What's the best way to dispose of a body in the backcountry?
Suppose you needed to dispose of a large carcass for one reason or another while in the backcountry... what would be the best way to dispose of it in the woods so that it wouldn't be discovered? You always hear stories of people burying bears that they've had to shoot, but I can't imagine digging a big enough hole in the rocky ground to hide a 500lbs+ bear. Especially if you weren't carrying a descent shovel. Is it easier to section the animal and bury the smaller parts? What about when you're up above the treeline? is covering it with rocks enough to hide it, or would you need to drag it into the trees and find some soft soil? I don't see anything on the Leave no Trace website that talks about this. Does anyone have any tips or stories about what they've done in these types of situations?
the correct way to dispose of...er-hem,(ex-living tissue !),is to dissect it into smaller,manageable pieces,(portions ?) …
9y ago
Burn it. True, campfires are not really a perfect example of leave no trace. But what you can do: Carry the carcass …
9y ago
Depends on where you are. Near Las Vegas, there are plenty of abandoned mines where a body will almost certainly remain …
9y ago
According to my wife, who is an experienced backpacker, it’s insufficient to merely leave the carcass to scavenge …
9y ago
Throwing a dead body down a ravine in a rugged mountain area is a morally blameless act, much like throwing your biodegr …
9y ago
You can just leave whatever parts you don't eat for the scavengers. Seriously, this is the outdoors, not Disney: critte …
9y ago
Eat it Happy April Fools!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9y ago
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Depends on where you are. Near Las Vegas, there are plenty of abandoned mines where a body will almost certainly remain undiscovered for years. Talk to the local mob for specifics.
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the correct way to dispose of...er-hem,(ex-living tissue !),is to dissect it into smaller,manageable pieces,(portions ?),and bury them in the ground,not together,but separately.Make sure that when you bury them,there is at least 30 cm's of space above the meat,you need to add a capstone to every piece buried,and then compact the soil above that. Cover your handiwork with twigs,leaves and brush etc. The whole exercise is best carried out at sundown,so any vapor condensation is not immediately visible.By the way,how old(fresh) is the stiff ? body heat is retained for 2-4 hours after the kill,so if you dismember it too soon,bare in mind,vapor condensation will escape,and could be seen by others !!!!-This could be a bad thing....it may mean you have more digging and dismembering to do. The reason you need capstones above the meat is to prevent them from being dug up by scavengers,and there-fore exposing your dirty secrets to all and sundry. I definitely haven;t killed anyone and buried them in the woods,LATELY ....
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Burn it.
True, campfires are not really a perfect example of leave no trace. But what you can do:
- Carry the carcass far above the treeline, where there is no vegetation
- Carry firewood to the same location (of course, only already dead branches and gathered from a sufficiently large area to be not suspicious)
- Burn!
- Whatever is left, carry out. If you can carry it up when it is full, surely you can carry the remains out. Don't forget to take the ashes, too.
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You can just leave whatever parts you don't eat for the scavengers. Seriously, this is the outdoors, not Disney: critters have died, from time to time, and worms have eaten them* - which is why the woods are not cluttered with corpses. "...we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but to one table".
*Apologies to Will Shakespeare.
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According to my wife, who is an experienced backpacker, it’s insufficient to merely leave the carcass to scavengers. You also need to leave a Snickers, to attract bears.
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Eat it
Happy April Fools!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8052. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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Throwing a dead body down a ravine in a rugged mountain area is a morally blameless act, much like throwing your biodegradable orange peel into a bush. Crows and coyotes will rapidly take care of it, leaving only disassembled bones, which they'll scatter. Just make sure to remove all the nonbiodegradable stuff, like clothing, credit cards, and so on. This also helps with not getting caught. It's easy for a search and rescue team to find someone if they're wearing a brightly colored tee shirt.
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