Starvin Larry

For those who intend on hunting and fishing as a big part of their food supply post SHTF,things will be much different than they are today.

The big game animals near any large city/urban area is going to either be shot out,or very skittish when any humans are in the area.

The farther away from urban areas-the better. There will be fewer people hunting the game,and the game will not be stressed and skittish due to a huge increase in the number of people in the woods.

The areas just outside of the cities outer ring suburbs should be okay to hunt,the game may be pressured and skittish,but as long as there are still signs,the animals are still there. Hunting will be more of a challenge,there will be fewer animals,and they will be even more wary of humans.

The key to taking big game in those conditions will be finding bedding areas,food sources,and water sources,along with the trails/travel corridors used by the game in the area. The best spots to hunt will be near bedding areas,and between the bedding area and water source,second best will be between water source and food source. Once you locate the trails,pick a spot for a blind,using as much of the surroundings as possible,use grasses,branches,sticks,leaves,downed trees,etc. to make a makeshift blind-unless you somehow managed to hang onto a few large pieces of camo burlap.

Pick your spots for your blinds-you should always have more than one,due to wind direction making hunting one location impossible,as long as your blinds are downwind of the direction of the game’s travel,you should be able to take a deer,elk,moose,etc. If the wind is blowing towards the direction game is most likely approaching your blind from-do not use that blind.

Using a compound bow or a crossbow would be the best method to use,if it’s at all possible,gunshots will likely cause game to scatter quickly,as the animals will not be used to the sound of gunfire-unless it’s common in the area due to fighting between groups of people.

One big deer,or an elk or moose will feed a lot of people. Some can be dried to make jerky,some can be smoked,some can be eaten right away. The bigger your group of people to feed,the better off you are hunting big game.

Another animal that will feed a lot of people is feral hogs-we are sure to see an increase in the number of them in any long-term SHTF situation,they multiply very quickly,and become very adept at avoiding humans. The number of them in the U.S. is growing pretty much monthly,with no signs of slowing down. They may be the one animal still available near large urban areas after most people have left.

Small game can be trapped or snared along with being hunted,and can easily feed smaller groups of people,and help feed larger groups.

Air rifles are great for taking small game,they are quiet,and a tin of 250-500 pellets can provide a lot of meals.

Rabbits can be taken in grassy areas when feeding early and late in the day,in winter,if you have a shotgun,you can kick brushpiles and many time a rabbit will take off from the pile.

Ducks and geese can be hunted near decent sized streams,ponds,lakes,rivers and bays,game like pheasants,chukars,quail,partridges,doves and wild turkeys can be taken in woods and in brushy areas. Pigeons can be taken in cities/urban areas-if you end up stuck in one.

Squirrels can almost always be taken in woods containing oak,hickory,beech,and black walnut trees.

You can make jerky out of the bigger small game animals,smoked duck,turkey,pheasant,or quail are very good,and will preserve your food for a while without refrigeration.

Fishing is kind of hard to predict in an extended SHTF situation,if too many people start using gill nets,large seines,and fish traps-the fish will disappear from smaller streams,creeks and rivers,along with smaller reservoirs,and river mouths and the bays where rivers enter big lakes like the Great Lakes,or the ocean.

Big river systems like the Ohio,Mississipi,Missouri,James,St. Johns,Delaware,Susquehanna,Columbia,Snake,Red,etc. should continue to hold large numbers of fish,as there are so many smaller streams that feed the river systems. The fish populations in big river systems will be hard to fish out.

The systems of reservoirs,such as the TVA should also hold plenty of fish for years.

Having a boat,canoe,even a small raft will be a plus.

The freshwater version of a longline-commonly known as a trotline,will be one of the best ways to insure a steady supply of freshly caught fish,there’s sure to be plenty of empty 2-liter soda bottles,bleach bottles and other plastic jugs available to use as floats,both to keep baits off the bottom a little,and as markers,so you can follow your line.

Lines like this can either be anchored to the bank,or allowed to drift if you have a boat of some type. Hooks can be baited with worms,grubs,grasshoppers,crickets,small frogs,clams,mussels,shrimp,cut up pieces of fish,minnows,even entrails from small game.

If you have managed to keep some fishing rods,reels and tackle,you will be able to fish in more conventional ways as well.

The fish should be available much longer than big game animals in urban areas,likely longer than much of the small game as well.

