Bow Hunting

[Lynnzard]

(I saw a much older general hunting topic when I did a search. If you'd rather I resurrect it and leave my questions there, just delete my topic and let me know. I'll be glad to comply.)

I was curious how many of you are bow hunters, and if so, what is your favored game? Where I live I see an abundance of squirrel, rabbit, turkey, doves, raccoon, opossum, and deer, often on or right around my property. I live close to public land where I frequently see geese and ducks. (Wild, not domestic varieties.) I'm a decent shot with a shotgun and a rifle (former law enforcement), but honestly I feel like if I'm going to take up hunting, I want to give myself a real challenge. I haven't brushed up on my archery skills since I was in my early teens. This would be like starting from scratch.

I can research beginner topics for bow hunting, of course, and I have been, but I'd like to hear about it from the hunters here. Is there anything you wish somebody had told you when you were starting out that you practically take for granted now? Where do you prefer to dress your game? Anybody here experimented with tanning or curing hides?

Share your experiences, good and bad, if you feel the inclination, and also did eating raw change your perspective or focus on the game you go for or how you handle the meat if you were hunting before you changed your diet? Any advice on ominvores vs. herbivores? I've only ever eaten raccoon cooked, and I have to say it was not my favorite culinary experience. Very greasy and very tough.

We also have huge wild boar out on the islands. Any of you guys ever boar hunt?

[gc]

Wild Boar (a.k.a. feral pig) is fair game and open and without bag limits in a lot of states. I understand it's incredibly good, if a little dangerous to be hunting. Don't want to wound one of those when it can see where the pain came from! As far as the parasite phobias most people have, I would like to think that the vast majority of parasite infections resulted from feedlot conditions in commercial swine and that the likelihood of infection in wild animals is pretty low. Check the data yourself though and don't trust me on those issues - I didn't look it up.

All of the things you mentioned are on my list of things to get as good at as possible. Have you ever been to the PaleoPlanet forum at http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/ ? There are numerous subforums that specifically address most of the stuff you asked about.

I was raised a city kid in Detroit and my dad was a tad wishy-washy (read: opinionated and obstinate) when it came to killing an animal for food. I'm lucky to have been able to SEE woods much less spend time in them. As a result I have to learn all of these things as an adult and it's just not as easy to pick up anymore. I'm just beginning to take up hunting with a bow. I'm going the slightly paleo route and making my own bows, partly for the satisfaction of putting meat on the table as a result of deliberate actions I took and partly because I am... well... dead broke.

That said, I'd encourage you to go for it. Then you can report back here what your results are to encourage the rest of us! Well, mainly me. I'm getting a little discouraged because for numerous reasons but I keep chugging along.

I'm of the understanding that dressing should likely take place either at the kill site or back at camp. At any rate it should happen as soon as is feasible as you do not want the gut contents to go high too soon. With a large animal you are going to want to cool it off as fast as you can to keep it fresh until you can get it butchered.

[Lynnzard]

Wild Boar (a.k.a. feral pig) is fair game and open and without bag limits in a lot of states. I understand it's incredibly good, if a little dangerous to be hunting. Don't want to wound one of those when it can see where the pain came from! As far as the parasite phobias most people have, I would like to think that the vast majority of parasite infections resulted from feedlot conditions in commercial swine and that the likelihood of infection in wild animals is pretty low. Check the data yourself though and don't trust me on those issues - I didn't look it up.

LOL No, they're smart. I've dealt with farm hogs, and they do hold grudges! I think boar is maybe a dream game to work up to for me. *grins* Maybe when I can handle a heavier bow and graduate up to an aggressive cam. I don't think I'd have the upper body strength to take down something like hogzilla with a recurve! I'm honestly not too worried about parasites. If people were right about that, I should already be crawling with them and feeling like crap from it.

All of the things you mentioned are on my list of things to get as good at as possible. Have you ever been to the PaleoPlanet forum at http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/ ? There are numerous subforums that specifically address most of the stuff you asked about.

