Join expert instructor Cattail Bob and The Survival University on a wild plant walk in the mountains near Cripple Creek. During the hike, we will identify plants that are edible, medicinal, poisonous, tool-craft, and smoke-able. With Cattail Bob’s expertise, we can easily identify over 100 different plants on this leisurely walk. Bring your camera and notepad to capture the knowledge and beauty of the wilderness.

Cattail Bob has been teaching wild plant identification since 1975 and has written several plant identification books. He teaches for colleges and has extensive knowledge of plants and their uses. During the class, he will guide students in identifying plants and distinguishing between edible, medicinal, poisonous, and utilitarian plants.

The class will start with an introduction to wild plant identification and safety considerations. Cattail Bob will explain the different parts of plants and their uses, as well as how to differentiate between edible and poisonous plants. We will then start our walk, where Cattail Bob will point out various plants and provide information on their uses for food, medicine, tools, and smoking.

Students will be able to touch, feel, taste, and smell appropriate plants to start their foundation on how to identify plants. They will learn how to use these plants for survival needs and get a deeper understanding of the importance of wild plants in nature.

By the end of the class, students will have gained valuable knowledge on how to identify and use wild plants for food, medicine, tools, and smoking. They will have had an unforgettable experience in the wilderness, learning from one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field.

Class will start at 9:30am and continue until about 5:00pm. We will visit several locations near Cripple Creek and surrounding areas. We intend to walk the Colorado Mountain Man Survival school location and Shelf Road.

Student capacity for the class is 20 people. Sign up before spots fill.

SURVIVAL PLANTS BOOK is not included in the price of the class. Cattails book will be available to purchase during class.

Course Topics:

• Introduction to wild plant identification
• Safety considerations for foraging wild plants
• Identifying the different parts of plants and their uses
• Distinguishing between edible, medicinal, poisonous, and utilitarian plants
• Identification a wide range of different wild plants
• Understanding the uses of wild plants for food, medicine, tools, and smoking
• Ethical considerations for foraging wild plants
• Basic plant harvesting and preparation techniques

Course Outcomes and Demonstrated Skills:

• Ability to identify and differentiate between various wild plants
• Knowledge of the uses of wild plants for food, medicine, tools, and smoking
• Understanding of the importance of ethical considerations when foraging wild plants
• Familiarity with basic plant harvesting and preparation techniques
• Confidence in identifying and utilizing wild plants for survival needs
• Enhanced appreciation and respect for the natural world and its resources.

Discover the art of trapping with our immersive 2-Day Trapping Course, where modern techniques meet primitive ingenuity. Whether you’re looking to enhance your survival skills or simply want to get closer to nature, this course offers a hands-on experience that is as educational as it is fun. In today’s modern society, knowing how to trap—not only for sustenance in a survival scenario but also as a way to understand natural behaviors—can be both practical and empowering.

What You’ll Learn

Thro Important Legal Notice: Trapping Regulations throughout the course, you’ll gain a solid foundation in both modern and primitive trapping methods. Our expert instructors guide you through the principles of ethical and legal trapping practices, ensuring you understand the importance of safety and sustainability in every step. You will learn how to:

• Set up and configure a variety of modern traps, from leg-holds to live traps
• Choose and craft effective bait and lure techniques
• Evaluate and select optimal trap placement based on natural signs
• Construct primitive traps using natural materials such as snares, and deadfalls
• Camouflage and test your traps for maximum efficacy in different terrains

Why Trapping Skills Matter

In a world where convenience often overshadows self-reliance, these skills provide a valuable edge. Whether you’re preparing for an outdoor adventure, a survival situation, or simply seeking to reconnect with nature, the ability to trap responsibly is an essential survival skill. Learning these techniques not only boosts your self-sufficiency but also deepens your appreciation for the balance between human activity and the natural world.

Join us for two days of practical, engaging, and enlightening training that will leave you confident in your ability to harness nature’s resources responsibly and effectively.

Important Legal Notice: Trapping Regulations

Please note that trapping is illegal in Colorado; we will not engage in any actual trapping, but will only set up and demonstrate proper trap usage. We encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with local laws and regulations.

