SHTF Scenario questions

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It's all well and good to talk about cats, rats and puppy dogs in a city, but they won't last long enough to be considered as a meat source over any length of time beyond a week or so.

Maybe I'm way off, but I was thinking that the amount of time it would take for people to start considering the "alternative" food sources scampering around, would probably be enough for a population boom in some (especially rats). That's why I was talking long-term; when stuff is rotting in the cities and burbs, but clean-up hasn't happened or been effective enough.

I'd be surprised (and I'd be shown to be wrong) if someone from New Orleans, or another recently ravaged area said there was a dearth of rodents. I'm not trying to argue, just letting you know what ideas I was using to make my (admittedly uneducated) guesses.:)
 
I reckon the rats would outlast the other critters, sure. But, between hunters' take and natural wariness, availability will notably decline. Hard to kill what can't be found.

:), Art
 
that is why i lvoe my house there is a creek that always has water year round with fish and ducks so i hav food and water year round never feeze over the creek down here so dont have to worry so much about ice and fish is a pretty good source of protien and need i say anythinig about ducks?
 
One of the areas where you might want to educate yourself is what animals commonly carry diseases ... how to identify carriers ...
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I.E. The neighbor's cat is most likely much healthier than a stray?* :neener: :evil:

-Colin

*Please check your local laws and regulations
 
Not for any big world wide strifes, but if a hurricane is headed my way, one good thing about that Texas Type 2 thing is I could head out to one of those areas (got a couple of pet areas) and hunt and fish for a few days until the blow is over down here before returning. I ran during Rita to a friend's in San Antonio, but was prepared for camping. The squirrels are out of season during the summer, though, but heck, just bummin' around in the woods is entertainment while hiding out from the winds. Might pick up a rabbit or two also, you never know. And, I could lull the time away fishing for catfish in the river, pick some dandelion greens, and then when I've eaten, take the wife to town to a restaurant....:rolleyes:
 
Geeze you all are so concentrated on all the bad things.

I can think of at least 2-3 good things.

1) No Television, that means no liberal bs programs, no comercals with some annoying wench or loudmouth selling cars. And no comercials for drugs so I don't have to worry about oily discharge.

2) No Lawyers.
 
Hard to kill what can't be found.
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Yes but I'm a professional ratcatcher. And rats are easier to raise than rabbits.

Meat is not all that necessary to survival.

I can survive well enough on store got groceries.
While the others are in the TV section I'll be grabbing boxes of power bars and foil pack chicken and tuna.

In all reality any SHTF situation that would last for more than a couple of weeks would probably kill me anyway.
But I do intend to die fat
 
Man, them blue quail can run ya to death, though. :D You have to trap 'em cause you can't run fast enough to get in range!

1) No Television, that means no liberal bs programs, no comercals with some annoying wench or loudmouth selling cars. And no comercials for drugs so I don't have to worry about oily discharge.
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Yeah, and no sit coms like "Desparate Housewives" and all those laugh track hokey sit coms. I cannot stand shows with laugh tracks! No "Trading Spaces" or any of that decorating crud. No House Buying shows, lame as it gets. I wouldn't miss TV, I can tell ya that for sure! Nothin' but junk on the box, 57 channels and there's nothin' on......
 
I'm much more interested in trapping than hunting for the scenarios you're talking about. Less noise, better chance of success, works while you are doing other things. Especially in the city, you don't want to be running around shooting things and tipping folks off to a weapon or goods that can be taken from you or food in hand.

"Living Off the Land in the City and the Country" by Ragnar Benson is a good book on the subject. I think it's out of print, maybe try Ebay.
 
I used to build my own catch-em-alive traps from plyboard. They worked great! All I ever seemed to catch with 'em is possums, but that's probably the bait and the fact that we were over-run with the critters. But, you can eat possums. They're nasty as heck, but you can eat 'em. I've got enough coons and possums around the house, I'm sure I could catch 'em right out of my yard. I can't put a bag of trash out at night or the friggin' coons 'll have it scattered everywhere. I don't want to shoot the coons. They're good to eat, but they just seem so human. ROFLMAO! I mean, they have little personalities and they just sit there staring at you with those sad eyes. I couldn't keep one of 'em off the front porch one night, though, and the wife kept telling me "kill it!" She's about scared of everything. So, sadly, I shot it. She wouldn't eat it, though. :rolleyes: If she were hungry, I'd just cook it and not tell her what it was. She's eaten squirrel that way, though it was rabbit. :D Later, I told her it was "tree rat" and she didn't go chuck it in the commode or anything. But, she still won't eat squirrel if she knows it's squirrel. Again, if she was starving, I think she could overcome the revulsion. She eats all sorts of game willingly, just has a hang up on rodents for some reason. Stupid, cause heck, a rabbit isn't a rodent, but in ways it sorta looks like one. Women....:rolleyes:
 
Hunting and fishing as your only source of food in the US after SHTF is
not a viable plan. You will be bumping into too many unprepared people
doing the same thing in the woods and on the shores. If you are
reduced to a 19th century lifestyle, you will need to do what our
ancestors did to make sure they ate year-round: grow vegetables and
raise livestock.
 
