Wild Deer Adult Wilderness Skills Program
The Wild Deer Wilderness Skills Program is for adults of all experience levels to help deepen their connection with nature. Through hands-on learning and immersive experiences, participants explore naturalist knowledge, wilderness skills, and mentoring techniques. Gain a deeper awareness of the natural world, build lasting connections, and spark a lifelong passion for learning. Join us for this one-of-a-kind opportunity to connect, grow, and thrive outdoors!
For detailed information about each weekend, click the “More Info” box below.
Weekend 1 (Feb): Wonders of Winter: Wildlife tracking and winter survival skills
Location: A cozy lodge on a private lake near Baysville, ON (1.75 hours from Toronto)
For our first weekend, we’ll have the chance to embrace the magic of winter in the pristine Muskoka wilderness. This weekend is dedicated to understanding wildlife and mastering essential winter survival skills.
Activities include:
- Wildlife tracking (moose, wolves, marten, deer, and more)
- Fire-making with friction techniques
- Shelter building, including snow shelters and snow science
Weekend 2 (March): Handcrafting, Trees and Mammals
Location: Toronto’s urban ravines
Toronto’s ravines will provide the perfect setting to explore the “wilds” in our urban parks. Building on our tracking skills from the previous weekend, we’ll see how the longer days and warmer temperatures impact both the plants and animals in the park.
Activities include:
- Wood crafting: spoon-making and wooden pegs
- Tree ID and practical uses
- Mapping and exploring urban ecologies
Weekend 3 (April): Spring Plants
Location: GTA and Port Hope
Splitting our time between land near Port Hope and the GTA, we’ll take a deep dive into everything plants – who is hazardous, who provides food, medicinal or practical benefits, and what are the best ways to identify them and stay safe. We will also explore the basics of rope skills, building shelters and setting up a wilderness camp.
Activities include:
- Native plant ID basics and botany
- Medicine making (salves)
- Rope techniques and lashing tripods
Weekend 4 (May): Spring in Full Bloom
Location: GTA
Back in the GTA, we spend this weekend as keen observers. By listening to the “wild conversations” of the birds all around us, we create sound maps to better understand who is around and what they are communicating. Taking inspiration from bird’s nests we will use natural fibers to create cordage and simple crafts.
Activities include:
- Plants 2.0
- Birds and migration
- Bird language (birding by ear, and what info bird calls can tell you)
- Plant fibers and natural container crafting
Weekend 5 (June): Challenges, Celebrations and Reflections
Location: Private wilderness near Bancroft
Our final weekend will be a camping excursion outside of the city at a beautiful, wild location with a private lake for swimming (near Bancroft, ON). We will continue our learning, and culminate our experiences with an overnight experience on Saturday night. Sunday we will share stories and celebrations around a fire and feast on tasty treats, including some we have foraged for ourselves!
Activities include:
- Overnight challenge
- Identifying and preparing wild foraged foods
- Coal burning projects, including crafting bowls
Meet your Lead Instructor, Lee!
Lee Earl is an avid naturalist and lover of the wild places. Lee is a certified level III Track and Sign tracker and Co-founder of the Wild Foragers Society. Some of her favorite activities include birding, tracking mink and deer (even in the city!) and poking through her field guides. When she’s not hanging out in the ravines running programs with kids, she can be found foraging, preserving, fermenting and making all manner of goods from plants. Growing up in the Taylor Creek watershed, she is grateful to have opportunities to share her enthusiasm and passion about the beautiful planet we inhabit.
Lee will be joined by a variety of guest mentors throughout the year! We’ll share more about them in advance of the weekends they’re attending
Have any additional questions or concerns? We love talking about Wild Deer! Email or call us any time.
The Wild Deer wilderness skills program has been such an incredible and transformative experience. I’ve seen myself change so much over my time here and I’m so thankful to everyone that I’ve connected with over the course of this journey.
— Reid, 2018 Wild Deer participant
Click here to learn more about our curriculum and learning outcomes.
2025 Details:
Wild Deer is a weekend-based wilderness skills program with 5 weekend sessions occurring monthly between March and June. Exact times may vary slightly, based on the needs and interests of the group. Participants are required to bring their own food. Pricing includes all 5 weekends and lodging during March and June weekends.
Weekend 1: Baysville (Muskoka)
Weekend 2: GTA Parks
Weekend 3: Port Hope (Saturday), GTA Parks (Sunday)
Weekend 4: GTA Parks
Weekend 5: Camping (2-3 hours outside of the GTA)
A payment plan is available. Bursaries are available through our Bursary Fund.
Don’t have a car, or all the camping gear you feel you need to participate in Wild Deer? While we don’t provide transportation or equipment, we’re happy to help! Pine will set up a carpool form for participants before the program starts, and we have some camping equipment that can be borrowed. Reach out if you have any questions!
Registration
Registration for Wild Deer 2025 is now open! To view availability and apply to register, click the ‘Register’ button below and complete an application.
*We follow an application to register process – We will be in touch if we have any additional follow-up questions.
Click here for registration policies.
If you anticipate a disability creating a barrier to completing our online registration process, please contact our office prior to the registration date.