I know i've posted similar threads. Usually they turn into some type of debate over how much you can support yourself with wild game. Or the cost.

It matters not to me, what folks eat or how they go about obtaining it. But it is a fact that around here wild game has been a staple, not just a novelty food.

The definition of the word staple in reference to food is simply...

"A staple food, sometimes simply referred to as a staple, is a food that is eaten routinely, and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet in a given people, supplying a large fraction of the needs for energy- rich materials and generally a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well."

Without a doubt, that defines our wild game, fish and foraging,along with gardening ect...In this household.

One of my biggest arguments against the anti-hunter..AND!! the anti-meat hunter is...

Your stepping on my right to provide my food my way.

I understand and support the need for conservation game laws ect...And i am a strict advocate of them.

I will not speak for other states, but here in the east, it is totally possible to use wild game as a "staple" and obey our game laws.

Here in PA...I can get 2 doe tags, a buck tag, and available deer management tags. Frankly you don't even need them all.

I also hunt MD, which has very liberal tags. I used to hunt WV as well but haven't for a number of years simply because of time, and frankly we don't need THAT much meat.

Till i kill 2 or 3 deer in PA, a few in MD, add small game,turkey the occasional bear, hit the river in the summer and put some fish away,(especially if you can get into some nice flatheads) You'd be surprised how much food you can still store away.

Recently i had this discussion with somebody else, and he laughed and shook his head said "not possible" i laughed also and said oh yea it is. He then replied " i haven't killed a deer in 3 years".

I simply replied...Does that mean i haven't either?"

Then he said....yea but figure out how much you spent doing it.

And i said...I took no time off work to hunt, didn't buy any gear. I can walk out my door to hunt . If i hunt MD i can be there in an hr and 15.00 worth of gas.

So you add up the price of my license and tags, fishing license, total up my take.

Then go to the grocery store with the same amount of money and let me know how you make out.

I realize this isn't possible for everyone, and frankly lots of folks have multiple tags and cant, or don't fill them anyway.

What really jerks my chain is those that go to the local fast food joint to chow on a fat burger, then in between bites, scoff at my method of obtaining burger.

Sorry for the rant but i just went through this discussion.

What amazed me the most is that he hunted, but only the first two days of rifle.

He was totally clueless that some still use wild game as a staple.

I'm sure there are a lot more like myself.

In a nutshell...It bothers me not that others don't.

What raises my hackles is when they say because i don't....you can't either.

My son loves to goose hunt and the bunch he hunts with killed over 200 geese this year. They also killed a pile of ducks. Between the two of us we had 5 doe tags and 2 buck tags. I'm happy with a couple of deer but yes if I went out to live on just game it could be done. Throw in a Turkey and some squirrels, a big garden and a few chickens, a pig, and I wouldn't go hungry.

Isn't that what we all do? I just quit a 6 figure job to go to work for myself. I took a pay cut like none I have ever went through. It's going to be a lot like the early years of marriage. Tight times. Plan for every dollar spent. Grow and kill what you eat. The wife bakes all our bread. I grow all our veggies with the exception of Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli. It's a great way to live. Besides, the wife has a disease that inhibits here from eating preservatives. We eat clean no cleaner than straight from nature. God Bless men

will tell....I haven't hunted waterfowl in a while. But i'd like to get back into it. I know a couple guys that do. wow! those guys need to write a book...101 ways to eat goose. They sure do get them also.

WV Mountaineer, pretty similar here, but general society? No.

not saying they should either, their choice, my choice, your choice.

You'd be surprised how many people think folks like us are just redneck hillbillys. Especially the younger generation, that were not brought up in hunting homes.

Fish from the intercoastal waterway, where we live, two deer and 4- 5 wild hogs will provide almost all of our meet for a year. I have a grinder and a vacuum packer. We are blessed.

Shade, my family is from Elk county and there were three boys in my dads family. They lived in hard times and venison, a garden, milk cow, chickens and a hog for butchering ywas their only source of food. They didn't worry too much about seasons and bag limits and a family of five can eat a lot of meat. I have a old 32 Special Winchester with a octagon barrel. It's killed more deer than CWD.lol my grandma cooked on a wood stove and her Apple pies would make you cry. Yes, I know what a bed pan is used for. My Grandpa cut his thumb off cutting kindling with a axe and he never went to a doctor. They both lived into their 80's.

