Poaching for Food(ROUND TWO)

What items would you propose harvesting for food in the middle of winter?

I don't have a freezer now other than the small one on my fridge. If I lost my job it would be tough to buy a freezer and stock it with legal game assuming my employer decided to lay me off in a time that didn't coincide with legal hunting seasons. (I don't believe employers consider such things when making layoff decisions)

The original poaching thread was brought up by a gentleman who lived in a state where he could harvest numerous deer. He was considering moving to a state where he could legally harvest fewer deer. For him the question was how to get as many deer as he was used to - not how to preserve the few he could legally get.

Freezer? I've heard of them. I heard of them back during the times when Herself and I lived without any modern conveniences, including electrcity. I've heard of canners too, but when one can't afford such things one doesn't have them.

As far as; Hunt in season; freeze some meat. How hard is that? Pretty hard sometimes. Aside from not having a freezer, the success ratio for hunters is quite low even in states with high animal densities. Many states have deer hunting success at about 30% or lower and that's figuring in all the nimrods who kill the lion's share of game and those who can't find the woods on a regular basis. Trully a lot of tags go unfilled, and most states sell more total tags than they have total deer. Added to that, many states have a one deer or maybe a two deer limit per year, and extremely limited access to hunting land. For small game the "possession limit" is usually twice the daily limit. This means if a hunter is allowed 1 of something per day they can only have 2 of such animals total in possession at home.

The game laws are set up in such a way as to guarantee that even a very good hunter cannot "legally" fill their freezers; but there are some exceptions to every rule. The last I heard there were some counties in northern Kentucky that allowed hunters to bag an unlimited number of doe deer, but here again, one has to have access to land with lots of deer, and many land owners don't allow hunting. I suppose too, that if one lived where ther were Moose to be hunted, or several varieties of large game one might fill the pantry with game.

In Kentucky where I used to live the limit was 5 rabbits or 6 squirrels per day, and therefore 10 rabbits or 12 squirrels in possession at home. Even now Herself and I will eat 50 or more domestic rabbits per year in addition to all of our other grub. Here in Minnesota the daily hunting limit is 20 rabbits and 20 rabbits in possession at home.

If we go fishing we are allowed 3 Northern Pike per day and I think 6 in possession at home. If one lives on the water: lake, river, creek, whatever, they can fish everyday and limits are a mute point, but if one lives away from the water one needs to be able to preserve their catch. But, in preserving the catch the limit is 6 Northern Pike; it doesn't matter what size fish, just Northern Pike.

Yeah, I've been in a situation where I had the choice of paying the rent to keep a roof over our heads, or buying groceries and being homeless. We paid the rent and our kids didn't go hungry; if point of fact, we never missed a meal, nor will we. I don't need to poach now, but I don't have any problem with those who do for subsistance reasons.

One would be unwise to wait until they were starving to go out and bag something for the pot; starving people don't have the strength to work, hunt, or ward off sickness. There are a lot of people would do not have family from which to beg and would prefer not to beg from the government. Game regulations make them criminals after some fashion, but it was God who put the animals here, God who gives the yearly increase to the flocks and herds, and God who gives us the strength and abilities to harvest the animals.

Deer hunting is an industry in America generating more money than either the: beef, pork, or dairy industries, and of course there are regulations to protect the states deer; it's big business for the state and those who feed off the revenue.

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“It is tedious to live, it is tedious to die, it is tedious to c**p in deep snow”
Old Norwegian observation

So, let me get this straight - all you eat is meat? is this all we're worried about??
Again, let me stress that I'm not arguing with you about poaching food -
Like I've said, I'd do it in a heartbeat, if I had to -

I don't have a big freezer either.......

Hubby just went upland bird hunting a couple weekends ago -
No, he didn't bring home any birds (I know you don't always have success) but he did bring home 3 huge puffball mushrooms that we sliced, fried & used to make huge sandwiches for 2 days!
They were delicious & meaty & filling -

I can't tell where some of you live but........Do you have watercress nearby? cattails? freshwater mussels (yes, I know, some are endangered & protected - I worked for the state for several years)?
do you have violets? any kinds of nuts? sassafras? paw paw? rose hips?
The list goes on & on depending where you live -
There are many books available on this subject -

Again, I'm not arguing -
I will hunt whatever I want, whenever I want on my own property.
I would NOT hunt on other people's property or poach unless it was absolutely necessary -
All kinds of nasty things can happen

And by the way, I've been able to fill my freezer to overflowing, just by asking -

I'm pretty much a strict meat eater. I don't eat anything green except Lime Jell-O. I always thought that if God wanted me to eat grass she would have given me four legs and a tail to swat flies with.

