Combat Hunter series: 2. the forager.

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The term combat hunter is indeed a twenty-first century expression… however… every standing army throughout history had foragers and hunters in their ranks… As I said before a Combat Hunter is not just a lean green fighting machine… he or she, is also a forager a path finder, recon, planner, organizer, teacher, guide and a million and one other little things that come up, out in the field… A combat hunter may not be the man in charge but they are the one everyone turns to for advice… when and where to set camp … where to post look outs… the differences between a game trail and a human made one… when not engaged in actual battle, your primary function as a combat hunter is foraging. Supplementing you food supplies… not only feeding yourself but everyone with you too… obviously I cannot teach you to be a real combat hunter with only a few internet posts, but I can impart a few key concepts that can keep you alive in a tight spot… In this lesion I will confine my thoughts to survival in North America… to my friends in Europe the rules are basically the same with only minor adjustments for game and local conditions…

So are you ready… then let us begin…

A man/woman with a full belly can withstand hardships that a starving man could never endure...

Water is generally a problem only in dry country. A man lost in the deserts of the southwest or northern Mexico will be in serious trouble if he doesn't find water…

It is impossible for an uninjured, knowledgeable, and skilled combat hunter to die of hunger in the temperate regions of this continent during the spring, summer, or autumn months. There is just too much food around. Even in winter, there is still plenty of food, but harvesting it is more difficult. Food is likely to be a more serious problem in the Arctic. But even here, a man/woman with a rifle can survive…. If they know how…

The subject of food gathering … hunting, snaring, trapping, fishing, and harvesting edible plants and fruits … is so vast that I can only touch upon it in this section… However, I must state that there are very few creatures on this continent that a man should not eat, and certainly no fresh-water fish that are harmful….

If you ever become lost or stranded in the wilderness, “the, you know what”, really does hit the fan…immediately conserve any emergency rations you may have… If you can add to your food supply by harvesting any animals, fish, or edible plants, do so, even if you expect to be found or rescued the next day... Having an ample supply of food will give you confidence… even if you are not rescued when expected. There is something about having a supply of food that is comforting to the human mind … a sort of hoarding instinct…Besides if things do get dicey… there won’t be anyone coming to save your butt…

It’s all about mind set and using the best survival tool you have… it’s housed between your ears… I know a man who once got lost on a moose hunt. He was scared…but he used his head and kept his cool…

From a high ridge he spotted a fairly large lake and decided that that was where he should stay while waiting to be found. On his way to the lake, he encountered a moose, which he promptly shot. After he dressed the moose and skinned it, keeping the hide intact to use as a blanket, he built a small lean-to against an overgrown tree near the shoreline of the lake. He built three smoke fires and waited. The second day after he was lost, he heard an aircraft. The aircraft spotted his smoke fires, landed on the lake, and rescued him. It even hauled out his quartered moose. The man was at no time worried about not surviving. He knew that he had enough food for a long time and this gave him the confidence he needed to settle down and wait to be rescued…

The flip side is I was personally involved with the rescue/recovery of another lost hunter down in the mountains of northern New Mexico... this man lost his head and spent a week traveling in circles… one big long lazy loop, round and round, bypassing both food and water… before we got to him he died from exposure… don’t lose your head….Think your way through the problem…

EDIBLE PLANTS
Green plants such a spruce tips, willow tips, leaves of Labrador tea, dandelion leaves, and
many others are a good source of vitamin C…. The best way to ingest this is to drink tea
made from such leaves… Rose hips, the fruits of the wild rose, also have a high vitamin C
content…. Another good source of vitamin C is the cambium, the inner layer between the
bark and the wood of poplar, jack pine, and spruce. The flowers of many wild plants in North America are safe to eat. The roots of cattail, wild carrot, tiger lily, lady's slipper, arrowhead plant, vetch, and other plants with thick fibrous roots are good sources of carbohydrates. They can be eaten raw or boiled. The roots of the water lily are edible when boiled twice or even three times, but the water should be changed between boiling’s to remove the acrid flavor…

Greens such as dandelion leaves, young green milkweed pods, young water lily seed pods, the lower inner core of young cattails, and young pigweed can all be eaten raw or stewed.
Fiddleheads, the fronds of ferns, are delicious….

