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Living Off The Land: Delusions and Misconceptions About Hunting and Gathering

Well if that ain't a slap upside the head for the "bug out in a tent" folks I don't know what is. [thinking]

I like blueberries but no way I'm gonna eat 15 pounds of them, [laugh]
 
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My kids eat so many blueberries in the summer that they shit blue and are quite proud of it. When a kid comes running out of the head yelling come look...... Dont go look.
 
I saw this a few weeks ago ( Matt Bracken linked it on his Facebook page ) it got me thinking. Mostly it got me thinking I need to store more food.

Anyone ever try to avoid carbs for a few days ? It makes you crazy. When the end of the world comes the potato farmer will be king.
 
I fail to see matter on the subject of drinking ones own piss... are you saying Bear Gryll's would lie to me?
 
I always wondered if living on the coast would be easier ... how many lbs of clam a day do I need? crap.
 
Excellent article. I love it when someone cuts through the BS and lays it out like that. It's just amazing how much calorie rich carbs have driven human population growth. And it is very clear that billions of lives hang on the viability of modern agriculture and a handful of crops (corn, rice, soy, wheat). Meat farming is probably calorie neutral, at best (depends on how much we value grass or hay, but also that modern animal farming puts a lot of weight on livestock using corn and grain by-products). One nasty corn/wheat/soy parasite or disease and life on the planet would get very interesting very fast.
 
Hiltonizer said:
I fail to see matter on the subject of drinking ones own piss... are you saying Bear Gryll's would lie to me?
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Too bad we don't have any elephants in the Northeast.



On a more serious note, my food stash is really just a crutch and to get me past the learning curve of having to hunt and gather for food.
 
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This is why people hate economists and statisticians. We would much rather live in a fantasyland where the government has a bottomless wallet and/or we will always find more gas and dog food as we venture further out into the wasteland in our supercharged V-8 which, of course, sucks nitro.
 
economist said:
Excellent article...

One nasty corn/wheat/soy parasite or disease and life on the planet would get very interesting very fast.
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I was thinking the same thing. Especially when you consider that the genetic diversity of most crops is extremely low now. Look at the banana blight. A huge percentage of the crop has been wiped out specifically because everybody has taken to growing one particular type of banana which happens to be vulnerable to it.
 
my plan when TEOTWAWKI arrives is to live off the bodies of those who think they will be living off the land, or suck on the barrel of a .44mag
 
Anyone who knows anything about military history will understand why "living off the land" gets you only so far.

Compound this by the fact that everyone else would be trying to do it.
 
This is why MRE's are a short term hold over until the baseline crops can be harvested. I can live on them for a month or two without a problem, while supplementing with fresh kill and harvested plants in the area, and the stock of dried stuff can be stretched. I'm by no means as prepared as I want or need to be, but I can hold out for a few weeks if needed.
 
economist said:
Excellent article. I love it when someone cuts through the BS and lays it out like that.
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yeah, there's nothing like a little hard data to remove debate. Although, the comments were pretty funny. Lots of deniers there.

Scarecrow said:
This is why MRE's are a short term hold over until the baseline crops can be harvested. I can live on them for a month or two without a problem, while supplementing with fresh kill and harvested plants in the area, and the stock of dried stuff can be stretched. I'm by no means as prepared as I want or need to be, but I can hold out for a few weeks if needed.
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Yup, preps are essentially to get you to the next harvest season. But a few weeks doesn't seem like it would be enough. Say some event happens in August or September. Food runs out by October. You've got to stretch your supplies until, what, mid summer to get the first harvest? Say 9 months or so.
 
coastie said:
My kids eat so many blueberries in the summer that they shit blue and are quite proud of it. When a kid comes running out of the head yelling come look...... Dont go look.
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that is exactly what my kid does, i always go look because she is just so proud of her self. I do hold my breath!!!
 
neum69 said:
yeah, there's nothing like a little hard data to remove debate. Although, the comments were pretty funny. Lots of deniers there.



Yup, preps are essentially to get you to the next harvest season. But a few weeks doesn't seem like it would be enough. Say some event happens in August or September. Food runs out by October. You've got to stretch your supplies until, what, mid summer to get the first harvest? Say 9 months or so.
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I know, that is why I cannot claim to be prepared yet. I am prepared for a natural disaster, but TEOTWAWKI would leave me scrambling. I have a plan and contingency plans for that, but I am not prepared to shelter in place for such an event. Canning efforts are going to start playing a role in the future, and I'd like to see about a small scale dehydrating operation, but this all takes time and money, neither of which I have yet.
 
Two thoughts;

1) The gun is coming with me in any scenario so the 'opportunity cost' for hunting is less than he describes
2) he cites caloric content for lean meat. The hunted animals have calorie rich fat that would certainly help in a survival situation.

Eta. Planning for 3000+ calories per person per day is a bit of an exageration.
 
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One of the only benefits of being a gun owner and collector in an anti-2A state like Massachusetts will come in a TEOTWAWKI scenario. Because I know I'll be the only armed guy in my neighborhood.

All my neighbors' food will sure taste good! In the meantime, my only prep method is to buy more guns and ammo.
 
OfficerObie59 said:
One of the only benefits of being a gun owner and collector in an anti-2A state like Massachusetts will come in a TEOTWAWKI scenario. Because I know I'll be the only armed guy in my neighborhood.

All my neighbors' food will sure taste good! In the meantime, my only prep method is to buy more guns and ammo.
Click to expand...

Lol. My dispatcher says same thing

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2
 

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