Assumptions: limited to North America and conditions / laws stay as they are now and you act within the law.

If you were challenged to eat only by living off the land entirely, would you migrate to best harvest areas with the opportunities / seasons, or try to set up a self-sustaining retreat in what you judged the best area?

That is a little bit hard to answer Dweste. It calls for a couple of other assumptions to even attempt an answer.
First I wonder how long term we are talking about?
I would need to know just what the resources were that I would be migrating to, and what I had as resources for farming.
I suspect I would follow a blend of the two.

The location means everything. Any areas worth practicing agriculture are likely under cultivation already. I might try raising a few small crops like potatoes, squash, corn and beans.
This assumes I have the seeds, the land and the tools to cultivate a garden with.
Homesteading is not easy.

If the area has crops or that can be gathered more easily than raised then being a hunter, gatherer and forager makes more sense.
This also requires some skills, equipment and knowledge.
There is no sense migrating anywhere to harvest anything unless you already know it is there, and have the ability to harvest, transport and store it.

There is a third choice which is to follow the eat as you go gambit. In this case you choose total nomadism and graze as you travel. It means no food storage, very limited possesions and no permanent shelter.

We tend to think of nomadic or aboriginal cultures as low tech, but they were very high tech for their time and place. In some cases their technologies were the equal of modern technologies, especially if you remove our access to cheap and abundant fuels.

Most arable land is privately owned, and most of those owners would fear vast numbers of squatters, just like the ranchers did 150 yrs ago. If you moved onto someone's property without permission, you would be breaking a law if they found you and objected. As with dogs chasing or killing livestock, they might revert to the SSS rule (Shoot, Shovel, Shut up).

Other uninhabited lands are owned by the government, which might overlook a bunch of squatters, esp if they had no way of enforcement.

A local problem causing survival migration would be enough of a problem on all sides, but some kind of large regional disaster would probably be a nightmare, and the longer it lasted, the worse it would be.

Most people who think about possibilities like this are really thinking only about themselves or including mostly a like-minded group of friends/relatives/neighbors. But the reality would be far from that.

The three most populated counties immediately east of Puget Sound here in WA are Snohomish, King and Pierce, with a total population of approx. 3.5 million people. Suppose something bad happened in that area (esp with warning), and all those people migrated east into the foothills of the Cascade Range.

Most wouldn't have shelter with them, most wouldn't have much food with them, and the local water sources would quickly become more fouled than they are now.

Combining the usual lack of preparedness with the national attitude of entitlement, it would get nasty very quickly. By the end of the first week there would probably be bodies rotting all over the place. YUCK!

Sue

I live and work in one of the richest agricultural areas of the country and have seen trainloads of produce rotting in the fields and/or plowed under. I have thought it was such a waste and wondered why homeless individual didn’t
"set up camp” somewhere in the area for gleaning the rabbits and veggies, even though the taking of either one would be illegal.

What land did you have in mind that could be lived “off of” and what could be taken while acting within the law?

Seasonal migration would seem to be the way to go, if there were no restrictions.

Assume this is just you with what you have and know now.
No emergency or disruption of other people. Just you doing your thing for a year.

I would setup a garden to live off the land where I am now and hunt for other wild edibles, and creatures to eat. 100% legal.

I am not sure what your driving at,
but I will give it a try.

A retreat that is completely secret is very difficult to
pull off. There are so many people flying airplanes in
remote areas. They are looking to shoot game or varmints or
just to find remote cabins that they can loot. Government
planes are looking for poachers, Mary Jane gardens, etc.
Anybody who is hiding will be investigated.

A heavy tree cover with shelter under trees would be the
obvious way. Very limited gardening in random-looking
patches. No fences. Hunter-gatherer is an "if-y" existence.

It does not appeal to me.

Another approach is too migrate to an area with good soil
and sufficient water. Grow a big garden and have a few animals.
You would not hide-out and, on the contrary, would try to be
friendly to everyone, so you could fit-in and be accepted.
This is easier to do before a crisis than after, but I would
not count it out.
Why and how after a crisis? If you have
something to trade for a land-lease, or share-crop. Remember
that sometimes large tracks of fertile land go un-planted,
because of oil prices etc. There are also many niche lands
with good soil, that are not easily tilled with a tractor,
that a big land-owner might allow you to garden.

This sounds so good to me, I may retire to a garden-spot
any time now.

Hike4Fun, it sounds a lot like my great grandfather's farm.
A hundred acres of reasonable land should support 12 people, a few head of cattle, pigs, chickens and two horses to use as tractors.
Would most of us have the skills for subsistence farming though?
Somehow I doubt it, so it might be worth looking at how the old order Amish do things in your area.

Hi Dweste,

I would go the self-sustaining retreat route. I saw a book a LONG time ago called "5 Acres and Independence" if I remember the name correctly. I'll look around a bit to see if I can find more information. That looks to be the best way to go based on the constraints you have listed.

Cheers,
LW


Edited to add : http://www.amazon.com/Five-Acres-Independence-Handbook-Management/dp/0486209741

dweste,

Can you explain what you mean by this. How it works. Or, some
examples.

"migrate to best harvest areas with the opportunities / seasons"

Wheat and grain harvesters move northward each season and
harvest wheat for farmers. Few jobs. Highly mechanized.

Migrant farm laborers, fruit and vegetable pickers move around
as needed. Hard work. Lots of poor people to compete with
you. I flash on "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck.

It is really hard for me to think of good examples of this;
but I guess if you were starving, you would try anything.