I was raised a city kid in Detroit and my dad was a tad wishy-washy (read: opinionated and obstinate) when it came to killing an animal for food. I'm lucky to have been able to SEE woods much less spend time in them. As a result I have to learn all of these things as an adult and it's just not as easy to pick up anymore. I'm just beginning to take up hunting with a bow. I'm going the slightly paleo route and making my own bows, partly for the satisfaction of putting meat on the table as a result of deliberate actions I took and partly because I am... well... dead broke.

Thank you for the link. I'll check all of that out. Wow, that is a big change, going from big city life to heading out into the wilds. Will you post some pics of your hand made bows? I'd love to see them. Or if you don't have a digital camera and or scanner, just describe them a little. What materials are you using? Are you going for a recurve or compound design? Do you have any finished yet?

That said, I'd encourage you to go for it. Then you can report back here what your results are to encourage the rest of us! Well, mainly me. I'm getting a little discouraged because for numerous reasons but I keep chugging along.

I'm of the understanding that dressing should likely take place either at the kill site or back at camp. At any rate it should happen as soon as is feasible as you do not want the gut contents to go high too soon. With a large animal you are going to want to cool it off as fast as you can to keep it fresh until you can get it butchered.

We can encourage each other. I have a feeling I'll be hitting a lot of stationary targets while building up form and muscle again after all these years, plus scoping the land around here for the game trails and getting reacquainted with tracking techniques. I was lucky as a kid that my Dad took me camping and fishing a lot. He taught me basic tracking. I frequently managed to get close to deer and turkeys, but I was also a lot smaller and a lot more lithe then. He was also a deer, duck, dove, and quail hunter. I had no interest in that then. I could kick myself for it now, because he's too mobility challenged for us ever to be able to do that together.

Thanks for the advice on dressing and cooling down the big guys. I've heard hog in particular can go bad really fast. I might feel a little silly posting pics of me with a downed squirrel or rabbit, but then again, small game is a big challenge with a bow. Anything I can take down I'm probably going to be proud of!

[gc]

Thank you for the link. I'll check all of that out. Wow, that is a big change, going from big city life to heading out into the wilds. Will you post some pics of your hand made bows? I'd love to see them. Or if you don't have a digital camera and or scanner, just describe them a little. What materials are you using? Are you going for a recurve or compound design? Do you have any finished yet?

We can encourage each other. I have a feeling I'll be hitting a lot of stationary targets while building up form and muscle again after all these years, plus scoping the land around here for the game trails and getting reacquainted with tracking techniques. I was lucky as a kid that my Dad took me camping and fishing a lot. He taught me basic tracking. I frequently managed to get close to deer and turkeys, but I was also a lot smaller and a lot more lithe then. He was also a deer, duck, dove, and quail hunter. I had no interest in that then. I could kick myself for it now, because he's too mobility challenged for us ever to be able to do that together.

Thanks for the advice on dressing and cooling down the big guys. I've heard hog in particular can go bad really fast. I might feel a little silly posting pics of me with a downed squirrel or rabbit, but then again, small game is a big challenge with a bow. Anything I can take down I'm probably going to be proud of!

Haha, yeah - I'll be proud of just about anything I take with a bow I made myself! If you get into the bow discussions on paleoplanet you'll see that there is a LOT more to wooden bows than just the run-of-the-mill recurve. Some of the biggest names in the traditional archery community are on there, including all of the authors of the Traditional Bowyer's Bible (TBB) series. Generally, "compound" is a bad word there. As for me, no one can make a compound by hand, so it's pointless for me to even try. You'll want to take a look into your hunting regulations to see what weights are legal.. here in Minnesota 30lbs is legal for big game, in NC and FL, it's 40 minimum. Those weights should be fairly easy to pull for anyone healthy enough to consider hunting their own meat. That's not really a discussion for this forum though, so I'll be posting my bows (and MAYBE kills) over at paleoplanet instead. I'm GC there, too. I lurk more than I post (just like here). I don't have any finished yet but there are two in the works, and will be more when I can get out to cut a few saplings.

