A Shooter Or An Angler?

Discussion in 'Hunting / Fishing / Trapping' started by omegaman, Sep 5, 2017.

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  1. omegaman

    omegaman Expert Member
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    This is something that interrests me.
    I used to hunt alot with my father, who was out every weekend looking to get some meat on the table. But me, I allways been more of a fisherman myself. I fish with nets and traps and rod n' reel.

    For me. The rush when a big greyling or perch or whatever bites and the amount of food I get within a short period of time is amazing. But I also remember those fruitless days close to camp when Im hungry and not wanting to get into the jerky and nothing bites at all for no apparent reason. Frustration.

    I cant really remember days like that out hunting.

    Other pros I can think of is that here, you are free to fish most places with a rod, while hunting is very restricted, so hunting doesnt invite to just find a creek and see what you catch-kind of deals.

    Whats your take?
     
  2. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    I enjoy both, but I only hunt/fish for food. I just enjoy being outdoors.
    Keith.
     
  3. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    I don't hunt anymore but I actually fish at least two days a week. I occasionally get skunked but those days are very few and far in between. I am extremely fortunate in that I live in an area with almost endless opportunity to fish. I have always loved to fish and for many years my Dad was my primary fishing partner. We made a lot of good memories.

    Where I live Large-mouth Bass, three species of catfish and crappie are the primary eating fish that are pursued with a few of us also going for the perch. Now all that said the best fishing if you are just looking for fun is among the fish that are not considered sport fish here. Our lakes and rivers are full of carp and buffalo that almost nobody fishes for. Then there are the freshwater drum and the king of the hill is the alligator gar that can grow to just insane size 7 or 8 feet plus and several hundred pounds of raw power.

    If I was trying to feed my family if it got on my hook it would land on my table with only one exception. We also have a toothy fish here called a bowfin or grinnel that is a ferocious fighter and has the most uneatable flesh that I have ever seen. It is like trying to eat cotton and has about as much taste.

    Since I am bugging in I will have plenty of time to fish and will have the tools to feed my family in that way. Between fish. gardens and a little hunting and trapping food shouldn't be any problem after that first year. The first year we will have stored foods and that will be supplemented but after that first year the garden will produce a lot more than the little gardens that I have now.

    Nets are mostly illegal here now but I will have them just in case. That along with traps and set lines will easily produce more than can be eaten each day.
     
  4. Ystranc

    Ystranc Master Survivalist
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    I trap, shoot, fish and farm. I don't remember the last time I bought meat, fish or poultry.
     
  5. Kootenay prepper

    Kootenay prepper Expert Member
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    with the amount of fishing and hunting opportunities in my area it's hard to choose only one at a time. I have a few areas where I go for a quick fish and come back with the fish I went for as well as grouse and rabbits. Even if you don't like one of them it's still an important survival skill to learn that might save your life one day.
     
  6. Keith H.

    Keith H. Moderator Staff Member
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    I always carry fishing tackle with me when I am away from home. Always best to be prepared to take advantage of resources.
    But hunting & trapping would be my main source of meat post shtf.
    Keith.
    3d059401c199dda2c94743f6a6c07062.jpeg
     
  7. watcherchris

    watcherchris Legendary Survivalist
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    Good grief....some of you have me green with envy . I am more of a shooter than a hunter...but fishing....I love fishing.

    I have no ambition, however, to fish for a catch I cannot eat. I love catching and eating fish...Fish makes for a fine meal.

    Fresh water or around here also salt water.

    I love a good striped bass...a good fight as well as a good meal.

    Last Spring we caught a number of trout in a small lake up in the mountains and had them for dinner at the cabin. Now that was some fine fine eating.

    For those of you out there with the best of both worlds........bon appetite as the French are want to say.

    Thanks and good hunting/fishing.

    Watcherchris.
     
  8. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    I'm with you. I love to fish and love eating them too. I was raised in Cajun country and like nearly anything that comes from the water. Frogs, crabs, shrimp, lobsters, crawfish, squid, octopus, oysters, clams and fish all make for some fine eating. The only fish that I won't eat is the bowfin, those prehistoric critters just don't cook right and end up like trying to chew cotton. Because I was raised and live in a place that has many opportunities for fishing I guess it has always been an easily found pleasure for me.

    Most of the places that I fished when I was a kid were basically "brackish and both fresh and saltwater fishes might be caught there all depending on the tides. The river closest to my home was freshwater on top and saltwater down deep and crabs were common in the same places that I bass fished. You could throw out a few crab or crawfish traps out when you went fishing and pick them up on your way home later and have fish (often both fresh and saltwater species} crabs and crawfish. Fried fish baked fish, creole and gumbo were regular meals along with shrimp and oysters. We bought shrimp right off the boats 50 lbs at a time and got oysters by the bushel.
     
  9. Old Geezer

    Old Geezer Legendary Survivalist
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    My maternal grandfather used to take me fishing. He was big on fried fish. Me, I liked being out with Pap, however I never got hooked on fishing.

    But then there is dynamite fishing:



     
  10. watcherchris

    watcherchris Legendary Survivalist
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    Yeah..I know TexDanm. I get the itch to fish something terrible when I watch someone else fishing and catching successfully.

    I forget where you are ....crawfish and all. You have a generous variety surrounding you. Catfish too.

    I never knew to be very careful about catfish until one day we had a call for blood when I was in the Air Force. Sitting and waiting to give blood I asked the guy next to me if he was there for the same purpose. He stated no and held up his thumb and stated he was there to get that barb removed.
    I looked in astonishment at the barb in the side of his thumb and blurted out .."What is that??" He said it was from a catfish.

    Had I not seen that with my own eyes I might have been a rerun of him some time later. But now I know to be very careful in handling catfish.

    But catfish too can be good eating.


