Winter is always the "most wonderful time of the year" unless you happen to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere and literally up to your eyeballs in snow and ice.

How are you going to locate food when you're stuck out in the middle of nowhere in the cold dead of winter?

If the weather is bone-chilling cold, you can always choose to take the easy way out simply by throwing up your hands in defeat. In other words, you can simply choose to die of starvation, dehydration and hypothermia, etc., or by some combination thereof ... or you can choose to stay alive by using the brain that God gave you.

In the end, you can choose to lay down and die OR you can search your memory bank for some of those clever and ingenius methods of food procurement like the kind of stuff that you can still remember discussing in that great survival forum on the internet(www.equipped.org).

Lay down and give up ? No sir. We're not going to give up, not now and not ever! Instead of giving up, we're going to set a trapline, we're going to bait a fishline, we're going to forage for edible wild plants, etc. We're going to do whatever it takes to stay alive, even if it means doing things that might be considered "quasi-legal" if they were carried out under normal circumstances.

As a last resort, I daresay that some of us would even resort to eating "exotic" stuff such as insects.

The question then is HOW are you going to procure food given that even the native Indians had a difficult time living off the land and surviving in the dead of winter?

LW.

Great topic, and one I have been thinking about as well. Here are a few resources:


Year-round plant use by the coastal Miwok Indians of California:

http://www.friendsofcortemaderacreek.org/cn/miwokplants.pdf

Another California harvesting calendar:

http://www.primitiveways.com/harvesting_gathering.html

A more academic source re winter plant foods:

http://www.herbvideos.com/ewpindex.htm#west%20woodsp://


I'm thinking survival would be tough without securing sources of animal fat. Trapping and hunting suggest themselves as necessities.

For most of us medium-sized, fat-bearing critters that are easier to butcher and cook, but not life-threatening to harvest, would be the better targets unless you are desperate, experienced, etc. I'm thinking beaver, racoon, opposum, etc. over rabbits and squirrels. Otherwise bigger game like deer, bear, moose, elk, etc. would be more substantial resources.

And cooking as stew or soup instead of roasting to capture all nutrients and fat.

Thoughts?

Always keep a couple of fat friends around.

As far as food goes, there's a reason many natives died of starvation during the winter if they weren't able to stock up enough food or something happened to their caches. Getting food burns calories and if you burn more than you end up finding you'll be screwed that much sooner.

If you do find yourself lost and foodless during the winter there's a few things you can do:

1. The inner bark of many trees is edible, especially pines, firs, elms, beech, willows, maples, and basswood. Oak and cedar inner barks should be avoided.

2. Young buds of many trees, especially maple, basswood, and beech are edible.

3. Only two of the over 10,000 lichens are toxic, the rest are edible WITH PROPER PREPARATION. Lichens are very acidic and this acid must be neutralized before you can eat them. The easiest way in the woods is to boil them up with some hardwood ashes. The sodium hydroxide (lye) from the ashes will neutralize the acid.

4. Any bird is edible.

5. Pretty much any mammal you find in North America can be eaten. Mouse, vole, and chipmunk bones can be eaten after they've been boiled for a while. Like Izzy said, suck the marrow out of larger bones.

6. Pine needles tea, willow twig tea, rose hip tea, etc... They won't give you much in the way of calories but the more warm fluids you are putting into yourself the fewer calories your body needs to burn to keep warm.

Those are off the top of my head. Like I said at the beginning, you need to make sure it doesn't cost more calories to get the food than you receive from the food.

-Blast

I resemble that remark!

What about reptiles, we must not forget them. Might be hard to find (calories spent vs. calories gained), but good source of protein.

Fishing also comes to mind.

Yes, but do you find gators where there is a "dead of winter"?

To me, it means you've already gone below zero (US zero, not simply freezing) several times, and there is a bunch of snow. You are going to have to know the plants, and hope you can fish/hunt/trap. Of the ravens get a snack in April when you thaw. *laughs*

That is why you prepare with proper supplies and communicate your intentions to others, while carrying signals and fire and shelter making gear.

If it gets that cold here in DFW, the people will think it is TEOTWAWKI for sure. I just put the shorts up in the last two weeks. We all have to prep for where we are. I remember winter training at Ft. Drum NY thinking I would be in deep doodoo if I had to forage without being able to hunt/trap/fish. It was hard enough finding the ground under the snow to build a fire, much less find edibles.

