One rifle to survive......
- Thread starter crazy_davey
- Start date
I find it interesting this talk of surviving on grouse and squirrels. If I were lost in the wilderness, I believe I would shoot the biggest animal I could find as fast as possible. If the plains indians could get a whole bison dried before it went bad, I'm sure I could do enough of a deer or WHY to get me through.
Isn't it said that you'd starve eating rabbits, 'cause it takes more energy to get them than they have in 'em?
I think I'd try to trap the small critters, and shoot something more substantial.
So to the original question, my Marlin 45/70. Good for food animals, kills bears. Works for me.
Isn't it said that you'd starve eating rabbits, 'cause it takes more energy to get them than they have in 'em?
I think I'd try to trap the small critters, and shoot something more substantial.
So to the original question, my Marlin 45/70. Good for food animals, kills bears. Works for me.
- Location
- AB foothills
Silverado said:
We share the same opnion on that one.
Wikipedea:
Rabbit starvation is the form of acute malnutrition caused by excess consumption of rabbit meat (and possibly other lean meats) coupled with a lack of other sources of nutrients. Symptoms include diarrhea, headache, lassitude, a vague discomfort and hunger that can only be satisfied by consumption of fat or carbohydrate.
Possible mechanisms for rabbit starvation:
* Lack of fats in the diet.
* Rabbit being comparatively low in some amino acids that human beings cannot synthesize themselves.
* The rate at which amino acids can be converted to glucose is not fast enough to meet the energy requirements of an active person. After the body's fat reserves are depleted, basic life processes cannot be sustained.
* The ammonia released during the process of converting amino acids into glucose (gluconeogenesis) can not be cleared by conversion to urea quickly enough. The buildup of ammonia poisons the person.
joe m said:They just poop out the hair, hide is digested. So just eat it all and let your stomach sort it out
This is one of the funniest things I've ever read. I probably won't be laughing at 'that' critical moment though.
I'll vote for the 303. Why stalk rabbits and other small game, when you can potentially bring down a significantly bigger meal. It's also been around for ever. I'm nostalgic.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Silverado said:
Around here you could travel hundreds of miles and never find big game if you don't stumble onto a herd of caribou. In a real world survival situation you would die! You would die because the rescuers would find your boat, your snow mobile, or your airplane and you would be on foot, miles away, hunting an animal that wasn't there. The right thing to do is to stay put, harvest what food is available, concentrate on heat and shelter, and live.
yah, likely more guys have died because they left their original crash/accident/vehicle breakdown site.I have never been in that situation, but most survivors concentrated on shelter ,warmth and water and those who tried to walk out died.I think if I was in that situation,I would try for the immediate threat-then worry about food.You can die of hypothermia with a full stomach
I can't see myself waiting on help that may never come. Besides, chances are, if your in a plane crash, you won't have a rifle available. I'm guessing this is more of a going for a walk in the woods, got turned around and lost with no way for anyone to track you down scenerio. If i go hiking or fishing in the mountains, I always carry a rifle. It ticks off the tree huggers as a bonus. Normally I carry a 30-30 or higher powered rifle, if I'll be going a ways on foot. When hunting, it's a no-brainer. But as I said, my ideal survival tool is a big bore. .375 or similar. Remember, you can use it for hunting small stuff too. I think it would be a game of oppertunity. If you stumble upon a deer or moose, you take your shot. Or, if you find some rabbits, you shoot them. It's whatever you have at hand. If I'm stuck and hungry, I'm certainly not going to look for a bigger buck, or pass up a couple squirrels in hopes of finding an elk.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
pharaoh2 said:
If help never comes it is your fault if no one knows you are over due, or where you are going. Do you carry a satellite phone, we never leave without ours. If you are in a light aircraft did you file a flight plan? Any light plane I've flown in has a survival pack which includes a .22 rifle. Small game can augment the rations in a survival pack.
madtrapper143
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Steep Rock Lake NWO
My old 12 or 16 bore single shot shotguns. (I know they are not rifles) I can carry bird shot and slugs to handle most if not all situations. These old singles are light and usually don't stop working. The only drawback could be the weight of the ammo. Guess it depends how bad you want to live vs how much ammo you can carry.
cheers Darryl
cheers Darryl
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
I've been in situations ( and so has my brother) where we are months without human contact, on a fly in line.Silverado said:
Bears in the spring, yes, but in the winter, there was hardly a big critteer track around.
