When hunting for food, remember one simple rule: in no case should you spend more calories of energy on obtaining and preparing food than you get by eating it. It would help if you first became a professional hunter and trapper and only used hunting trophies as food.
Study the types of animals that inhabit the area where you are, their tracks (Fig. 22), habits, places of sleep, and rest. Adult female animals have the best meat in terms of taste and quality. But, of course, any animal will provide you with one or another amount of meat. But you must remember that if you do not have a firearm, you must make do with snares and traps where you can catch a small animal or bird.
If you have a firearm, then when choosing a hunting object, use the following rules:
- Move as quietly as possible, stroll, and often stop and listen.
- Do not allow the wind to blow away from you in the direction of the intended location of the game. Try to blend in with the surrounding area as much as possible.
- Be on the lookout – your chance may catch you off guard, unprepared to fire, resulting in a miss.
Hunting for food: Catching Animals
Mammals are an excellent source of food for humans in extreme situations. They are divided into the following groups:
WILD CATS. They vary in size from ordinary domestic cats (manual) to lions and tigers. If you don’t have firearms, beware of big cats. Smaller cats can be caught with a strong wire snare.
WILD DOGS. They can be caught in solid wire snares. Beware of their teeth. Be careful.
THE BEARS. Better beware of them. These large, robust, agile, and brilliant animals can outrun a horse at a short distance and quickly kill a person. Stay away from cubs – there is always a bear nearby – and remember that a wounded bear is many times more dangerous than a healthy one. You can hunt a bear only with a powerful gun, and you need to shoot in the head to put the beast down with the first shot. You can put a trap or a pit trap with a sharp stake on the bear, but remember that your web must be effective. The bear is not very convenient for hunting for food – it is too complex a target.
Weasels, Martens, Sables, Ferrets, and Ermines.
Be careful. These animals are very cunning and have very sharp teeth. They can be caught in a trap or a snare.
Wolverines are somewhat similar to badgers but much more dangerous. It would help if you hunted wolverine only with firearms. You can trap this animal in a trap or wire snares.
BADGERS skillfully, furiously, and painfully bite. You can catch a badger in a wire snare or a trap.
Artiodactyls
Large artiodactyls, especially bulls, can be very dangerous. For catching them, it is good to use a trap and loops made of very durable material.
DEER
Please beware of the sharp horns of these animals. They can successfully defend themselves and cause you serious injuries. Medium-sized representatives of this class are caught in wire snares or small traps, large ones – in a trap and pit traps.
HARES AND RABBITS.
They are easiest to catch with rope or wire snares.
REPTILES
These animals can be a source of delicious tender meat. Still, some of them are extremely dangerous, and it is better not to hunt them without special skills – this applies primarily to crocodiles, alligators, caimans, giant lizards (lizards), and other large reptiles. You can not eat toads – their skin has poisonous glands.
SNAKE
Snakes should always be treated with respect as dangerous and poisonous creatures, even if the snake you encounter is not one. Catching snakes require a small horn to pin the snake just behind its head to the ground. It would help if you crushed the snake’s head with a stick or a club. If you have a machete at hand, it is best to cut off the snake’s head. NEVER touch or handle the snake until you are sure it is dead. Some snakes may pretend to be quiet in self-defense. The death spasm of the jaw muscles of the snake may subside, while its jaws will make a biting movement.
SNAILS, SHELLS, WATER, AND EARTH
WORMS. These animals are very nutritious, but it is essential to eat them fresh. Do not eat snails and mollusks with brightly colored shells – they are usually poisonous. Avoid fishing for clams in tropical waters – some of them can be deadly stings. It is best to starve the worms, holding them for a day without food, or squeeze out their insides with your fingers.
ATTENTION!
Rabbit meat is poor in vitamins and fats necessary for the human body. When eating rabbit meat, the body uses its resources, minerals, and vitamins to absorb it. The body’s resources need to be replenished. Otherwise, eating rabbit meat will eventually literally eat yourself to death.
hunting for food: TRAPS
To catch animals and hunting for food successfully, you need to learn how to set traps properly for them. The traps described below are easy to manufacture and quite effective. Learn how to make and develop them, and know where to place the best surprises.
Silky (Fig. 23). The snare is a wire (1, 4, and 5) or rope (2 and 3) loop, placed in such a way that the animal must stick its head into it. In this case, the loop is tightened, strangling the victim (although, in some cases, death may not be instantaneous).
When hunting for food and placing snares , check them regularly. It is terrible if an animal of another species, more significantly, is caught in a trap set on a specific type of animal. The snares can be tightened not on the neck but the beast’s paw, and then he can rip out his foot that has fallen into a trap or, by trying to free himself, will attract the attention of another predator. In the latter case, your prey may not go to you. Therefore, you must check traps and snares more often to ensure they perform their function. Remember that you are not the only hunter in the area and cannot afford to miss out on prey. Don’t miss this article about Hunting wild animals.