Decaying wood generates some heat and might contain insects and larvae. (mmmm) Wood facing the Winter sun's path in the sky (South in the Northern Hemisphere) would be the warmest and have the most probability of munchies.

You might even be lucky enough to have chestnuts roasting over an open fire!

Well, today would be one of those dead-of-winter kind of days here in Southern Manitoba. Temps are at -28 C right now and the windchill is the equivalent of -43 C.
If caught outdoors, fire and shelter would obviously be the first priorities ... but a warm tea made from pine needles or rose hips would help keep the chill off and supply you with some vitamins.
Food wise, hunting, snaring or fishing would be the best bet. Red Squirrels, Whiskey-jacks and other small birds are usually plentiful in the Boreal forest, and could be hunted with little more than a few good sized rocks or throwing sticks.
Snares set along rabbit runs are an effective way to hunt 24 hours a day.
Pine nuts can either be gathered direct from the trees or like many times while out hunting, I have come across caches of them left by squirrels.
Winter survival can be tough up here, but it can be done.

OK, so at the risk of losing my ETS membership card I have to ask a few, perhaps dumb, questions:

- I love pine nuts (from the store). Are these found on the pine cone? If so, how does one "open" the cone and get them?

- Pine needle tea? What, just boil some water and toss in some needles (I assume green)? Any set ratio (ie, 20 needles per ounce)?

- Blast, you mention the inner bark of several trees. After 6 years living outside of California, I can now identify a birch tree. So, by the inner bark, you mean all the stuff inside the outer layer?

Yeah, I've pretty well neglected plants in survival thinking. I probably should go outside and play with the cattails that grow everywhere around here.

Since it is the dead of winter in Detroit, remember to wear your paracord knit cap to keep your feet warm.

Methinks it's time for Sir Blast to publish a book. I too have left the wild edibles sorely neglected.

Is there any "One Book" that is recommended reading?

LOL
Just thinking about ordering some paracord actually. Good one.

I too, was hoping for a book out there (Peterson noted!)

Yes, the thin layer between the outer bark and the true wood body of the tree. An excellent write-up can be found here .

As for a good books, the ones I mention here are all good, though the Peterson Guide to Edible Wild Plants should be everyone's first pick. For winter survival this one is also very good for indentifying trees in the winter (though it doesn't say which ones are edible).

However to become an expert you need to build up a good library of plant books. Not just books specifically about edible plants but all sorts of plant ID books. Home Depot has a huge book on common yard weeds that I love. I've found cross-referencing many books to be the only way to identify every edible plant in an area.

As for pine nuts, while all pine seeds are edible only a few pine trees produce nuts/seeds worth the effort to harvest. Here in North America only pinyons, sugar pines and gray pines have big enough seeds inside the pine cones. All of these grow mainly in the southwest. I don't know of any which grow in places with true winter.


I definitely recommend experimenting with cattails before you are stuck in an emergency situation. They are often hyped as a "supermarket in the woods" but in reality they are more of the "soup kitchen of the woods". You can get nutrition from them but it's not very pleasant. It takes a lot of effort and the results are usually bitter and nasty tasting.

-Blast

The seeds are contained within the pine cone and can be a bit of effort to get at, but if your shelter is up and fire going with a supply of wood for the night.. it will give you something to do for awhile. LOL

No set ratio really, but a hand full of young lighter-green needles tend to make a better tea. Just boil water, add needles, wait about 20 minutes and enjoy.

"Eat the Weeds", if still in print, is good. Kinda funny, too.

And I have always been a fan of Bradford Angier, met him once, before he passed away, showed me his collection of compasses and knives and sat and talked about his life. He also autographed every book of his I owned, plus gave me a couple out of print copies. "Feasting Free on Wild Edibles" is his compilation of 2 prior books.

Here's the recipe for Pine Needle Tea http://www.ehow.com/how_2102192_pine-needle-tea.html

But don't feed the pine needle tea to a pregnant woman, as it can cause spontaneous abortion.

Sue

Good to know though, thank you!

