Many People in this Country Know HOW to Hunt and Fish

[MineralMan]

to live. That's a more important thing to think about than how many actually do hunt and fish to live.

Both are skills, and not skills that can be gained quickly or easily. For many who hunt and fish, there is an unspoken reason for doing so, and it is so that they will be able to do so in a time of need. I often refer to my father on DU, and that's for a good reason. Born in 1924, he grew up during the depression and his family moved from Oklahoma, eventually to California, during the great migration. As a young boy of 10-14, they lived in Southern California, near the desert, and my father hunted rabbits with a .22 single shot rifle. His father was ill and rarely had work. His mother did laundry for people. If he shot a rabbit, they ate rabbit. If he didn't, they ate the vegetables that would have been cooked with the rabbit.

He taught me to hunt and fish, and how to dress game and handle it properly. I don't hunt these days, and all my fishing now is catch-and-release, but I could switch to hunting and fishing for provisions without even changing stride.

In another place, I was in the outskirts of London, in Grave's End, during the early 1980s. Jet-lagged, I wandered from my hotel down to the docks on the Thames. There, I saw a young boy, maybe 12 years old, fishing off the dock. In the manner of anglers the world over, I asked about his luck. He said that it had better be good, else his "mum would have to open a tin."

So, many people don't need to hunt and fish to feed themselves and their families, but they do feel the need to know how to do that. If the need for those skills arises, there's no time to learn the skills. You must have developed them in advance.

[doc03]

1. Sometimes fishing here in Ohio I think I could starve to death n/t

[MineralMan]

2. It depends, though, what you're fishing for.

I don't know where you are in Ohio, but I live in St. Paul, MN. If I were fishing for meat, I'd be fishing differently than when I'm fishing for walleye.

If you just want fish to eat, it's not all that tough, if you aren't picky about what you eat.

Otoh, I can catch as many 5 lb. channel cats out of the Mississippi here as I want, and quickly, too. Good sport, and good eats combined.

[hootinholler]

3. Well personally I'd rather eat the walleye

Beer battered, fried in lard in a big cast iron skillet. Yum.

Even better over a fire on the bank.

[Glassunion]

4. Independence and Self Sufficency are sometimes confused as anti-social

They are a beginning not a destination.

[NoOneMan]

5. "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after"

Henry David Thoreau


While it may not be necessary for some individuals to find subsistence, Ill suggest that it is necessary for a population to find fulfillment and understand their niche in the larger system; a dying system that we are not currently implored to protect. The first primary cause of ecological destruction--namely, cultivation for agriculture--has continually failed to nourish our people biologically and spiritually. We are a lost, desolate species past our prime, with forgotten whispers of what we could of been. It is in nature that we can be reminded of our legacy and role in both the earth and the universe. Tight lines

[frazzled]

6. "If the need for those skills arises ..."

Exactly what need are you talking about? Nuclear holocaust? Economic catastrophe? The apocalypse?

I live in the middle of downtown Chicago. I don't think I'll survive on fishing smelts out of Lake Michigan, along with several million other people. And about the only thing to shoot around here is rats. I'm better off just going vegetarian (I'm semi-vegetarian as it is).

This sounds rather survivalist to me.

[NoOneMan]

7. "I live in the middle of downtown Chicago"

Well, then you won't have a chance to be around to worry about it. As long as you respect those that do have some resilience in their lives, we are solid.

[frazzled]

8. My question was about what kind of situation would occur to ...

cause one to need to fish and hunt exclusively in today's society. Even in rural areas. Has "Beasts of the Southern Wild" (loved it) set off a panic mode in which we all see ourselves needing to scoop live fish out of the contaminated waters with our hands?

I'm not scared of these things. Nor am I particularly scared of dying. If the apocalypse comes, I guess I'd rather die. That's why I don't obsess about arming myself or learning survival skills.

I have no problem with people who hunt and fish. It's a nice sport for those who enjoy it. I question only the survivalist aspect.

[NoOneMan]

10. Some call it a crazy, apocalyptic, survivalists fantasy

Some call it climate change. Its going to get hot up in here.



By then, my salmon runs will be devastated so Ill have to be flexible and hunt wild game.

This isn't science fiction. This isn't Mayan Doomsday bullshit. This is science. It is already happening.

The last place I'd want to put myself and my family is in a city, dependent to a hierarchial system that may decide at any time to cut its fat and reallocate its food rationing system to the most productive cogs in their machine.

[frazzled]

11. Well, you still don't need a semiautomatic weapon to hunt wild game.

It's not even fair. The wild game have a right to survive as much as you do. Besides, they'll all be drowned under 20 feet of water.

This really is a "Beasts of the Southern Wild" scenario. Go for it. But realize, it has nothing—ZERO—to do with the discussions of gun control we are having in the wake of all the mass shootings. Nothing.

[NoOneMan]

14. I get that

I never suggested otherwise. Im currently just a fisherman anyway (I haven't ate a piece of meat that wasn't fish in my life). But I respect people's ability to feed themselves using bows and firearms though (while others suggest that everyone needs to just get food stamps and become wholly dependent on the system for survival).

Famine and malnourishment are growing threats and we should encourage regions to adopt multiple levels of resilience, including foraging.

[Trailrider1951]

12. These days it can be called unemployment or early retirement

Good luck when your body gives out at 62. If you can obtain your food without paying some corporation for it, so much the better. As I am a vegetarian, I have carrots and peas to be harvested soon...gardens really help!!

[frazzled]

13. I am 62

At least for another few months. Then I'll be 63.

[cherokeeprogressive]

15. Power grid failure?

You live on the edge of one fuck of lot of fresh water. Could you manage to purify a gallon of it if you needed to?

There was an HBO movie about a power outage that lasted for days. After 72 hours, most perishables had perished. In four, swimming pool owners were being shot for access to the water in their back yards.

Poo poo being knowledgable enough to provide for yourself if you want. Then, imagine what not having electricity for 30 days would do to your life. Remember, no electricity means no gasoline/diesel and thus no transportation of any kind including public.

If you're better off going vegetarian, I assume you've got plants that are ready to bear fruit/vegetables, right?

I've got hunting rifles with ammo, fishing gear, and can build a fire with my bare hands. Is that "survivalist" (like that's a bad thing to be LOL)? My wife might get our food at the grocery store, but she sure as hell doesn't HAVE to. Oh, and I live next to a lake at 7000 feet in the California mountains.

I kinda like having that choice.

[alphafemale]

9. The knowledge of what to do with a warm, dead animal to make it edible.

That is a large part of the hunting skill.

Acquiring the marksmanship to make a clean kill is not all there is to it.

[kestrel91316]

16. I do.