NightShade
08-22-2009, 08:37 AM
I thought I'd relay a story from a camping trip I took a few years back. Or rather, a mix of a few stories...There's a theme that I think could be of use to any survivalist.
Back before I was married and had kids, I used to dissapear out into the wilderness with a few friends for weeks on end... usually we would head up into the White Mountains of New Hampshire or Northern Maine somewhere.. We would bring enough food for a day or two and enough gear to be comfortable with the knowledge we had, though as time went on I found we would bring less and less gear.
At first we would only do these trips in late july or early august... That way we knew we couldn't starve because we could always find blueberris, blackberries, and rasberries. As great as they taste, I found that surviving on berries alone just wasn't for me... I'm a carnivore damnit!...
While my friends would spend alot of time setting up snares and deadfalls, I would usually take my telescoping fishin rod and go in search of water to fish in... I love to fish,( I live on a spring fed 70 foot deep freshwater pond now), and consider myself a good fisherman... but when you're fishin to eat that night... well it's a little different.
No longer was I just shruggin my shoulders if I couldn't catch any trout that day.. I would fillet up any bluegills or panfish I caught.. a small bit of meat but if you get a few it's quite a tasty meal!! Other times, the fish just weren't biting.. I was so hungry one time I ended up eating 2 frogs I caught.. Not to tasty the first time, but then I didnt really prepare them right. Another time I hooked a HUGE snapping turtle. Now I remembered my great uncle telling me about snapping turtle meat and how tasty it was... I wasn't catchin fish and I was hungry.. I killed and cleaned the turtle, and when I got back to camp my friend's jaws dropped when they saw all the meat I got... We ate well that night and the next morning!!!
As time went on I pretty much rolled frog and turtle hunting into my fishing excursions on these trips. There was 1 day where it was extremly hot. I had been fishing for a few hours and going up and down the shore looking for frogs or turtles to no avail. I was hot and cranky but not really hungry because we had a squirrel/rabbit stew my buddies had made up that morning. I was thinking about later that night though, and said to myself "gee I hope those guys did ok gathering food today!" I felt bad not contributing anything to the pot though. That's when I looked out and saw all the water lilly's.. I remembered that those were edible and thought hey it's better than nothing... plus, as I said it was hot and I could use a dip to cool off.
I was about knee deep in water, just making my way out towards them when I heard ducks in the high grass off to my right. My eyes lit up but I thought... how the heck am I gonna get one?.. I had a knife, but what the heck was I gonna do?.. chase down a duck and stab it? At that point a book on survival i had read popped in my mind.. it had a section on hunting in it and ducks had been one of the animals.. I rememberred laughing at the time I read it because it seemed ridiculous. The tactic included camoflaguing your head to look like a stump or bit of bog grass , wading to the ducks , grabbing their feet to pull them under and drown. I figured, hey it's worth a try. Now, I moved real slow and it took quite a while to get close enough, but hey like I said it was super hot that day,... but I was able to get one of them!!.. As a matter of fact I probably could've gotten 2 because the one in front had no idea what just happened to his buddy... or maybe it thought it's buddy was diving for fish or somethin, I don't know.
When I got back to camp soakin wet with a duck my pals were amazed once again.. I of course played it off like it was no big deal and I was planning on it all along..haha....
I guess the point I'm tryin to get across is ...
Diversify your options... don't hone in on one animal or plant... keep your eyes open for any opportunity for survival... and not just hunting either (as this story may suggest). make note of edible plants... If you see a piece of wood that would be perfect for a firebow, don't ignore it 'cause you're huntin. Be efficient!...keep your options and eyes open for anything to aid you in survival at all times..
Alertness and awareness are your best friends in a survival situation!!
Back before I was married and had kids, I used to dissapear out into the wilderness with a few friends for weeks on end... usually we would head up into the White Mountains of New Hampshire or Northern Maine somewhere.. We would bring enough food for a day or two and enough gear to be comfortable with the knowledge we had, though as time went on I found we would bring less and less gear.
At first we would only do these trips in late july or early august... That way we knew we couldn't starve because we could always find blueberris, blackberries, and rasberries. As great as they taste, I found that surviving on berries alone just wasn't for me... I'm a carnivore damnit!...
While my friends would spend alot of time setting up snares and deadfalls, I would usually take my telescoping fishin rod and go in search of water to fish in... I love to fish,( I live on a spring fed 70 foot deep freshwater pond now), and consider myself a good fisherman... but when you're fishin to eat that night... well it's a little different.
No longer was I just shruggin my shoulders if I couldn't catch any trout that day.. I would fillet up any bluegills or panfish I caught.. a small bit of meat but if you get a few it's quite a tasty meal!! Other times, the fish just weren't biting.. I was so hungry one time I ended up eating 2 frogs I caught.. Not to tasty the first time, but then I didnt really prepare them right. Another time I hooked a HUGE snapping turtle. Now I remembered my great uncle telling me about snapping turtle meat and how tasty it was... I wasn't catchin fish and I was hungry.. I killed and cleaned the turtle, and when I got back to camp my friend's jaws dropped when they saw all the meat I got... We ate well that night and the next morning!!!
As time went on I pretty much rolled frog and turtle hunting into my fishing excursions on these trips. There was 1 day where it was extremly hot. I had been fishing for a few hours and going up and down the shore looking for frogs or turtles to no avail. I was hot and cranky but not really hungry because we had a squirrel/rabbit stew my buddies had made up that morning. I was thinking about later that night though, and said to myself "gee I hope those guys did ok gathering food today!" I felt bad not contributing anything to the pot though. That's when I looked out and saw all the water lilly's.. I remembered that those were edible and thought hey it's better than nothing... plus, as I said it was hot and I could use a dip to cool off.
I was about knee deep in water, just making my way out towards them when I heard ducks in the high grass off to my right. My eyes lit up but I thought... how the heck am I gonna get one?.. I had a knife, but what the heck was I gonna do?.. chase down a duck and stab it? At that point a book on survival i had read popped in my mind.. it had a section on hunting in it and ducks had been one of the animals.. I rememberred laughing at the time I read it because it seemed ridiculous. The tactic included camoflaguing your head to look like a stump or bit of bog grass , wading to the ducks , grabbing their feet to pull them under and drown. I figured, hey it's worth a try. Now, I moved real slow and it took quite a while to get close enough, but hey like I said it was super hot that day,... but I was able to get one of them!!.. As a matter of fact I probably could've gotten 2 because the one in front had no idea what just happened to his buddy... or maybe it thought it's buddy was diving for fish or somethin, I don't know.
When I got back to camp soakin wet with a duck my pals were amazed once again.. I of course played it off like it was no big deal and I was planning on it all along..haha....
I guess the point I'm tryin to get across is ...
Diversify your options... don't hone in on one animal or plant... keep your eyes open for any opportunity for survival... and not just hunting either (as this story may suggest). make note of edible plants... If you see a piece of wood that would be perfect for a firebow, don't ignore it 'cause you're huntin. Be efficient!...keep your options and eyes open for anything to aid you in survival at all times..
Alertness and awareness are your best friends in a survival situation!!