As for being on topic, I think that this is probably the best thing we can do. In the wild the animals have no choice but to eat their natural diet at least 90% of the time. You'll get ALL of the organs rather than having to ask for them special or order them from some faraway farm. They're exactly 0% processed. That should make what little fat they have incredibly healthy. You'll have to watch that-- the natives almost universally considered fat as valuable as we euro-descended considered gold for a reason. Wild critters don't generally carry all that much of it. Read Lex's journal to see how important it really is! In some states it's legal to planet forage for them on your own property, too, so you can sometimes even keep track of what they're eating and therefore keep them as healthy as possible.

Another thing to consider is storage. If you intend to go raw you might want to get crazy with the jerky dryers. A lot of people on this forum believe that frozen is not as good as fresh, which I rather agree with. However, you can't eat a whole deer by yourself, raw or not, before it spoils! I know that when I manage to finally go this route I'll be drying a LOT.

I've had squirrel - greasy, but not tough, and their hides can make ok bow strings!

[TylerDurden]

I'm pleased that more rawpalaeo people are hunting, it's such an innate  palaeo activity. I can't hunt over where I am now, as the cost of hunting licences is way too prohibitive. However, I wish to add that the parasite issue is irrelevant. Very few rawpalaeos ever get parasites - this is partly because grassfed meat animals are constantly given deworming medicines etc. by the farmers - that said, I have been eating vast amounts of raw wild game for many years and only once got parasites, and that was not from raw wild game but from dubious horseflesh fed partially on  oats/grains, I suspect. The point is that there are now easily available anti-parasite drugs available from doctors/pharmacies, so that that issue is irrelevant.

Hmm, Eric prefers to hunt with a bow as I recall, he seems to be the expert on the subject.

* It is preferable to start new topics rather than resurrecting old threads unless the older thread is very recent.*

[PaleoPhil]

Wild Boar (a.k.a. feral pig) is fair game and open and without bag limits in a lot of states. I understand it's incredibly good, if a little dangerous to be hunting. Don't want to wound one of those when it can see where the pain came from! As far as the parasite phobias most people have, I would like to think that the vast majority of parasite infections resulted from feedlot conditions in commercial swine and that the likelihood of infection in wild animals is pretty low. Check the data yourself though and don't trust me on those issues - I didn't look it up.

The most common parasites I've heard of locally is in wild bears. Someone who witnessed one such infection at a hospital told me about it. The parasites had entered the patient's eyes. However, my guess is that the patient had other health issues that made her susceptible to harm from the parasites, but there's no guarantee of that.

[Projectile Vomit]

Hi Lynnzard, I also hunt with bows (and arrows, and most other equipment) that I make myself. I live in Vermont, so my sapling of choice is shagbark hickory, and a friend of mine and I are planning on trekking down to the Green Mountain National Forest before the end of the month and I hope to score a pignut hickory sapling or two. My primary target is whitetail deer here in Vermont, but we have a moose archery season now and I also buy a turkey tag each year. I've been hunting for about 6 years and have never taken game with a bow, it's not easy. Maybe this year..;-)

In fact, it is possible to make a compound bow. You won't make it from carbon fiber and fiberglass like the manufactured ones, but I've seen photographs of wood-limbed compounds made by enterprising folks with lots of power tools and spare time. I can't speak to how well they shoot. The sense I got was that it was a novelty project just to see if it could be done, and they were successful. PaleoPlanet is a good resource for those who want to learn the craft of making bows. We learn by doing though, so reading about it won't guarantee success as much as making lots of mistakes and paying attention.

[Projectile Vomit]

Also, I shot a deer a couple years back (with a rifle) and can attest that at least here in Vermont parasites in deer are not such a big issue. The levels of parasite infestation will depend entirely on their population density, which in turn impacts the availability of high quality forage and individual-individual contact. If population densities are high, the deer will be undernourished and their immune systems compromised, and they'll pass parasites among them rampantly. If deer populations are more sparse, the opposite will be true.

