Hunter Gatherer | Boulder Outdoor Survival School

Live on the Land as Your Ancestors Did

The Hunter Gatherer Course is the most immersive and challenging offering at BOSS. This course takes you beyond basic survival skills, teaching you how to live exclusively with what nature provides for 9 days with only the stone-age tools you’ve crafted yourself. After four days of preparation, you and your course mates will set out into the wilderness to live as a true primitive group. You’ll leave behind modern comforts and take on the role of a hunter-gatherer, foraging, hunting, and relying on the natural resources of the desert. There is no other course like this.

The Challenge

The Hunter Gatherer Course offers an unparalleled challenge for even the most seasoned survival enthusiast. Unlike other courses, this experience focuses not on distance traveled but on your ability to sustain yourself with what you can find and craft from the land. The physical and mental demands are significant—energy conservation is critical, as you will have limited food and water. By the end of the course, most students report feeling a profound connection to the land and a deep appreciation for the resourcefulness of our ancestors.

What to Expect

The Hunter Gatherer Course is the most immersive and challenging experience at BOSS. After a four-day preparation period of crafting primitive hunting tools and stone-age gear, you’ll travel as a hunter-gatherer group – foraging, hunting, and building shelters in the desert. For nine days, you will live off the land with only the tools you create. This course offers a rare opportunity to truly experience ancient survival in one of the most remote environments in the country.

Prerequisites

• No previous hunting or advanced survival skills are required, but participants should have a high level of comfort in the wilderness and a solid foundation in primitive survival techniques.

• Completion of a 14- or 28-day Field Expedition within the past five years is required.

• A complete physical examination and physician approval are mandatory before enrollment.

• Students must be at least 18 years old.

Food - Start by processing a large animal for nourishment while crafting expedition gear, then survive on just what you trap, forage, fish, and hunt for yourself and group.

Travel - Travel with instructors between base camps to explore canyon resources. Students do not lead on travel days.

Shelter - Sleep in natural shelters where available or make primitive debris shelters from what you find on the land.

Live Off The Land - Live off only what nature provides and tap into the way your ancestors survived in the wild.