View Full Version : hunting along thru hike... possible?
thruhiker101
12-26-2008, 03:32
I am wondering if to possible to sustain proper nutrition along the my thru hike: with dehydrating veggies and hunting along the way....
Lone Wolf
12-26-2008, 03:40
possible but highly improbable
Feral Bill
12-26-2008, 03:40
You would need to know and follow the laws of each jurisdiction you hiked through. you could not hunt at all in many park areas. Where you could hunt you would need plenty of time to locate, kill and process game. I'm assuming you wouldn't be poaching, of course, but even with poaching, you would have a very tough time both supporting yourself and making any progress.
rockdawg69
12-26-2008, 09:36
A waste of your time and money. As above, highly improbable.
Hunting is absolutely illegal along all National Park Service lands--that's 900 miles of the trail. Read more here: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH/b.795531/k.AE1B/Hunting_and_the_AT.htm
Check out The Last American Man.
http://www.amazon.com/Last-American-Man-Elizabeth-Gilbert/dp/0142002836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230299243&sr=1-1
I understand from talking to someone who met Eustace Conway during his hike, that "foraging" also included accepting food from other hikers.
Lone Wolf
12-26-2008, 10:10
possible but highly improbable
on a thru-hike no. you wouldn't make miles in a day. thru-hiking is a marathon. it's about making miles. hardly enuf time to take in the sights, never mind hunting and foraging. one could certainly live on the AT year round hunting and gathering
I knew a fellow thru-hiker who carried a little break-down .22 rifle and a collapsible fly rod for much of his hike.
He used them to supplement his food supply a little bit along the way, but he still brought mostly from grocery stores. I believe he did subsist for 10 or 12 days in the 100 Mile Wilderness with as much as a 1/3 of his food taken from the backcountry.
But he did this because he really enjoyed hunting and fishing, not as a way to resupply.
superman
12-26-2008, 10:25
i Am Wondering If To Possible To Sustain Proper Nutrition Along The My Thru Hike: With Dehydrating Veggies And Hunting Along The Way....
Lmao
not to mention all the hunting licenses and laws for each state that you would have to follow. And then you have all the hikers who think guns are wrong and that killing an animal is the worst thing you can do. I am sure they will do everything they can to make it hard on you.I would think that you could fish. On the southern part of the trail there wasnt that many place you could fish that were right on the trail.
Rockhound
12-26-2008, 10:52
I am wondering if to possible to sustain proper nutrition along the my thru hike: with dehydrating veggies and hunting along the way....
aint gonna happen rambo. pick one. do you want to hike or do you want to hunt?
Bare Bear
12-26-2008, 12:25
Not enough time or energy to hunt your way to K.
Old Hillwalker
12-26-2008, 13:53
Hunting is absolutely illegal along all National Park Service lands--that's 900 miles of the trail. Read more here: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH/b.795531/k.AE1B/Hunting_and_the_AT.htm
The statement on the ATC site is not exactly correct. Hunting is permitted on the NPS acquired lands in NH and VT, and possibly on those lands in Maine. In NH and VT, the NPS has "administratively transferred" the corridor to the NFS, but it still retains ownership. My knowledge is based upon the fact that I coordinate the volunteer AT Corridor program for Western NH and a sizable portion of the trail in VT. When we post our "no darn near everything allowed" placards on the Corridor we have to be sure we don't use the ones that also say "no hunting".
I am wondering if to possible to sustain proper nutrition along the my thru hike: with dehydrating veggies and hunting along the way....
No. Not legally. Not even close.
fiddlehead
12-26-2008, 15:36
If you could live off mice you could probably do it. (they would taste better with the dried veggies too)
Ask Farley Mowat.
john gault
12-26-2008, 17:01
If you could live off mice you could probably do it. (they would taste better with the dried veggies too)
Ask Farley Mowat.
If nothing else, it'd probably be a good supplement and protien source. The closest thing I've had to rat was squirrel - not bad. Anyone ever eat rat/mice, how is it?
Forget about the hunting, but, if you like to fish, and you are doing a nobo, wait until Maine. By the time you get there you should be able to have a fairly good quesstimate as to how much time you have left to spend on the trail. If you have the time, mail drop your fishing gear and get a license. Plenty of good fishing spots.
BTW, I tried the hunting thing on some section hikes during the 80's. Total waste of time and effort, and I used to hunt small gave with revolvers.
