Catching your own food

As I've said in other threads, my family and I use to camp every weekend. Part of the camping experience is to live off the land and eat what you fish out of the water, or hunt in the bush. Most of our meals were fish or local game. It made the experience more rewarding and taught us to appreciate the land and for what it can provide us.

Anyone else here hunt and fish while camping?

 

I don't fish - but my buddies do. Fresh lake trout smeared with wholesome butter, a bit of onion and western fries sizzling in a cast iron fry pan over an open fire can knock down any hearty appetite.

One of my favourite dishes too...

 

Doesn't everyone?? When we go camping...fishing, hunting, and gathering are apart of the trip. Otherwise it is not camping to us. There is a sort of peace to it, also... food taste AWESOME over a fire.

 

Absolutely right on!

 

I have buds who fish and I've had student's who hunt. One brought me some bear jerky - I just could not eat it. I kept seeing these bear cubs running around without a mom. On a score from one to a hundred? I wouldn't even be on the Richter scale.

I'm not anti hunting, I've just never done it. Read a lot about it because the thought has occurred to me to be a real outdoors man I should be able to hunt in some fashion, if for no other reason than to survive.

 

The only animal that I have any real fear of is the human animal.

Human's scare the hell out of me too!

 

You know something - you are right. For the most part it is a matter of taste and perhaps a question of survival. I've been watching with interest the number of people who are vegetarians or partial vegetarians in that they restrict the kinds and limit the meat they might eat.

 

Years ago, someone brought us a small bear roast to cook. It pretty much tasted like pork, and it was delicious. However, I would not want to hunt and kill a bear to eat one, and I am getting a whole lot closer to becoming a vegetarian as I read some of the horror stories about what happens with the meat that we eat.
The commercially raised beef, chicken, and pork are fed unwholesome (and sometimes unnatural) food, raised in tiny pens or cages, fed huge amounts of antibiotics so they actually live long enough to be slaughtered; and then go through even more inhumane treatment when they are sent to the slaughterhouse.
Compared to that; the farmer and the hunter are much more considerate of the lives they take to put food on the table.
Of course, you have the California Ditzes who proclaim that we should buy our meat at the grocery store "where no animal was harmed"...... Right !

 

It's funny how proponents of a certain ideas like to smooth us out, calm us down and distract us from the issue.

You raise a good point that I hadn't thought of. Hunters [at least the better ones] will kill and eat what is necessary. There is no mass production. But I suppose too, the problem defies the simple solution.

 

We do have hunters that hunt for the sport of it, just like we have fishermen that do the same thing; and at least the fishermen can release the fish back into the water essentially unharmed; whereas the hunter is going to kill what ever he is hunting, given the chance. I do think that most people that hunt for edible animals like deer and elk, are mainly hunting to put food on the table, and even if it is an enjoyable sport for them to hunt; they also DO eat whatever they shoot.

Hunters that go after the big cats, or even wolves and other predators are certainly more in the sport hunter class; except for ranchers that are after a predator that is killing their livestock. I have hunted small game, like grouse and pheasant; but have only once shot a deer, and that was because it had been hit by a car, seemed to have a broken back, and was suffering. Even though I knew it was the best (and only) thing I could do to help the deer; I still hated to have to end its life.

 

Admittedly, we do not catch our own food while we are out camping. My kids, fiance and myself do not do any kind of fish or seafood. We will sometimes fish, but we always release them immediately afterwards.

 

This thread is a big challenge for the amateur camper. I remember my first time to go hunting, my father had declared that we, his children, had to hunt our own food otherwise we go hungry. My recourse was the small creek teeming with snails. But I was so lucky to chance upon a wild duck in that creek. And real lucky I was to hit the wild duck with my air gun. If there was no bird then my meal would simply be escargot.

 

The first time I went for camping was with some of my friends and they were all in the army. The rule was to hunt your own food, it was just a game but we were serious about it. I didn't eat the first night since I didn't catch anything. The next day I made my own wooden spear and spent the whole day trying my luck. It was the worst experience but I managed to kill a young gazelle. I'd never felt so proud of myself like I did that day. Whenever we go camping I always hunt for my food.

 

This is one area where I just need to make sure that I have done my research, or are with people who know what they are doing. The latter is probably more likely to happen, so I will just stick with that.

 

Pretty great when we have friends who fish for us right? I can totally related with that! My kids get all worked up in that process, as they do love to fish, and to see the meal preparation. When the food gets to the dish, they are usually starving!