When it comes to survival in the outdoors, Laramy “Sasquatch” Miller takes a Boy Scout mentality.
“Just be prepared,” said Miller, host of the Outdoor Channel’s popular show Sasquatch: Mountain Man, which appears Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ET. “Hope for the best, but always prepare for the worst.”
Miller was born and raised in the mountains of southern Colorado, a region that attracts many with its beauty but can also scar with its quick and violent weather changes.
“There are so many people who come and want to hike in the Rockies, and they’re not prepared,” Miller said. “It is easy to get turned around and get lost. It happens to experienced woodsman all the time everywhere. I got lost in the woods in Arkansas. It can happen to anyone, and it does.”
While Miller said he has never been in an emergency survival situation in the outdoors himself, he has a lifetime’s worth of experience of “roughing it” to draw upon. It began as a teenager with three-week treks in the Rockies on horseback with a cousin.
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“One time I went 200 miles on horseback over three weeks,” he said. “Just sleeping under the stars and enjoying everything that Mother Nature has to offer.
“We would set out with nothing but a sack of raw potatoes. With hunting regulations, you couldn’t kill a deer or anything like that. But we would fish a lot in the streams, and we were young and crazy, so we would eat about anything – squirrels, crows, blackbirds, anything.”
Miller said the key to surviving in the outdoors, no matter the situation, is remaining dry.
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“You’ve got to have some kind of rain cover,” he said. “And dry clothing is so important, whether you have to exert yourself and sweat or if you just get wet. If you wearing a lot of cotton, that’s going to hold that moisture in and close to your body, and that’s going to put you in a better chance for hypothermia.”
Before putting themselves in what could be a life-threatening situation, Miller said, inexperienced outdoorsmen should work on their own preparedness.
“Anyone who is thinking of doing that kind of thing, whether they have experience at it or not, they need to do a little research,” Miller said. “They should learn to build a fire without lighter fluid. They should know how to find or create cover.
“Enjoy Mother Nature, but prepare for the worst things she can throw at you.”
For Sasquatch's survival tips, click here.