I'm lucky in that, overall, deer populations in Vermont are on the sparser side. I wasn't able to find a single parasite in the deer I shot, and I shot it just as I was starting to get into a raw diet so believe me I was looking. Some are microscopic obviously, but not all.

Bear are omnivores though, and feed on carrion too. I've never shot a bear and have no particular interest in doing so (although I get a bear tag every year when I buy my regular license), but hunters I've talked to who do say their bodies are literally swimming with all sorts of little worms. TylerDurden can talk about how irrelevant they are 'till he's blue in the face, but I promise you'll never convince me to eat meat crawling with parasites!

[ys]

i would like to get into bow hunting (regular compound bow) but don't have time to practice.  and it needs a LOT of practice.  if you are single time is not an issue.  if you have a family that changes everything.  also need to scout a new area to hunt.  that also takes lots of time because the hunting area is about 5h away from me.  the area i currently hunt with firearms is next to private lots.  good shot will drop the deer right there.  with bow there is very high chance the deer will run into private lots and i may not be able to recover it.  so bow hunting is better on lots of public land.

i've seen few times what looked like a cyst in the liver.  but it was frozen so it did not bother me.

[Lynnzard]

I'm GC there, too. I lurk more than I post (just like here). I don't have any finished yet but there are two in the works, and will be more when I can get out to cut a few saplings.

Neat. I'll keep an eye out over there, then. It's always nice to see what people make for themselves, and I've always thought bows were inherently beautiful weapons, at least the wooden ones.

As for being on topic, I think that this is probably the best thing we can do. In the wild the animals have no choice but to eat their natural diet at least 90% of the time. You'll get ALL of the organs rather than having to ask for them special or order them from some faraway farm. They're exactly 0% processed. That should make what little fat they have incredibly healthy. You'll have to watch that-- the natives almost universally considered fat as valuable as we euro-descended considered gold for a reason. Wild critters don't generally carry all that much of it. Read Lex's journal to see how important it really is! In some states it's legal to planet forage for them on your own property, too, so you can sometimes even keep track of what they're eating and therefore keep them as healthy as possible.

Another thing to consider is storage. If you intend to go raw you might want to get crazy with the jerky dryers. A lot of people on this forum believe that frozen is not as good as fresh, which I rather agree with. However, you can't eat a whole deer by yourself, raw or not, before it spoils! I know that when I manage to finally go this route I'll be drying a LOT.

I've had squirrel - greasy, but not tough, and their hides can make ok bow strings!

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm strongly considering this. It's healthier overall. It's a balanced way of living with and in one's environment, and I don't have to ask for any part I might want. If I can take it down, it's mine for the taking. Plus I used to spend pretty much all of my time outdoors except when I was forced inside to eat supper, bathe, and go to bed. I'm fortunate to have a job that keeps me outdoors, even if it's in the city rather than the woods, but I really want to reconnect with that part of myself, and hunting involves a lot of woodcraft, being in tune with your surroundings and the seasons, and challenging yourself to learn the animals you're hunting. I think that's good for brain health and mental acuity overall.

Haha, yeah. There's no way I and my husband could possibly eat a whole deer before it goes bad. I've seen a lot of good, cheap drying models that I don't think would be hard to make at all. It'll give me something to do in between practicing and scoping out the woods around here.

My uncle was a big time squirrel hunter. I've had lots of cooked squirrel and loved it. I can't imagine that the raw meat would be bad.

[Lynnzard]

I'm pleased that more rawpalaeo people are hunting, it's such an innate  palaeo activity. I can't hunt over where I am now, as the cost of hunting licences is way too prohibitive. However, I wish to add that the parasite issue is irrelevant. Very few rawpalaeos ever get parasites - this is partly because grassfed meat animals are constantly given deworming medicines etc. by the farmers - that said, I have been eating vast amounts of raw wild game for many years and only once got parasites, and that was not from raw wild game but from dubious horseflesh fed partially on  oats/grains, I suspect. The point is that there are now easily available anti-parasite drugs available from doctors/pharmacies, so that that issue is irrelevant.

