Harvesting Game for Sustainable living after SHTF, the big myth
Like several of the wolf pack readers, I am an avid hunter. The wife and myself usually harvest 4-6 deer a year to fill our pantry with canned venison, and our 2 freezers. We also hunt and trap a wide assortment of small game such as rabbit, quail, raccoon an squirrels along with turkeys. Over the past 20 years, we have come to depend on this as a large part of our diet, along with our homegrown garden that we double and triple crop most of the year.
We raise cattle and chicken, ducks and turkey, using the cattle as a cash crop we do not eat, and eating the eggs and select poultry also. We pick and can/freeze/dry blackberries, raspberries, cherries, apples and pears here on our farm. Our weekly grocery bill is between $20-25, mostly for staples, due to our frugality and hard work. This leaves a lot more money in the budget for other needs, and prepping also! We both work a full-time job, but becoming more self-sufficient has become one of our main hobbies last few years.
Often in various discussions on other blogs, and locally I hear folks saying the extent of prepping is to raise a garden and shoot deer, fish and hunt and such and all will be well. Folks, they are in for a big surprise for several reasons. First of all, gardening for sustenance full on is a huge effort, most folks today don’t have a clue as to the labor or just the know how . As for the bringing in the wild game by the truckload, you can forget that. Every person out there has the same idea, and like game was here in the turn of the century, early 1900′s till about 1960′s, it was nearly all wiped out by people hunting to eat, and to survive!
Add to that the we have a huge influx of predators, coyotes, bears and bobcat populations have soared the last 5 years here in KY, that they would also have an effect on the wildlife population. Most of the big game, and small game would be gone within 1-2 years tops. Huge populations will soon be without access to meat, and what small amount of wildlife remains, would move away from populated areas. Also, after a social meltdown, there would be not government officers to protect wildlife, and all species would be hunted all year-long, without rest and a chance to reproduce. Their would be not protection of fish, and wholesale netting, gigging of all fish species would happen, you can bet on that.
What could you do, we ask ourselves then? I would lean towards raising animals for consumption that don’t take a lot of specialized feed. I am in the process of gearing up for goats, and possibly hogs’ have had extensive experience with them growing up on the farm here. Goats will thrive on plants that your cattle wont touch, along with the grasses that cattle love. My cattle could be replaced with several goats making a small herd, that would provide meat on an ongoing basis. Hogs are the same, and can be fenced into wooded areas to forage and clean out the under growth. Scraps from your garden and table can be fed to both species, any animal waste to the pork.
Goats will eat pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe rinds with relish as will hogs. Any greenery not eaten from your garden plants will make great high protein food for these two species. Also, goats and young hogs are easily slaughtered and butchered, and you can render the fat into lard from hogs for cooking, and to help in storing canned meats if needed. Goats also give a rich milk for drinking, and making yogurt or cheese, both made very simply, and that would go a long way to vary and enrich your daily diet. Well, this is some food for thought for you folks, I am daily adapting more and more of my life-style to the prepping mindset and taking action. I thought I would pass this on, maybe to jog your conscience into reality.
by Sam K
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