PDA

View Full Version : The fat of the land...



longshank
06-01-2006, 09:16
Have any of you, while on a through hike or other long distance hike, ever eaten off of the land in an unusual manner, i.e.;traps and / or snares, deadfalls, spears or gig poles? If so, what was your most unique/satisfying/interesting catch?

MOWGLI
06-01-2006, 09:36
I snared a half gallon of ice cream in PA. That was pretty "fat." I also snagged quite a few pints at various locations. Kinda gives new meaning to "livin' large."

Gray Blazer
06-01-2006, 10:29
I "caught" a burrito at Erwin Burrito.:rolleyes: Otherwise, no.

headchange4u
06-01-2006, 10:41
I had always been curious about this also. What about fishing as well as snares, traps, etc.?

Alligator
06-01-2006, 10:53
I ate a beaver.

headchange4u
06-01-2006, 10:56
I ate a beaver.


Not going to touch this one....

Gray Blazer
06-01-2006, 11:15
I wouldn't mind touching it......sorry Longshanks, I'm sure this thread will get serious after this!

Alligator
06-01-2006, 11:22
It made a nice warm cap afterwards. I felt like quite the frontiersman.

MOWGLI
06-01-2006, 11:25
I felt like quite the frontiersman.

Daniel Boondoggle.

Heater
06-01-2006, 11:33
gig poles?

You left out dynamite...

Two Speed
06-01-2006, 11:49
You left out dynamite... and 105 mm howitzers.

Alligator
06-01-2006, 11:49
Daniel Boondoggle.Hehe, can you hear the funky bass in the background.

fiddlehead
06-03-2006, 05:16
I've caught fish, and eaten ramps, nuts, blueberrys and even fiddleheads.
After living here in Asia and seeing people really eating so many different things 'off the land" i will definitely try some insects next time. Some of them have great nutritional value. (and frogs, lizards, snakes, and other things it's probably illegal to kill in the states.) so, i'll stick to the bugs for now, i think they're still legal to kill, it's a free country, right?

Uncle Silly
06-05-2006, 07:16
I wonder if those big centipedes, the ones that smell like cherries, are any good...

Ramble~On
06-05-2006, 08:28
Cherry flavored Beaver :eek: .

Oh my bad...I read that wrong...you were talking about bugs.

MOWGLI
06-05-2006, 08:33
I ate lemon ants and azteca ants in Ecuador. Certain grubs are considered delicacies there, but so is masticated yucca,which is the local alcoholic beverage in Amazonia.

Even if I wasn't a recovering drunk, I ain't drinking anything that has been spat into a gourd by another person. Sorry.

Mags
06-05-2006, 12:26
Heard stories of my dad's great-aunts and great-uncles who "came off the boat" who used to make dandelion salads.

I know of no recipe personally, but found this on-line:
http://www.italian-recipes-and-dessert.com/recipes.php/Ciagottia-Salad-(Dandelion-Salad)/

With all the chemicals used in parks and such today, this is one ethnic recipe I'd be hesitant to try! Seen this "weed" on hiking trails too...

atraildreamer
06-05-2006, 14:31
I once ripped off a pic-a-nic basket from Yogi... :banana

Newb
06-05-2006, 15:41
Best bet is to stick to gathering wild plants that are edible. Don't gather them in National Parks, however. And if you see them growing all in a row in someones back yard it's most likely a bad idea to gather those, too.

Some easy to find and plentiful edibles include

Burdock, which you slice real thin and boil and eat like potato

Garden salad you make out of dandelion, plantain, Garlic mustard, violets, chickweed, wild onion, wild asparagus, etc.

Cattail: some part of the plant is useful at various times of the year

and of course seasonal berries and fruits like raspberries, blackberries, Paw Paws,

Frolicking Dinosaurs
06-05-2006, 17:21
Along with the usual berries, I've had fresh sulphur shelf mushrooms, fish, rabbit (crazy ex shot it), and snake. While I have never eaten these on the trail, I took a survivial course decades ago that included gathering edibles from the woods - we had to eat what this guy gathered! Fried grubs & worms, a variety of bugs along with a multitude of wild greens and mushrooms in a salad and some cooked greens.

Moxie00
06-05-2006, 20:42
During the Viet Nam days I survived jungle survival training and I will leave bamboo shoots, snakes, and seagulls to those that have to survive. They all tasts like crap, not chicken. On my thru hike I did eat some excellent mushrooms in New York and Maine but I know my mushrooms. I caught a couple of trout in Georgia but the season was closed by the time I got to Maine. You will find wild berries all the way from about North Carolina until Maine. Even in October there are wild bluberries and mountain cranberries in the alpine zones of Maine and New Hampshire. My dentist, who thru hiked before I did ate a red squirrel but found there is more meat in a snickers bar. If you had all day to forage for food and didn't have to hike you could possibly survive living off the land but. If you are thru hiking carry noodles, peanut butter, and if you happen to come upon edable mushrooms, a trout, or a partridge with a broken wing eat it but don't plan on it.