Funny how throughout history the powers that be have always wanted to make it prohibitive or difficult for their native populations to hunt and be self-sustaining. Those who control the meat supply control the populace.

That's pretty much why I'm not all that worried about parasites. Even if I get some, they're relatively easy to get rid of, and none of them to my knowledge are completely asymptomatic. You're going to know you have a problem. I think they started becoming a bigger issue with factory farming and feedlots. There was the hookworm issue in the American south, but pit toilets took care of that major problem around the turn of last century. It had nothing to do with eating wild game undercooked or raw.

[Lynnzard]

Hi Lynnzard, I also hunt with bows (and arrows, and most other equipment) that I make myself. I live in Vermont, so my sapling of choice is shagbark hickory, and a friend of mine and I are planning on trekking down to the Green Mountain National Forest before the end of the month and I hope to score a pignut hickory sapling or two. My primary target is whitetail deer here in Vermont, but we have a moose archery season now and I also buy a turkey tag each year. I've been hunting for about 6 years and have never taken game with a bow, it's not easy. Maybe this year..;-)

When I lived in Arkansas, you couldn't spit without hitting a hickory tree. They're a little scarcer here in the coastal south, not to say you don't see them from time to time. I'm not the craftiest of crafters, so I'll likely start out with a purchased bow, not to say that down the line it wouldn't be of interest to see what I could do. Have you posted any pics on the forums of your finished bows? I'd love to see one.

Yeah. I have a couple of friends who bowhunt, and they've said the same thing. It was many years before they took anything down with one. I'm willing to put in the work it takes to get up to that level. Learning a skill and spending time outdoors is never time wasted, imo, no matter how long it takes to work up to the level needed to succeed. Be sure to let us know if you take anything down this year!

In fact, it is possible to make a compound bow. You won't make it from carbon fiber and fiberglass like the manufactured ones, but I've seen photographs of wood-limbed compounds made by enterprising folks with lots of power tools and spare time. I can't speak to how well they shoot. The sense I got was that it was a novelty project just to see if it could be done, and they were successful. PaleoPlanet is a good resource for those who want to learn the craft of making bows. We learn by doing though, so reading about it won't guarantee success as much as making lots of mistakes and paying attention.

That sounds like a very ambitious project, yes. I'm better with hand tools than power tools. I know someone who probably would be up to the task and has the tools for it. If I can ever talk him into it, I'll post some pics. He has been in carpentry, cabinet making, and other wood work for about fifty years now. He got his start in his early teens. I don't think he has ever tried his hand at any weaponry.

As for the parasite issue, I'm with you. I'm not going to eat meat that is obviously full of worms, and I will be giving a visual inspection of anything I do eat. I do that already, and to me it's just basic common sense. But I've eaten various types of game all my life, much of it cooked rare, and I've never gotten anything. People I know who hunt have never gotten anything, and they don't always cook everything to death, either.

We don't have enough black bears around where I live or would be hunting for me even to think about wanting to take one down or eat it, not when there is so much game all over the place that probably tastes a lot better and wouldn't be such a huge pain to dress or figure out how to deal with.  I really would be hunting for the primary purpose of feeding myself, and it's difficult for me to justify going after an animal that large for just me and my husband.

[Lynnzard]

The most common parasites I've heard of locally is in wild bears. Someone who witnessed one such infection at a hospital told me about it. The parasites had entered the patient's eyes. However, my guess is that the patient had other health issues that made her susceptible to harm from the parasites, but there's no guarantee of that.

Sounds like thread worms or something of that nature. They'll go all over a body once they infect it. You usually won't know you have them until you see or feel them moving just beneath the surface of your eyes. I'm not sure what makes a person more or less susceptible to them, but I do know they're easily visible in meat. So if she ate meat where she could see them, it was kind of a dumb thing to do.

