Straw Poll. How much food do you have in reserve? How well do you stock rotate?

[jennyjj01]

In theory I could shoot ducks and geese, but I only have a catapault at the moment. Bow and arrows would do it.

There are loads of farmers' fields nearby, but I'm not sure what they grow. I can't easily harvest grains, and some of it is just grass.

Bow hunting is also a no-no in this country...... But in a pure survival situation, all bets are off

This is where knowing your neighbours can be handy: A stable supply of Soylent Green, though that too is frowned on by some..... But in a pure survival situation... LOL.

I COULD hunt squirrels or wood pigeon with my crossbow pistol, but there's only a few in my vicinity and with lots of hungry , non-prepper, mouths, they'd soon disappear. I don't think it would kill anything much bigger.

[Frnc]

In theory I could shoot ducks and geese, but I only have a catapault at the moment. Bow and arrows would do it.

With a slingshot and a 10/12 mm BB you can take down pheasants/ducks/squirrels etc. with no problem (subject to to being an accurate shot of course) much more reliable method of hunting than using snares/traps etc.

Cheers for the info. I have 100 x 9.5 mm. If I ran out I'd try to find pebbles or stones. In fact I have some limestone chips about that size in a bag I bought for the condensate soakaway.

[grenfell]

Not wanting to piss on anyone’s bonfire but this idea of going out hunting with a bow or whatever is close to being a prepper fantasy. Hunting anything large is going to take a decent poundage bow not the lightweight ones most use . I’ve got a 70lb longbow that might just be ok but I’ve also got a couple of 30lb bows that I wouldn’t even think of using against a deer. Arrows are another thing , most people shoot with field piles which are basically bullet shaped . Even if you hit the deer with one of those it’s not going to kill it , it’ll wound it but it will take off leaving you without a meal or arrow . What’s needed is a broad head that gives a bigger wound for the animal to bleed out. And that’s all before we consider issues with being practiced enough to be able to hit anything in the first place.
Forge’s comment about legality is also another factor not just because of what is and isn’t legal but also because of how it impacts timing . I’ll explain . We’ve spoken in this thread about how long we could last but not about how long the general population could last . With our preps we should be able to last longer but others might or could have to turn to illegal hunting sooner and in all probability organised crime would poach aggressively leaving little in the way of game left to hunt or fish. And all of this still presupposes that law and order have fallen apart which isn’t going to happen the same time as Tesco runout of beans .
Personally I think traps and snares would be a valuable tool as they can be set , left and checked later discretely , just don’t expect large game.

[jennyjj01]

Not wanting to piss on anyone’s bonfire but this idea of going out hunting with a bow or whatever is close to being a prepper fantasy.

Personally I think traps and snares would be a valuable tool as they can be set , left and checked later discretely , just don’t expect large game.

all good and valid points. The urban pepper isn't going to get a look in before organised, less squeamish, neighbours will have killed anything edible. Heck there would be enough such folk coming after our reserves, even before Tesco shut for the first night.
Crossbows and bows? The default arrows would sting but no quick kill beyond maybe a pigeon. Country folk with proper firearms would clear the countryside of rabbits and deer, and the less scrupulous would be out stealing sheep. And we only can guess how prepared shepherds would be to defend their stock with proper weapons.

I wonder how unhealthy it would be to eat urban pigeons?

[Adjee]

Not wanting to piss on anyone’s bonfire but this idea of going out hunting with a bow or whatever is close to being a prepper fantasy.

Check out Gamekeeper John on YouTube (based in the UK) for hunting  with a slingshot. I brought home a pheasant today from my morning dog walk, 12mm BB to the head.

One of the most concise/informative articles explaining hunting deer with a bow.

https://www.fieldandstream.com/hunting/ ... -hunt-deer

Personally I think traps and snares would be a valuable tool as they can be set  , left and checked later discretely , just don’t expect large game.

Fully agree with your thoughts but to become successful using snares/deadfall traps you have to be able to read the land, recognize animal runs, know how to vary the height as opposed to just using the "four finger" rule and you need luck. I recall reading somewhere that it would take 20 set snares to catch a single rabbit. I was shown by a "man of the night" many years ago in my youth how to make and set snares but in all my years of trying I have only managed to catch two rabbits! Not an art (one of many) that I excel in.

[GillyBee]

I read an article about the Kosovo war where people "fished" for pigeons from windowsills by tying thin line to suitable foodstuffs and waiting for the greedy birds to gobble the bait.

[Adjee]

You can make a substance called "Bird Lime" from Mistletoe fruit or as they do here from Holly Bark. Put on a tree or twig the bird lands on it and cannot escape. Many wild birds can be used as a food source, I was introduced to crow meat here by our friends on a hunt who cooked it over an open fire and it was an enjoyable meal. You just have to get over the mental barriers that we are conditioned to from when young to be able to eat certain things.

[pseudonym]

I wonder how unhealthy it would be to eat urban pigeons?

Probably pretty bad with unknown parasites and diseases. Risk vs reward I suppose.

[Nurseandy]

I hunt, shoot & fish and live in a very rural area surrounded by fields & woodland. We regularly get pheasants to the bird feeders in the garden and numerous hares and deer seen daily. However, I know I couldn't feed my family long term from hunting for a couple of reasons - firstly I'm not particularly good at hunting, second everyone else around will be doing the same and "stock" will disappear quicker than toilet roll in a pandemic.

[grenfell]

Check out Gamekeeper John on YouTube (based in the UK) for hunting  with a slingshot. I brought home a pheasant today from my morning dog walk, 12mm BB to the head.

If nothing else this does demonstrate the need to practice with one’s choice of weapon , practice , practice , practice. I’m decent with a bow but I doubt good enough to feed the family . I’ve done some trapping with some success although it was for vermin rather than food . I feel I would need far more traps though if I were trying to feed the family . The idea of keeping bows or guns or rods or whatever and then going hunting when everything goes pear shaped is a none starter . If one isn’t proficient now then when the brown smelly stuff hits the big wirry thing isn’t going be the impetus to become Robin Hood .
No one has mentioned hunting with dogs which might be an option for a select few but ultimately I tend to feel that most of us would miss out as we’d try to stay grey and legal and not resort to what is in effect poaching longer than others .
Incidentally I live on the outskirts of a small town and we have our “own” herd of deer that often wander into town and can be seen grazing near the supermarket or in peoples gardens . I’m actually a little surprised they haven’t been poached already but feel certain if everything went tits up they wouldn’t last long , we’re not a million miles from Birmingham for one thing…