Practical Centerfire Rifle Training with Kevin Estela

Train with Kevin Estela, a nationally respected wilderness survival expert and firearms instructor, in this hands-on course designed specifically for hunters and anyone relying on a bolt–action rifle for hunting or backcountry survival. This course focuses entirely on practical shooting techniques rooted in real-world application—not theory.

Whether you’re pursuing big game in rugged terrain or preparing for self-reliance in remote areas, you’ll learn how to get the most out of your centerfire rifle through expert instruction and field-proven marksmanship.

What You’ll Learn in This Rifle Course for Hunters

This immersive, skill-focused training covers everything you need to shoot more effectively in unpredictable wilderness environments:

• Ballistics & Trajectory Fundamentals
  Learn how environmental conditions, wind, elevation, and range impact your rifle’s performance and your shooting accuracy.

• Rifle Setup and Zeroing for Field Accuracy
  Set up your bolt-action rifle for maximum reliability and dial in your zero to match real-world conditions.

• Shooting Positions & Sling Use
  Practice stable shooting from various positions—standing, kneeling, prone—with and without sling support, just like you’d encounter while hunting in the field.

• Practical Marksmanship Drills
  Engage in real-life application drills that build the skills you’ll need to place accurate shots when it matters most.

Why Take This Rifle Training Course?

Hunting in the wild doesn’t allow for do-overs. Every shot counts—and this course prepares you to make them confidently. Whether you’re an experienced hunter or just stepping up your game, this class improves your ability to ethically and effectively harvest game with your bolt–action rifle under real-world conditions.

About Kevin Estela

Kevin Estela is a highly respected survival and firearms instructor with years of experience training hunters, outdoorsmen, and military personnel. He brings a no-nonsense, field-first teaching style that’s rooted in practical experience—not just theory—helping students become sharper, more capable shooters in rugged terrain.

Course Highlights

• Bolt-action rifle skills for hunters

• Real-world centerfire marksmanship

• Ballistics and environmental shooting factors

• Rifle zeroing and setup

• Shooting positions and sling stability

• Survival marksmanship and gear application

• Taught by expert instructor Kevin Estela

Take Your Navigation Skills Off-Trail, Off-Grid, and to the Next Level

If you’ve already learned the basics of map and compass navigation, this is the course that pushes your skills into real-world, rugged terrain. Our Advanced Land Navigation Course is designed for students who want to move beyond trails, develop elite-level terrain association, and travel confidently across challenging landscapes using traditional tools and advanced route planning techniques.

This course builds directly on the foundation taught in our Land Navigation: Map & Compass Skills for the Backcountry course. While not required, we strongly recommend completing it before enrolling in this advanced session.

What to Expect in the Advanced Navigation Course

Over three days, students will train in remote and physically demanding terrain, navigating longer distances while overcoming natural obstacles like elevation changes, water features, and thick vegetation. You’ll use detailed topographic maps, an orienteering compass, and terrain association to travel across wilderness landscapes—without trails, GPS, or modern crutches.

• Day One: Introduction at basecamp with refresher skills, basic wilderness survival training, and emergency signaling techniques. Then we relocate to a remote training area.

• Days Two & Three: Students will practice advanced map and compass navigation, learning to move across rough backcountry, sleep in primitive field conditions, and apply route planning and real-time decision making in the wild.

You’ll spend the night away from main camp, fully immersed in your environment. Proper overnight gear, durable footwear, and foul weather clothing are required.

Advanced Navigation Skills You’ll Learn

• Topographic map interpretation and detailed terrain analysis

• Use of orienteering and military-style compasses in real-world settings

• Triangulation and back azimuth techniques for pinpoint location awareness

• Planning and executing backcountry routes with dead reckoning and terrain association

• Navigation over elevation, through brush, and across water

• Night navigation and emergency reorientation strategies

• Establishing safety bearings, backstops, handrails, and checkpoints

• Field signaling techniques for wilderness emergencies

Why Take This Course?

