Way ta go Ben... a good huntin' dog's worth 'is weight in gold.

Troy

I suspect my cats will eat me, if I succumb before they do. They're welcome.

Do you think that they would have the decency to wait until you were good-and-dead before diving in? It might not be pleasant for them to hurry the process along if you are severely weakened.

Was that hunger or was that the will to survive?

Jeanette Isabelle

A couple of people have suggested starting with going fishing and I think thats a good idea. But theres an even easier and more available place to start that you mentioned in your post. Go to the grocery and buy a whole chicken and practice processing it. Not only is it a good way to build your ability to deal with butchering an animal. Its also a good way to learn about the anatomy of small animals and how to process them for cooking. After that, a rabbit is pretty much the same except you have to peel the skin off first and their leaner so cooking them with some bacon fat is a definite plus.

I also highly recommend the book The Omnivore's Dilemma its mostly about where our industrial food supply comes from and how its made, but theres also an interesting piece on small scale butchering and also on hunting. A very good read and a real eye opener on where our food comes from.

This sort of think represents a useless and counterproductive branch of practical survival training.

1) There is no need to skin game alive. None. Never. I have killed and butchered chickens bare handed. A training session with limited utility but it shows that with some determination, training (basically understanding that it can be done) you can get a lot done with no tools other than what your born with. But there was no need to be cruel. Necks can be broken or the animal strangled.

2) Harvesting game doesn't represent a practical or efficient survival method for most people in most locations. We haven't been a frontier nation for a long time so playing Daniel Boone is usually not a practical strategy. For most people laying in a case or two of Beanie-Weenie is a far more efficient strategy.

Even the few people who are likely find themselves deep in the woods in a survival situation need to consider that time and effort spent hunting is time and effort not spent working on getting rescued or hiking out.

The only people who really benefit from hunting game as a major food source are people homesteading the forest. In which case your not concerned with survival during an emergency. Your practicing a lifestyle.

3) The idea that there is a level of blind determination and willing cruelty that gives you an advantage is simply false.

Torturing animals is indicative of a callus and antisocial personality that is highly likely to have difficulty getting along with others and are prone to escalating open-ended conflicts with other people even when things are going well. During a high stress situation this sort of immature, antisocial, paranoid, angry and unfeeling personality will tend to cause resentments and conflicts that distract from and interfere with practical efforts. Exactly the sort of loose-cannon personality that becomes both a hazard to themselves and those around them.

4) Discounting the problems that such personalities are prone to in a survival situation these sorts of public demonstrations plays into the stereotype of practical survival and preparedness as a macho boy's club full of camouflage-clad gun worshipers and emotionally stunted angry Peter Pans.

This 'training' and video is exactly the sort of macho stunt that gives survival a bad name.

I would like to remind everyone the original post was written two and a half years ago. I asked Benjamin a question, therefore resurrecting this dead thread, because I have been struggling with the will to survive.

Jeanette Isabelle

... "because I have been struggling with the will to survive."

I suggest that instead of seeking solace on an internet forum you would be better off seeking professional help from someone in person. A trusted friend, counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist or, if you ascribe to a faith and think it might help, a preacher or other religious figure would be a place to start.

I don't wish to dissuade you from gaining what you can interacting with people online but I have found, particularly in terms of personal advice, the advice is less effective and progress is slow compared to what can be had in person from a trained mental health professional.

There may also be an underlying physical condition or chemical imbalance that is making you feel as you do. A situation your not likely to have addressed online.

I urge you to get the help you need from qualified people in person.

I'm talking about in a survival situation.

Edit: Sure, we can talk about tools and knowledge all day but what is most important factor in a survival situation? The will to survive.

Jeanette Isabelle

I have a very strong will to survive, but there are boundaries that I won't go past. Cannabalism IS one of those few barriers.

I agree strongly wth Benjammin's post. A Native American custom is to never kill a bear unless your existence depends upon it. Then the hunter must explain to the bear why it was necessary for the hunter to have the bear's hide, meat, and bones.

Just my 2 cents worth.