It would be much easier in a place like Alaska but we can and have done it here. I was fortunate to be able to kill 4-5 deer a year for most of my early hunting life. Now I have to hunt public land so I do good to get 3 a year. I work two jobs so I'm not complaining.

Unless you live alone or your family buys in, you will fail miserably. I always feel fortunate to take an animal because I love the rewards but I would be hunting anyway so there is no cost. Keep on keep in' on and who cares what others think, but I share your concern for our lifestyle being demonized in public opinion. To me with the increased awareness of a subsistence life style and the green crowd being portrayed in a good light, the future looks a little brighter. Never thought I would have something good to say about the environmental extreme crowd but there, I did.

Wild game and fish are part of our diet here but I cannot go as far to say they are a staple.

I take a couple deer a year and we eat venison, but it is not our only meat.

We catch a lot of fish and eat them, but they are not the only fish we eat.

So, kinda, sorta, but definitely when compared to most folks around us.

As a generalization, modern citified culture is generations removed from the game field. A whole lot of public opinion about hunting, game and guns etc. is largely reflection of that fact.

I'm flattered to be considered a redneck hillbilly, that simply means I know how to take care of myself if need be. The good thing is most of my friends are redneck hillbillies and I thank God that they are. We kinda feel sorry for folks working in cities and rarely seeing the country. A six figure salary won't do you much good if you're tied to a job that don't let you really do what you like.

I never made 6 figures so can't tell you what that's like. I do know I like wild game, but the wife doesn't, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to kill much of it. What I do take I share most with neighbors and my son and his family.

We don't exclusively eat wild game, but we have not bought hamburger except for the rare occasion in 20+ years. Everything that requires burger in our house has venison substituted for it. If I raised chickens, and with my states liberal deer limits, I could easily never buy meat from the store.

I am blessed with a Wife that prefers wild game. When we do not eat "out" we eat wild meat 90% of the time. At least 5 days a week . This year was kind of average for me. i killed 8 deer and 4 pigs. I usually kill a deer or two less and more pigs. I seldom freeze fish. If I want some i go catch them.I don`t keep more than a meal unless we are gonna have a group fish fry. I sometimes will freeze a few bags of flathead catfish nuggets. Hunting is and has been a way of life for me and my Family. everyone from my Parents on were hunters. I am the only bow hunter. My uncles brag that my Grandad raised a family of 13 kids with a small farm and an LC Smith 16 gauge. RC

Wife and I rarely eat beef or pork. Freezer is full of elk and white tail. We simply prefer it.

To speak of a staple diet Living off the land is not all about hunting.I have lived with indigenous peoples who don't have to live off the land but still can if they choose to.The way you and me hunt is different to the way indigenous aborigines do it.They have a different mind set.Most food sources they eat is from gathering.As modern civilised people we generally are not hunters and gatherers.This idea that I can survive off the land doesn't cut it with me.Can you really do that?Live with people who do it for real and you will soon realise it ain't that simple.By all means hunt and enjoy your bounty but very few of us could sustain ourselves by hunting long term.Thats not to say it can't be learnt but in this day and age few of us would have the luxury of being able to do that.I hunt and fish for fun and am glad to be able to do that .Most of us would only supplement our diet with game we hunted. OSR

Around my house we raise our own chickens, eat venison, wild pigs, squirrels and other things. The kid and wife prefer game meat. We do buy beef on occassion. But it doesn't take as much meat for our family of 5 as it does some. We don't eat meat with every meal. We also grow most of our vegetables. I haven't eaten store bought yogurt in years.

I've been leaning more & more this way all the time. All the family like venison & fish but deer have been hard to come by for me lately. Luckily dad gets a couple. We do however grow a good garden & can enough vegetables to last the year. Also been raising our own chickens for a few years.

We are able to cover our annual needs for meat with a bow and arrow. With a rifle it is real easy to do around here. (Alberta)

I expected there would be plenty of others here on leatherwall.

Ever stop to consider how many pounds of wild game this country consumes?