The ability to navigate off-trail with confidence is one of the most empowering skills in the outdoors. Whether you’re a hunter heading deep into public land, a SAR team member working in unfamiliar zones, or a backpacker chasing remote peaks, advanced navigation training gives you the tools to go farther and return safely.

This isn’t just another orienteering challenge—it’s the real-world application of wilderness travel. You’ll leave this course with the skills, mindset, and confidence to move through the backcountry like a local, even when the trail disappears.

Who This Course is For

• Hikers and backpackers ready to go off-grid

• Hunters and anglers pursuing remote locations

• Military and tactical professionals

• Search and Rescue members

• Orienteering competitors seeking real-world terrain challenge

• Anyone serious about mastering map and compass navigation

Course Outcome

After completing this advanced navigation course, you will be able to confidently plan and navigate cross-country routes through rugged terrain using only a map, compass, and your own terrain awareness. You’ll understand how to move, adapt, and reorient in the field—day or night.

• Interpretation and use of topographical maps
• Use and selection of compasses
• Terrain identification and navigation
• Using back azimuths and triangulation to determine your location
• Route planning
• Navigation using dead reckoning, terrain association
• Safety bearings, backstops and guide rails
• Upon completion of this course, students will be able to navigate confidently through the wilderness over rugged terrain. This is an excellent course for hunters, hikers, military and search and rescue.

Master the Art of Navigation with a Map, Compass, and Confidence

Do you worry about getting lost in the woods? Does using a map and compass feel confusing or intimidating? You’re not alone—and this course is here to change that. Our Land Navigation 101 course is designed to eliminate the fear of getting lost and replace it with real-world skills, hands-on training, and true backcountry confidence.

This intensive 30-hour wilderness navigation course teaches you how to read topographic maps, use both orienteering and lensatic compasses, and apply terrain association to travel through the backcountry—without ever needing a GPS. Whether you’re a hiker, hunter, search and rescue volunteer, or backcountry adventurer, this course gives you the tools to navigate like a pro.

What You’ll Learn in This Land Navigation Course

• Topographic Map Reading
  Learn to interpret map legends, terrain features, contour lines, relief shading, grid systems, UTM coordinates, and more.

• Compass Selection & Use
  Understand the differences between orienteering compasses and lensatic compasses, and how to shoot accurate azimuths and bearings with both.

• Terrain Association
  Develop the ability to read and match terrain in real life to what you see on the map, including ridges, spurs, saddles, valleys, and reentrants.

• Route Planning & Field Navigation
  Practice plotting and following your own routes, measuring distance using your pace count, and navigating with safety bearings, back azimuths, and guide rails.

• Hands-On Map & Compass Exercises
  Apply your skills immediately on our 1,100-acre training site, with real terrain challenges and navigation exercises—including elements that simulate orienteering and even basic geocaching scenarios.

• Advanced Navigation Techniques
  Learn how to navigate using triangulation, dead reckoning, and nighttime navigation under limited light.

What’s the Difference Between Land Navigation and Orienteering?

Orienteering is a timed sport that involves navigating between checkpoints using a map and compass. This course, while incorporating some orienteering-style challenges, focuses on the real-world application of navigation in wilderness settings—no time limits, no competitions—just solid skills to get you in and out of the backcountry safely and confidently.

Why Take a Map & Compass Navigation Course?

Learning land navigation opens up the outdoors in a way that GPS can’t. Whether you’re searching for remote hunting spots, hiking off-trail, or curious about geocaching, this class gives you the tools to explore beyond the beaten path—and return safely.

Who Should Take This Course?

