Why You Need a Tracking and Hunting Plan for Survival Scenarios
When you’re working on your survival prepping plans, you might be so focused on storing food, water and other supplies, that you forget someday these will run out eventually. Depending on the situation you are in, you might be faced with a long-term shortage of food.
If this happens, you need to know how to source your own food. Of course, this includes foraging for vegetation and fruit that can serve your needs as edible food. But you also want to have a plan in place for tracking and hunting so that you can get the protein to keep your body strong and capable during a stressful event.
If you have chosen to only eat plant-based food you will have to accept the fact that your food supply may be severely limited especially lacking in very important nutrients that come from animal-based protein. You will have to learn about how to forage and plant for your nutritional needs especially – and be prepared for shortcomings.
This is not something most people are used to doing. For any protein, be it beef, chicken, pork, other meat, fish or plant-based protein we usually just stroll into the grocery store and select whatever cuts we want to cook at home.
But in a survival event, you have to adapt and be able to source meat on your own, which involves a set of skills that includes tracking and understanding animals and then being able to hunt properly and humanely.
Choosing the Right Gear for Survival Tracking and Hunting
The first thing you need to do is have the right gear on hand that will allow you to track and hunt for your food properly. Now there may be times when you don’t have any pre-purchased gear, but purchasing these essential items up front makes a lot of sense for your homestead.
Some of the gear you will want to include are things like a compass or GPS. These can help guide you and how to track animals. You can purchase field guides that will tell you about the vegetation that certain animals are drawn to.
These same guides will often identify tracks to look for that will show you exactly what kind of animal is in the area. And of course, for hunting purposes, you’re going to need some binoculars that will assist you in zeroing in on your prey.
In addition to the tracking gear, you can also have different items to hunt with – these include everything from firearms to bow and arrows, and even slingshots in some instances.
This will depend on what kind of game you are hunting, whether it’s a small animal or large game. For preparing your game after a hunt, you will also need different tools such as knives that will allow you to break down the animal.
Make sure you have good outdoor-survival clothing that will protect you in the elements. These include products for both cold and hot weather conditions that wick the moisture away from your body and keep you warm or cool, depending on what you need.
They will also have to be camouflaged to help shield you from being spotted so that you can hunt more effectively. You also want to have some sort of bag or backpack that you can use to carry the different equipment that you have on hand, and things like a sled to help you haul larger game back to your campsite or homestead.
Depending on how you plan to hunt, you may also need supplies for your snares or traps. You can fashion these from what you have on hand or you can purchase traps and pre-made slings that can help you do this more easily.
How to Track Animals During a Hunting Expedition
The first thing you want to do is know how to track animals when you are hunting. Most people think you merely have to look for footprints in the ground, but there’s other ways to track animals in the wild.
For example, you can look for scat that will tell you an animal has recently been nearby, and you can often identify the animal based on what that looks like. You can also see where they have hunkered down for sleep, where they are feeding, and how they are moving around near your location.
Sometimes, you’ll find identifying elements such as a tree that has been scratched or some sort of foliage that’s been chewed up, and that will signify that there are animals in the area. You don’t want to solely rely on footprints, because natural elements like strong winds, rain or snow can remove those.
Different Methods of Hunting You Can Use in a Survival Situation
Once you have tracked the animals in your area, you have to come up with a method that you want to use for hunting purposes. From a humane perspective, you want it to be as quick and painless as possible.
You will have to plan your approach carefully depending on what kind of game you are targeting. In many situations, you may be able to find plenty of squirrels and rabbits in your geographic location.
But in some areas, you might be able to find larger prey like deer or hogs in abundance. You want to spend time studying the animals that are in your area and learn as much as you can about their behavior early on.
The kinds of things you’re looking for include when they are most active and foraging for their own food, when and where they sleep, what their watering habits are, and other things that will provide clues you can use when hunting.
If you’re not using a trap or snare, which allows you to be more passive in your hunting efforts, you can stalk your prey and ambush them by using camouflage skills and remaining undetected so that you don’t startle them.
If you are using a trap or snare, you can typically catch smaller game using wire or cord as well as pits or cages. In order for this to be effective, you’re going to need to know what their pathway is, and check the trap or snare frequently.
You don’t want to use inhumane methods such as leg traps that will cause suffering. Use hunting as a means of pure survival and not just to flex your power over a living being that is vulnerable.
The Importance of On-Going Skill Development
When you are tracking and hunting for survival purposes, you want to have a good understanding of what you’re doing before you need to use it to save your life. This is something you not only want to learn for yourself, but you want to teach your family members how to do in the event they get separated from you or need to use the skill as they grow older.
Keep in mind that simply going to a shooting range and aiming at a stationary target is not going to be adequate enough to help with hunting. While it does teach someone how to use a firearm, you have to simulate a real situation with a moving target.
You also need to practice in different weather conditions – extreme heat, cold and even rain or snow. Getting comfortable with your weapon of choice is important, too – because it will keep you calm in a high-adrenaline situation.
Some people like to use paintball as a way to practice dealing with moving targets and stealth activities. Here are adult paintball or air soft events you can sign up for that take place in the wilderness, not just in a man-made neon room meant to entertain kids at a birthday party.
Make sure you practice all the important steps many times until you feel confident – including the setup of snares and traps, and learn how to properly break down your game once it’s been hunted. You may even want to take it so far as to cook the game over an open flame, doing everything from start to finish as you would in a grid-down survival event.
If you don’t feel knowledgeable about tracking and hunting, you can also hire an expert to show you the ropes and get you to a place where you feel confident teaching it to your family, too.
Now that you know about Tracking and hunting it is time to learn about different ways of transport in emergency situations. You can read all about it in the next installment of our Survival Prepping 101 series – Part 21: You Need to Prepare Different Modes of Transport