Mind boggling when you think there are folks that would even consider taking away that right.

Wild game is the choice at our place, I can take 2 deer here in North Dakota. A few years back we had surplus antlerless tags and I would shot a few more. There's always chickens on the place, both layers and butcher, so we do eat a lot of that. I don't hunt geese but have friends that do and I can get ALL I want from them. I have a small herd of dairy goats that have more a pain than anything! A 3 acre garden with asparagus, strawberries, apples,plums and raspberries keeps us full also. I do get a hog from time to time from a neighbor, butcher it here. Ya, I'm a northern redneck no doubt.

I was blessed to get a cow Elk this year with a rifle ( don't shoot) & my Wife & I eat is in place of other meat. We buy chicken, & fish, so Elk isn't an only meat but it is pretty well replacing beef this year. Had Elk burgers for lunch just a few hours ago.

I see your point and good for you. If you can eat it , take it.

What turns me off is people who don't need it, but kill kill and ride around trying to give the meat away. If you don't need it, do not kill it.

We still have people around here think they Jerameya Johnson. It's 2016 come on man.

Just take what you can eat, and leave the rest go.

Yes it can be done if your good enough and if you really want to. I remember growing up and living off all of it fish, game, fowl and garden. It was great but as I got older I wanted to try more and so did the rest of family we all grew tired of it so about 12 yo mother started cooking other meats and things. I feed my own family most of it till my 1rst wife left.LOL

Guess she got tired of the game, fish, fowl, garden.LOL

But she did come back and ask for meat later and to this day I give them some.LOL

I should have stayed with only what I caught or shot or grew in garden. I would not have rich mans illness's from all the poisons in these foods today that are doctored up .LOL

I eat and buy what I want today and that's the down fall that will eventually kill me.

I do try to get organic and grass feed meats I additionally supplement with and I get door to door that's organic stuff so when I go to store I don't over do things on junk. LOL

Sounds like I eat right but I don't still sugared up that's the sickness.

Eat alot of wild meat including our own chickens and hogs. Catch and bring home a couple hundred pounds of cod, halibut, mackerel, and lobster from Newfie, along with jellies made from wild strawberries, baked apple berries, dewberries, partridge and cloud berries.

Two generations ago my ancestors lived off the land. I believe 5 out 13 children died before adolescence. So, ya it can be done but it ain't pretty...

I run more than 150 mother cows and have not butchered a beef or bought more than 5 lbs. of hamburger in the past 50 years. just like deer, elk, and bear so much better. now that i'm over 80, I don't eat much meat, so one good bear or deer will last my wife and me all year along with salmon and some chicken.

Keep in mind the definition of "staple" i included it in the first post.

It does not necessarily mean "ALL" your meat but it does mean a large part or most of it.

Flash... " generations ago my ancestors lived off the land. I believe 5 out 13 children died before adolescence. So, ya it can be done but it ain't pretty..."

Probably had more to do with the time period, and lack of modern medicine, convenience ect...than what they ate. Wild game and home raised food is far and away healthier than what you can purchase at the store.

A friend of mine, needed to lose weight, and get all his levels in check,,,,,,, able to get 2 deer a year, and uses local small game by the house, and fish, as his staple....... able to do this at low cost,,,,,,,

he does he some pork,,,,,, no beef, no sausage,,,,,, results, is amazing, after 2 years.....

so when it comes to meat, if he does not kill it, he does not eat meat,,,,,,,, not for everyone, but his doctor said, best secret, is lots of veggies, eggs, wild game...... if it has more than 5 ingrediants, its mostly junk

No doubt more of the kids would have lived had they had modern medicine . We eat about 75% wild game at my house.

Flash.

I'd say that's a "staple"

Definitely a staple in our house, and in the homes of all my family. Deer, fish,and ducks. I have to admit, I do buy an occasional ribeye, or T-bone steak. Randy

One elk/deer will do just fine. If I can score with my recurve. If not safeway is great.

lol, a while back Ralph? Pink slime/aka finely ground beef is alive and well. Most all hamburger in plastic loaves are 25 percent connective tissue. No nutritional value, no flavor, and has had chlorine gas run thru it to make sure any e coli is dead. mmm mm....... I check online before I buy any ground beef now a days to make sure its really beef.