• Hikers, backpackers, and trail explorers

• Hunters and anglers venturing off-grid

• SAR and emergency personnel

• Military service members and civilians preparing for self-reliance

• Orienteering beginners who want foundational map and compass skills

• Advanced orienteering competitors looking to sharpen terrain association and improve speed and accuracy in real-world environments

• Anyone who wants to go beyond GPS and navigate with confidence

Course Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will:

• Navigate confidently using a topographic map, compass, and protractor

• Identify and interpret terrain features in real environments

• Plan and follow routes with terrain-based navigation strategies

• Use back azimuths, triangulation, and pacing in practical field conditions

• Understand the difference between GPS navigation, orienteering, and traditional map-and-compass travel

• Move through the wilderness independently—day or night, with or without trails

Learn Wild Mushroom Identification, Foraging Techniques, and Edible Uses

Step into the woods for a full day of hands-on mushroom hunting and wild foraging. This immersive class is perfect for beginners and enthusiasts who want to learn how to identify, harvest, and cook wild mushrooms found in Colorado’s beautiful backcountry.

In this 1-day mushroom foraging course, you’ll stay at our camp location and explore nearby terrain to learn the art of mushroom identification and safe harvesting. You’ll gain field-based experience with mushroom anatomy, toxic vs. edible lookalikes, and tree and plant associations that help you locate high-yield zones. We’ll teach you how to spot medicinal mushrooms, edible mushrooms, and even a few to avoid.

What You’ll Learn in This Mushroom Foraging Class

• How to identify edible, poisonous, and medicinal mushrooms

• Mushroom anatomy and terminology for accurate identification

• Tree and plant relationships that help you find mushrooms in the wild

• How to use field guides, apps, and photos for documentation

• Foraging ethics and sustainable collection practices

• Basic cooking and preparation tips for wild mushrooms

After a day in the field, you’re invited to cook and taste your harvest with us back at camp—or take them home to your own kitchen for a wild food experience you’ll never forget.

Foragers Take Note

This is an information-packed day, so come prepared to learn, take notes, and explore. While we plan this course around optimal mushroom growing seasons at our camp’s elevation, we cannot guarantee a certain quantity or variety of mushrooms, as nature doesn’t follow a fixed schedule. No refunds will be given unless the course is canceled by TSU staff.

Why Take a Mushroom Hunting Class?

Whether you’re new to foraging or want to gain more confidence in identifying edible mushrooms in the wild, this class gives you practical skills and the ability to safely gather and enjoy one of nature’s most fascinating foods. You’ll walk away with more than mushrooms—you’ll gain knowledge that can support backcountry cooking, natural medicine, and self-reliant living.

NOTE:

While every effort is made to forecast the optimal mushroom harvesting season at the camp’s elevation based on past growth patterns, we are unable to ensure a guaranteed abundance of mushrooms. Our endeavors are confined to the resources nature presents, and this understanding shall preclude any entitlement to a refund. By enrolling in the class, students acknowledge and agree that no refunds will be given unless this class is cancelled by TSU staff or instructors.

Learn to Read the Wild Like a Storybook

Step off the beaten path and into a world most people never see. The Introduction to Animal Tracking course is an immersive, hands-on experience designed to teach you how to read the subtle signs of wildlife presence—signs that often go completely unnoticed by the average hiker or outdoorsman. Whether you’re a wildlife enthusiast, hunter, survivalist, or just someone who wants to connect more deeply with the natural world, this course will open your eyes to the hidden language of the wild.

What You’ll Learn in This Animal Tracking Course

Animal tracking isn’t just about spotting paw prints in the dirt—it’s about learning to observe the environment in a completely new way. You’ll gain foundational skills in:

• Track Identification: Learn how to distinguish between species, including common mistakes like misidentifying canine and feline tracks.

• Track Aging: Discover how to determine how old a track is based on weathering, debris, and surrounding signs.

• Gait Patterns & Track Measurement: Understand how animals move through different terrain by measuring stride, straddle, and gait.

• Scat Identification: Get up close (but not too close) with animal droppings to identify species and even understand diet and behavior.

Hands-On Tracking Skills in Real Terrain

This isn’t a classroom lecture—we’ll be outdoors, learning through direct observation and field exercises. You’ll explore diverse terrain and learn how to adapt tracking techniques to sand, mud, forest duff, snow (seasonally), and rock. We’ll practice:

• Building track traps to help capture clearer impressions

• Using natural and artificial light to enhance visibility of shallow or partial tracks

• Making field-expedient tools for measuring and recording tracks

• Creating your own tracking journal to document signs, patterns, and species

Learn the Tools and Techniques of Real Trackers

We’ll cover the tools professionals use to track animals effectively—everything from rulers and flashlights to casting kits and photography. You’ll also learn how to improvise with what you have in the field. We focus on practical, real-world tracking techniques that can be applied whether you’re looking for wildlife, tracking game, or simply developing a deeper awareness of your surroundings.