I  do have several spools of fishing line,several hundred hooks of various sizes,snap swivels,3 way swivels,sinkers,floats, and a wide array of lures.

Supplementing your survival food supply with fish and game is a good plan-relying on hunting and fishing as 100% of your survival food supply is a very bad idea.

That’s my opinion on the subject-it will not be like an extended hunting and/or fishing trip,and relying on only fish and game is simply not a good survival plan.

Read.

Learn.
Train.
Do more PT !

I have read tons of articles over the years where people believe that they are going to survive simply by hunting and fishing post SHTF.

There are many things wrong with such a plan,number one being that most people simply do not have the skills needed to harvest enough fish and game to sustain themselves,much less feed a family.

The only scenario where this is a viable plan is when you live so far away from major cities that your location is not going to be overrun by those who have the same plans. Plus you have to have enough actual experience fishing and hunting to be able to catch enough fish,and harvest enough game.

Every area near major cites will have no game left in a matter of weeks,months at best. Fishing is a bit harder to guess,all it would take is a few small groups of people with nets to harvest all fish big enough to eat from a creek,stream,river,or small lake. Once that happens,it will be several years before enough fish big enough to eat return.

Many of those who plan to hunt and fish to survive are in for a rude awakening,they seem to feel that surviving a post SHTF event will be like an extended fishing,hunting and camping trip.

I’ll look at hunting first,starting with big game.It’s not like those who have spent their lives in the city are experienced hunters,of the few who are,the majority of their recent hunting experience is going on guided hunting trips. They are missing a very,very important part of hunting-the scouting,finding travel patterns,trails,knowing what food sources the game uses at what times of year,along with where those food sources are located. Another important thing to know is water sources,along with bedding areas. All north American big game animals,with the exception of bears, are ungulates,they eat mainly grasses and grains. Because of this,they must,no mater what,drink water at least twice a day-that’s why knowing the locations of the water sources for the game you are hunting is so important.

There are simply not all that many people who are going to be able to walk into a new area,whether in the state they live in or another state,and find currently used game trails,food sources,water sources,bedding areas,and know where to set up a blind,stand,or use natural cover to be able to harvest a deer,elk,antelope,bighorn sheep,moose,caribou,etc.

This is a good thing for those of us who do know how to find the right areas to hunt.

The problem is that all the starving people leaving the cites are going to scatter the game,making all the animals skittish. Some will actually shoot and kill some big game animals,most will just scatter the game,those who do take a deer or an elk are most likely going to have no idea how to butcher the animal. It’s not really something you can learn from a book.

Eventually,the city people are going to figure out how to do a deer drive,and will start having some success,that’s when the number of deer,or elk,or moose will drop dramatically.

The problem is that once too many people kill too many big game animals-the population of the animals is going to crash,there will not be enough fawns or calves born to sustain the population.

That will likely occur within 3-6 months. Then that’s the end of being able to hunt big game for food-with the exception of the truly rural areas of the country.

Small game will probably  last a little longer,as there’s more of it,and it’s harder for inexperienced hunters to kill. The inexperience of most of the city people will help the small game to last a while longer than big game. After they shoot a few squirrels and/or rabbits with their A-R’s,they will figure out that they need to be using a .22 rimfire,or shotgun with game loads-shooting a few rabbits with 00 buckshot will have the same effect as shooting them with a .223/5.56.

As with big game,small game populations will crash before long due to over hunting. Same with waterfowl. The waterfowl probably has a better chance-except for the Canada geese hanging around every city park east of the Mississippi-just because they migrate,follow rivers or coastlines,and are hard to hit when flying.

Those who live far enough away from big cities will be able to survive by hunting for much longer for several reasons. There’s more game,there’s more experienced hunters,and there’s fewer people hunting the same herds of game.

This is the only group of people who can survive by hunting both big and small game.

Fishing is a different situation,as long as you have some fishing line,and fishooks,you can catch fish from about any body of water,creek,stream,river,lake,bay,or ocean.

Those in or near big cities,unless on the coasts will have the same problem as with hunting-too many people fishing for what will quickly become too few fish.

Those farther from the cities will have fewer people trying to catch fish,so the populations should remain sustainable for quite a while.

Until people start using gill nets and fish traps extensively,a lot of people can survive on fish,it’s when too many are harvested that the fish will become scarce,and will take several years to recover.

That’s it for part I-in part II, I’ll get into techniques and tactics,along with preserving your harvest.