If you are serious about supplementing your diet off the land, edible plants are the way to go. Supplementing is the key word. You won't feed yourself off of them, but you can add some flavor and nutrition to your meals.
wrongway_08
12-26-2008, 17:39
You can kill alot of grouse..... they taste great and you can take out 3 or 4 a day with no problem..... stupid things fly right at you. Just swing-batter-batter-swing!
Other then the hiker who did this, I didnt see any other hikers hunting along the trail. Not really worth the time and effort, plus for a hiker to have to clean all the blood up after wacking the bird with his poles.... its messy.
Just stick to mail drops.
If you do decide to hunt let us know how it goes :")
Wise Old Owl
12-26-2008, 18:09
Well I learned a lot from the thread - still unpopular, but so is cleaning fish.
The statement on the ATC site is not exactly correct. Hunting is permitted on the NPS acquired lands in NH and VT, and possibly on those lands in Maine. In NH and VT, the NPS has "administratively transferred" the corridor to the NFS, but it still retains ownership. My knowledge is based upon the fact that I coordinate the volunteer AT Corridor program for Western NH and a sizable portion of the trail in VT. When we post our "no darn near everything allowed" placards on the Corridor we have to be sure we don't use the ones that also say "no hunting".
Most of the trail in Maine is owned by the National Park Service and like other National Parks, no hunting is allowed, I believe. Nor is hunting allowed in most of Baxter State Park.
There is 50 miles or so of the trail in Maine that is on state lands. Hunting is allowed during hunting seasons on these state portions. But the seasons for game of most interest to hikers mostly occur in October and November after most hikers have passed through.
The state lands where hunting is allowed mostly are the Mahoosuc Range from the border northerly through the Baldpates, Bigelow Preserve, and part of the Nahmakanta Preserve.
Weary
on a thru-hike no. you wouldn't make miles in a day. thru-hiking is a marathon. it's about making miles. hardly enuf time to take in the sights, never mind hunting and foraging. one could certainly live on the AT year round hunting and gathering
bull*****e. Thru-hiking is whatever one wants it to be. My thruhike is not about making miles. I left in July and right now, I am in NJ. Going fast? No. enjoying myself.. Taking in the sights. Loving life on the trail. I am not trying to run a marathon. This is not to get myself in shape. Everyone should hike there own hike Lone Wolf. ...
On the topic, I tried to forage and hunt for food, but also realized I did not have the time. I ate some insects, birds, amphibians, etc., but just for a change in diet. I found out, that I would have to live in an area to be able to sustain myself off the land.
There are some tasty plants and chipmunks out there!
You can kill alot of grouse..... they taste great and you can take out 3 or 4 a day with no problem..... stupid things fly right at you. Just swing-batter-batter-swing!
Other then the hiker who did this, I didnt see any other hikers hunting along the trail. Not really worth the time and effort, plus for a hiker to have to clean all the blood up after wacking the bird with his poles.... its messy.
What hiker was that? I did the same thing in ME and NH. They do taste great.
~ z
bull*****e. Thru-hiking is whatever one wants it to be. My thruhike is not about making miles. I left in July and right now, I am in NJ. Going fast? No. enjoying myself.. Taking in the sights. Loving life on the trail. I am not trying to run a marathon. This is not to get myself in shape. Everyone should hike there own hike Lone Wolf. ...
On the topic, I tried to forage and hunt for food, but also realized I did not have the time. I ate some insects, birds, amphibians, etc., but just for a change in diet. I found out, that I would have to live in an area to be able to sustain myself off the land.
There are some tasty plants and chipmunks out there!
Lonewolf, this sounded to harsh. I did not mean it to come out that way. Got off the phone with an ex if that helps to explain my mood when I wrote this.
Lone Wolf
12-27-2008, 15:57
Lonewolf, this sounded to harsh. I did not mean it to come out that way. Got off the phone with an ex if that helps to explain my mood when I wrote this.
no worries. i post like that often. you put me in my place :D
NorthCountryWoods
12-30-2008, 10:46
Hunting would be difficult due to time of year, local hunting regs, the time necessary scouting unfamiliar areas to be successful, not to mention other hikers scaring off your game. Although, I think a lot of folks that have posted would be surprised by how many places they believe are closed to hunting actually aren't.
Trapping is possible and usually has a longer open season and bag limit, but again it takes time, gotta know the regs. Foraging is absolutely possible. Enough to live off while burning the extra calories you would on a thru? Probably not.
I would suggest fish and forage to supplement, but carry your regular food alotment just in case.
