"I'll just hunt for my food"

I'm a pretty good hunter – in addition to as many squirrels and rabbits as I want, I shoot a couple-three deer a year. This year I have been out hunting about 6 days and have not got ONE deer. This is mildly upsetting. See, we just bought a new upright freezer and I aim to fill it with venison.

While I've been out there hunting I've had the opportunity to do a lot of thinking.
Hunting takes TIME.
Time that I have now but may not have later.
Hunter Gatherer cultures didn’t really thrive. They are not known for robust arts and sciences programs. This is because when one is living that life – one’s LIFE is dedicated to obtaining calories. All day long every day.

Hunting is uncertain.
That's why they call it "hunting" and not "shopping".
During the Great Depression, whitetail deer and turkeys were about hunted to oblivion. Hard to believe, huh? It was through the efforts of many good people that these species made a come back.

There were a lot less people running around in the 30’s. If we hit really hard times the ubiquitous whitetail will disappear me thinks.

So, I want to shoot a few deer to fill my freezer. But if I don’t, I’ll buy half a side of grass-fed beef and call it good. Because I can. Now.
Counting on deer for food – well, I’m just not that good, I reckon.

I came up with a few recommendations whilst sitting in the cold and they make up the bulk of this entry.

Assemble a robust food stockpile. Get into food storage. Canned goods, stuff in jars, crackers, rice, beans, pasta. You know - the stuff you can buy at your grocery store. Buy a lot. Then go get a bunch of wheat and corn and put it up in buckets. Then get some grinders.

That would see you through a lot of problems. Not just The Dollar Crashed Overnight problems but “I just lost my job” problems and “It’s not safe to venture out” problems and so on.

But no matter how much food you store – it will be a finite amount. Some day it will run out. And you’ll go hungry...

To supplement your food storage, in addition to hunting, I recommend you learn how to trap (and find a recipe you like for possum - I saw two I could have run down and brained with a stick). I'm an okay - as opposed to "good" - trapper. I can without too much difficulty trap a coon or possum that decides it likes eating at Joe’s Chicken Coop. I got good enough trapping rabbits that I got bored with it. Then we moved to a place with not quite as many rabbits running around so I began raising my own. I even did some very limited fur trapping but I quit doing it because I really don't like skinning and fleshing. And, truth be told, I still have those skins in my freezer. I did the skinning but really didn’t do the fleshing -I need to bite the bullet and get a fleshing knife and practice some more...but this post is about food. (yeah, I suppose you could eat a fox or coyote...)



So in addition to working on your hunting skills, and trapping skills and building up a robust food stockpile, I have one more recommendation that can be summed up in a word: Sustainable.

Get yourself a garden going that will continue to produce year in and year out.
Get some critters that will provide food and more critters.
It is better to live out in the sticks – but that is not an excuse for not doing this.
You can raise a prodigious amount of food in your backyard or on your balcony.

You can raise rabbits in an apartment. Many municipalities are beginnig to allow chickens in the yard. Some forbid roosters which is not a problem – you don’t need roosters to make eggs.

Something else I have been investigating lately is Permaculture - sustainable agriculture. There is a lot to it. It fascinates me. Google it. Watch some videos.

Food is very important. We are blessed with not having to give it a whole lot of thought. Things may not always be so. Someday we could be focused on nothing but where our next meal is coming from.

If really hard times come (and I believe they eventually will)
Some will starve
Some will get by
Some will have excess to share with others
Where do you picture yourself in this situation?

Do some serious thinking.
Make a plan.
Get started.

And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. – Genesis 27:5
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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America