[Lynnzard]

i would like to get into bow hunting (regular compound bow) but don't have time to practice.  and it needs a LOT of practice.  if you are single time is not an issue.  if you have a family that changes everything.  also need to scout a new area to hunt.  that also takes lots of time because the hunting area is about 5h away from me.  the area i currently hunt with firearms is next to private lots.  good shot will drop the deer right there.  with bow there is very high chance the deer will run into private lots and i may not be able to recover it.  so bow hunting is better on lots of public land.

i've seen few times what looked like a cyst in the liver.  but it was frozen so it did not bother me.

I have a husband, but we're both pretty independent about doing our own things. No kids. That makes a big difference in available time. That's a good point about private land abutting public land. Nightmare scenario for me is wounding an animal and being unable to finish it off.

I'm pretty sure that even if a cyst is fresh, as long as you don't eat it, you're not going to get infected by whatever is inside of it.

[Adora]

     I was eating a lot of raw pastured pork. The animals were beautiful, but the pasture wasn't very grassy in winter so they ate scraps and feed too. I ate their organs, muscle, and fat. Then, I got an irritating rash on my back. It lasted all winter.  I was also taking very cold showers and having a hard time getting oil on my back. I don't have much fat on my back and I think the fat somehow protects my skin from the cold.
    The rash was so bad I couldn't sleep at night. I had no other symptoms of parasites and every bit of pork I put in my mouth looked pristine, but my head still spun thoughts of pig parasites. I had some diatomaceous earth that I heard helped with parasites and I took it a couple of times. Each time I took it I could sleep, because the itching was so much better. I had other digestive issues that the diatomeous earth may have helped with and may have relieved some digestive stress that quieted the itching. OR Maybe itching is just one of those things that is easily exacerbated by anxiety. 
     I understand that rodents are parasite rich too, so I was concerned about squirrel. I was going to eat them. I even skinned 2, but I tossed them in my back yard after I chickened out. I just don't know. I was fearless for a while. Then, I started to get in my head about stuff, maybe I will try cooking what I catch and eating it until I become accustomed to it. I hate to waste, please keep posting your experiences here. In theory, I would run with the wolves and tear my dinner from the mountain lion's heart that I out ran, in practice I squeamishly toss the skinned squirrel to the birds. 
    I did nibble at the squirrel raw it tasted like chicken, which I like, but I just couldn't bring myself to eat much of it.
    Have you heard of instinctive shooting? A friend just showed me, and I was quite a bit better than all of the aiming I ever tried. I'll see if I can find more to share about it and get back to you.

[Projectile Vomit]

I shoot instinctively. When you use a wooden bow, you pretty much have to. The key to instinctive shooting is learning to focus. If you can focus, your body will learn to put an arrow where you're looking.

[gc]

Wow... I sleep overnight and work a bit through the day and the topic goes nuts! It's good to see people here going for it. Makes me feel better since this has been my plan for the whole time.

It takes practice to take something with a bow. It would probably be best to go for squirrels and other small game with blunt-tips at first. That way you'll at least feel like you've got a little bit under your belt. If you go years taking nothing at all, well, I can see where that would get more than a little discouraging. I'd probably give up at that point, but that's just me. Most hunting licenses cover small animals. Check local regs, as always.

Funny how throughout history the powers that be have always wanted to make it prohibitive or difficult for their native populations to hunt and be self-sustaining. Those who control the meat supply control the populace.

Locking up the food supply is the core tenet of our culture. There lie cans of worms. Read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, and its sequels. My Ishmael is my favorite. I could go on and on about this topic but this isn't the place for it. Actually, places to discuss things like Ishmael in a friendly and civil way are pretty few and far in between. Lemme know if you know of a place!

I'm pleased that more rawpalaeo people are hunting, it's such an innate  palaeo activity.

I agree more than I can say.

@Adora: What is "diatomaceous earth?" Did it completely take care of the parasite problem?

About hand-made compounds: yeah, they can be made. Even with the carbon fiber - it takes practice and skill. I won't be making one! That's a little too complicated for me. I honestly don't even understand how they work. You'd figure since I've been to school for engineering and a lot of higher math that I'd be pretty up on something like that, but... no. I would like a Penobscot bow, though....

