Easy Animals to Hunt

Discussion in 'Hunting / Fishing / Trapping' started by TheSurvivalEnthusiast, Apr 28, 2016.

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  1. TheSurvivalEnthusiast

    TheSurvivalEnthusiast Member
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    When it comes to survival, hunting and fishing there are some animals that are going to be easier to hunt and catch than others. You will also have to evaluate your method that will be used to hunt these animals. Do you have a rifle, a pistol, a shotgun, or are you hunting with a bow and arrow, spear, or traps? Taking these factors into consideration will help you to determine what kind of animals you should be hunting for.

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    Typically some of the easiest animals to hunt for food are birds, squirrels, rabbits, and other small game. Just because you have found these animals does not mean that you will be able to make a kill and eat one. Generally you have one shot. If you don't make that one count all the animals in the area will take off. This means no dinner for you.

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    Hunting larger animals such as deer can be a great way to assure a good dinner but also can be quite an ordeal if you are not familiar with how to clean, process, cure, and preserve venison. If you are in a situation where you need to provide yourself with a sustainable food on a daily basis, it is a good idea to hunt for small game. Once you have established a routine and understand the process to cure meat in a smokehouse then hunting larger game is advisable.
     
  2. Corzhens

    Corzhens Master Survivalist
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    If I have a rifle, I would probably hunt birds because it would be fun I guess unless I am dying of hunger. But if I don't have any weapon to speak of aside from a knife then I would be forced to make a spear by tying the knife to the end of a long stick. And in a worst case scenario where I don't have anything then a stick with a pointed end will be my only weapon. And in that case, all I can hunt are slow animals like wild boar (although I have heard that wild boar attack people at times). I would be lucky if I can find ducks or wild chickens otherwise I would go hungry.

    And after a day of not catching anything, maybe I have to find some other kind of food like fruit trees or berries. Honestly, these survival scenarios give me a hard time because I have no actual experience in the wild.
     
  3. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    the best thing to do is a little bit of everything, foraging..plants, berries and nuts don't run away so start there.
    fishing is another one, forget rod and line that takes too long, some kind of fish trap would seem to be the easiest.
    hunting, I would concentrate on rabbits, squirrels and birds, a deer is a large animal to kill and a lot of meat to process, unless you have a large group most of the deer meat will go off before you have a chance to eat it so I would concentrate on small game.
    also trapping is a lot less time consuming than going hunting.
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2016
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  4. Arkane

    Arkane Master Survivalist
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    When hunting game they rarely run far if spooked so long as you do not immediately chase them!
    Most animals follow a daily routine and deviate little for weeks at end!
    If you can take a larger animal do so, gut it, skin it and take the head off! Quarter it then wrap the forequarters in a sheet add rope over high branch and hoist high, it can be collected tomorrow! wrap hindquarters and haul back to base! return next day for the forequarters!
    Cook the best bits and slice thinly the rest marinate in something you like for a few hours then spread on fine chicken wire over hot coals for 6-12 hours until nearly hard!
    Do not burn any treated timber on the fire! Lower or raise mesh to suit!
    Fresh meat for a few days and jerky for weeks!
     
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  5. Dilof

    Dilof New Member
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    Fish are incredibly easy to catch if you have a downstream river in which you can set up a small blockade which won't allow them to swim upstream. Voles and little things like mice are also notoriously easy to catch if you set up your traps at choke points where there are frequent visitors. Depending on where you are some lizards are also a quite easy meal in comparison to much larger animals (due to their behaviour of running and then stopping for a while.)
     
  6. remnant

    remnant Expert Member
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    I have a very sentimental type of personality and usually find it hard to press the trigger or fire an arrow to kill an animal. The sight of an animal writhing in pain prostrate on the ground pains my heart. I try to visualize its mother watching the fate of her offspring. That said, the easiest animals to hunt are wild quails since they fly only for short distances. Deer are very easy to strike with an arrow since they initially hesitate to flee when they see a person approaching.
     