In keeping with the hunting and surviving thread, I designed my SHTF kit based on the scenario I would be most likely to encounter, which being in Eastern North Carolina, would be a devastating hurricane (Floyd). My first order of business would be to get out of my house during flooding. For this I have a Kayak and an axe since I most likely will have to chop my way out either through the garage or roof. My whole survival kit is paced into 2 backpacks. The large pack contains a 2-man tent, sleeping bag, "space" blanket, 3 days worth of MRE's and water, a good first-aid kit, magnesium matches, 2 bottles of multi-vitamins, 3 collapsible small game traps, a small fishing pole, string, twine, and extra fishing line for making trot lines, gill nets etc... a survival water purification system, a small bundle of wire to make a make-shift crab pot, and 2 changes of clothes, a K-bar knife, 8 broad tip arrows, 8 small game type arrows, a hand held VHF radio and a hand held GPS navigation unit. My compound bow is secured to the outside of this pack. The other pack contains the guns and ammo, which is 1 Taurus .357 8-shot revolver, 1 winchester .357 rifle w/ 16" barrel, 1 winchester 30-30 rifle w/ 18" barrel and scope, 400 rounds of .357 mag ammo, 300 rounds of 30-30 ammo, and cleaning gear. I chose these guns based on common sizes and availabilty of ammo, and function for both protection and hunting.
 
Hunting and fishing as your only source of food in the US after SHTF is
not a viable plan. You will be bumping into too many unprepared people
doing the same thing in the woods and on the shores. If you are
reduced to a 19th century lifestyle, you will need to do what our
ancestors did to make sure they ate year-round: grow vegetables and
raise livestock.
Click to expand...

I still don't think farming/gardens is a viable approach even if you have land, and it's totally impractical for city dwellers who'll be the first to go. In a total collapse of society, you won't be able to grow enough IMHO even with draft horses and plows to feed all the starving folks. It WILL get violent as people get hungry. You will not be able to protect your crops from plunder. Not only that, but if there is no law, property deeds are about as worthless as the paper they're printed on. You'll have to fight for your rights of ownership. Sooner or later, you'll probably lose.

The reason for all this as I see it is the fact that there are just too many folks and not enough planet. The only way we survive now is modern agriculture. There will be no modern ag in a total collapse.

But, I don't lose sleep worrying about such BS. I mean, I guess it COULD happen if Iran got the nukes, etc. There's a million ways, scenarios, and they're always changing, but really, short of a cold war nuclear exchange, I don't think it's very likely. I mean, yeah, a planet killing meteor/asteroid/comet could hit the planet, Jellystone could blow its top, there are possibilities, not probabilities, but nothing much is IMpossible.

Local calamities like hurricanes only require a tank of gas and a destination. I've run from a bunch of hurricanes in my life and never had to live off the land. :rolleyes: Carla did a number on our house, but we were back living in fairly short order. Of course, we didn't live in a hole in the ground like New Orleans. I figure even if my house was blown flat, I'd just take the insurance money and probably buy a camper trailer to live in while rebuilding. Heck, I could live in the van, sleep anyway. I have AC for it, a generator. It's like a little miniature motor home. Self sufficiency is nice, and all, but I ain't to proud to mooch what I can off FEMA if the need arises, for necessities. :D Problem with FEMA is they give the money out with no strings. I know of a $1500 car stereo that got mounted in a car from Louisiana a few weeks after the FEMA checks started getting cut. Got paid for by a FEMA card. But, hey, if they're going to throw money around like that and it's ME that needs it, I ain't gonna look no gift horse in the mouth, I can tell ya THAT! I'll have plenty of costs getting back on my feet when the time comes and I don't need no stinkin' stereo.

Meanwhile, back to reality. I'm thinking range trip today....:D
 
Major violence will last 3-6 months until things shake out by enough
people dieing off, spontaneous local order by people who get their
acts together, or order being imposed from a larger outside force.

City folk and suburbanites can plant gardens. In the 1940s they were
called Victory Gardens and can be done without modern fuel-intensive
agriculture. Yes, there will be raids, but this is no different than my
ancestors surviving Viking raids on the British Isles. Since most
Americans lack viable outdoor skills: hunting, gardening, etc, they
will either have to work with someone who does or if they do not
they may become raiders themselves.

I don't believe in SHTF lasting more than a few months since order
will be restored one way or another. Even if the rest of us suffer
from petrocarbon depletion, there will be governments/armies that
will not. If you have any natural resources of value in your area and
there is no local government left, someone from outside will restore
it for you. :)
 
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