This was going to be a terrible thread hijack from the reloading in shtf thread, so the first items deal with that. While writing that I was reminded of how quickly I've seen local game populations plummet and so added some thoughts.
Just a thought, but for something prolonged enough to worry about burning through a large supply of ammo (presumably on hunting, and perhaps training, since if you have 2k/5k/10k/20k/50k/a frikken arsenal of rounds, odds are against you living long enough to use it all in battle), then some revolvers, and revolver cartridge rifles/carbines start to look nice, and when combined with the equipment to make cast bullets, primers, then powder would become the big concerns. With hazmat laws, and costs, stockpiling (legally and safely) powder isn't so easy, but you can keep a fair bit on hand no problem. Primers, as we've already seen, are a gating point in reloading and might be the thing to keep stocked up on.
This is all ignoring the fact that a skilled, careful and motivated/desperate hunter can probably take most game with a 22lr, and stocking that up by the thousands is within almost any budget.
However, the case against hunting seems pretty compelling to me.
Not the case against doing it, the case against relying on it as your primary intended method of keeping food, or even just meat, on the table.
First off, the east coast is so densely populated that once every decent hunter around realizing that hunting is where the meat is going to come from, the game is going to disappear fast.
Next, lets look at how far you have to go to have a decent chance at meat. Can you walk to a good hunting area? Do 500 other people also know about this place? Sure, right now the suburban areas have deer throughout, but if everyone with a 22 or bigger starts killing them on sight for food, that wont last.
How much fuel do you stockpile? How many trips can you make to a place with reliable game on the fuel you have on hand. Is that the best use for your fuel? Only you can answer those questions.
Maybe you live close to great hunting, so you can walk the whole thing (cause eventually that 4 wheeler will be out of gas). Then you just have to deal with the risk of injuries while out hunting.
Do you have the skills and facilities to clean, butcher, process, and preserve the meat? All of this without electricity of course. Sure smoking is a possibility, if you don't mind making it obvious to anyone for a mile or so downwind that you're smoking meat. Every (I hope) hunter knows how to field dress the game they hunt, but not nearly so many know how to do the rest.
In SHTF scenario, how much greater risk to you put yourself and by extension, your family at, by going out hunting alone? Stands to reason some looter is going to realize if he gets some friends together and just watches for people coming back with food, he can just take that. "Highway robbery" didn't turn into a saying from thin air.
In a situation with no advanced (or possibly not even any basic) medical care, a green stick break from that hole you didn't see could kill you. A long and painful death at that. You could meet up with those bandits, win the gunfight, and still die if you got injured in the fight.
I'm not that skilled with a bow, but at least with a well made bow and the knowledge to make practice arrows and make/repair hunting arrows you can hunt without telling everyone for miles that you at least saw a deer.
For SHTF food, I'd hope you've given strong consideration to food/seed storage and gardening. Its not as sexy as getting another AR, but who REALLY wants to look thier kids, or wife or self in the eye and realize that someone is going hungry, because you spent time and money on another toy instead of whatever it turns out you need at that point. Speaking of money, even though its paper/fiat/potentially worthless in crisis/ currency, that 2k you dropped on a rifle could be the difference between making it, and not making it if things get rough for you personally, which brings me to my concluding thought.
Last but not least, remember that not every SHTF is cause to blow up the bridge and start shooting everyone you see walking across your land. It is MUCH more likely in any one persons life that their own personal SHTF will be as mundane as losing a job, or getting sued, getting arrested for a perfectly justified SD shooting, or something else that can't be (legally and morally) solved with guns. But just knowing that you've got enough food to skip trips to the grocery store until things get better can make the difference between weathering that storm and being broken by it.
And don't even get me started on water, first aid, medicine, and fuel.
Disclaimer for people who might not get what I'm trying to say:
I love buying guns, ammo, toys, and all that stuff. I love hunting. I love shooting even more than hunting, and love taking my kids out to shoot as well. I just think that people overestimate the importance of a vast arsenal, and underrate the value of just having enough food and water to weather the big and little disasters.