  7. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    sentiment will soon go out of the window when you haven't eaten for several days, even the best hunters have "off" days, hunting is hard work and its time consuming, which is something we might not have in a catastrophic situation.
    the idea is to either kill an animal outright or knock it down so we can dispatch it , nobody wants to see "an animal writhing in pain" that's for the animal liberation loonies.
     
  8. Endure

    Endure Expert Member
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    Don't forget to properly deploy traps in order to have an even easier time catching small critters for food. Also, don't shy away from insects, meatworms,amphibians and reptiles. As long as they are not poisonous.
     
  9. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    traps and snares make use of our time more wisely, don't forget things like crayfish which abound in our British rivers.
     
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  10. richj8am30

    richj8am30 Member
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    Wild Squirrel can be seen as exceptionally feasible and a reasonable source of nourishment when it comes to surviving the wild. On the off chance that you can find a woods territory, there is a decent risk you will likewise discover trees deemed habitable by squirrel. They are anything but difficult to discover, simple to chase and prepare. They make easy prey if you can’t find anything else.
     
  11. AlexM

    AlexM New Member
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    Great post, but I find it hard to believe that rabbits would be easy to hunt. They seem so fast and agile, not to mention small. Wouldn't these things make them hard to spot and kill?
     
  12. DecMikashimota

    DecMikashimota New Member
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    Using a good coon squaller will simplify teh alread simple task of hunting raccoons even further. There is affordable technology that can make any survivalist ordeal a ton easier.
     
  13. Bushdoctor

    Bushdoctor Expert Member
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    Rabbits are not difficult to hunt, they can be shot with either rifle or shotgun, trapped, snared or netted with either a longnet or pursenets and a ferret. Try ambushing them near to their warrens at dawn or
    dusk using a .22 rifle or a good air rifle (head shots only for instant kills and to avoid meat damage).
     
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  14. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    don't forget you cannot live on rabbit meat alone( rabbit "starvation".
     
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  15. Bushdoctor

    Bushdoctor Expert Member
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    This is true you would have to forage for edible vegitation and fruits to suppliment this. Perhaps it would be easier to catch a sheep, there would be plenty about at least at first. But then you would still need
    to forage or better still, grow your own veg and fruit.
     
  16. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    There is a certain amount of difficulty in hunting or trapping any animal if you are not experienced in hunting/stalking or trapping. There can also be a risk to your safety. Yes rabbits can be easy to hunt & trap providing they don't see you or scent you & you are skilled at setting traps. But this can be said for most animals.
    Some animals can be dangerous to hunt, snakes for instance. Easy if you are prepared & experienced. Wild boar will usually run away if they scent you or hear you, but not always. Some will charge you & they are capable of cutting you down & eating you. Large game such as wild cattle & buffalo can also be very dangerous if wounded. Sometimes these animals have previously suffered at the hands of other people or even vehicles & you the hunter can suddenly find that you are now the hunted!
    Do not discount the hunting of lizards & frogs, with practice these can easily be killed & are usually present when other wildlife is absent.
    Keith.
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  17. Tom Williams

    Tom Williams Moderator Staff Member
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    Hunting fishing trapping are all skills that take years. to learn LEARN NOW !
     
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  18. Bushdoctor

    Bushdoctor Expert Member
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    Been hunting shooting trapping and fishing since boyhood and still learning
     
  19. Survival.Leroy1989

    Survival.Leroy1989 New Member
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    Yeah, lizards & frogs are also high-protein food that you should try to find food in the woods
    In addition you can also try a trap fish, grilled fish will also very tasty if you eat it with some other plants
     
  20. Prairie Dog

    Prairie Dog Expert Member
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    Thats why spring snares are the tool of choice. Set them on a run and your odds of a meal have vastly improved. Prairie Dog.
     
  21. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    Give me a BB gun and I'll never be hungry. Just about all birds are eatable as are frogs, rats mice and lizards. Hunting rabbits during the day time for food is a slow way to starve. Even when you have one you don't have much. They have no body fat and you could eat two a day and would starve literally to death. As pointed out above unless you are part of a larger group and know what to do with the meat a deer is not a great choice for a single person. Hunt what is most common and easiest to find. I'm serious, a BB gun is a great survival tool. I have a pump up pistol that will shoot both 177 pellets and BBs. I'm deadly with it.

