Snares? Bows? So you are talking about living off the land in an apocolyptic scenario? Great drauma and romance in it, absolutely, the stuff movie and novels are made of.

Nothing personal, but don't try living off the land during a bug out OR in the longterm. Your BOB should get you to someplace where you are expected and is prepared for you. BOBs are for mobility, and that means you aren't hunting anything bigger than bunnies that mistakenly come across your path. You can't do snares unless you've got a fixed location, and effective hunting means knowing where the game is going to be so you can ambush it, which is not a short term situation. You have to stay on the move until you get to were you are going. Either that, or get you just outside of the effects of a localized even and shelter there. That is where the relief supplies will go, and if you need to start over, that is were the people with jobs and places to live are going to be.

If you want a redoubt, a retreat, that's great- build one, spend time there, get to know the locals, pay taxes. If you're a known face, you'll last longer. And make sure you leave the city before the grand evac order is given so you can avoid the rush/traffic jam. Make sure you have enough gas in your rig to get there without hitting a gas station, and you have everything you need either already there or in your one vehicle. But you can't build a retreat into a pack.

Heading for the hills is about the silliest thing you can do, becuase those of who live in the hills (a) aren't much better prepaired for a loss of logistics than city folk are, and (b) can't stretch that any further. That is becuase we don't have any mythical stockpiles- sure we've got game, but we've also got a decent population density and a lot of subdevelopment sprawl which has trashed the water table and torn up too much natural habitat. The game will be gone in under two months, along with the livestock, housepets, and the one seeing eye dog in my town. But for groceries, medicine, fuel, we get it the same way everyone else does- every other day or every two days in big trucks.

The stockpiles are in suburbia. If you're going to locust, which is what living off the land turns into when you have hundreds of thousands of people trying it, hit them. Your belly really will be full longer, you dont' have to walk as far, and you're a lot less likely to get shot for stealing someone's fire wood. (And I'm not kidding- wood is life if you have real winters and no other heat source.)

I hate to sound mean, but that is the simple and honest truth. If you want to see models of this, look through the third world- when the city folk head for the forest becuase the war has come, they hurt themselves and the people in the forest, but mostly themselves with the help of the people in the forest. And trust me, after 3 days without communications, power and gas, every place will be pretty third world. You want to be somewhere you can get to the central supply points, and that is no place where you can hunt and trap very well.

And realistically, there is no way to avoid being effected by an TEOTWAKI senario, which in all honesty is what it sounds like you are looking at. You aren't going to find the sacred valley which is free of fallout/ice pack/plague/whatever the media worry of the monthis. There just isn't one.

You're better off with a a gallon of water than with a bow, and an extra MRE than a dozen high end snares, in any realistic bug out. Which means that you are using come kind of infernal combustion vehicle or maybe horses. Those will let you carry more than you should on your back if you aren't in tip top shape. If you have to abandon the vehicle to live, that's the choice you have to make, but the only things you should grab from the car in that case is BOB and any family members who can't get out of the car on thier own. BOB is a layer, and you have to ditch him, hopefully you have a smaller kit that you can pull free in under 60 seconds or is on you in a different way. And you have to dump that or it gets snagged by the spirits of the water, land, air or fire, then you have your PSK and your belt items. And if you don't have that, hopefully you were able to save your boots, becuase that means you don't have pants anymore. Given a choice between covering my butt and my feet, I'll inflict the trauma on the world and protect my toes. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />