By Brandon Smith
As regular readers at Alt-Market know, I am an avid hunter and I publish hunting tips in my newsletter, The Wild Bunch Dispatch. I believe it is vitally important for a number of reason for preppers to have the ability to hunt for their own food, and there are numerous valuable skills involved in back country hunting. I am a self taught hunter, and if I can learn how to do it, any prepper can.
I haven’t had as much time this season to hunt as I would like, but I have finally filled my 2020 buck tag. A very nice 8 point buck. I had to maneuver around multiples groups of does without disturbing them before I found this guy. Luckily this year I was able to shoot him less than a mile from the truck. It’s a good feeling to get a tag filled before Thanksgiving, having venison ready for the table,
I only hunt public land and usually solo, but I do on occasion take friends out to help them fill their own tags. The season started VERY slow, with minimal activity, and the deer were not moving very much in higher elevations this year (unlike last year). The rut was also decidedly late in the season this year.
The pandemic situation seems to have greatly reduced the number of active hunters in the field. There were some “truck hunters” this year (guys who drive around but rarely hike into the forest), and out of state hunters were sparse. This is an interesting development because the common assumption among preppers has been that in times of crisis hunting would skyrocket. This was not the case at all, at least not this season.
A strange consequence of the lack of hunting activity is that the animals are not pushed around the woods as much by sounds and smells. There are times when SOME nearby competition can be useful in hunting, as it creates energy and movement.
Overall, it has been a strange season, but being out in the woods alone, sometimes miles from any other people or help, brings clarity. It is the most base and fundamental condition – Being completely reliant on your own skills and observational powers. There is something very peaceful about knowing you are on your own, and it makes you appreciate when, in hunting or in life, you do have help you can rely on.
Do you process your own catch? I’m told many processors only return to their customers the equivalent meat in weight and it is often not from the customers own catch.
I always process my own venison.
Congratulations, he’s a nice looking buck. So far I’ve just gotten a small-ish button buck here in NC.
Any buck is an accomplishment. Going out in the woods to hunt is hard work. Thanks for the kind words!
What do you do when you arrive at home with the catch? Do you wait a day or more before processing the deer? And do you use the skin for decoration purpose?
As long as the deer is kept cool you can wait 2-3 days before processing if you need to. Deer hides don’t keep their fur. You can make leather out of them, but that’s not really my trade. People will sometimes buy them, though.
I am going to save your trophy image on my local harddrive, if you don’t mind. Because the photo speaks of it’s one. Thx in advance 🙂
This is going to be perhaps the dumbest question you ever heard. How does one not get lead poisoning from eating deer shot by a gun using lead ammunition? Wouldn’t lead knock off the round as it goes through the animal? Even if the bullet canal was widened to remove where the bullet touched some of the lead might travel around the deer via the bloodstream. The amount of lead I am conceiving is incredibly small but apparently it only takes 3 mg of lead to kill and much less to poison. I’ve never hunted in my life and would like to start soon but I’m unsure of the safety of hunting with a gun. I suppose I could use a bow but learning that skill is pretty daunting and the range is piss poor.
No, you would not get lead poisoning. First, hunters do not eat any meat that is damaged by a bullet anyway, which is why you want to aim for the vitals so that you don’t shred any of the good meat. Also, lead does not travel through the bloodstream of the animal.
Yes,here in ny we were told 47,000 more people took course and would be in woods this year,not!slow here , but got doe with bow and small spike with rifle.congrats on buck.