When I was a kid down in the hills we grew and canned all our veggies. Other than an occasional rooster all our meat came the woods. Mostly small game with the occasional deer. You were lucky to see a deer back then. I went from 80 percent wild game when I first got married to about 20 or 30 percent now if that much. The rest is store bought, altho I buy buffalo instead of beef most of the time. When I lived in Montana most I knew rented a meat locker by the year and fill all the families deer and elk tags to fill the locker.

I love venison...and grouse,pheasant,rabbit..most wild game. The wife doesn't care for it at all so It doesn't make sense for me to load up on it. I'm more than happy with one whitetail. If I get a chance to go bird hunting that's great too but work makes it hard to get out.

i ear eat as much as I can but we are only allowed 9 or 10 deer and it just doesn't last all year.

9-10 deer a year? they must be tiny! the last one i killed out here hung 135# on the rail. around 8#-10# per month of good eating meat. we get to shoot one.

They say they want to take away our rights don't think that day will ever come. If it did that would mean I gave them the permission and gave up. Heres what they are doing though as we speak. Posioning everything along with chem trails spraying. The free range animals will also be posioned and then it won';t be a matter of taking away.

Its already started and those who understand and can see know it. Those who mock and talk smack won't ever understand or see it they aren't supposed to.

Shad you being up in the Mountains have a better chance off the grid than the low landers that's where its getting posioned.

Also first was west nile then now this new strand of mosquito then the various strands of the lymes from the tic's.

We are being posioned and its going to be mass extinction one day its history thats things like this has happened over the years.

These things are not fairy tails look around and get informed. Don't know yet what we can do with this information but its all around all of us everywhere. Just watch every day the direction things are going. Now with 50% less deer in NJ and no one knows where they went yet?

They had some type of die off or they got abducted when we slept.LOL

Sounds like science fiction and I agree but at least I see things that others don't but what good is it. I wonder myself? LOL

I used to catch enough ocean fish where we had fish 2 or 3 times a week. I considered that a staple. I didn't do any deer hunting and my game birds were more like a treat than a staple. We would usually eat game birds about once a week durring the season. I used to bring home frogs and crawfish on a semi regular basis.

I only like the tenderloin and hind quarters. give the rest away. If I make jerky it takes a whole deer right there.

And yes they are very small. None over 100 lbs

Being raised in the city I never considered " living of the land". As kid seasons were short and deer rare. Traveling to other states cost money we did not have. Having wild game usually meant rabbit, pheasants and maybe a squirrel or two. Now I have also heard the argument that game is better for you, maybe so. As for taste, had some pretty decent farm fed deer, have also had some western deer that tasted like sage brush.

I'll say this… It can be done, though not by many. But in the overwhelming majority of areas, even the few who can pull it off are able to do so largely because of the artificially high population densities brought about by overly restrictive deer harvest regs in the past 50 years. If the herds were down to sustainable levels, VERY FEW people would be have the skills to fill multiple tags/year.... even if they could get them.

So if you can get by on mostly wild meat while hunting on a "part time" basis and while staying within the legal seasons, methods and limits, then GOOD ON YA!

Just thinking that the First Peoples hunted 24/7/365 with no rules and no limits and still found themselves faced with starvation on a fairly routine basis.

Just sayin'.

Some of what is mentioned is not fully possible for all of us. I live in an 860 square foot apartment. I have a few hanging style gardens but it limits what and how much you can grow. I am lucky to get one or two deer a year + a turkey. Fish I can get a fair bit of though but, it costs me in gas and such, I would say about a third I my diet to mane half is wild game. I have to hunt all public land and pressure is tough for sure.

Jakeemt....Surely is reasonable enough. Not everyone lives in rural areas.

This is a little of subject.

We use a lot of wild game, but we also have a large garden.

Since the kids are grown and moved away, i probably plant as much or more than i ever did.

I still do it and just give it away. I am a firm believer that we all live on this rock together and we should give willingly if we have the means.

Pennsylvania has a program called hunters sharing the harvest, and i'm all for it.

It simply is not possible for everyone to use wild game or home grown vegetables fruit ect...to support themselves.

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