How much foraging are you planning to do?When things get bad

After reading a article today on line about poaching, i was wondering how many people are planning to "live off the land" or are actually planning on surviving on taking local game, or going down to the lake and catching fish to live off of.

<CITE>Quote:</CITE>Cops nab bizarre Prospect Park poachers

Cops have busted a group of oddball poachers in Prospect Park — a band of vagrants that was trapping and eating ducks, squirrels and pigeons.

Parks officers wrote four tickets — two for killing wildlife and two for illegal fishing — totaling $2,100 in fines during a two-day period last week.

The city would not immediately release details of the incidents, which occurred on July 17 and 18 — just days after park-goers told rangers about a “Beverly Hillbillies”-like scene on the southeast side of the lake, near the ice skating rink.

“This is a dodgy group,” said park-goer Peter Colon, who spotted one of the men catching a pigeon while his friend started a fire. “They are the most threatening people in the park.”

The disheveled — and possibly homeless — tribe in question uses “makeshift” fishing poles and traps to catch the critters, then grills them over the fire, according to park watchdogs.

“One woman uses a net to bag the ducks,” said wildlife advocate Johanna Clearfield.

Wildlife advocates have long pushed the Parks Department to crackdown on illegal hunting and fishing in Prospect Park — especially after a stunning array of cases in which geese and cygnets were injured by illegal barbed fishhooks and lure.

In the most-dramatic case, a plucky little goose who lost the top half of his beak to a fishhook earned him endless sympathy and the nickname, “Beaky.”

The fishing and hunting ticket blitz comes while park-goers collect and document large mounds of fishing wire, claiming waterfowl are frequently get tangled.

And it’s not the first time that poachers have been busted. Last year, park-goers confronted a man after spotting him catching fish and secreting them into a bag — a violation of the city’s “catch-and-release” rules.

After being confronted, the man dumped the dead fish back into the lake.

The new poaching busts bring to mind last year’s wave of animal murders by the so-called “Butcher of Prospect Park,” whose death toll included waterfowl, chickens, turtles and a goat.

For now, wildlife advocates were hailing this month’s busts.

“The fact that they’re ticketing is great — it’s so badly needed,” said goose lover Mary Beth Artz. “I hope they keep it up.”

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories..._08_06_bk.html ​

I think that things are only going to get worse as the economy worsens and there won't be a whole lot out there to get when it gets bad. It really does not have a lot to do with skill and whether you can or not,
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It's already been taking place, mostly by the "homeless" and variants thereof.
Up north there has been an increase in "poaching" of wildlife, as well as some cattle. It seems when the supply of things to steal, or "scrap", then they have to turn to other means to eat.
Unfortunately they are readily encouraged and fed by local scrap yards...in fact business was so good the past 6 months that there was a new yard built to handle all the cars ( no titles) trailers, and stripped metals from a variety ot things....Like copper wiring in buildings.
The local sheriff's offices, ( 2 ) in 2 counties, turn their heads the other way, as do city police in the areas where the scrap and stolen stuff is being sold.
This is JUST the tip of the iceberg, and it's still growing....

 

As far as "living off the land", not from where I sit. Not even remotely possible nor probabale, except in a town or city where there are some food items to be had. now IF you are near a lake, a stream, a farm or two or say an orchard...then yes it is more than likely.
The desert has little to offer.....snakes, coyotes, cacti, sand, and heat ( a lot of heat!) In my specific area there are junipers that have small hard berries that few could eat! Due to the higher altitude of say 5,300 feet or more, not even cactus grow up there and some that have, are so small and stunted they are better off being used as a centerpiece for the table!
That was upsetting for me! I like prickly pear!

 

scrappin is so bad up here that you have to have a signed reciept of ownership before you can sell anything as scrap
people have even stolen oilwell pumps and parts to sell as scrap and most of my farm machinery was cut up a year or so ago and hauled off while i was away working
as far as livin off the land, i always have

 

They write homeless people tickets that will never be paid, so they go to jail?
Then the taxpayers get to support them and give them free medical care too.
Probably better to just let them eat the ducks.

 

Foraging?..I call this Hoboing...Some things never change...ccc

 

What do you mean when? I'm already supplementing my table with wild edibles. Earlier this spring were the morel mushrooms that were freaking awesome on a broiled steak. Mulberries and cherries make a nice snack food. wild raspberries, black berries, and in a few more weeks them canadian honkers are gonna be falling out of the sky right into my freezer, followed by ducks, hopefully a nice tasty doe that has been nibbling in my garden. Plus apples and pears.

We found some wild onions that were pretty strong. w00t those were good.

The farmer just harvested his oats so i went around the field sides and harvested where he couldn't get his combine. Got about 300# that the goats, chickens and turkeys loved.

Must have collected 3 pickup truck beds worth of wheat straw from another field that the bailer missed. Pigs loved that and have already turned that into the soil.

There have been a few trout that have made it to the grill this year, some perch and some smelt.

Once the snow flies there will be some bunnies (wild) hippy hopping into the oven to baste until a nice golden brown (kinda tastes like chicken)

If things get real bad i switch from bunnies to squirrels (they kinda taste like chicken too)

Yep, them city slickers is gonna die if the supermarkets run outta food. They don't even know the difference from Honeysuckle, Deadly Nightshade and currants. Hopefully they will be carrying silver when they expire, as once they are dead they are just a resources too. Sure I'll give them a proper burial say some words over them but I'm still gonna drop an acorn, cherry pit and a hazelnut in with them.

