Welcome Newguy!!!

Welcome backwoodsman!

chaotiklown,

If you plan to catch fish or animals to eat along your way, you will need a hunting, fishing, or trapping license for each state you pass through - either a resident or non-resident license. Non-resident licenses get pretty expensive. You could easily spend $500 per state for a non-resident license to do all three - hunt, fish, and trap. Plus, you could only take fish or game during the legal seasons. These license and seasonal requirements apply to nearly all land and aquatic species including turtle, mussels, frogs, squirrels, nearly every species of bird. In Indiana where I live, it is expressly illegal to kill any wild animal unless specific permission is granted by state permission, and then only with a license.

As costly as the licenses are, and as restricted as the seasons are, I really think you would be better off to buy food in stores along the way and carry it with you. If you expect to be in one state for a long time, it may be worthwhile to get a non-resident fishing license. And, if you happen to be in a state during a season where there are several game species open for taking, it may be worthwhile getting a non-resident hunting license. Honestly, I can't see snaring providing enough food to justify the cost of a non-resident trapping license.

I do have an idea for you, though. Woodchucks. Or "ground chuck" as I like to call them. They are considered pests in every state that I know of and are allowed to be killed at will with no license or seasonal restrictions (although they hibernate during the winter). I've never eaten one but I hear they are pretty good. They are just grass eating rodents like a rabbit so I bet they taste fairly similar. Farmers along the way will appreciate you killing some of the buggers before they eat any more beans and corn. I don't think you're going to have much luck snaring them or killing them with a slingshot, though. Also, you won't encounter enough to keep yourself fed. But, it may be a legal way for you to supplement your store bought food every now and then.

Welcome to the fire Backwodsman and Kart29!

Good idea about the woodchucks.

-Blast

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone........glad to be aboard.

It may make more sense to reserve the trapping to your home state and just look into a two or three day temporary fishing license.

I prefer the deadfall because it can be made on the fly and with practice can provide up to twenty or thirty sets in two or three hours. This proves useful when you want to make a few sets that evening and run them the next morning before pushing on. This combined with bank poles or throw lines usually provides a sufficent food supply for several days.

Hi Kart29 and Welcome Newguy,

Good idea about the woodchucks (we call them groundhogs) but in my jurisdiction (Ontario) a small game licence is required to hunt these also. The reason is that to acquire a hunting licence you must first take the Hunter Safety course (and Federal Firearms Course if you want to use a gun) and pass the required exams. Non-resident hunting licences must be purchased with proof of previous hunter safety training, usually a licence from your home jusisdiction. This is to ensure that at least a minimum amount of safety/legislation training has been attained prior to a person going hunting.

Trapping/snaring is very regulated here; hares can be snared on a small game licence in the north part of the province but only licenced trappers/farmers can set body-gripping traps and then only on specifically designated land Private Land with permission or a registered trapline on Crown Land.

Mike

No foolin? Sheesh. I must be slow. I can't make that many sets in 2-3 hours with commercial steel traps and pre-made bait. If I had to hunt around to find deadfalls and make triggers and collect bait, there's no way I could make that many sets in a day, much less 2-3 hours. Heck, I couldn't even find 20-30 good set locations in 2-3 hours much less actually take the time to set them.

It took me a long time before I could make several sets in a few hours. My biggest obstacle was to stop looking for a perfect set. I make the triggers in advance and get to setting. I am fortunate in that I spend most of my time in a river bottom where wildlife is plentyful and natural materials are abundant.

Heck, it took me the better part of a year before I got the hang of it, but then again, it took about that long before I mastered the bow and drill.

For me, it was all about having fun and educating myself in the process.

Happy hunting,

Backwoodsman

A friend and I did some woodchuck varminting in college years ago. Got a couple, dressed and skinned 'em, and fed them to the fraternity brothers as chicken stew. It went well until one of the brothers went looking for a drumstick. The truth was revealed, and several of the consumers returned a gift to nature, as it were, singing lunch off the front porch. Rodent bigotry is an ugly thing.

As far as I know, collection and consumption of roadkill is unregulated in most states. In fact, in NY, if you hit a deer and choose not to take the cadaver home with you, the troopers tend to look at you askance. The part where the bumper impacted the deer makes real good soup. Note: this is presuming accidental wildlife collision. If the authorities determine that the critter was intentionally run down, the fines are truly breath-taking. Roadkill harvesting is also a neat way to acquire hides, sinew, and other products useful for primitive crafts. It is best not to share this part of your behavior with significant other.

Without checking, I would bet in California it is a crime to harvest roadkill whether you hit the critter by accident or someone else did. Unless of course that critter was in season and your vehicle met the permitted hunting weapon criteria.