    I think that people too often think too big. If you are on the move you for sure can easily feed yourself on small critters of opportunity. Once you are settled down in one place the deer represent a more valuable resource in meat, hide, bones, horns and sinew but short term think small. BB guns also don't make a lot of noise and give away your location.
     
  22. Tanner Kozlowski

    Tanner Kozlowski New Member
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    I have always thought that fishing is pretty effective for getting quick catches if you are familiar with fishing as a whole. I do believe fishing is a pretty easy survival skills to pick up, and can be very useful if you are near rivers or ponds that have plenty of fish in them.
     
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  23. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    rod and line i.e. angling is too time consuming, post SHTF a net would be better in terms of quantity, or maybe a fish trap.
     
  24. Miles Lucas

    Miles Lucas New Member
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    In the event of survival, if you had to eat something, I guess the easiest catch would be turtle. Turtle meat is very tasty, although there are some laws in North American states that prevent you from killing certain types of turtles. So you would have to see what you can and can not eat as it varies by state. If it is legal in your state, you could look for Diamond back, Snapping turtles, and Terrapin.
     
  25. Mr Boots

    Mr Boots Expert Member
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    I urge you to be very careful with boar.They may seem slow (they're not) but are pure power they tusks can tear your legs open to the bone and even when the Vikings hunted boar they invented a special winged spear as they found with a normal spear even if u pierce them in the chest they had the power to push up the spear handle and severely damage ur hand and arms
    There was great pride in hunting boar for the Viking they would wear the tusks of their biggest killed around their necks to show how great of a hunter they were
    I would advise you if you could to find someone near you with hunting experience to get knowledge off and practice before their is no other options there is time now just not sure how much
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    And I don't know about where you live but here in Ireland the wild ducks get fed bread so much to catch them all u need is strong fishing line bit of bread and a fishing hook
    So hook on line bread on hook bread in water duck swallows and you pull in dinner
    About 6 years ago not far from me in a busy public park about mid day a van pull up beside the slipway to the lake two lad got out dropped a net on the slipway so it was just under the water threw some bread above it about 20 ducks came racing for the bread the two lads picked up the net/ducks threw them into the van drove away
    people were so shocked at what they saw they could not describe the lads or van never give up they're always a way
     
  26. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    I think that a small cast net and gill net will be great tools. I will also have a variety of various hooks lines and sinkers and a Cuban yo yo along with a rod and reel. With snare wires of assorted sizes, my pellet pistol and bushman spear I don't think food will be much of a struggle. I also have a lot of guns but they make a lot of noise. Bows, arrows, slings, sling shots, sling bow and cross bows will each also have their uses and place. I also know how to make and have fish and crawfish traps that actually work. I live in an area with lots of water and lots of woods. The thing about fishing is that you generally don't have to make a huge investment in energy for the return. Also for me, fishing is a recreational activity for me so it is good for my morale. Little fish eat just as good as big fish but big fish are more fun to catch. I live in my BOL so I will have a lot of resources but if I was on the move fishing gear and snare wires can provide pretty well even in a light carry condition. In the end you want to have as many options as possible for finding, catching and hunting food.
     
  27. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    In the event of survival, I doubt very much that anyone will be bothering about what is legal & what is not. The important thing is to stay alive.
    Keith.
     
  28. Kootenay prepper

    Kootenay prepper Expert Member
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    In the area I live in the grouse are by far the easiest animal to hunt. Most animals you will only get one shot at but with grouse they will usually only fly a short distance or you will be able to find more nearby. You can clean a grouse in 30 seconds with very few steps so it's a ideal one for a beginner hunter.
     
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  29. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    At this point in most of the eastern part of Texas wild hogs are about the easiest animals to find and kill. The problem is that other than man they have no predators keeping their numbers down. The reason that they are pretty easy to find is that they don't greatly fear people.

