In A Shtf Scenario, Are You More Concerned About Defense, Or Hunting?

personally I don't plan to loot or steal from anyone whether its a business or individual . My prepping is complete . I do think of another helpful item occasionally .

 

I'm not worried about either, if I have my little CZ .22 LR I'll be able to supplement what I trap but I doubt I'll actually be needing it for hunting or defence. I can trap small game, fish or fowl far more effectively then I can hunt them (assuming that the entire countryside isn't over-run with idiots.)
If this situation is WROL then I'm able to use much more effective methods that are currently illegal because they're deemed to be inhumane or poaching.

 

no doubt I live in a different environment than most . The people around here are very honest "at least most". where I get fire wood its open to the public in a semi secluded area , you just put your money in a plastic bucket , often have to weight it down with a rock to keep the money from blowing out "he really needs a bigger bucket" load up the appropriate amount of fire wood and leave. I don't even know the guy that owns the business . I have made business deals around here involving thousands of dollars , no paper work needed , just their word .

 

my weapons are primarily for supplementing our food supply . If a neighbor came up asking for help ,I would be more inclined to help him than shoot him . But a looter I would have no problem shooting . I used to be one cold S.B. in Nam . I remember siting and eating lunch while I watched people being shot , considered it fine entertainment .

 

eating lunch while I watched people being shot , considered it fine entertainment .

It is so long as it is not you being shot at

 

Yeah...poltiregist,

I know of a couple of people who do business in such an manner.

A couple of counties over..when I go there ...there exists a fruit and vegetable truck in the downtown place in the county main street. It is the honor system. He has a small scale hanging in the back of his truck...and a metal box wherein you put your monies. I have no problems with this system. If people cheat them...he goes out of business and people have to go elsewhere to get their vegetables.

Also in these less populated counties out in the country ..many people are related..and they know all the ways into and out of these counties. Not smart to cheat or upset these people.



I've seen other people working out of trucks like that...usually manned...fruits, vegetables, and even sometimes eggs. No problem by me.

The place where I park and pay ....I know the fellow running it . If he is not there ..I leave a note in the dashboard of my vehicle...as to what I owe him. Sometimes I owe him for a week...at $7.00 per day. No problem..I pay him when I see him or go by his other place of business and pay him.
I owe him $7.00 right now and hope to see him this afternoon when I go in.

Sometimes I take my scooter instead of my car. I stop by and pay him if I see and owe him.

I don't try to cheat these people. Bad business if you do.

I like to do business like this ...just you and with whom you area doing business...no middle man collecting monies for doing nothing and keeping records of transactions. And also your business remains private business.


Thanks,
Watcherchris

Not an Ishmaelite

 

I would say it would depend on the situation, it would depend on exactly what kind of SHTF event we're talking about. The most recent SHTF event I had to deal with, years back, was Hurricane Sandy when it hit the northeast USA. We were without electricity for at least a week and all the stores were closed and lines for gas were miles long at what few gas stations were open. In that situation I was more concerned with defense. We had food and I wasn't going to go hunting in my area during the aftermath of Sandy. On the other hand if I was stuck out in the wilderness, for instance, I would be more concerned with hunting.

 

My primary concern would be self defense. We have enough supplies that hunting really wouldn't be required for some time. Making sure we could defend what we have would be more of a concern. We aren't in a city, but close enough to a city, and close enough to a major highway in and out of the city, for marauding hordes to at least come into the equation.

Oh and by the way, we are not that far from a State Prison. I guess it is a 50-50 chance whether they will come toward you or go away from you, but it is something to think about. Does anybody else live in proximity to a prison? If you do it should factor into your preps.

 

I certainly agree with you, TMT. I don't know that my wife could, and I am not even sure if I could turn away children. Hope I never have to make that decision. Standard line will be we have nothing to share, and we are in the same situation as you. Move on. Don't let anybody know what you have.

 

Feeding your neighbors might not be a bad idea if they give something in return.

 

As hard as it might be I'm sure you are right.

 

All the children within a one a half mile radius of our retreat are part of the survival group already , few other children within a 3 mile radius with the exception of another survival group that has property access to the land joining our property . The two survival groups could potentially join forces creating a very large survival group .For now though their's and our group have such independent and solid survival plans we see no advantage to combining the groups . A neighbor on down our dead end road is interested in prepping , I gave him some rooted muscadine vines for him to create a vineyard on his property a few weeks ago . The way I see it the more prepared my neighbors are the better off my group will be .

 

I'm pretty fortunate in that most of the people around me have chickens and goats. Within a mile there are probably several hundred cattle and just a little farther down the road is an exotic animal ranch that has all sorts of antelope and deer from all over the world. I'm more likely to trade for meat than hunting it. The thing about a big animal is that most people, even country people, don't know butchering. I can butcher anything and have the tools to do it. Without refrigeration it is better to share a animal out to others and collect from them when their harvests come in. Country folks have been doing this for centuries.

 

I'm not really into guns that much (although I have a few); I doubt if crazed big-city dwellers would be a problem. The three closest big cities (over a quarter million) would be Spokane, Salt Lake City, and Boise; the closest is 120 miles away. Idaho is a very rural state, most of the locals have both guns (hunting and fishing is big here), food (many farms); and food storage (Idaho has a very high LDS population, and most of them already have a year's supply of food).

Hunting, too, would probably not be an effective approach for me. Having goats and chickens for meat, eggs, and milk and a pretty good-sized garden, I think I'd be better off keeping my animals and an eye of my mini-farm. If you want to go off hunting elk or moose in the South Hills, go ahead. You come to my property, and I'll have a quarter of your game, and you will have milk, eggs, veggies, and fruit to carry home.

And if you ever come by my homestead with ten pounds of coffee, you can leave with three chickens, a good milking goat, and my first-born son .

 

We have made incredible advances in building a real homestead (garden, animals, etc) after ony six months, and it's all been because of the neighbors within a mile or so of us who have taken in a couple of retired city slickers who want to learn and are willing to work.

If it hadn't been for our neighbors, we'd still be running round with our thumbs up our butt. I'd certainly share with people in need as long as they were making an honest effort to pull through, because that's exactly what our neighbors have done for us.

 

Defense of animal assault.........as hunting is generally done by simply opening the window and harvest. So food procurement would never be a problem, especially for meat or fish.

Defense should not be necessary, other then my typical defense from bears and moose attacks. There is the slightest remote chance of some human problem. Highly unlikely, but still remotely a possibility.