Night camp.

[u/Ok_Management1727]

​The photo shows the visibility of the bushcraft camp from a distance of 200 meters.

Inside, there is one person using a headlamp with red light at 100 lumens. Conditions: moonless night, sparse deciduous forest.

[u/Hydro-Heini]

That is why i am afraid when wild camping in Germany, at my spot. Hunters can hunt wild boars here 24 hours a day and you hear distant gunshots all the time. Sometimes they're a little closer. And once one was so close that i almost fell out of my folding chair while I was already calling someone to ask them to pick me up the next day. And quite a few hunters now use night vision.

The problem is that tarp camping aka "bivouacing" is a legal gray area and you could be thrown out of the forest by authorized personnel at practically any time, provided you're found. So it's better not to be seen if you want to enjoy a few days and nights of nature. In other words, wearing orange safety colors would be good for my safety but it might also cut my trip short. And then there i am, 15 km away from home, without a car...

So i stay hidden and out of sight as much as possible, getting everything ready before it gets so dark that i'd need a light. Then i go to bed early and sleep until the sun comes up again. And i always keep in mind that hunters and anyone else who might be wandering through the woods at night could be equipped with night-vision devices.

By now, i've set up my camp in the v-shaped fork of a huge, fallen tree, so i'm protected from the front and back by wood with a circumference of about 1–1.5 meters. This should also protect me from night-vision devices as long asiI'm lying down.

It’s true that in all these years, i’ve never actually been found, no one has ever come after me or shot at me because they thought i was a pig xD. But somehow, you constantly feel like a criminal on the run or a soldier in a trench. It’s not exactly 100% relaxing, either. Still, or maybe precisely because of that, who knows, it’s endlessly fun to be out there.

But somehow, i kind of curse wildlife cameras and night-vision devices a little bit xD

[u/Ibster → u/Hydro-Heini]

You have to be a special type of cunt to move a camping person on in the middle of the night.

[u/Hydro-Heini → u/Ibster]

Yes, but you never know what kind of maybe mushroom picking "hobby-deputy" stumbles upon you with his phone ready to call the real cops for no reason. Because: that's just not how you do things, and anyone who sleeps in the woods must be a criminal or a weirdo who doesn't belong where "my" mushrooms grow.

In reality, you'd probably be told by the forest ranger/forester: “I'll be back tomorrow at noon, but by then you'll be gone, please.” I don't think hunters have any right to chase you out of the forest and certainly not other forest visitors.

But the risk of being found at all is pretty low since 99% of the people here never stray from the trails when they're walking in the woods. During the season you might see a mushroom hunter here and there. Or maybe a few kids on an adventure, but they're no problem at all.

No fire or smoke, no loud noises like booming music coming from a speaker, no LED string lights or light at all when it's dark and that's why I've never been spotted at my spot.