Also, I realize that no one was actively advocating hunting as primary food source, but I hear that sentiment too often to ignore it.
Just a thought, but for something prolonged enough to worry about burning through a large supply of ammo (presumably on hunting, and perhaps training, since if you have 2k/5k/10k/20k/50k/a frikken arsenal of rounds, odds are against you living long enough to use it all in battle), then some revolvers, and revolver cartridge rifles/carbines start to look nice, and when combined with the equipment to make cast bullets, primers, then powder would become the big concerns. With hazmat laws, and costs, stockpiling (legally and safely) powder isn't so easy, but you can keep a fair bit on hand no problem. Primers, as we've already seen, are a gating point in reloading and might be the thing to keep stocked up on.
This is all ignoring the fact that a skilled, careful and motivated/desperate hunter can probably take most game with a 22lr, and stocking that up by the thousands is within almost any budget.
However, the case against hunting seems pretty compelling to me.
Not the case against doing it, the case against relying on it as your primary intended method of keeping food, or even just meat, on the table.
First off, the east coast is so densely populated that once every decent hunter around realizing that hunting is where the meat is going to come from, the game is going to disappear fast.
Next, lets look at how far you have to go to have a decent chance at meat. Can you walk to a good hunting area? Do 500 other people also know about this place? Sure, right now the suburban areas have deer throughout, but if everyone with a 22 or bigger starts killing them on sight for food, that wont last.
How much fuel do you stockpile? How many trips can you make to a place with reliable game on the fuel you have on hand. Is that the best use for your fuel? Only you can answer those questions.
Maybe you live close to great hunting, so you can walk the whole thing (cause eventually that 4 wheeler will be out of gas). Then you just have to deal with the risk of injuries while out hunting.
Do you have the skills and facilities to clean, butcher, process, and preserve the meat? All of this without electricity of course. Sure smoking is a possibility, if you don't mind making it obvious to anyone for a mile or so downwind that you're smoking meat. Every (I hope) hunter knows how to field dress the game they hunt, but not nearly so many know how to do the rest.
In SHTF scenario, how much greater risk to you put yourself and by extension, your family at, by going out hunting alone? Stands to reason some looter is going to realize if he gets some friends together and just watches for people coming back with food, he can just take that. "Highway robbery" didn't turn into a saying from thin air.
In a situation with no advanced (or possibly not even any basic) medical care, a green stick break from that hole you didn't see could kill you. A long and painful death at that. You could meet up with those bandits, win the gunfight, and still die if you got injured in the fight.
I'm not that skilled with a bow, but at least with a well made bow and the knowledge to make practice arrows and make/repair hunting arrows you can hunt without telling everyone for miles that you at least saw a deer.
For SHTF food, I'd hope you've given strong consideration to food/seed storage and gardening. Its not as sexy as getting another AR, but who REALLY wants to look thier kids, or wife or self in the eye and realize that someone is going hungry, because you spent time and money on another toy instead of whatever it turns out you need at that point. Speaking of money, even though its paper/fiat/potentially worthless in crisis/ currency, that 2k you dropped on a rifle could be the difference between making it, and not making it if things get rough for you personally, which brings me to my concluding thought.
Last but not least, remember that not every SHTF is cause to blow up the bridge and start shooting everyone you see walking across your land. It is MUCH more likely in any one persons life that their own personal SHTF will be as mundane as losing a job, or getting sued, getting arrested for a perfectly justified SD shooting, or something else that can't be (legally and morally) solved with guns. But just knowing that you've got enough food to skip trips to the grocery store until things get better can make the difference between weathering that storm and being broken by it.
And don't even get me started on water, first aid, medicine, and fuel.
Disclaimer for people who might not get what I'm trying to say:
I love buying guns, ammo, toys, and all that stuff. I love hunting. I love shooting even more than hunting, and love taking my kids out to shoot as well. I just think that people overestimate the importance of a vast arsenal, and underrate the value of just having enough food and water to weather the big and little disasters.
Also, I realize that no one was actively advocating hunting as primary food source, but I hear that sentiment too often to ignore it.