Why Take an Animal Tracking Course?

Tracking helps build your intuition, observation skills, and connection to the land. It sharpens your awareness and teaches you to slow down and see more. You’ll leave this course not just knowing how to identify tracks, but how to read animal behavior, movement, and presence—turning your next hike, camping trip, or hunt into a richer, more informed experience.

This course is beginner-friendly, family-friendly, and perfect for outdoor lovers of all ages. Whether you’re preparing for backcountry adventures, want to improve your wilderness skills, or just want to geek out on tracks and scat, this is the place to start.

Get Outside and Track Something Wild

Join us for a weekend of discovery, dirt, and wild stories written in footprints. Spaces are limited and our tracking courses fill quickly—sign up today and start seeing the wild like never before.

This course is designed to be fluid and adaptable, allowing participants to learn at their own pace and according to conditions. Each day will focus on core survival concepts, but the exact schedule will depend on factors like weather, terrain, and the pace of the group. The goal is not to rush through activities but to ensure everyone gains practical, hands-on experience with each skill. Expect a mix of demonstrations, hands-on practice, and time to reflect on the processes and lessons learned. Participants should come prepared for unpredictable conditions, both mentally and physically. The experience will challenge your ability to think critically, adapt, and sustain yourself in the wild with minimal resources.

Over the course of five days, you’ll step into the world of off-grid living—learning how to ethically dispatch and process a farm animal, cook it over fire, preserve the meat without refrigeration, and use every part of the animal to support life in the wilderness. This is a raw, immersive survival training focused on real-life application, not theory.

You’ll master field butchering, firecraft, primitive cooking, bone and sinew tool-making, and hide utilization. Each lesson is grounded in ancient techniques adapted for modern-day backcountry use. This isn’t a sanitized version of survival—this is hands-on, full-contact, dirt-under-your-nails learning that will connect you to what it really means to live off the land.

Whether you’re a hunter, homesteader, prepper, or just curious about primitive living skills, this course will leave you with a new respect for the natural world and a toolkit of skills to keep you fed, warm, and prepared—no matter where you are.

Key Learning Objectives

• Ethical Dispatching: Learn the humane methods of dispatching a live animal for survival purposes.
• Complete Animal Processing: Master butchering techniques and learn to preserve meat without modern tools.
• Maximizing Resources: Use bones, sinew, and hide to create essential survival tools, clothing, and gear.
• Primitive Survival Skills: Develop core skills such as fire-making, shelter-building, and natural cordage crafting.
• Sustainability in Survival: Learn to respect and fully utilize nature’s offerings to thrive in austere environments.
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Core Skills Covered

Animal Dispatch and Butchery
• Learn humane and respectful dispatching techniques for goats or sheep.
• Process the entire animal, focusing on sustainable practices to maximize food and resources.
Primitive Cooking and Meat Preservation
• Use open-fire cooking methods and primitive preservation techniques like drying or smoking to prepare and store meat.
• Gain the skills to create nourishing meals in survival situations.
Bone and Sinew Tool Crafting
• Craft practical survival tools such as knives, fish hooks, or needles from animal bones.
• Use sinew to make durable cordage for use in trapping, shelter-building, and tool repair.
Hide Tanning and Utilization
• Learn basic hide preparation and tanning techniques.
• Use the animal hide for creating clothing, shelter coverings, or other survival gear.
Shelter and Fire-Making
• Build functional survival shelters using natural materials and animal hide.
• Master primitive fire-starting methods using friction fire and animal parts as fuel or tools.
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Course Takeaways

By the end of the course, participants will:
• Have a deep understanding of how to ethically harvest and process an animal in a survival situation.
• Know how to use every part of the animal to make tools, food, and shelter.
• Gain practical experience in core survival skills like fire-making and shelter-building.
• Develop a stronger connection to nature and a respect for sustainable living practices in the wild.
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Who Should Attend?

