There is being a bit hungry, and there is being so full that I nod off..., don't want to nod off.
I like being a bit hungry as it seems to keep me more alert....
I carry stuff to ward off nagging hunger, but I know I won't be that bad off, as right now I'm built like Santa Claus...so I could survive in the wilds for at least a month as long as I had clean water.
I also carry stuff, just in case something stupid happens like I mess up an ankle in rough terrain, and have to be out for many hours, or even wait until next-light, for somebody to come and get me.
So I carry:
1 lb. parched corn..., dry roasted dried corn. Kinda like Corn-nuts, but no salt.
Jerky..., home made so I can control the salt
1/2 pound of raisins..., the sugar gives quick energy and in hot weather the potassium wards off any leg cramps
Taffy ...something like
Bit-O-Honey or
Mary-Janes , a few pieces in case it's really cold and I get the shivers.
Water...,
Instant Coffee..., I don't plan to heat up water, but as I wrote above, in case I get stuck out overnight or maybe it takes me "forever" to get back to the vehicle (hopefully dragging a very large deer). In those cases firing up a cup of hot coffee for the ride home or opening a thermos and it's still hot, is a good idea. In "really cold weather", when the high is going to be below 30 degrees, I will carry a small thermos of hot coffee with me.
The Parched Corn, Jerky, and Raisins I found through reading were rather popular trail foods a couple a centuries back, and when I looked into them for nutrition and other properties, they turned out to be pretty darned useful. The Taffy I tried after watching John Wayne in
True Grit, I admit it. I'd seen the movie several times, but for some reason I noticed it when Cogburn tells Mattie Ross what he brought to eat, and one of the items was taffy. So I looked into it, and now I get a bag at The Dollar Store. They are honey flavored, or the other is peanut butter flavored..., not a scent choice, but they don't hurt none, neither.
As for scent, I wash my outer layer of hunting clothes with plain, lye soap. I seriously doubt that although I ground hunt and still hunt, my breath has given me away... I sure ain't spending money on "
Pine tree scented chewing gum".
No matter what I have for food in the field, I think I've a better chance of the sound and scent of a fart scaring off the deer, before my food and wrappers do...,
LD