Sue, I recall from survival school that this was considered a native american myth- cattle would throw their calves after eating pine needles- do you have a source?

All I can find are sites proclaiming the benefits, but only 2 (both native american) mention the abortion angle.

My recollection is that everything from live pines is rather toxic -- whether it be the needles or smoke from burning the wood.

I was always told that spruce needle tea was the worthy objective, especially from the newest growth, because it contains Vitamin C. But IIRC you should steep the needles instead of boiling, since excessive heat breaks down the desirable elements.

In areas where "dead of winter" equals frozen ground and feet (potentially) of snow - best bet is wild game.

With snow on the ground, finding runs to place snares is really easy. Storage of unused meat is a snap (just let it freeze). Tracking is much easier, etc.

Fishing could be problematic if you don't have an efficient method for cutting through sveral inches of ice, though some rivers might not be frozen.

Aside from trees and a few bits of bark and whatnot, there's nothing other than wild game I would think.

Being able to acquire food in a survival situation is more a luxury than a necessity. Water would be a bigger concern, especially in a frigid environment. You may get hungry, but you won't starve. However, you can dehydrate faster in the cold than most people would think.

Staying warm, then hydrated, then perhaps fed ought to be the proper order of things. Somewhere in there we probably ought to include getting rescued or getting ourselves out if that is doable.

Forget about being well fed in sub freezing temps. Not going to happen.

Cultures that have endured such conditions have prepared for it during warmer, greener months.

In really cold weather your priorities are shelther, warmth and rescue or getting to greener and warmer pastures. Sure, one can fish through the ice, but only on a really good day is this worth the energy expenditure.

Sure, one can shoot a large game animal, but don't count on them standing in line waiting to be shot just so you don't go to bed hungry.

Have your stash ready or expend your energy moving on.

No pun intended, but that is the cold, harsh reality from a Wisconsinite currently living in single digit temps. It is simply unsurvivable without a stash of preparedness.

i'm with #5 on this--winter in the woods without food is like summer in the desert without water..

Maybe a Wisconsin winter is not survivable without a pre-prepared stash and / or a lot of luck, so let's move the theoretical discussion to - Northern California.

The Sierra Nevada mountains get plenty of snow and single digit temperatures, but the foothills are slightly more welcoming and the valleys better yet. There are also coast and interior mountain ranges that are several thousand feet high. Rain, fog, and night temperatures in the 30's and 40's are common. Mixed hardwood and pine forest with extensive scrub and brush are typical. Seasonal creeks will probably be flowing into permanent creeks and rivers, with riparian oaks, willows, poplars, etc.

So, what survival strategies for food foraging come to mind?

For those looking for a good foraging book, I highly reccomend 'The Forager's Harvest', by Samuel Thayer. Unlike most edible plant books, this book only covers a few plants(about 30). However it discusses each one in great detail, including how to identify, harvest, process, and prepare the plants for eating.

I have a Petersons' guide and though it covers many more plants, it provides very little useful information. I do not find it very helpful in identifying plants, and it is even less helpful about how to prepare them(usually giving a sentence or less on how to use the plants). Every plant is different, many of them need to be harvested and prepared in a very particular way, and simply saying "use as potherb" is not sufficient.

Also, this is a little off-topic, but for anyone interested in foraging for edible mushrooms, buy 'All the Rain Promises and More', by David Arora. I've looked at many mushroom books and this is the most useable(and entertaining) one I've seen, and one of the best field guides I have among any subject. The book is written for the Western US but many if not most of the mushrooms are common throughout the country, so it is useful there as well.

Almost all of the above seem to approach the idea as if stranded in the woods. Some of the things mentioned are found in residential areas, but not all. I can find a lot of small game and some deer in my suburban backyard. The same is true for some edible wild plants. But I also know where specific ornamental plants are located. For example, I could easily find a number of places where daylilies are planted, and most of the plant, includin the tubers, is edible, IIRC. So one might be able to forage by raiding a flower bed.

a good source for winter food would be to check out some Native American lore..the Algonguin's of Canada got that name from the Mohawks--it means bark eaters..which i assume they had to resort to in winter as a last ditch meal...maybe the Mohawks lived a bit farther south and had a better sort of food in winter--

I wonder if Blast' wild edible blog allows seasonal sorting? I'll go look and then edit this post to report.

