It's funny that you, the guy wholives in Idaho a land known for it's seperatists and anti government types should be calling anyone a redneck :rofl:

 

i just live here, i don't claim it. Hell, we still got Nazis!

 

Not for long, seems they are looking at moving to John Day Oregon

 

lol, No one got it I guess. I was hoping to see a thread about someone getting hassled for buying too much and suspicion of making meth :shhh:

 

Only critter I know how to gut is a fish (I wonder how fish jerky tastes?). I'd like to take up small game hunting, but there's many animals that cannot be hunted in CA, including tree squirrels. I guess I'll have to learn how to shoot bunnies. It'll take a lot of bunnies to make a coat though.

 

This.

I'm gonna start preparing. I'm an idiot for not thinking about this stuff.

 

Fish jerky isn't bad depending on the seasoning, doesn't have the same texture though. Learn about cold smoking and how to make a crude setup for it. It's real easy to do you just have to tend the fire and keep it going at a fairly steady temp. Also learn to use your hands as a crude temp gauge, it doesn't have to be exact just somewhat consistent and once you get it down it's a breeze.

Read up on various varminting techiques. If the SHTF the last thing you are going to worry about is the stupid ass laws in Cali. The technique though for skinning and cleaning game is pretty much the same for all mammals (humans as well in case you wondered). Once you have them gutted hang for a night the quarter them out and use spices to help preserve them. You can make a crude ice box in a river or stream but it takes some supplies to do it right. Extra tyvek, rope or twine and wood and rocks can do the job but make sure no water seeps into it...wet meat brings disease and mold faster.

Learn to trap (again I say this) this goes for fish as well as mammals. Reasoning is you can set multiple traps and go scout, build, repair, filter etc while it does the job for you. This also allows for live capture for livestock or fish stocking once you build a cage or a closed pool. This also saves valuable ammunition.

Getting rid of bones, scraps or feces should be done away from camp. Some say a half mile is best but for feces if you dig a daily pit I would think a qurter mile suffices and you don't have to walk as far to shit.

Sorry I didn't make a list but it's a lot of little things that make a difference...btw make sure in you buyout bag that you pack one or two personal reading books, it will stop you from going stir crazy.

 

I was thinking of trying out the Good Eats cardboard box smoker, but I think that uses an electric hot plate to heat up hardwood sawdust and generate the smoke. I imagine electricity is hard to come by in the woods. My camp stove will probably work, that is until I set the box on fire or run out of propane.

I think I need to find a book along the lines of "Surviving When the SHTF for Dummies."

 

I got two of the best that cover some of the same stuff but in their own ways.

Tom Browns Field Guide; Wilderness Survival
he tells stories of how he learned and what he learned, mistakes along the way and more. Very traditional and basically works on survival using a knife and some string or rope as your base tools.

How To Survive Anything, Anywhere by Chris Mcnab
more of a situational andlocation type book which covers everything from earthquakes to floods to volcanos. Decent read but more a reference book than a read through. I tend to read a chapter now and again but never straight through.

Both cover basic plant life with descriptions and drawings.

Also I suggest learning to use a compass. A GPS is nice but there are many reasons you don't want to rely solely on one, a compass and map are infallible and you won't have to worry about a tinfoil hat if you are on the run for any reason