This course is ideal for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of primitive survival skills. Whether you’re a survival enthusiast, hunter, homesteader, or simply someone wanting to push your limits in the wilderness, this immersive experience will equip you with the tools and knowledge to thrive in nature.
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Instructor: Ryan Maguire

Ryan Maguire is a skilled wilderness survival instructor with years of experience teaching primitive survival techniques. His approach blends ancient practices with modern survival needs, empowering participants to respect and use nature’s resources responsibly.
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This course offers a unique opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the natural world, learning to not just survive but thrive with limited resources. Come prepared to challenge your limits, learn new skills, and walk away with a profound understanding of the natural world around you.

Learn the ancient skill of flint knapping and how to craft primitive hunting tools in this immersive 2-day course at The Survival University. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your technique, this class teaches you how to shape stone into functional arrowheads, spear points, and cutting tools using time-tested methods.

Led by expert instructor Phillip Liebel, you’ll gain hands-on experience with both percussion and pressure flaking, learn to identify and prepare knappable stone like flint and obsidian, and create your own toolkit to take home. This course blends traditional flint knapping with practical survival applications—perfect for bushcrafters, hunters, homesteaders, and anyone interested in primitive technology.

Connect with your ancestral roots and gain practical skills that can serve you in the wild. Space is limited—reserve your spot today in this one-of-a-kind flint knapping course!

The Ethnobotany 101 course is our course on learning the uses of wild plants. We will teach you how to harvest plants for edible, medicinal and utilitarian uses and then what you need to do to prepare them for their appropriate use. This course is designed to narrow the list of tens of thousands of plants into a handful that are most useful in a survival situation. The plants learned will be highly variable based on location and time of year.

Wild plants are an extremely important subject because without the availability of modern remedies, a good outdoorsman can substitute these remedies with nature’s medicine or tools. Nature provides a plethora of resources, one only has to learn how to identify said resources and know how to properly process them to maximize their uses. Being able to identify wild plants and use them for food, medicine and tools can literally save your life. Increasing your knowledge on plants will only increase your comfort in the wilderness and allow you to succeed in many tasks, where your average outdoor enthusiast would fail.

​In this course, we will teach you the basics of plant identification and what resources are best to use in your area to learn what grows around you. We will then move on into advanced subjects and show you how to actually use the plants that you identify. Once you learn your plants you will be able to more freely scavenge for food and medicine in your own back yard or anywhere you choose to go in the world.

In the first part of the course we will take you on a wild plant walk and help you learn how to identify plants and then we will harvest these plants to use for either eating, making medicine or tools.

​Plants can be categorized as utilitarian, edible, medicinal, poisonous or a combination of all four. Some of the most useful plants to learn are typically the ones that combine all three positive features. With so many plant species growing in so many different environments during different times of year, it would take a person several lifetimes to learn them all.

Edible Plants – There are edible wild plants all around us. One just has to learn about them and have the confidence to know they are identifying them correctly.

​Medicinal Plants – Just about every plant has some medicinal property to them. You can find plants that have skin healing properties, to plants that will stop bleeding, even plants that will stimulate your liver or stop you from having an asthma attack. We will show you these plants and how to effectively use them.

​Utilitarian Plants – Besides food and medicine, plants have a plethora of tool based uses.

​Poisonous Plants – Alongside the useful plants, grow the poisonous ones that will make your life not so pleasant. We will show you all the ones to stay away from!

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?

• Identifying useful plants for tinder, kindling, and sustaining fuel
• Best plant choices for friction fire sets
• Plants that are useful for shelter construction and insulation
• Plants that make strong natural cordage
• How to identify and create improvised containers from plants
• Identifying easily recognizable edible plants
• Medicinal and First Aid uses of plants
• Best plants for personal hygiene
• Poisonous Plant Identification
• Once we show you all the skills you need to know to identify plants and process them, then you can take that knowledge home and start using plants from your local area.