Just Jeff
06-05-2006, 21:52
During survival training, I came upon a field of dandelions. It was like nirvana. I even put some in a bag to take back to camp.

Heh - they gave me an apple once and I ate the whole thing - core, seeds, stem...everything. They also gave me sardine-rice soup and liver-cabbage soup in the partisan camps. Hungry as I was, I couldn't finish the liver-cabbage soup - I think it had sand in it, too.

Ants aren't so bad but you'll never get full. We had a guy get sick from eating too many, though. And we snared a few squirrels out there.

But like everyone is saying, foraging takes too much time to do on a hike.


They all tasts like crap, not chicken.

How do you know what crap tastes like?

Amigi'sLastStand
06-05-2006, 22:10
I ate lemon ants and azteca ants in Ecuador. Certain grubs are considered delicacies there, but so is masticated yucca,which is the local alcoholic beverage in Amazonia.

Even if I wasn't a recovering drunk, I ain't drinking anything that has been spat into a gourd by another person. Sorry.
That stuff is just the most abominable crap of all time. I'm not kidding. I've puked my guts out once when a local with yucca on his breathe got to close to me. It really has no comparison.

As for me, I have no aversion to eating insects at all. Ants are definitely my favorite, next would be termites in a natural log colony, not out of the ground. It really is not disgusting once you get past the initial fear. They are perfectly edible, quite tasty, and very, very good for ya.

I have fished on 1-2 weeks hikes lots of times. Save time in prep and cleaning:
Dig a hole and build a fire in it before you fish.
When you get back, the fire will have burned down to coals.
Cover the coals with 1" of dirt or sand for us Floridians
Next make a up a mud slurry and put 1" of mud into the whole.
Cover the fish in mud thoroughly. Do not clean them. You dont need to.
Add enough mud to cover the fish and another 1" of mud.
Cover the rest of the hole up with dirt and sit back.
In 20 minutes or so ( thinking of each fish being around 2 lbs ) dig it up.
Was the fish off of excess mud. Wash lightly, do not srub.
Piece off the harded layer of mud on the fish
The scales/flesh will peel off with the dried mud exposing perfectly baked fish.
I've done that for years and years. Still the only way I cook fish when hiking if I can.

Gray Blazer
06-06-2006, 12:16
Amigi, thanks for the fish recipe. I'm going to try it out. You need to get some more CR. If I meet you on the trail I'll bring another bottle. Talk about foraging....:rolleyes:

Amigi'sLastStand
06-06-2006, 15:36
Amigi, thanks for the fish recipe. I'm going to try it out. You need to get some more CR. If I meet you on the trail I'll bring another bottle. Talk about foraging....:rolleyes:
Ya, know, I honestly hate CR.:eek: It just that it's 27 yrs old and is REAL REAL smooth. I'll take Jameson or Smirnoff if it cant come in a 12 oz.

Ants in your hot cocoa, mmmm. And how can someone say snake tastes like crap? I never thought it tasted like chicken per se, but it sure is good. Ya'll cant cook.;) Stop by my tarp for a meal. Just dont look in the bowl, ladies.

weary
06-06-2006, 16:48
He wasn't into meat products, but I think it was Logan in 1993 who sought a different vegetable each day from along the trail. I thought his best product was the root beer tea he fashioned from Sasparilla Roots if I remember rightly.

Amigi'sLastStand
06-06-2006, 18:13
I don't think the original poster thought about "living off the land" Grizzly Adams style. I think he meant what do ppl do to supplement. At least, that's the way I take it. No need to spend all day day settin' snares, building fish dams, and tying a granola bar to a catapult to lure in the unsuspecting tourist.
I gather acorns*, pine nuts, berries, etc. as I walk. When I take a zero, 50/50 of 'em in the woods, I will build a fish dam, or fish if I have line.

*= must be boiled to remove the tannic acid.

Nightwalker
06-06-2006, 19:25
I gather acorns
(snip)
*= must be boiled to remove the tannic acid.
They taste pretty good raw. Is there enough tannic acid there to hurt me?

Roland
06-06-2006, 19:32
They taste pretty good raw. Is there enough tannic acid there to hurt me?

No, it won't hurt you, but they can be rather bitter.

Not all acorns are created equal. Some contain more/less tannins than others. Generally, white oaks are less bitter tasting. The oaks we have in the northeast have a high tannin content and their flavor can be enhanced by a leaching process.