When push comes to shove a hungry person is more likely to to fill their belly than worry about diminishing someone else's fall sport; hense the strict punishments for starving peasants who poached in fuedal Europe. We always gathered wild herage for our kids too, but there isn't much energy in weeds and brush; at least not for humans. One can stay alive on it, in a pinch, but alive is about all. There are plenty of good vitamins in wild greenery, just not much energy. AND too, green stuff is seasonal. Nuts are great stuff when one can find them and when it is the season for them, but wild game is always available in any season.

By the by, we didn't raise our kids on poached game but we ate our share of it when times were tough, and would again in a heartbeat.

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“It is tedious to live, it is tedious to die, it is tedious to c**p in deep snow”
Old Norwegian observation

I don't think poaching if you're totally starving is wrong- if there's no other reasonable resource, especially (some states make it VERY difficult to get food assistance).

That said, if you were the jerk who left the deer offal in my field and the gate open this morning, I hope you come back tomarrow. This time, I'll make sure I've got the camera flash turned on so I can get pictures of your plates.

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"Dogs may not be our whole lives, but they make our lives whole." Roger Caras

I am an old man now but I can remember when I was young.
I was the oldest boy of 8 kids. The only meat we had was a chicken on Sunday. Not always then but most of the time. I had a single shot 22 which I hunted with when ever possible. Hunting season didn't matter, we couldn't afford the hunting license. No freezer, we were lucky to have electricity, did have an old refrigerator. Any game I could kill was very much welcomed. Most people would allow me to hunt on thewir land as I was very careful when I shot. Those bullets cost a lot, I could never waste one.
The people nowdays do not know what it is to have less than $30 to feed a family of 10 for one month. We had a charge account at a small grocery store, tried to pay up every month. That didn't always happen but our credit was always $30 a month or less.
When you are truly hungry hunting season, poaching is not even thought about.

I do believe that here in Oregon that if you are in dire need, You can Kill any
animal to survive !
I can,t quote the LAW but i think if i could get a hold of Tom Brown here in
Oregon, I'm sure he would know !

And as far as shooting Turkey with any thing But a shot gun and the propper
sized Shot would be against the Law !!!!! In Oregon anyway !!!

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I just don't know !
Just maybe, One day, My dreams will come true !
I wish you all a happy life !

THis is happening HERE in OREGON, Because they passed a law not to
long ago that you can no longer use Dogs to hunt with, So now there
are a "LOT" more Mountain Lions/Cugars Here and they are not afraid of
humans anymore because 3/4 or more of the hunters don't hunt for them
anymore So the new offspring have "NO" fear of GUN's,Dogs or Humans !!!!

__________________
I just don't know !
Just maybe, One day, My dreams will come true !
I wish you all a happy life !

1/2 a cord a wood on ONE SQUARE MILE??? wood must grow slower in canada than in Ohio...

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Hey Warden,

Come visit, I got something to show you. Look at all my fruit trees all torn down. Those bears are awful this year, and that big black one keeps coming back. Musta cost me a couple a thousand bucks so far.

OK! Here's a Depradation Permit.

By the time the bears den up for the winter maybe we've caught up with ten or so. Gee, none of 'em are black so we don't need to use that Depradation Permit, yet!

Meanwhile, lotsa eats for us, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, bag ladies on the street. The canner is about wore out. The freezer is overflowing. And fewer bears to tear up our trees. Gosh, Ain't life grand?

Who? US? Poach? Nope! No Way!

bearkiller

I hold all poachers in low regard.

And on this subject, like so many others, I don't think there's a thing that I could say that would sway a poacher from not poaching.

I call the game wardens a lot on poachers. When the game wardens are busy elsewhere, I deal with them myself. The sheriff has pleaded with me to let the law deal with the problem...but I find the crazy man routine works a lot better, and the word gets out, he'll go 'crazy' on you if you're spotlighting...

If youre hungry, get another job...all that time driving around trying to poach deer or other game, will put enough dollars in your pockets, to buy enough rice and beans to feed you for a month...

Fact is...you ain't hungry, you're greedy.... if you're really really hungry, I'll give you a tip....>>>go to any grocery store, drive around back, to the dumpster, and you'll find enough food to feed you and your tribe for weeks...every single day, our local store fills thier dumpsters with bread and bruised fruit... by the way, make sure you haven't had a six pack already and park in the wrong spot, hate to get your nice truck rammed by the disposal guys... also, put out the smokes, as sometimes they throw away flammables...

Sorry, couldn't resist the last dig. If you smoke or drink, zero sympathy for you and yours... or drugs, or gambling.... our local poachers usually partake in at least three of those four vices....