    Out of curiosity ...have any of you ever eaten alligator or rattlesnake?? If so ...how was it???

    One day I am going to try rattlesnake.

    I'll pass on the dynamite fishing...but....

    I might try a generator.

    My Dad is from Hawaii...so the ocean/fresh water/fishing came natural to him and he taught all four of us about fishing.

    We used to catch a lot of striped bass out on the Coast Guard Station pier at Yorktown, Virginia where he would take us.
    Striped Bass is great fishing and also great eating....but like many fish...when they get to big...they are not as good eating as the medium to smaller sized.
    About a 10 to 12 inch fillet is fine with me..no bigger for frying and eating.
    I don't care to catch the big ones for eating.

    You know TexDanm...I'm thinking that where you are...do crawfish make good bait too??
    Does much bite on them?

    They are not much known around here except at the grocery store.
    A lot of people around here fish salt water with shrimp, bloodworms, squid and crabs....cut bait too.

    Thanks,
    Watcherchris
     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2018
  11. watcherchris

    watcherchris Legendary Survivalist
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    Here is a little ."The one which got away story."

    I remember it because of the frustration in watching nature at work and not being able to take advantage of it.

    Many years ago I took a woman and her kids with me up into the mountains. Ironically I live on the sea coast and like going to the mountains much better.

    But we stopped at a rest/Wayside with picnic tables and took out our small gas grill..and some hot dogs, potato salad, chips and drinks etc etc and fixed a nice little lunch sort of on the go.

    After lunch and while the cleaning up was going on I watched the river flowing next to the wayside stop. There were places along the riverside where the tree branches overhung the river and in these tree branches were nests of silkworms.

    Occasionally a silkworm would fall out and hit the water and you would see the rings emanating from where they hit....and soon enough....
    the water would splash where a fish down below would pick them off. It didn't take long for this to happen. The fish had this location properly staked out as a viable and easy food source.

    I watched this several times with fascination and realized this was a great fishing opportunity. All you would need is something to throw out there just above the current where the fish hung out..and let it drift through that spot. You would soon enough have a nice string of pan fish.

    I also realized I had a great front seat to observe nature at her finest.

    But I remember that place because it was so beautiful but frustrating because I had no fishing gear.

    Looking out the window here....we have about 8 to 10 inches of snow all over everything. I'm going to go out soon and try to clear my vehicles of the snow.
    Occasional heavy gusting winds...and thermometer reading 24 degrees.

    It's easy to daydream about great fishing days when the weather is thus.

    Thanks,
    Watcherchris.
     
  12. TexDanm

    TexDanm Shadow Dancer
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    I've eaten rattlesnake and gator and both make for a great addition to a fish fry. They have a rattlesnake rodeo out in West Texas every year where they round up hundreds of rattlesnakes. They milk them for their venom and that is used to make antivenom. They then skin them and the skins are made into belts and hat bands or used to make taxidermy rattlesnake sculptures. The rattles are used for all sorts of odd artsy things and then the meat is cooked up and sold at the festivals. After they are milked they use them still alive for "sporting" events like How fast can you bag 25 rattlesnakes that are in a playpen with you and how many rattlesnakes you can get in a sleeping bag with you and still get out without getting bit. I kid you NOT these folks ain't playin' with a full deck of cards!!

    I was raised in a swamp and gators were just a sort of everyday thing to us when I was a kid. They may have been endangered in some places but we had scads of them. After they realized there were plenty of gators people started catching them and there were a couple of gator farms close to where my wife lived. My Brother in law killed one on a regular basis because the Game Warden got tired of coming to his house when his wife would be trapped because a big gator was on the porch and wouldn't let her out. He finally told him to just kill the bastards and bury the hide but he could keep the meat so we had gator pretty often.

    Another critter that e eat here is Gator Gar. Cleaning them is a bit of a chore unless you have the right stuff but the meat is good. You clean them with a hatchet or a machete or I use a BIG heavy meat cleaver. Basically you peal their back of towards the head and only flesh out and take what would be the backstrap on a deer.

    Not only are crawfish good eating they are about the best bass and catfish bait there is. Basically a jig with a pork chunk on it worked on bottom is just a crawfish shaped lure and real is better than artificial. Big bass especially love them and catfish consider them a delicacy.

    I fish the Trinity River North of Lake Livingston. The river is beginning to get a lot of attention as THE place to go if you want to catch a 6' 150 lb gar or bigger. On an average catfishing trip we will catch a half dozen gar up to a little over 4' long. They give us a hard time but anyplace that has a lot of catfish is going to have the gar there too. I go out every Friday with a friend rain or shine hot or cold and we fish. Last Friday was COLD. I bought a heater for my boat and so this week should be nicer. I got a Mr. Heater Buddy and think I will be nice.

    I love running the river. There aren't any houses and it is mostly forests on both sides of the river. We see gators, eagles, hogs, deer and lots of cattle but not many people at all on Friday. I especially like the winter because it is too cold for the idiot skiers. The latest fad is to take a BIG boat and lift the bow as high as you can so you throw a huge wake and rooster tail and the surf the wake. It will swamp a boat or tear it up if you are tied up. $' and bigger waves in a river that is only 50 to 75 yards wide sucks!! If they see you fishing they will just go back and forth in front of you until you leave. They are mostly college kids that need their asses kicked. Someone has cut the tires on their boat trailers a couple of times. They are hell for kayakers, canoers or people in Jon boats.

    Tomorrow should be nice with a high around 52 and clear skies. Last Friday we caught one that was about 18 lbs and are hoping for better. There are cats in there that are over 100lbs!!! My best so far was a little over 4' long and maxed out my 50 lb scales. It was a big Flathead but the Blue Cats here are the true giants. I have a 100 lb scale now.
     
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