Destroying Buschcraft Shelters: Winter Edition

View my original how-to guide here

Winter in Oregon doesn’t stop anyone from getting outdoors, and this unfortunately includes buschcrafters and nature molesters. In this special winter edition, I’ll discuss how to destroy winter Buschcraft shelters as well as a moral decision making exercise should you find yourself in this situation.

On a trip to Trillium Lake recently, we discovered another group of campers furiously shoveling snow off the frozen lake for hours. Turns out they were building ice blocks to make a partial igloo/windblock. They were also observed sawing down a sizeable tree.

Yet another in the group took his axe to another innocent tree on the frozen shoreline, failing in his attempt. The tree will likely die from its wound.

The group made a thigh-high ring of igloo style ice blocks on top of the frozen lake. Right in the middle, was a live tree sacrificed as the center “pole”. From this center pole, the violators hung several tarps to create a shelter on top of the ice. They had a fire on top of the ice, and later in the night as temps dropped into single digits, they had another fire *inside* their shelter (again, on top of the ice).

There were only two of us, but upwards of 8 of them. We decided against directly speaking to them for fear of being mocked.

We waited till the next morning to find the camp abandoned. The group left hand warmers, beer cans, a full beer, and an empty whiskey bottle. They did in fact kill a live tree to have a center pole for their shelter.

An otherwise cool half-igloo wind block now qualifies not only as a buschcraft shelter, but a crime scene.

Based on the evidence, we had no choice but to destroy it. Here’s how we did it:

  1. Kick over as many of the ice blocks as possible, being careful not to fall on ice due to our power kicks.
  2. Knock over the center pole, which was somehow jammed into the ice. Be careful not to crack the ice you are standing on.
  3. Put ice blocks on the smoldering trash fire on the lake
  4. Clean up all trash and carry it out.
  5. Document on social media

It’s important to note that an igloo itself is not cause for alarm. Neither is a quinzee, which we also found in the woods. They simply melt, since they are technically made of water. These are not crimes. However, when the buschcrafters add live plants/trees and leave trash behind, you’ve stumbled upon a crime scene. Document and destroy… or perhaps document as you destroy, which is way more fun.

I know I’ll get the usual cascade of abusive language with bad grammar, as well as death threats from buschcrafters and MAGA chuds, but you will not deter me from the Lord’s work.

13 Comments

  1. Thank you for the good work. I understand the desire not to talk to them, I wonder what a “positive” conversation would look like to convince them to not trash the environment and needlessly murder a tree.

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