    Hogs are so far from slow that it is like saying a greyhound is slow because it can't outrun a car. Hogs are FAST, SMART, and can be MEAN as hell! They are dangerous and since some idiots turned out some russian boars to cross breed with the feral hogs this has gone up a thousand percent. In lots of the parts of the world like India the boars are placed above things like tigers and bears in the hierarchy of dangerous animals.

    In general for a single person or maybe even a couple you will be best served by feeding low on the food chain. First off there are a lot more of them out there and then they are also less dangerous to deal with. The top of the food chain is a tough place to be. That is why in a given area there are very few top predators but lots of prey. The same is true of fish. There are many more minnows even by weight, in a given body of water than there are big predators. Perch are small and easy to find and catch. The bigger fish are much more hesitant and harder to get on a hook. For a quick mean start at the bottom and then you can move up the line when you are settled and already have a full belly.
     
  30. watcherchris

    watcherchris Legendary Survivalist
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    posted by TexDanm,

    I mentioned in a previous post that at work sometimes when we were not busy we would catch a few Striped Bass with mostly hand lines.

    But other nights we would just sit on the side of the piers and converse ..all the time watching the stripers feed on minnows.
    Often you would see the Stripers in the dark shadows under the pier ....like torpedos facing into/against the tide....waiting for an unwary minnow to go by and they would dart out quickly and bust the water to get the minnow..and then dart back into the shadows and reline up for the next unwary minnow to pass by.

    Other times there would be a black and white skimmer bird cruising at just above the water level and picking off the minnows on the run. A very agile bird when you observe them while being quiet and still.

    We would catch stripers, blue fish, and even trout and often they would be upchucking minnows when you land them.

    When you do this enough ...at night you begin trying to foolishly get a grasp on the math. The question arises....

    "How many minnows have to be born to support this feeding frenzy ..night after night....24/7?? Not just here at this pier..but the whole river and out to the Chesapeake Bay..and futher. How big is this part of the food chain to get eaten up night after night and have enough to reproduce in numbers for next year??

    The numbers you realize are staggering.!!! Way beyond my ability to grasp..but I know it is a huge huge number.

    And we are only talking minnows here...there are other food species aplenty which are eaten by the larger fish.


    Thanks,
    Watcherchris.
     
  31. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    A mosquito net is an excellent survival tool. It will let you sleep at night without being sucked nearly dry of blood and it makes a good minnow seine. Lots of nets can do double duty. A gill net if stretched between trees will catch birds and bats. I have a bunch of nets. Cast nets in 4 sizes, gill nets, seines and hoop net traps for fish and crawfish. The bottom of the food chain is where it is AT!
     
  32. Old Geezer

    Old Geezer Legendary Survivalist
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  33. Richard Earley

    Richard Earley Well-Known Member
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    If using a fire arm go for a head shot..Critters won't run very far without a brain..
     
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  34. Snyper

    Snyper Master Survivalist
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    I've seen people stay on the internet for years without one.

    Taking head shots increases the chances of missing altogether.
    Heart/lung shots are the better option.
     
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  35. Dalewick

    Dalewick Legendary Survivalist
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    I've killed most things that walk, fly or swim. Learn to trap if you want a steady supply of food. Hunting is not consistent but trapping and fish traps are. Even better is learning to harvest wild edibles. Better than that is learn to farm and grow your own food.

    Dale
     
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  36. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    The biggest problem for the average person will be in their unwillingness to eat strange and different things. Many times in the past during times of famine people have starved to death refusing to eat unfamiliar things or things that in their past had been only fed to animals. When the store shelves are empty only the fools will refuse to eat dog cat and grains normally fed to livestock.

