SHTF Hunting In Calgary. At What Point Is It Viable?

What about a bow I have one just for hunting in that situation
Or even a cross bow for the lazy people lol

One trick I have for urban small animals that are used to being fed by humans, is to use a baited fishing line and hook. Bait them with a few bread crumbs to get them used to you. Then offer the baited hook. Pull them in quick and knock them out with a club. Quickly put it into a pack so no one notices what you have done. This is good for gophers , ducks and geese, squirrels, pigeons, carp, even seagulls but you want to fully skin them to avoid lice and the like. Any scavenger must be cooked thoroughly.
Do not do crows or the other crows will stalk and harass you for life.

I agreed that if a long-term crisis strikes, large game hunting, traditional game species, and conventional hunting methods may not be viable unless big, big portions of the population have fallen. I'm of mixed minds about fishing due to wastes that are likely to be increasingly dumped or washed into waterways. On the other hand, in the interim trash will build up and you may see increased pest animals coming in and breeding from lack of trash pickup and other waste disposals.

In addition to the crossbow for larger species and the hook-bat theory, there is also the rat trap theory for small birds and rodents. They can be set up near home and with small amounts of bait. They're not super quiet, but they're not gunshot loud. I'm not a huge fan of slingshots because they take a LOT of practice and require the ability to either be super fast and sometimes steady for a while until critters walk into range, but an air pistol - especially a pump or single-cock rifle instead of a CO2 cartridge that has to be replaced - may be viable. The single shot pellet guns are likely to be the last thing we're all allowed to own, too. 🙂

There's also some netting options and the theory of stocking a couple bags of birdseed and rigging a live trap for pigeons and doves. You feed them and provide them with a box, big cage and food for a while, wait until they have a nest, and then start opening the door in the morning. They'll go forage and feed themselves and come back to feed the young. Once they've established the cage as their home, they'll return and in 6-9 months the babes are plump and there's a constant source of protein that's feeding itself except for those initial few bags or months. It doesn't require starting ahead of time, just sticking aside a good sized cage and 50-100# of seed that can always be used as bait for rodents and songbirds or traded as chicken feed if the pigeons don't ever show up in the live trap.

I like the bow/crossbow idea as a weapon option the most, but the "outsmarting" approaches seem to be best. With a city based SHTF, the small animals would be, we will say "darwined", and less susceptible to becoming an easy catch. I would almost think of it like marketing. Your only chance of having sustainable hunting would be to somehow convince the critters that your location is the location to be/scavenge. Otherwise there are too few critters per area, making it unpractical. A way you can solve the scarcity issue is like how MrsPrepwPets suggested, you have food, the critters dont, they want the food, so give them some. You essentially become the "walmart" to the critters and everyone comes to you. Supply and Demand is the best weapon you could have in that situation. Use your stocks to your advantage and essentially make your food work for you like it was money. Good post by the way. A good topic to touch on.

Well look at it this way 2 day old coyote is better than 3 day old coyote

Just get a proper air gun an know how to service it with hand pump and cast shot, this cross bow/ bow crap is stupid unless you can devote time to it (bow) and make new arrows/bolts and strings http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/outlaws.html is a proper air gun in and in a bind if i can kill a buffalo i am sure it can work wonders on other pests.

super quiet

as for easy hunting if you got a gun they have a zoo.

and for god sakes learn edible plants from natives only dumb ass white people starve from lack of food... most of you dont know what to eat or how to prep it.

and which prepper has less than few years of food and can really call themselves a prepper? Come on whole grains rice sugar and bean last decade when done right.

the idea of fishing.... i hope no one thinks of using a fishing line .... it is not a sport it is food so as fast as you can get it... use a pressure wave to fish causing fish to float and scoop off the top.

next thing is know what are 21 day instant crops for growing inside any time of year using green house methods, yes you can grow mid winter in Alberta the quansets do it all the time learn why and how before you need to

have a salt lick chained out and watch the animals come to you for a measly 30 dollars

When I Google "instant crops" all I get is video games 😛 Nice huh?

Great replies so far guys, lots to think about.

I'm afraid to see what an instant crop video game is. 🙂

Lots of lettuce, especially the ones designed for cutting - called loose leaf or cutting, sometimes trimming and once in a while just leaf lettuce - tend to sprout and grow quickly. Any lettuce can be treated the same way, but some that are designed to be larger heads will be slower to grow. It can take 3-4 weeks initially. You can sometimes see better results from low-light in winter and the limited angles of a window by selecting the varieties that are intended for over-wintering and more northern climates with less light and those for shorter growing seasons. Although it means stockpiling more, "fast crops" or "quick crops" are where it might be worth mixing hybrids into the heirlooms (hybrid-heirloom is a totally different nugget than organic and GMO, BTW). They tend to be a little faster off the mark.

