IF you’re a meat eater and fancy getting in touch with your inner hunter-gatherer, then a bushcraft cookery workshop could be for you.

Dorset-based adventure company, Land & Wave, run a series of woodland-based courses where you learn to butcher, prepare, preserve and cook locally sourced meat.

Head of Bushcraft, Owen Senior, says it’s about getting back to basics and embracing nature.

“I’m about as far away from a hippy as it’s possible to get, but I believe there is a deep-seated need in all of us to take time out and just be in the moment which is what happens when you’re adventuring in the outdoors.

“Thanks to people like Ray Mears and Bear Grylls there is more awareness of these sort of rustic, bushcraft skills now, but I’ve always loved being outdoors.”

Owen says he grew up in the countryside in Dorset, and has always worked outdoors.

“If you love people and love being outdoors, no other job comes close to it.

“When we set up the company our motto was about adventure for all – but now it’s adventure for good.

“Our job is to encourage people to have fun. Some adventure companies take themselves too seriously – we just want to show people how to play, how to be kids again and enjoy nature.”

Part of the bushcraft course involves a three hour hands-on butchery session in the woods.

He adds: “Many people eat meat, but we are so used to perfectly formed pieces of cellophane-wrapped protein that we forget where it comes from.”

A Deer in A Day experience costs £105 per person and includes a three hour cookery session where you learn a variety of recipes.

The Echo’s managing director Vincent Boni joined members of the Dorset Chamber of Trade for a taster day last month.

Rainbow trout, wood pigeon and locally shot venison all sourced from a six-miles radius, were some of the items on the menu.