If you’re a little jumpy about drinking the water in Mexico, you should be just as cautious about drinking water from streams, lakes and other sources in the wilderness. While hunting, you might run out of distilled water that you brought with you, or perhaps you decide to stay overnight and didn’t bring any at all. Whatever the case, you’ll need to know how to purify water when hunting in the wilderness.
Strain the Water
The first step to purify water in the wilderness is to strain it carefully. Hopefully, you’ve brought along a wire mesh strainer, along with your other hunting gear, that can be used to filter water you find in the great outdoors. This helps to filter out anything you wouldn’t want to put in your mouth, such as sediment, leaves, dirt particles and more. If you don’t have a strainer, make sure to get the water from the top of the source, and preferably from the center of the body of water.
Water Purification Tablets
One way to purify water in the wilderness is to use water purification tablets, which you can buy at most grocery stores. They cost around $4.00 for a pack of 20 or 30 tablets, and one tablet should be used for every liter of water you obtain from the great outdoors. While hunting, this can be an attractive option because the tablets are small and don’t add much to your load.
Boiling Water
Another option to purify water in the wilderness is to boil it over a campfire. When you boil water, it gets rid of the dangerous bacteria that can harm your gastrointestinal tract, making it safe to drink. This is sometimes difficult to do while hunting because you have to wait for the water to cool before you drink it, and many hunters prefer not to get too close to the fire.
If you’re going to do it this way, you’ll need to bring with your hunting gear a pot that is suitable for setting above an open flame. Make sure that the water reaches full boil (large bubbles) and that you allow it to boil for at least three or four minutes before removing it from the fire. If you’ve brought an ice chest, you can speed the cooling process by pouring the water into individual thermoses filled with ice.
Bleach
And finally, you can also use Bleach to purify water in the wilderness. Many people bring a gallon or so of Bleach with them while hunting, which is a good practice if you happen to get blood on a white shirt or pair of pants. This is probably the longest of the water purification methods, but will work in a pinch. Simply add one tablespoon of Bleach to every gallon of water in your store. Shake the mixture vigorously, then allow it to sit for 12-24 hours. Afterward, you can pour the top of the water into another jug, leaving the bottom inch or so to be dumped out.
Any time you drink water in the wilderness while hunting, you run the risk of getting sick. To avoid this, bring plenty of distilled water on hunting trips that will last longer than twelve hours.