 

Now IF I were in say Missouri or thereabouts, I'd be in 7th heaven ( except the flooding part!) I like wild berries and such. I could live like that!
I have eaten rattlesnake, but I'm here to say, it's NOT that great!
Some cactus pods ( prickly pears and saguaro blooms) are ok but few and far between and NOT to be found up north around my land. So the "pickin's" are gonna be a might bit thin! In winter I'd get a lot of cottontails, but then you'd have to preserve them or starve the rest of the season/year!
There are a couple of man made lakes with a few ducks, but not what you'd consider close.....few have any fish, most are empty already and I heard from a guy up there that recently tried fishing 6 of the places nearest to him ( Prescott and Prescott Valley, all the way north to Williams) that the fish are gone. A sign of the times ahead I'm afraid!

 

Am far from Ewell Gibbons but can live out of the woods/streams if need be. I like the caption from "Crocodile Dundee": "you can live off this but it tastes like crap"--LOL. Well most of it taste OK and some even delicious but it is hard to beat steak and potatoes.

 

Forage as much as you can to conserve stored supplies. What you cannot find, use out of storage. Just realize your stores are finite.

 

In downtown Denver by S. Platte which runs through town, I found fish traps. I believe homeless are getting creative. But there are things to learn. Such fish traps were easy to make from scrap materiel. I guess I do feel guilty that I walked away with the surprizingly fairly high quality rope.

 

eek3 Wow, I think you just taught them a lesson. To camoflauge THEIR stuff better.

 

OK bear in mind I am preparing for a Magnitude 7 event - example a hurricane is Magnitude 4, 7 is total collapse. If I am ready for a Total collapse, a hurricane is going to be no sweat.

Anyhow: to the question at hand. None. At least not until I feel the population die offs are complete. Give it say - 3 months after a Mag 7 event. Other my stored food I have livestock and a prolific garden, so I will not want for fresh goodies. As with anything YMMV.

 

I plan on shooting some of the numberous feral hogs here abouts. That is until they start eating the city folk staggering around out here. When that happens, I'll have to wait a year or so for the uncontaminated piglets.

jim

 

foraging

My neighborhood has some folks that enjoy fishing in the fresh water drainage / irrigation canals.... and raiding my fruit trees while I'm at work. Ducks and wading birds also populate the canals, but I haven't seen anyone taking those yet. Most hobos here operate in intersections with cardboard signs. My megalopolis might be able to scrounge a day's worth of "environmental" food... gators, pigs, lizards, birds, fish, fruit, weeds, pets. Sweet potatoes grow like weeds down here, but most prefer lawns sprayed with drinking water and chemicals. Of course, most will opt for taking from each other while detoxing. We're overlooking the most common protein source............ ants! What were YOU thinking.

Matt

 

I was thinking the grubs in my lawn. Ok maybe not a lawn but a fair bit of trained weeds.

 

I hunt and fish but have not had any sucess with a garden.
On the bright side I've got an 66,000 acre WMA next door, so I will start looking a plant ID books for foraging.
Thanks for the idea.

 

the problem with foraging is that everyone will be doing it
supplies will run low quite quickly before the population does

 

If you're going to forage after a SHTF societal collapse, right away is the time to do it. Before it's all gone, and to supplement your stored food until you can plant a new crop somewhere safe.

Most people don't even recognize what's around them as being edible. I don't know how many times I was told as a child that Oregon Grape (Oregon-grape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) is poisonous. Most people don't know you can eat dandelion greens (what could be more common in suburbia?) Or sweet pea (Poisonous Plants: Lathyrus spp.).

Not to mention, the neighbour's feral mutts after they've been abandoned for months.

 

Well, I look at foraging a little different. I bought a house on a lake so I could have instant access to fish , ducks, geese, swans, turtles, cat tail and many other things that the lake produces. Our 10 acres is loaded with wild edibles like grapes,strawberries, black berries, rasberries, mushrooms, and we even have a large Mulberry tree right by the garage. This past spring we planted over 20 Fruit trees including , Apple,pear and peach. Even one Cherry tree. We built hundreds of feet of brush piles and stumps my wife calls Rabbitat . Our wild Rabbit population has grown to double its previous numbers. We raise tame rabbits and Chickens and grow the food to feed them as well. We have not opened a can of veggies in the last three weeks as the garden is producing fresh broccoli ,Zuchinni squash, Cucumbers and now tomatoes. We have pumpkins, acorn squash, butternut squash and three types of melons still to come. This is how we are foraging. Living off our own land. I am surrounded by thousands of acres of federal and state lands that have fair numbers of Deer and small game. A s we are on the Water fowl flyway we see thousands of migrating geese and ducks every fall. I have no reason to leave here. What we are doing now is building our defensive perimeter, stocking more food and working the garden by enriching the soil. We still have to plant one more food plot to draw in more deer. As many of you know we have just finished an electrical service upgrade and are now researching a solar system. By this time next summer we will be self reliant in regards to food and energy. Self reliant as in 10 to 20 years without any help from the outside. Maybe longer if we have enough time. I for one do not want to return to the dark ages but if necessary Ill go back to the old ways of cutting wood with a hand saw, Bartering for goods, and hand pumping my water. Kingfish