When The Food Is Gone - Living off the Land

Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, Oklahoma tornadoes in April 2013, the Colorado floods in September 2013; all caused shortages of food and everyday supplies. For those of us in regions where snowfalls can drop 4-12 inches at a time, we have seen how spastic people get for bread, milk and toilet paper. Can you imagine how they would react if all food deliveries, to stores, were interrupted for an extended period of time? An EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) can stop trucks, cars, aircraft and watercraft engines from running, delivery truck hijackings can occur and disasters and riots can close travel routes. If any of these happened, and people panicked (guaranteed), how long do you think it would take for stores to be void of food and the streets unsafe to travel? Have you been to a grocery store after an announcement of potential inclement weather? Estimates are 3 days for stores to be empty of food and a week for people taking to the streets to get food from other sources (including those who have prepared for the event). BUT what if your personal stockpile of food runs out before the crisis is over? What if you have to leave your stockpile of food behind for whatever reason? Or something more basic; what if you are in the wild on a planned visit but things go horribly bad?

BOW
• Stave - Select and young green tree or sapling (hardwood like cedar locust, beech, etc.), 6 feet long, nearly branch-free, very straight, about 1-2 inches in diameter.
• Cut the stave to about chin height.
• Do not cut away any material (except branches) from the back (side facing target) of the stave. Be careful to remove branches to avoid cut marks in the main stave that can weaken it.
• Initially use a light chopping technique to remove large material from the belly side (facing you) to form the stave. Remove less material as the stave begins to bend when pressure is applied. Both ends of the stave should bend the same.
• Taper the ends of the stave to ready it for the cordage (8-10 feet in length). Cut notches on the sides of each end of the stave and angle down toward the belly of the bow.
• Tie and knot the cordage to one end of the stave. Flip the stave over to the other end, positioning the ground end against your foot. Step over the stave with your opposing leg and put tansion on the stave with the bottom of you thigh. With the stave under tension, tie the cordage to the other end of the stave. You have now made a bow.
• Place the bow on the ground with the cordage facing up and place your foot in the middle of the bow. Pull up on the cordage to make sure the bow is bending symetrically. If not, unstring the bow and cut away any excess material until the bow is bending symetrically at both ends.
• A proper stringing is when the cordage and the belly of the bow are about "thumbs-up" (fist and thumb) apart.
  ARROWS
• Gather small green straight hardwood tree saplings (suckers) about 2 feet long (or longer depending on your bow pull length). Suckers grow at the base of much larger, mature trees and typically straight and free of forks or branches making them ideal for arrows.
• Peel or scrape off the bark with a rock or your fingernails to avoid damaging the wood.
• Carve a "V" shaped nock into the back end of the arrow for the string
• Gather [like] bird feathers for fletching on the back of the arrows.
• Split and break the feathers into 3 equal sizes (3 feathers) for each arrow
• Gather sticky tree sap from trees to "glue" the feathers to the arrow about 1 inch from the nock
• Secure the feathers by wrapping cordage around the base of the feathers.
• Shape all feathers with hot coals so they appear to be the same size/shape.
• Make the arrow point by cutting into a point and hardening with fire and rubbing against a rock
  QUIVER
• Peel off bark from a tree about 6 inches wide and 3 feet long
• Bend it in half by scoring in the middle before bending
• Use cordage to hold together at the top and bottom and to make a carry strap
  PRACTICE, Practice, Practice so you know how your bow and arrows will react.

Squirrel Noose Snare:    [Blog Link]
Generally, squirrels would rather climb a tree at an angle, to save energy, rather than go straight up. This is where this snare comes in. Nut-bearing trees, like oak, hickory or even, pine (with cones for pine nuts) are the best places to locate squirrel [food] activity. Usually, husks of eaten nuts can be found around the base of these trees. Make sure there are no tree limbs below the snare pole.

