Survival weapon for hunting.

[grumpy3]

Been watching the hunting talks on here and wondered what type of weapon others might want to use to be able to survive off the land. I prefer either the rifle or bow but there are other options as well. :uhoh:

Dennis

[Anonymous]

back in the day you used to be able to trap…. (as in claw type) but I think they are illegal now. I used to love going rabbit trapping with my dad..

[grumpy3]

Yea thats right, It made me think that it might get hard to ammo ready made. Then I thought ok back to home made black powder so long as one has a good supply of primers. Then if that idea is no good might have to use a bent stick or train the dog to catch pideons in flight. lol.

Dennis

[starkravenmad]

If we only talking bunnies those traps still work great but so do well trained ferrets and theres always snares

Id be keeping the ammo for the people myself:wave:

[Metu]

Actually, when you consider how the indigenous Australians used to hunt, a lot of their food was gathered rather than targeted purely with a weapon.

Things like turtle eggs were havested from the sand, goannas were cornered by women and children – then struck on the head – whitchety grubs and native honey was collected around particular native trees too, and even fish were drugged in the water by a particular native plant – could be soapwort I think?

Target weapons included boomerangs and spears. I guess there are a stack of ways to hunt if guns weren’t in the picture.

I don’t have a personal weapon of choice, but if it was a matter of survival I think I’d probably experiment with gathering rather than target hunting.

[roogz]

couple of really good hunting dogs – especially if you like pork – oh and a very very sharp knife.

Roogz

[grumpy3]

Metu wrote:

Actually, when you consider how the indigenous Australians used to hunt, a lot of their food was gathered rather than targeted purely with a weapon.

Things like turtle eggs were havested from the sand, goannas were cornered by women and children – then struck on the head – whitchety grubs and native honey was collected around particular native trees too, and even fish were drugged in the water by a particular native plant – could be soapwort I think?

Target weapons included boomerangs and spears. I guess there are a stack of ways to hunt if guns weren’t in the picture.

I don’t have a personal weapon of choice, but if it was a matter of survival I think I’d probably experiment with gathering rather than target hunting.

It would become a real full time job just looking for food and one where people would have to learn real fast or go hungry. Maybe storing quite a lot of seeds that will grow and also keep for some time should be included with the other things.

There are a lot of ways traps and snares can be made to catch a feed also and if you are nears streams or beach there are fish.

Dennis

[Bushpigs]

Until recently I only hunted with a .22 but have since upgraded to a .223. I do have the old rabbit traps but am loath to use them as at my age I consider trapping cruel.

I now consider a rifle (.223) and a net (fishing) the way to go for survival hunting and quite confident that I could feed myself no worries at all.

[Metu]

It would become a real full time job just looking for food…

If we’re talking survival though, wouldn’t looking for food be a full-time job for everyone? I see what you’re saying though.

I just remembered something I used to do as a teenager when visiting a relatives’ property. Yabbie fishing! Just needed a small piece of meat tied at the end of a piece of string – plus a fishing net for scooping them out of the water.

We cooked them on the campfire afterwards and they tastd just like cooked prawns!

[Gianna]

Rifle for me and a fishing rod. 🙂

[grumpy3]

I agree the rifle is a good idea my only concern was if the availability of ammo peaked. lol. We may have to use other methods. The public availability is what I was thinking of.

Its just another of those thoughts of what if and how we can survive. I have taught my young bloke a lot of hunting skills and he is getting quite good with his compound bow. He has used a throwing stick to catch doves and other birds so thats a feed if need be.

Dennis

[ma]

I ruled out rifles a few decades ago … having qualified for a license (and being trained how to shoot as a youngster), I found I have a complete aversion to using something so loud to harvest. Last time I was handed a rifle to shoot a bunny … I sorta missed 😉

Hunting weapon of choice? Blades. Of various styles (I got trained how to build a cross-bow – cross-bows are silent, add a broad-head and you have a very efficient, “I’m not here” hunting device) … I’m not really strong enough to draw a decent compound, so that’s out for me, even though I know the how of it.

Definately no mangle-traps. Can’t stand them (nasty – the last time I’ve had to personally kill an animal was one I found left in a trap by a careless hunter … loath the suffering that traps bring – tears and apologies to the animal at the time).

Mostly a gardener/gatherer (and opportunist) here … although fish are yummy (as are crustations 😀 ).

[hillbilly girl]

Guns would not be much use once the ammo ran out. Me, I would want a good steel knife and a good stock of fish=hooks. With those you could pretty well supply any meat requirements. Snares and such you can manufacture using what’s available in the bush.

[grumpy3]

hillbilly girl wrote:

Guns would not be much use once the ammo ran out. Me, I would want a good steel knife and a good stock of fish=hooks. With those you could pretty well supply any meat requirements. Snares and such you can manufacture using what’s available in the bush.

Yep among our other items there is 30ft of 20 lb line and trace wire and hooks and sinkers all fitted into a 35 ml film canister. I have one of these in each of our survival packs. Also have those super sling shots and we have got quite good with them. Only good on birds.

Dennis

[hillbilly girl]

I seriously doubt i could possibly hit a barn wall with a slingshot, so will stick to ground-dwelling animals. Birds you could probably trap with a sticky mixture of gum from a tree and something that kept it from drying out …

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