Assuming it is understood that fish and game laws are in place to provide for the survival of the species in question, I think it is stupid and wrong to poach them.

Find a fish farm that is raising the fish and make a deal with them. You can buy stock trout by the truckload, put them in a holding tank, and practice away. It may not be a completely natural environment, but I think you'll find what is effective in the tank will be effective in a pond or stream, more or less.

I've been thinking over how to answer this.

Fishing, skip it, the "fish pond" at my folks turns into a mud flat every summer. Ever since the development went in on the three ridges over, half the ponds have been drying up in the summer. If something makes the bozos evaporate, it might be worth seeing if stays up all summer. But the interesting thing is, I have seen it go completely dry every year for almost a decade, and when the level gets above two feet, there are minnows swimming around. So maybe a minnow trap. Barring that, it is about a mile and half to a decent spot to fish.

Hunting... Yeah, not a problem.

But most of it will trapping. Running traps doesn't suck up all that much time, not when compared to hunting. And you take a rifle with you, just in case.

I would only have to travel about 1/4 mile to one spot and perhaps 3 miles to another, but I'm afraid with the size of the local population, there would be standing room only.

I live on the edge of an urban area. I have fields on one side and houses on the other.

Although there is potential hunting, if everyone else is alive then there'd be too much competition. I don't hunt normally anyway and would be no good at it. I don't own a gun. I'd certainly be willing to have a go, but it's not a significant part of my plan.

If everyone else was dead (eg if bird flu kills them all), then I'd be raiding their houses for their stored food. And supermarkets etc - that's where food comes from in these parts.

Thanks for all of the food for thought on this thread.

Like an idiot, I had not even considered the "competition factor". Although I haven't counted on hunting and fishing to provide food, I now realize why that was smart on my part!!!

Something that many people don't consider is experience. How smart is it to rely on hunting if you've never hunted before even if you own a gun? I know I have the smarts to snare a rabbit but I'm sure there are others who would be much better at it than I would. I've never done so and would be winging it. Even if I caught a <insert fuzzy edible here> I wouldn't know what to do with it to properly prepare and cook it without wasting any of it.

If it is with proper management then I'd agree. There's also the case of a mouse/rat out in your area & the EPA.

I just left western Wyoming, where almost ALL of the locals count on getting at least one elk, and a mule deer or two, just to make it thru the winter...

Good points, you need to have practice and confidence in your chosen method if you're banking very much on it. I have done some hunting, but, I'd consider myself still a beginner.

Fishing on the other hand, that's something we practice quite regularly. Fortunately, I live on the ocean, and for 3 seasons we could very easily live on local salt water fish and shellfish. Usually, we're just "practicing", ie: we are doing catch & release unless we're eating the catch that day. Sometimes there are limits too. Recreational Stripped Bass are limited to two 28inch+ fish per angler per day. Of course, you can feed a family on a decent sized fish, so that's not bad. I think the bag limits would be out the window in the scenario we're talking about here anyway.