Yes, his site has seasonal categories and also a link to an Ohio seasonal guide.

http://houstonwildedibles.blogspot.com/

I've been wanting to add a "what's available right now" section updated monthly, but it would only really be appropriate for the Houston area and maybe east along the Gulf Coast. Not to mention it'd take time.

-Blast

Hey cool, this is my 2000th post!

Greetings,

Having this thread in mind while at a large chain Book Store tonight, I checked on a "survival book" that I had seen in another store, that, as I recall, had a section on edible plants.

This store had none of these books left in stock but the clerk brought me to a section on "observing wildlife". She was going to show me a laminated pocket guide on edible wild plants. They were out of those also BUT, I am now the proud owner of the Medicinal Plants pocket field guide.

he Guide is a fold out, laminated sheet that compresses to fit into a pocket. Each entry has a detailed color drawing of each plant, a description of the plant, the habitat, and an entry of what the plant is used for and how it should be used.

I am impressed with the fold out pocket guide that it will now go into my Personal Support Kit. I will be checking back with book stores as I will be looking for the book I was originally looking for AND I want to find the copy of the Edible Plants Pocket Field Guide that the clerk was helping me to look for tonight.

Do you have that ISBN Wildman?

ISBN-10 1-58355-190-5
ISBN-13 978-1-58355-190-5

COST: $5.95

TO ORDER: CALL 800-434-2555

I have no affiliation with this company/author/illustrator, etc, etc.

Dan_Mcl has a very good suggestion when he mentions the Daylillies. If it truly is the dead of winter roots and tubers will be swollen and prime.
The rice and chocolate lillies might be good targets if the snow is not too deep to find them. If you know how to look for wild leeks they would have full bulbs at this time of year too.
Of course this means you need to know what the plants with edible roots look like in winter, and then you need to be able to tell from just what is sticking up above the snow. It is a surprise to a lot of people that the ground in a forest or swamp usually does not freeze, not even if it is bitterly cold out. The snow and dead leaves of the forest are wonderful insulators from the cold and once you clear them you will find the ground easy to dig. Swamps will likely have open water in them. The cat-tail roots and such stuff will likely be reachable if you don't mind the risk of getting wet in cold weather. (I never liked cat tail roots much, they tasted muddy)
So have a shovel and dig roots.
The shovel will also be usefull for scraping basswood or poplar bark (not great tasting but it cooks up like noodles and is food)
You want to sort of shred the cambium layer under the outer bark off in shreds and boil it. It usually turns into a kind of gooey mess with varying degrees of bitterness. Basswood is the least offencive to my taste, poplar secind, willow worse and the rest pretty much inedible.
For animals you will likely get the best return from snares. Squirrel, beaver, muskrat, rabbits(hares) and so on.
Note that winter is the standard trapping season for most of these creatures, and a state trappers education course would be a decent investment of your time.
The training I was given included very specific instructions in how not to snare deer.
Basically do not set a wolf snare 12" higher than it should be.
Of course if the deer have yarded up you can just go to their yard and kill them.
Winter birds worth looking for include partridge or ptarmigan.
The type of partridge called a spruce hen usually does nor fly and will let you get close if it is in the branches of a tree. they can be killed with a well thrown stone or a stick.
The Cree kids at Karamat in Northern Ontario hunted them that way often.

Icefishing on ponds and lakes can be very productive, but remember that gillnetting is still illegal even under the ice.
You will want an axe, ice chisel or an ice auger to make your holes in the ice. Most of the time the ice will be fairly thick on a lake but still remember to test it before walking on it, especially on moving water like a river or stream.
Small streams are often bridged over just by snow and never even freeze.
You will also find some of the shrubs that hold fruit into late winter,
Mountain Ash for example. But you will not find much likely and it will not be a rich calorie source.
You can forget about reptiles in winter even if they are there in the summer. Turtles and frogs are down in the mud under the water, the snakes are under the ground.
You are not likely to be stumbling into many honey filled wild beehives in the northern winter either, but if you ever were so lucky you should eat the bees and their brood along with the honey.

If you are thinking about digging up the hibernating mammals it is usually a wasted effort. Groundhogs are usually too deep to be worth the effort.