You Cannot Rely On Hunting After TEOTWAWKI
Hunting As A Food Source
As a hunter, I know firsthand the exhilaration that comes with harvesting wild game. I’ve successfully hunted deer and turkey, ducks and doves. I’ve caught fresh water fish from the banks of a stream and landed sharks and other salt water fish from the stern of a boat many miles from shore.
Personally, I have no interest in trophies; I’m in it for the meat. I much prefer a tender 4-point to a massive 12-pointer any day. And where permitted, the females of a species can be even more savory on the dinner table.
Hunting can help provide a inexpensive source of food during hard times. Many hunters save untold amounts of money by harvesting their fair share of meat during the hunting season. A couple of deer, a turkey or two, and some migratory birds such as ducks and geese, can go a long way toward cutting down on the annual food expenses of a family.
Of course that must be balanced against the price of the supplies and hunting leases, but under the right conditions a family can save money by hunting and fishing.
Hunting After TEOTWAWKI
Still our society is completely dependent on modern day sources of food. More people rely on food grown thousands of miles away than at any time during the history of man. There are fewer farmers than ever before and most of what they grow is not edible without significant processing.
If all of that breaks down, if the supply chain is interrupted or the food supplies are compromised in some way, most people will have no way to feed themselves. They do not have the skills or land for farming.
Many naively believe that hunting and gathering will offer the bounty they require. The are mistaken.
Why?
Unskilled Hunters Will Scare Game
Hunting is a skill that is not easily learned. When you do it wrong, it’s difficult to know why. Did you approach from upwind? Or were you in the wrong place at the wrong time? Did your prey see you more?
After a societal collapse, there will be many, many people in the woods looking to provide a meal for their family. Lots of people stomping through the woods looking for sign of animals will drive the game further away, making it more difficult for even seasoned hunters to bring home meat.
Wild Game Will Adjust
Animals have an amazing sense of when they are in danger. Deer that routinely walk around during the daylight hours in the weeks before hunting season suddenly disappear into the night after opening day of hunting season. After the collapse of society, wild game will quickly adapt to their new reality and make themselves scarce. Self preservation is a powerful motivating force.
Hunting and Fishing Will Be Unregulated
Today, states closely monitor and regulate the number of animals of each species that can be harvested each year. They do this to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy hunting and fishing as a past time as we do. However, once food supplies are interrupted and the government is overwhelmed, many of the traditional wild game will be hunted to near extinction very quickly. Even less traditional fare such as squirrel and groundhogs will become highly sought after sources of protein.
Difficulties in Preserving Meat
Today, most hunters freeze game that they harvest and consume it at various times throughout the year. Preserving meat without the luxury of a freezer is a lost art for most people. Animals that are harvested after a collapse will largely be wasted or will spoil prematurely. This lack of conservation will cause even more hunting than would be otherwise necessary.
Hunters Will Become The Hunted
Hunters today can go into the woods and expect a certain level of common courtesy from other hunters. When I hunt, I expect to have my private acreage to myself. If I’m hunting on public land, I expect that another hunter will not place his stand or blind too close to my location. There is an unwritten rule that helps us all to co-exist in the woods.
However, once society collapses and men and women are trying to feed their hungry families, common courtesy will be a thing of the past. In fact, I expect that many unskilled and unsuccessful hunters will turn to robbery and even murder in the woods. The will wait in the woods until they hear a shot and then follow the sound until they find the successful hunter and will procure his game without regard to his life.
Prepare
As you make your preparations for surviving TEOTWAWKI, remember to not rely too heavily on any one source for anything. Be flexible and willing to adapt. If possible, grow your own sources of meat by raising chickens, turkeys, or rabbits. Sure some deer jerky would be nice every now and again, but it’s even nicer to not have to rely on finding wild game to eat.