[Lynnzard]

     I was eating a lot of raw pastured pork. The animals were beautiful, but the pasture wasn't very grassy in winter so they ate scraps and feed too. I ate their organs, muscle, and fat. Then, I got an irritating rash on my back. It lasted all winter.  I was also taking very cold showers and having a hard time getting oil on my back. I don't have much fat on my back and I think the fat somehow protects my skin from the cold.
    The rash was so bad I couldn't sleep at night. I had no other symptoms of parasites and every bit of pork I put in my mouth looked pristine, but my head still spun thoughts of pig parasites. I had some diatomaceous earth that I heard helped with parasites and I took it a couple of times. Each time I took it I could sleep, because the itching was so much better. I had other digestive issues that the diatomeous earth may have helped with and may have relieved some digestive stress that quieted the itching. OR Maybe itching is just one of those things that is easily exacerbated by anxiety.

Itching can definitely be exacerbated by anxiety. It can even be brought on by anxiety. I'm not in any way trying to suggest, "Oh, it was all in your head" or anything like that. I don't know what could have caused the rash or made it worse. In my own experience, if I'm going to have skin flare ups it will be in the winter. I don't know if it's that the air is dryer or the cold has something to do with it. It sounds like it's better now? I hope so!

The way I see it, if you're not comfortable eating something, then I don't think anybody has the right to tell you that you ought to eat it anyway or you shouldn't be worried. You're the only one with the right to make that decision. Maybe it wasn't parasites but something else about the meat that had you deciding you shouldn't be eating it. I think sometimes our bodies tell us things that don't really have a verbal analog. We try to process it at a thinking level, and we come up with reasons that make sense to us. If the end result is you take something out of your diet that at that time isn't serving your needs best, then it's a positive thing.

 

I understand that rodents are parasite rich too, so I was concerned about squirrel. I was going to eat them. I even skinned 2, but I tossed them in my back yard after I chickened out. I just don't know. I was fearless for a while. Then, I started to get in my head about stuff, maybe I will try cooking what I catch and eating it until I become accustomed to it. I hate to waste, please keep posting your experiences here. In theory, I would run with the wolves and tear my dinner from the mountain lion's heart that I out ran, in practice I squeamishly toss the skinned squirrel to the birds. 
    I did nibble at the squirrel raw it tasted like chicken, which I like, but I just couldn't bring myself to eat much of it.
    Have you heard of instinctive shooting? A friend just showed me, and I was quite a bit better than all of the aiming I ever tried. I'll see if I can find more to share about it and get back to you.

You got farther than I have yet. You skinned the squirrels. And they didn't go to waste. They just fed other organisms rather than you.  It can be tough overcoming social and parental conditioning. This is safe. That isn't. And of course any time someone is infected with parasites and you hear about it, the story is sensationalized and the gruesome details are emphasized. For me the concept of eating game and meats that some consider unusual isn't a big leap because of where I grew up. Louisianians eat a LOT of things most people won't touch and make it very appetizing in the process. I have no idea how I'd feel about a lot of this if the only animals I had ever consumed were those commonly farmed in the States.

I think it's actually a good thing that you're being gentle with yourself and not just forcing any of these experiences out of some sense of pride or false obligation. At the end of the day, food is nourishment. There's no reason it can't nourish our minds as well as our bodies. Fear can also be a good teacher when it's not just dismissed out of hand.

I've heard of instinctive shooting, and pretty much I think it's what I do when I've got a long gun. I've never needed much time between getting it up to my shoulder and firing. I don't futz around with sights and all that, and I hit what I'm out to hit. They taught us a technique called CAR for our handguns that I also like a lot. I still take my Glock out to the range and put about 200-250 rounds through it on a monthly basis. I'd love to see more info on it, though. I've seen it mentioned a few times in reference to archery, also.

