I was so mad when i saw that meat workers were being forced back to work i stopped buying meat
Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
21–30 of 82 posts
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#22There is a tiny fraction of the available game to feed America. A single deer would feed a family of four for, what, a week? So, every family needs 52 deer per annum. Forget it. This is sort of why civilization is based on agriculture. Not hunting-and-gathering.
I don't think anybody is proposing to replace the entire existing food supply chain with nothing but hunted deer. There is no reason however, to think that hunting can't supplement a family's food stocks if other sources start to become thin. And there's a lot more to hunt than deer. There's also more in play than hunting. A family might feed themselves through a combination of any or all of: hunting, trapping, fishi…
Again, there is every reason to believe (know) hinting/foraging is woefully inadequate. Simple numbers. Natural 'foods' are pitiful fractions of modern cultivars. It takes a quarter acre(?) of Jerusalem Artichoke to gather a few baskets of roots, which must be boiled and peeled down to a few score pounds of edible material. Even a bonanza 10-acre plot in a meadow would feed 40 people for a few days.
Early Americans spent the whole summer struggling/working like slaves to put up enough food for the 3 months of winter.
Seafood - that sounds like continuing to rely upon the food supply line (fishing boats and their supply chain). That used to be pretty good return. Not sure stocks today could feed a fraction of America for long. Most of us eat seafood a meal a week/month that way even in the best of times.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#23There is a tiny fraction of the available game to feed America. A single deer would feed a family of four for, what, a week? So, every family needs 52 deer per annum. Forget it. This is sort of why civilization is based on agriculture. Not hunting-and-gathering.
On the other hand if you follow the NHS guidelines (70g/day) 20-30kg of meat from a deer would last a family of four ~80-120 days. Not that bad
Not if other foods were unavailable (the assumption). You need 2000 calories a day. 70g of meat is ~600 calories. So triple that, divide by 4 and you've got the week I mentioned.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#24There is a tiny fraction of the available game to feed America. A single deer would feed a family of four for, what, a week? So, every family needs 52 deer per annum. Forget it. This is sort of why civilization is based on agriculture. Not hunting-and-gathering.
>> A single deer would feed a family of four for, what, a week? Depends on the size but you can get 40-60lbs of venison from a whitetail deer.
And at 2000 calories a day, 9 calories/gram, family of four, there you are.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#25I think a lot of these folks underestimate what it takes to hunt an elk, field dress it, bring it back to their vehicle, and put away 300 lbs of meat. Even if you borrow a gun as one person interviewed here would, you need a truck, knives, a bone saw, camouflage, maybe a tree stand, and a large freezer, among other things. It is reasonable to hunt for food, but it's not reasonable for your typical "hospital manager"…
That’s what’s always held me back from hunting; there is a huge amount that has to be learned in a really short period of time. It seems to me that you should probably know what to do before you shoot the animal, and not plan to figure it out later. It seems that hunting is a skill best passed down directly from seasoned hunter to new hunter.
Doesn't your state require hunter safety courses? In Missouri, we've got to take one before legally being able to hunt unless we're being guided by an experienced hunter.
They taught gun safety, field dressing, and the different type of animals that could be hunted. They taught what clothes you can wear and when, and they taught different strategies to extricate animals if they were too large for you to carry or drag.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> A single deer would feed a family of four for, what, a week? Depends on the size but you can get 40-60lbs of venison from a whitetail deer.
And at 2000 calories a day, 9 calories/gram, family of four, there you are.
9 kcal/g is pure fat; protein is only 4 kcal/g.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#27There is a tiny fraction of the available game to feed America. A single deer would feed a family of four for, what, a week? So, every family needs 52 deer per annum. Forget it. This is sort of why civilization is based on agriculture. Not hunting-and-gathering.
You can get 60 lbs of meat off a medium sized sized deer, and more if you go for bones, certain organs (e.g lungs, testicles) that are less commonly eaten.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand if you follow the NHS guidelines (70g/day) 20-30kg of meat from a deer would last a family of four ~80-120 days. Not that bad
Not if other foods were unavailable (the assumption). You need 2000 calories a day. 70g of meat is ~600 calories. So triple that, divide by 4 and you've got the week I mentioned.
Other foods aren't unavailable though... They aren't hunting because they're starving, they're hunting because meat is harder to get, and it's a nice luxury that's also expensive. Couple that with reduced/no income and choosing to hunt isn't insane. I know a fair number of people in rural GA who will hunt one deer a year and freeze it, You get small servings of meat all season. It goes a long way...
No one would seriously recommend an all meat diet. It will kill you. Seriously - Go google protein poisoning. Unless you're eating incredibly fatty meat like seal, don't eat just meat.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s what’s always held me back from hunting; there is a huge amount that has to be learned in a really short period of time. It seems to me that you should probably know what to do before you shoot the animal, and not plan to figure it out later. It seems that hunting is a skill best passed down directly from seasoned hunter to new hunter.
Doesn't your state require hunter safety courses? In Missouri, we've got to take one before legally being able to hunt unless we're being guided by an experienced hunter. They taught gun safety, field dressing, and the different type of animals that could be hunted. They taught what clothes you can wear and when, and they taught different strategies to extricate animals if they were too large for you to carry or drag…
I was unaware that hunter safety courses taught more than hunting. Other things held me back well before that point.
More practically my apartment dwelling nature was more of an issue; the idea of storing a gun in my apartment isn’t something I find particularly thrilling. If I could afford a house with a safe, that might’ve been a different story.
Oh, and I’ve lived in 3 states in the past 6 years. That also would’ve been a problem.
Re: Facing meat shortages, some Americans turn to hunting during pandemic
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't your state require hunter safety courses? In Missouri, we've got to take one before legally being able to hunt unless we're being guided by an experienced hunter. They taught gun safety, field dressing, and the different type of animals that could be hunted. They taught what clothes you can wear and when, and they taught different strategies to extricate animals if they were too large for you to carry or drag…
I was unaware that hunter safety courses taught more than hunting. Other things held me back well before that point. More practically my apartment dwelling nature was more of an issue; the idea of storing a gun in my apartment isn’t something I find particularly thrilling. If I could afford a house with a safe, that might’ve been a different story. Oh, and I’ve lived in 3 states in the past 6 years. That also would’v…
Gun owners must have a way to lock it up, of course. That's usually just a locked case. Not cheap but much less than the firearm itself. And you'll want it to transport the firearm anyway.