Plodderman
12-30-2008, 11:43
Depends on ability level and background Eustace Conley did it and I am sure others have but I would not count on it as many places it would be hard to hunt and forage.
Legal issues aside, its a worthwhile learning exercise studying and working out how much protien, carbs, fat can be gained by foraging along the route, and how much protien, carbs, fat, and time has to be expended. For the short answer I would defer to Lone Wolf, and others. It slows you down too much, way too much, and you don't have to do a lot of figuring to figure this out. The long answer however, is that you could learn alot, about human nutrition, and flora and fauna, about natural history and habitats, by studying the matter very seriously before coming to the same conclusion as Lone Wolf and others have already done. Still worth studying, and even practicing to a limited extent. In practice, generally speaking, the woods have much too offer...
1. learning - it takes generations to learn 'everything', but learning is still worth doing
2. flavours - these are readily available even if you know very little as I do
3. vitamins - with a little study you can find vitamins and minerals without poisoning yourself
4. protien - easier to carry in, but available if you take the time
5. fats and carbohydrates - this is the critical issue. 100 kcal/day is hard. Try 4000 kcal/day.
It would be fun to do as an exercise, to see how far you can travel in 100 days without resupply, with foraging. Obviously the time of year and the route you travel would make a big difference. Some might choose to carry all the food they could and just hike without foraging. Others might do a little of both. Obviously if you come across a patch of berries you would want to take advantage of the easy pickings, but what about bugs and stuff? People with some extra fat on their bodies at the start wouldn't need to carry as much fat in their food, so that would be somewhat of an equalizer. Some people that are very good at picking off squirrels with a slingshot could do well, as long as it didn't sow them down too much. Animals with more fat on their bones might be better.
How far could you get in 100 days? What might the record be on the AT, if such a competition were ever allowed? I'm not entirely sure, but I would guess that the ideal age for such a competition would be quite young, as long as they had the skills. Some scrawny 10 year old kid from 100 years ago would very likely kick most peoples butts today. What would the distance be in 100 days? Maybe 1000 miles. Much would depend on luck. The woods may have been alot more abundant back then also. It's an interesting mental exercise more than anything else, but some actual practice would greatly increase the fun and excitement, and accuracy, of the learning process.
SouthMark
12-30-2008, 12:43
14 states, 13 or 14 out-of-state hunting licenses.
thruhiker101
12-31-2008, 05:09
Thank you very much, very informative...im a marine not rambo.... so since i dont really care about animal lovers and their laws im probably good to bring a 22 and shoot at small game along my journey?
as for the amount of time involved i am planning to take advantage of only game of opportunity... and traps i plan to set at night on animal runs... to be honest i would not mind spending a day off trail smoking a deer and resupplying myself with lots of meat good for weeks... i can then eat like a king and make good well nutricianed times all for the cost of a bullet
i read a post that many thru hikers have never or rarely every encountered a park ranger which would be my main concern
thanks to all beside the ever idiotic rock hound and superman for their blind statements...
Thank you very much, very informative...im a marine not rambo.... so since i dont really care about animal lovers and their laws im probably good to bring a 22 and shoot at small game along my journey?
as for the amount of time involved i am planning to take advantage of only game of opportunity... and traps i plan to set at night on animal runs... to be honest i would not mind spending a day off trail smoking a deer and resupplying myself with lots of meat good for weeks... i can then eat like a king and make good well nutricianed times all for the cost of a bullet
i read a post that many thru hikers have never or rarely every encountered a park ranger which would be my main concern
thanks to all beside the ever idiotic rock hound and superman for their blind statements...
I'm a hunter and I'd appreciate it if you followed our game laws. They don't just make them for fun.
i read a post that many thru hikers have never or rarely every encountered a park ranger which would be my main concern
Park rangers are one thing; game wardens are something else entirely.
FWIW, in VA I encountered a game warden investigating the out-of-season shooting of a bear. He stopped and questioned my hiking partner about it.
Park rangers are one thing; game wardens are something else entirely.
FWIW, in VA I encountered a game warden investigating the out-of-season shooting of a bear. He stopped and questioned my hiking partner about it.
I hope he encounters every single one and then maybe a few outdoorsman who don't take kindly to out of staters pissing all over the laws that we have to follow. F%^&^%$@ D*#@
squirrel bait
12-31-2008, 10:02
Maybe move this over to a food thread. I just gots ta see this, "take a day off smoke a deer receipe".:D
Alligator
12-31-2008, 10:48
Since the OP appears to be advocating breaking hunting laws, this thread is closed.