Find a tree branch about 4-6 feet long and about 4 inches in diameter with the bark still on and a fork at the end that allows the pole to stay in place when you stick it in the ground or pin it against a tree Secure the pole against an squirrel-active tree. Turn the natural branches and forks on the pole so they form a sort of funnel to encourage the squirrel to go through instead of around the snares Remove all tree limbs below, and just above, the snare pole to prevent the squirrel from grabbing them to escape the snares. Make at least one noose with at least one foot of wire. Make a loop smaller than 3" in diameter. Attach the noose (more than one is better) to the pole At first, the squirrels may be cautious and not go near the trap. After a while, they will get used to it. A squirrel will be caught as it climbs the pole and passes through the noose. Check the trap every day, or more often, from afar with binoculars. Don't get too close to spook your prey. Video

Ants and their larvae for food: Ants and their eggs are tasty and nutritious. And, with the help of a plastic tarp, they can be easily collected. Fold over the edges of the tarp (photo). Then find an ant hill, dig it up, and dump all of the contents (ants and dirt) onto the center of the tarp. The ants will scramble to save the eggs — and carry all of the eggs into the "safety" of the folds around the tarp. After they are done scrambling (no pun intended), unfold the tarp and gather up the eggs and eat them and the ants.

Lizards vs Salamander: Many salamanders produce poisonous secretions through their skin making them non-edible. They have soft, moist skin and, typically, live in and around water or moist areas. They do not have claws on their toes like lizards which have scaly skin. Most species of lizard are not poisonous and they also tend to have lean, nutrient-rich meat but full of nasty microorganisms, including a number of parasites and bacteria that can cause foodborne illnesses. Unless safely-prepared and cooked thoroughly, the potential risks will outweigh many of the rewards. They can be difficult to catch except during cool weather so finding other sources of [slower] food may be a better option.
Wild Box Turtles are on the non-edible list because many eat mushrooms that are poisonous to humans so their meat may contain the same toxins.
All About Snakes

• The Incredible Edible Dandelion contains a wealth of vitamins and nutrients, as well as naturopathic applications that are astounding. It is edible in its entirety. Its tinctures and teas can be used to help the liver and gall bladder, and the root can be tinctured and used as a diuretic, especially good for women with excessive water weight caused during the normal course of menses.
• Weeds You Can Eat
• Picking Edible & Medicinal Plants – Must Know Rules    [Article 1]    [Article 2]
• Online [video] Course Intro. to Foraging for Edible and Medicinal Wild Herbs
• Tree Bark: In a survival situation, the nuts, fruits, and leaves of a tree are a more appealing source of nutrition, but if you find yourself in the forest in mid-winter, chances are your pickings will be slim. But tree bark is consistently available regardless of the season. Whether you decide to fry up a few cambium strips in olive oil or grind some papery birch bark into flour, you won't be the first person to try eating tree bark. Generally, the outter bark is not the edible part of the tree but what lies beneath. In addition to food, trees can provide medicinal properties as well. Getting familiar with, and learning how to harvest and prepare, parts of a tree could be the difference between life and death.
• Safely Foraging for Mushrooms: Never Eat Mushrooms Unless You Are POSITIVE They Are Edible! The Langermannia (Calvatia) Gigantea, commonly known as the giant puffball, is a puffball mushroom commonly found in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests usually in late summer and autumn. It is found in temperate areas throughout the world. They're more likely found in meadows and grasslands than in the forest. They are always found growing on the ground rather than up in trees. They are edible when they are larger than a softball, solid, pure white throughout with no gills, stalks or discoloring.
• Acorns, the fruits of Oak Trees, are edible, all of them. Depending on species, acorns can range in fat content from 1.1 percent to 31.3 percent, protein from 2.3 percent to 8.6 percent, and carbohydrates from 32.7 percent to 89.7 percent. Most, however, need special processing to remove the bitter tannic acid. There are three ways to eat acorns; Eating them as nuts (they are a lot like chestnuts), making acorn flour, or making acorn oil for cooking. Gather acorns anytime from September until early spring as they fall to the ground. Some prefer gathering them in February and March after many have begun sprouting. Acorns with sprouts between 1 to 2 inches long are still good to eat, but discard any acorn meats that have turned green. Sprouted acorns have begun to turn their starch into sugar, and are foolproof: If it is sprouted, it’s a good acorn so you don't waste time gathering wormy ones. To make acorns ready for consumption, the tannic acid must be removed (leached). Leaching also prevents constipation and damaging teeth. Leaching is done by crushing and soaking the acorns in [running] water (like a stream) for 24+ hours or boiling them several times in clean water each time. Once done, they are dried and crushed further into a "flour" used for baking.    [Resource]