Highland Reckoning Episode 3: Fire, Foraging & Fear | Steven Kelly

Day three of Highland Reckoning began with a ten-minute dash to the river. By lunchtime I'd won a bacon butty after a freezing-water fire challenge, and by evening Jamie, Sam and I were eating venison with wild mushrooms and blueberry jam.

Watch Highland Reckoning Episode 3

Watch Fire, Foraging & Fear on YouTube.

Ten minutes to the river

Hodgie told us to meet him by the river in ten minutes, as a team. Jamie and I hurried off and left Sam behind. Sam wasn't happy, and Hodgie wasn't impressed either. He warned us there would be consequences. He wasn't joking.

A ferro-rod fire challenge with a freezing twist

Each of us had a wooden frame with a rock tied up by cord. We had to light a fire using a ferro rod, build it up and burn through the cord. First rock to hit the ground won a bacon butty. But before we could begin, Hodgie made us get into the freezing river.

The cold changed everything. I came out in a panic and got water from my head and hands over my fire materials. I'd rushed a job I should know better than to rush. I took a moment to sort myself out and concentrate. Jamie and I ended up neck and neck, but I built my flame high enough to reach the cord and my rock dropped first. I'd won.

I gave up my bacon butty for the lads

Then Hodgie offered me a choice: eat my prize or give it up so Jamie and Sam could have breakfast. I was starving, but I chose to feed the lads. We'd all put the work in, and it didn't feel right having one person enjoy the food while the others went without. I ended up getting a bacon butty too, which made the whole thing even better.

Sam takes on the second deer

After the competition we split the jobs. Sam wanted to process the second deer on his own, applying what he'd watched Jamie do the day before. Keeping the hide intact took care and patience, and he admitted the task was intimidating. He also noticed flies on the carcass. It's worth remembering that lack of an unpleasant smell isn't enough to establish whether meat is safe to eat.

Foraging for hazelnuts, blueberries and chanterelles

Jamie and I headed into the woodland to see what we could find. We collected hazelnuts, discovered a good patch of blueberries and picked golden chanterelles for our meal. It was a proper foraging session, with a purpose: bring something useful back to camp and turn it into food.

Wild mushrooms need positive identification by someone competent. A single feature or a video isn't enough to judge whether a mushroom is safe to eat.

Venison with Jamie's blueberry jam

Back at camp we put the food together. Jamie made the blueberries into jam, and we prepared the hazelnuts, chanterelles and venison. The result was one of the best meals of the expedition so far. We'd each contributed something, from processing the deer to collecting wild food and cooking it.

Over the meal we swapped stories about Naked and Afraid, including things that didn't make the television edit. It's moments like those, with three survivalists talking and having a laugh around camp, that I wanted Highland Reckoning to capture.

Next: the haunted house

By the end of day three we were hearing rumours from Hodgie about spending the next night in a haunted house. I've been through plenty of difficult survival situations, but I wasn't looking forward to that one.

Follow Highland Reckoning

Watch Episode 3 on YouTube and find the rest of the adventure on the Highland Reckoning series page. To learn outdoor survival and bushcraft skills, visit South West Survival.

About Steven Kelly

I'm Steven Kelly, also known as Survival Ste, a former 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery soldier and television survivalist. I appeared on Naked and Afraid and Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse and created Highland Reckoning with Jamie Frizzell and Sam Mouzer.