[Lynnzard]

Locking up the food supply is the core tenet of our culture. There lie cans of worms. Read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, and its sequels. My Ishmael is my favorite. I could go on and on about this topic but this isn't the place for it. Actually, places to discuss things like Ishmael in a friendly and civil way are pretty few and far in between. Lemme know if you know of a place!

Thanks for the book recs. I just looked them up, and they sound like amazing reads. Good forums for civil discussion of controversial topics do seem few and far between, don't they?

[Justin]

I began hunting 5 years ago and try to every year although licenses can be pretty steep depending on the game. I've used rifles, shotguns, and my compound successfully. I managed to drop an Elk bull with easton axis arrows, complete pass through the lungs. Was great eating, no parasites, it was pretty sagey tasting which was different. I would like to get better at the longbow, there's just such a fantastic sense of accomplishment pulling off hard target shots with it as it takes a great deal of skill.

[gc]

Thanks for the book recs. I just looked them up, and they sound like amazing reads. Good forums for civil discussion of controversial topics do seem few and far between, don't they?

Aye, that they do, lass.

[PaleoPhil]

LOL, GC, you're a man after mi own 'eart. God luv ya.

[Lynnzard]

I began hunting 5 years ago and try to every year although licenses can be pretty steep depending on the game. I've used rifles, shotguns, and my compound successfully. I managed to drop an Elk bull with easton axis arrows, complete pass through the lungs. Was great eating, no parasites, it was pretty sagey tasting which was different. I would like to get better at the longbow, there's just such a fantastic sense of accomplishment pulling off hard target shots with it as it takes a great deal of skill.

Way to go!! I bet you felt like a million bucks in that moment. Taking down a large animal with a clean kill shot with a bow is an impressive accomplishment. I've had the fortune of being given some elk meat from out West by a hunter friend, and it did taste very sage-y. Probably from chaparral. (I never can type that word without having "Rawhide" go through my head.) Anyway, congrats on the kill!

[gc]

LOL, GC, you're a man after mi own 'eart. God luv ya.

'eh 'eh... I'm kilted, too, but the woman likes me to keep that ta' meself.

Last time I had elk.. it was.. really rather blech. Too sweet and definitely not like deer. Is that what sagey means?

On a lighter note, I found and checked out my local Whole Foods. It's not all that local but I DID find some grass-fed at a better price than I've seen it before! I was tré pleased. I bought some. The meat dept guy said for me to call in the morning since they do their cutting then, and they'd see about letting me ave the excess fat. Free grass-fed fat? Count me in.

[Adora]

Eric I didn't focus much. Before I was trying to aim down the arrow. It is shocking how badly I did. Some friends let me use their handmade recurve bows and arrows. I couldn't hold the bow stretched for more than a split second because I didn't have the strength. The instructions were to look (focus) on the target. My arrow was ready, but relaxed. I took a breath pointed and shot the beer can dead. My improvement was clear. Liz - I think it helped to use a heavy bow because I couldn't aim. I think a compound might impede that b/c it is too easy to hold it and aim.
I guess I did focus with all I had on the target b/c I knew I'd only have a second. They are making bows this weekend $40 is all he is asking. It will be Fri. Sat. And Sun. Camping. If anybody could go PM me I would love to have you. I found these guys online. They started a primitive skills meet up group because they wanted to share skills. I would try googling in your area and see if you can find somebody to make a bow with you.
Diatomaceous eath is an edible mineral deposit I found because I want my hair to grow long. I heard it might be dangerous so I looked it up. I do it sporadically. It hasn't made my hair stronger yet, but my digestion is smoother, and it always was bad, so I think it is mostly the DE. I take 1-2 tablespoons in water. At first I did it while fasting. It empties me out. Like psyllium but without the bulk. It feels cooling like it decreases inflammation. It helped a bunch with bloating. In my reading I saw it was recommended for worms. So, when I was all freaked out about my itchy back I used it again. It soothed the itching immediately. I think it was at least impart in my head. I never had any other sign of paracites. I just really worked myself up.
Lynn - I like your new picture BTW