who make a bit of coin off of their work. They've taken a common concept, like the tin can alcohol stove, and made prototypes until they've "perfected" the design. I'd guess that something along those lines, with a new little niche product, would be one of the better ways to come out ahead with what you enjoy.
 
Well, I still like the idea of using the woods as a resource, especially for trading or personal use of things wood, stone, plants, etc. I enjoy looking for things that I can use or trade or, yes even sell. It might be nothing more than a stick that I can make into something useful, but rarely leave the woods without bringing something(s) out with me. I'm not talking about strip mining, but if I find some interesting rocks that could be used as a socket for a bow drill, or some lighter knot (fatwood), or some fossils in a creek bed, they're going home with me unless I'm in a place that it's prohibited.
 
my father-in-law has gotten me into mushroom hunting. we look for "sheep head" mushrooms. not sure of the correct name, thats what he calls them. they are pretty good when fried.
 
Several years ago, I started making use of desert-varnished cobblestones - with a BLM permit - by using my Dremel tool to engrave petroglyphs and paint pictographs. At my wife's request, I tried selling them through a craft shop, but I prefer to give them to friends and family as a garden pet or paperweight. I'm always looking for more ideas, and this post provides a few.
 
I depend on my bushcraft skills when I go out looking for mineral specimens & gemstones for my business. Sometimes I'll stay at a site for a week or more depending on how productive. It makes camping life a heck of a lot easier & comfortable knowing bushy skills.
 
I am always on the lookout for old stuff, mostly bottles. I keep any that are very old and in good shape. Just keep them for myself, I like old stuff. I will also pick up any unique looking rocks, sticks and such. Again just for myself. Sometimes I will pick up nice turkey feathers, turtle shells and things like that. Shed antlers for sure.
Love to collect food. Hunting of most anything, morel picking and fishing. Some edible plants, but that is probably my weakest aspect of food gathering in the woods.
Never have sold anything. I give a lot of stuff away.

Kevin
 
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When I lived in Oregon I did a little bit of shroom hunting. Sold a few but wasn't very good at it.
 
The seed heads from American Lotus (lily pads) can be sold to some flower shops. It looks like a shower head and I have got as much as 75 cents apiece for them.
 
This is a touchy subject depending on the local regulations. I honestly would not feel right taking a profit by removing resources from public lands. I'm okay with taking the odd thing for personal use or trading with another member because they want something (like a piece chaga) but I would not go out of my way to strip all the chaga I can find to get something in return or to trade. I just feel that this is a type of exploitation that I wouldn't be comfortable with. Private land would be a different matter and people can do what they like on their own lands but I feel that public lands really shouldn't be exploited for profit.
 
MiddleWolf said:
IMO I would suggest some caution about this subject. There may be some who visit here that will suddenly get the idea they can get rich on their finds. (antique roadshow mentality). One thing we don't need is a bunch of yahoos invading the bush for "treasure". I know there's no harm in selling a piece of meteorite or a clovis point to another hobbiest, but people see and hear what they want. And it wouldn't take long for things to get out of control in some more sensative areas. It's one reason why we metal detectorists are barred from national parks even though we might just want to scour the campground for chump change. And Murphy's always out there lurking.
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Heh, let 'em go. No need for caution.

It'll be like it always has been. 1% of the treasure hunters will prosper and the other 99% will go home... or starve to death, one or the other. I saw this guy carving totem poles one day in a public area and another guy looked at that and saw dollar signs. He whipped out his axe and started wacking on a piece of dead wood to try it for him self. Once he figured out it was real work to carve totem poles with an axe, he was done with it.

To answer the OP: I think "profit" from being in the woods, or "bushcrafting", is kind of in the eye of the beholder. I eat from the woods all the time. The food is not irradiated, it's unprocessed, there are no industrial by-products added and the variation in food sources gives a guy nutrients he doesn't normally get. There's no money to be made there but to me it is very much "profit".

We also get firewood from the woods. There's plenty of guys selling it but we don't have to buy it, so we don't. More profit.
 
Yeah, it's unlikely the woods will be exploited by bushcrafters.

Maybe by big companies, but that's more often in the form of deforestation and turning woods and fields into parking lots.

I have no problem taking things out of the woods. A lot of the things people go nuts over are antiques that nobody has a claim to anymore, like old bottles, rusted out enamelware and etc. Stuff that was thrown out by its original owners 50 years ago can't be disputed!

Even foraging isn't a problem if done right. You can take quite a bit of plant matter out of the woods and not harm the ecosystem.

Obviously this doesn't apply to endangered or rare flora.

PMZ
 
I carry home enough "stuff" from the woods that my bride wants to put me on "Hoarders" and have the tv people come out and haul my stuff away then psycoanalize me and force me to cry on national tv. My dad was a tournament bass fisherman and I loved to fish with dad until we started fishing tournaments together then fishing turned into a job. I don't want that to happen to my dirt time.
 
For those of you who live along the coasts sea glass, especially the blue variety, sells well to jewelry makers. I met an older woman who lives on one of the Cranberry Islands in Maine who lives a very meager lifestyle in her family's homestead who has sustained herself for years by collecting and selling jewelry from sea glass, drift wood carvings, and repurposed crab/lobster trap lines. I talked to her for a while and she was so interesting and willing to teach that I wished I could stay right there the whole vacation just to learn as much as I could before she would die and all of her lessons would be lost.
 
If you love and live your work.......is it really work? I'm an arborist I love to go to work. I would think that you are just living if you did something like that. Who's to say the profit isn't being a bushcrafter in the bush.
 
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