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Don't mean to argue here but where we used to live there wasn't an unlocked dumpster within twenty miles...and the grocery stores there had a special food disposal too...there was no food in the dumpsters. I'm sure it's not like that everywhere. Of course,dumpster diving is also illegal......

they used to leave all the dumpsters here open... now they lock them and put them in chain link cages.

we dont want you people getting sick on out garbage and suing us...

I squirt super glue in locked dumpster padlocks... facist scum.

[QUOTE=texican]Fact is...you ain't hungry, you're greedy.... if you're really really hungry, I'll give you a tip....>>>go to any grocery store, drive around back, to the dumpster, and you'll find enough food to feed you and your tribe for weeks...every single day, our local store fills thier dumpsters with bread and bruised fruit... QUOTE]


I've asked at the large grocery store nearby for old produce for the compost pile. Produce manager said no... they throw it in a disposal sink and send it to the sewer plant as they encounter it rather than let it pile up. I would also think harvesting meat from an animal that's healthy enough to run around might be a tad bit cleaner than picking up something the grocery store would throw out. As numerous expose shows have indicated chain stores don't have a great record for cleanliness on "new" food much less on the stuff they throw away.

Again.. if faced with the need I would dumpster dive for food too but as many seem concerned about it's against the law too.

I do dumpster dive for non food items and as Haggis mentioned I probably exceed a speed limit once a day or so and have on rare occasion driven home after a few too many. As I mentioned in another thread I have picked up roadkill.

Does this mean I rationalize which laws are more important that others? I guess so.

I haven't killed a deer out of season but I would keep my options open if it became necessary.

Oops. What was I thinking. 1/2 cord of wood per acre is more reasonably for mixed land use.
I think harvesting 100 pounds of game meat per square mile was on the conservative side also, though not nearly as much.

About 2,000,000 pounds of large game meat is harvested annually in New Brunswick from 20,000 sq.miles of forest. This is mostly Moose and Deer, and doesn't count game birds. That works out to 3 pounds of meat per person. Personally, I think we are overly concerned about wood pulp in this province and people need to re-acquire a taste for wild meat, and management of a more Natural habitat. Fewer people would be a good start.

I raise chickens on my property - I could undoubtedly eat the grass, clover, weed seeds worms, insects, grain, overripe produce. etc etc that they eat but I believe that the animals are better suited to foraging for them than I am and the eggs are a much more convenient food source for me.

I think it's great that you know how to harvest and preserve so many seasonal foods (many with a very short season and small yields) Yes I have violets but other than violet jelly (which is more store bought pectin and sugar than violets) or sprinkling a few violets on a salad I hardly think of them as a meal. Sasafrass yes. I've made tea from the bark and roots but again not quite a meal.

I have flocks of 50-60 turkeys congregating in my yard regularly in the spring and fall. I see deer frequently on my property and would certainly see more of them if I were home from work. It would be more convenient for me to allow the turkeys and deer to harvest the items you mention and for me to harvest the animals than for me to forage and preserve the short season or low yield crops you describe.

I don't poach nor do I advocate it but I think a lot of people are over-simplifying the situation and taking poaching way more seriously than whatever lawbreaking they typically do (Exceeding speed limits)

where i live it would also cost more money to drive in to a second job,than shoot a deer standing in my front yard.

That's all well and good, but where do you think that deer got all it's food to grow to 200-300 pounds? Your front yard?

I lived in Texas for a while, maybe 2 years total. There wasn't much in the way of public land, and private land was off limits in most cases. I probably met more "middle class" poachers in Texas than any place I've ever lived. These are the folks seemingly being described by the good folk from Texas. These "middle class" poachers didn't own land, were not well enough off to join one of the hundreds of Texas hunting clubs, and they would ride around in their boats or vehicles looking for something to shoot.

Poachers were hated in Texas mostly because a handful of folk had the bulk of the land tied up for their personal sport hunting paradise. One old Cajun, when taking of his skills, used to say he could, "Skin a hog so fast the hide would still be rootin' in the woods when [he'd] done put its' bacon on the fire."

Middle class poachers all had nice cars, a boat and motor, and fine guns. Most of them that I knew where good Christian folks and didn't drink or smoke.

I've said before that I never have nor ever would knowing enter on another man's land to take game: in season or out of season, without permission, but I once hunted my own land and where I had permission when it suited me: I didn't drink, I didn't smoke, I didn't ride around in a vehicle looking for something to shoot, and I almost never ever carried a firearm or any sort.

A lot of times back then I didn't have a vehicle, and much of the time no gun.

__________________
“It is tedious to live, it is tedious to die, it is tedious to c**p in deep snow”
Old Norwegian observation