The main rifle carried by trappers up here is a .22, normally a Cooey, or other cheap rifle, and quite often a singlee shot.
trapping is the key to surrvival, not hunting.
With a roll of snare wire you can catch rabbits, squirrels, etc, without too much problem.
The chances of running into a deer up where we were, let alone a moose, was pretty slim.
You would spend a lot of time looking , anmd that means energy.
I'd take a .22 over anything if I had to take but one rifle.
Bin ther, dun that.
Cat
Last edited:
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
I could be a while before you knock down something big, depending on where you are. In a wildnerness surrvival situation one does not always get to pick the spot where thy get "wildernessed"!!
When the temps drop below -20 I'm not going to be running around looking for a big critter to drop.
"you not gonna eat those two rabbit heads"?
Cat
When the temps drop below -20 I'm not going to be running around looking for a big critter to drop.
"you not gonna eat those two rabbit heads"?
Cat
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
In a true survival situation what gets you through is your brain. A crafty fellow short of gear who can think lives, the next guy who has all the supplies he needs to survive in comfort dies because of a bad decision or panic.
My achilles heal is wet weather. I would rather be stranded in -40 weather than stranded with the mercury near freezing in day 3 of a 10 day rain.
A few years ago we went to a place where if the plane crashed you would prefer to die in the crash. Isachsen, on Ellef Ringes Island Nunavut - far enough north that not even grass grows there. Color on the ground is algae, not even moss. No plants - no animals. Multi year sea ice along the coast made sealing unlikely. There is wreckage from 2 crashes there - I shudder to think what that might of been like! I've been dropped off in some pretty desolate places before, but when the Twin Otter left us there, it became very quiet!
My achilles heal is wet weather. I would rather be stranded in -40 weather than stranded with the mercury near freezing in day 3 of a 10 day rain.
A few years ago we went to a place where if the plane crashed you would prefer to die in the crash. Isachsen, on Ellef Ringes Island Nunavut - far enough north that not even grass grows there. Color on the ground is algae, not even moss. No plants - no animals. Multi year sea ice along the coast made sealing unlikely. There is wreckage from 2 crashes there - I shudder to think what that might of been like! I've been dropped off in some pretty desolate places before, but when the Twin Otter left us there, it became very quiet!
Last edited:
One Rifle to Survive with
.... This thread and the topic, really got me thinking ! I still think a .22 would be the way to go, a balance between weight and capability. Assuming that to be reasonable, and recognizing that a fair number of Trappers use the single shot, Cooey and the like, how could one "improve" on the basic s/s .22 ? Substantial sling swivels come to mind, maybe even welded onto the barrel. A larger than stock trigger guard for gloved hands, maybe "glow in the dark" pistol sights set for, 50 yards ? Shorter barrel, 20 inches ? Butt hollowed out for cleaning supplies and some ammunition ? Bigger bolt handle for leverage in the cold ? ...... maybe this could be an interesting, and low cost project, down the road sometime ! ..... David K.
.... This thread and the topic, really got me thinking ! I still think a .22 would be the way to go, a balance between weight and capability. Assuming that to be reasonable, and recognizing that a fair number of Trappers use the single shot, Cooey and the like, how could one "improve" on the basic s/s .22 ? Substantial sling swivels come to mind, maybe even welded onto the barrel. A larger than stock trigger guard for gloved hands, maybe "glow in the dark" pistol sights set for, 50 yards ? Shorter barrel, 20 inches ? Butt hollowed out for cleaning supplies and some ammunition ? Bigger bolt handle for leverage in the cold ? ...... maybe this could be an interesting, and low cost project, down the road sometime ! ..... David K.