    They will do the same in the forests and try to HUNT as they were taught instead of taking and harvesting what is easily available. If you are on the move don't waste your time killing big game. Instead, harvest the small creatures and move on. Only invest the time in killing big animals after you are set, in place, have the knowledge and the stuff and are ready to smoke and preserve your kill. so many will be wasted by fools that kill a deer of cattle and only eat a few pounds of the meat before the rest spoils. rats are better eating than rabbits. there are more of them and they are easier to catch. You can starve to death eating rabbits! Dogs will be plentiful and are good eating. It will be a long time before they learn to fear men as wild animals do.

    If you allow your civilized learning to rule you then you will die with your civilization!
     
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  37. lonewolf

    lonewolf Societal Collapse Survivalist. Staff Member
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    rabbits, squirrels, ducks, wood pigeons, pheasants, geese, are all considered small game, killing a deer is a waste of meat if there are only a few of us.
     
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  38. F22 Simpilot

    F22 Simpilot Master Survivalist
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    If it's Winter, then killing a deer or elk will work out since you can freeze the food outside.
    Since I'm used to eating deer, elk and buffalo, I'd personally go for those over rat any day. LOL

    Now if the pickings are slim, then whatcha gonna do?
     
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  39. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    The weather in East Texas is both a plus and a minus. we have no real winter as most people think of winter. There is not a single day of the year that the temperatures might make it to the low 90s!! Most of our winter has day time temperatures in the high 50s to mid-60s. You can even depend on the temperature to hang and age the meat. We also don't have any of the larger big game like elk, moose, bears or buffalo, What we do have is hundreds of thousands of cattle, hogs, goats, and a few smaller whitetail deer. After the fall the cattle may make for interesting meat providers if you can butcher them and use most of the meat before it spoils.

    Hunting as we do it today is a sport with all manner of rules and restrictions. When the day comes that living has become survival you need to toss ALL of that out the window. The reason for the rules is to hamper your ability to kill the game. You need to take everything that you have heard of poachers doing and THAT is what you want to do. Killing most game animals is pretty easy if you don't make it into a game and just kill them.
     
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  40. Snyper

    Snyper Master Survivalist
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    It's "Winter" now and it was 65° here today.

    I can sit on my deck and shoot squirrels though, and it's easy to set traps for birds.
    Pigeons are quite tasty:
    MQ7vCJYO6vTl0CHIQh5pzsj8sDBe7RJE.jpeg
     
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  41. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    One of the things that I have picked up over the years are the various traps. I have conibear traps in two sizes, Metal rat traps (look like the old wooden ones but metal with teeth), The cage traps for humane capture of critters up to rabbits, Metal professional snares with locks, I have built hog traps and might build another one for just in case. For the water I have perch traps, gill nets, trotlines, yoyos, hoop nets are on my to get list.

    Traps work 24 hours a day. It is like the difference in fishing between using a fishing pole and setting out trot lines. (I have a lot of those too). If you want to feed just yourself then a gun and rod and reel will do that but if you need to feed a family traps are the way to go.

    It is full-blown spring here. The redbuds are blooming and the trees are leafing out. We had one hard freeze for the entire winter.
     
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    1. Dalewick
      I hate you....I still have snow. Time to run away south. Florida sounds good.
       
      Dalewick, Mar 7, 2020
  42. F22 Simpilot

    F22 Simpilot Master Survivalist
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    Great thing about Texas is that there are lots and lots of wild boar to munch on. Though, I'm not too sure where those are located in that state.
     
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    1. Dalewick
      Wild boar,...Not so many. Feral hogs,......EVERYWHERE!!!!! Even watched a small herd at the TX visitor/tourism center a few years back.
       
      Dalewick, Mar 7, 2020
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  43. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    Pretty much all of East Texas is infested with feral pigs. They evidently don't do as well in the arid West Texas. If you go out early in the morning and drive on the rural highways you will see them on a regular basis and unfortunately, if you aren't very careful, you with hit one. My wife used to drive 40 miles to work through the rural highways early every morning and has several near misses and one she hit. LOL, it didn't tear up her car but that hog crapped ALL OVER the car...and still ran off.
     
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  44. F22 Simpilot

    F22 Simpilot Master Survivalist
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    Now that's nuts. LOL
     
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