By pinching and trimming, especially if you leave a full leaf or two each time from the cluster, every week or two once they get going you'll have a new supply. They're low on calories and contain few proteins and no fats. They will, however, fill the belly and many of the cutting/leaf lettuces will be fine in a brownie or lasagna sized pan with an inch or so of soil. Baby spinach varieties are another.

There are also a wealth of small cabbages, usually the slender, upright Oriental cabbages, that can be grown in 30-45 days, although they require more soil. Radishes are a 21 day crop but they, too, need more soil. With spinach and lettuce and other greens, you can plant in high density and eat the ones you pluck out to make more growing room. Adding coffee grounds and tea leaves to the soil as you drink through the stocks can help keep limited soil amounts going.

You can also look into microgreens and sprouts for super-fast crops. Chia takes longest, 10-20 days for sprouts and microgreens, but usually the leafy skinny vegetative sprouts are ready in a week or so and only need a paper towel and a mister bottle. Some beans will take longer. You can also sprout wheat to make it easier to digest and to convert some of the carbs into a vegetative state, which makes it easier on people who are mildly wheat sensitive and mild diabetics.

This might help. http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Fresh-Garden-Edibles-Spaces/dp/1580115128

Preppersaurus

Long term bug in at home is going to be a tuff go for everyone even if you have a Prepper Palace and an organized group.
Now if you are near or in a large urban area such as Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer or anywhere else in the QEII corridor it will be feast or famine. Even many places like Bonnyville, Fort McMurry, Grande Prairie and many other towns will be unkind places to try to live in.
All the previous threads and discussions on this network and similar ones have made the points.
The point made early in this thread about edible game being thinned out quick is what I believe to be the truth.
Being strong and healthy will become a detriment in a large population. Cooking smells are far more dangerous than a gunshot heard from the same distance.
If things have not improved within the first three days it will be time to bug out and I think you will still be able to if you are organized even on foot.
If the world returns to normal then someday you can move back to the town or city you love, but if it’s real SHTF then small secluded groups in a good hiding place will be where people are successfully gathering small game and living off it.
Gather the small game for each meal as you travel during bug out.
That’s my opinion.

This is a great thread. I think that anywhere near a large population will be a threat, no matter how you prepare. One must conceal crops, cook indiscreetly, in the winter months, wood heat would attract desperate people. Wild game would be hunted to the brink of extinction within months. Water would be a major concern. One thing I have always thought about... a bit off the wall, but would like to get some other opinions. Do you remember the Lodgepole oil well blowout back in the 80's? So, in an immediate catastrophe, with the hundreds of wells being actively worked over daily... what would happen to the environment across Alberta, if there were a sudden catastrophe? As well, what about the active wells that are already completed, but flowing? How would we close these all in and secure them. We have all seen what one blowout or pipeline leak can do... there are tens of thousands of wells in this province, what are the failsafes? Sorry, a bit of a tangent, but this question has always been in the back of my mind.

Masterchief;
I think that question about the wells and blow-outs is better addressed in another discussion thread entirely devoted to it.
If you start one, re-posting your concerns there, I will respond with my two cents there, given that I presently work in the Oil Services sector here.
NOTE: More my present concern is; what happens if the refineries in Edmonton go "KaBoom" or release a large quantity of H2S, since I live within a 5km radius of two of such refineries here.

Masterchief;
I think that question about the wells and blow-outs is better addressed in another discussion thread entirely devoted to it.
If you start one, re-posting your concerns there, I will respond with my two cents there, given that I presently work in the Oil Services sector here.
NOTE: More my present concern is; what happens if the refineries in Edmonton go "KaBoom" or release a large quantity of H2S, since I live within a 5km radius of two of such refineries here.

Given the refinery mess in Texas last summer and even the "Hub Oil" explosion here in Calgary a decade or more ago I think you and MasterChief have hit upon an issue that warrants serious consideration. I don't really go for the, "Will we be able to hunt in the city when society collapses" threads. It seems a bit too much like prepper masterbation to me. (not that there is anything wrong with that...)

Why worry about hunting. Just walk up to a cow and hit it over the head. Way more cows, pigs, goats and sheep then there is wildlife.