Check the regs, seasons, etc.. I can tell you that hunting in California is hunting, just as regulated whatever means you use. I can also tell you that more powerful slingshots, like wrist rockets, are banned in some cities. Blowguns, knives with blades over 4 inches, and many other weapons are just illegal in this state. Just be careful.

If your plan is to cover miles, than you are going to have very limited time to hunt, fish, etc. The living-off-the-land thing, other than opportunistic foraging, may not fit your timetable.

Assuming legality, that is why setting traps, snares, nets at the end of the day and checking them early in the day might work. But if you are relying heavily for food on this stuff, well, plan on being pretty hungry.

Learning how to be successful in a given area takes time that you are not going to have. Plus, no hunter, trapper, fisherman is always successful even on their home turf. And, of course, the probabilty of success is usually seasonal - not to mention man-imposed legal seasons - that would be difficult to integrate into a travel plan.

Not impossible, but some long odds.

Might be better to ship at least some stuff, including food, to various post offices and mail store on your route.

I was just reading in the edible plants booklet published by Mors Kochanski that to be able to forage and 'live off the land' you had better be able to perfectly identify at least 200 species of edible and poisonous plants to even stand a chance of making it work in the long term.

Two other methods of food gathering.

Sweeping the shallows.
Take a broom or improvise with a leafy branch.
In the shallows rapidly sweep up onto the dry land.
You would really be surprised at the number of minnows you can collect this way.
In the winter with no leaves a T shirt or bandanna can be be used with a bare branch the same way.
When you enter the water you will scare them away. So you will have to wait a few minutes for them to regather.

Second is from Ron Hood's video.
The Apache throwing star.
Take two sticks about 8 to 10 inches long pencil to thumb sized thickness.
Sharpen all 4 ends.
Tie together to form an X.

RE blowguns, again check the local laws. Blowguns are a felony in CA. Go figure...

"...Might be better to ship at least some stuff, including food, to various post offices and mail store on your route..."

That is what most thru-hikers on the AT (and probably other trails) do. But keep in mind that the Post Office will only hold general delivery mail for 30 days, then it returns to the sender. So navigation would have to be precise enough to get you from post office A to post office B within that time period...

All fantastic ideas- I don't think I'm going to mess with the blowgun idea, I'm fairly decent with a slingshot(Already picked one up), and my skill will increase with use. I'm working on that fishing equipment, thanks hacksaw- Good ideals on the hooks and rigs.

No problem.

A little homework can make your life easier too. Learn what fish are where you'll be and get appropriate hooks. It might not always be possible to fish with bait (or legal) so get lures that are effective with the fish that are where you'll be.

Somebody mentioned scooping minnows and that is a great way to catch your own bait so you have something to hook bigger fish with. And if you don't catch the big one, eat the minnows!

My travel tackle box only has about 8 lures in it but it's a good mix of jigs, spinners and spoons...2 or 3 of each. All designs that have stood the test of time (a couple were purchased by my grandfather)...nothing modern and fancy.

All good ideas. Add some plugs.

I've done some fishing using only a line held in my hand. Always got the best action using either bait or a plug. Nothing beats real food on a hook, but a plug floating by has seemed to make the best lure foor a hand line. Now, if I have a rod and reel, then give me a spinner and a spoon.

I don't like floating plugs because they tend to be bulky. My travel tackle box is just a large fly box. Plus I do a lot of river fishing and they're not the best for flowing rivers. They are very effective lures however so a good idea.

I forgot to mention I also keep lots of bare hooks, spinners, wire leaders, split weights, and 2 lead weights for sinking the pickerel rig or night line. Floats can be improvised or carved from wood easily enough. Some spare jig bodies aren't a bad idea either. A good chomp from a pike will shred a rubber jig body no problem. I use both rubber and buck tails.

I don't see hunting, fishing trapping or, for that matter, farming as important survival strategies in most situations or for most people.

Any or all of those resource gathering methods might be relevant if I found myself set adrift without support in the deep wilds of Alaska, on a remote island, in the remotest part of the Amazon basin or one of the few spots in the lower forty-eight not within a fifty miles of a habitation.

Thing is I have traveled quite a bit by car, train and airliner and considering the routes, discounting the over ocean trips where I couldn't hike out, I may have never been in or over any territory that qualifies as remote enough to make truly long term subsistence an issue.

Knowing this the priority if dropped into the woods is to get rescued or hike out to a settlement. Walking into a Burger king is much easier and more effective than stalking furry critters or fishing. If it is a disruption of the normal civilized context then the goal has to be remaining healthy until the system can reset and/or rebuild. Think two weeks for most events. With moderate disruption for thirty to ninety days after.

The exception is during depression or economic calamity. But this is not a matter of pounding nutrition out of the backwoods with what you have in a backpack so much as gaining and maintaining the right job. More about homesteading and less about wilderness survival.

I generally don't include fishing, hunting or trapping supplies in my kit. Sometimes I have some fishing gear on hand but it is usually intended as recreation.