Berries are another source of food. Almost everyone knows the common ones such as
blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, and wintergreen. But be careful with
others unless you can positively identify them. Red and white berries are more prone to
be poisonous than not, unless you know them. Avoid any black or blue colored berries in
bunches. If you come across berries you don't know and want to try them, eat only a few
and wait twenty-four hours for a reaction… Then eat a little more and wait again… If, after
the second twenty-four-hour period, nothing unpleasant has occurred, the berries are
probably safe… Other fruits such as wild cherries, acorns, and nuts of all kinds are safe to
eat….

Among the lower plants, lichens can be eaten. Scrape these off rocks and stumps. They
can be eaten boiled, dried, or dried and powdered, and used in stews and soups…. The
lemon lichen is edible and very common…
Mushrooms should be eaten only by those who know them. Although only a few are poisonous, these can be deadly. Generally speaking, anything that birds and animals eat is likely to be safe for you to eat, but always make the sample-and-wait test before eating something new or unknown. Two very poisonous plants are the baneberry with its cluster of red and white berries and the water hemlock whose purple streaked leaves have a foul odor when crushed.

There are no poisonous plants above the tree line in the Arctic.
The water hemlock is one of the relatively few poisonous plants in the outdoors. Other
deadly plants include some of the mushrooms and the baneberry.

WILDLIFE
Aside from some of the insects, particularly caterpillars, you can eat just about anything
in the way of animal life... Large earthworms, snails, grasshoppers, and crickets are all
edible…
Grasshoppers or locusts have a nutty flavor when roasted, and are considered a
delicacy in the Middle East. Frogs, lizards, and snakes (even the poisonous ones) can also
be eaten. Indeed, snakes are quite tasty… they have fine bones in the mean much the same as a fish…

Mammals, birds, and fish are generally more important to a man trying to survive, if for no other reason than because they are larger and more abundant. While plant materials and some of the invertebrate animals can be gathered with the bare hands, this is not the case for fish, birds, and mammals. You will have to have or make traps, snares, or weapons. Snares and traps are the most effective way of taking small mammals and birds. Rabbits can be easily taken by snares of different types...

The snares should be set on known rabbit runs. These are easy to find in thick cover or when snow is on the ground. Squirrels can also be taken on snares set on leaning poles against trees. It is wise to set two or three snares in succession, because often squirrels travel in pairs…

Big game such as deer can also be snared. There are essentially two types of snares for
this. One is the Apache foot snare which snares the animal's foot and is anchored to a log
which the animal must drag. The other is a neck or head snare set about eighteen inches
off the ground. The noose must be about twenty-four inches in diameter. This snare is
also anchored to a log or a very strong whippy sapling. These snares must be set on
known deer trails.

Snares can be made of almost any kind of rope or wire. Certainly wire snares are superior
to anything else because they are thin, difficult to see, and easy to bend into position. For
big game, the snare has to be very strong because a snared animal will exert a great deal
of force in its frenzy to get away...

Snares for small game can be made from strips of deer skin or moose hide, strong string, or heavy fishing line. I have even used boot laces. Most small game snares are lethal. They kill the animal almost instantly…

Every survival kit should contain a coil or two of snare wire…Fur-bearing animals such as foxes can be taken with a stone beehive trap baited with fish. Dead-fall traps can also be used. Birds can be caught in the Ojibway bird snare. The Canada jay or whiskeyjack is particularly vulnerable. Gulls can be caught on baited fish hooks. Grouse - ruffed, blue, and spruce … can frequently be caught on a noose on a pole. Indeed, often grouse can be killed with rocks. In the wilderness, these birds are usually very trusting. The eggs and young of birds are very nutritious...

Nests of ground-nesting
birds are easy to find on the Arctic islands. Geese can be killed with clubs during their
flightless stage of molt...

Generally mammals cannot be taken without a weapon. A club is the easiest weapon to
make. A club is all a man needs for a porcupine… A rap on the head will kill this spiny
animal instantly... A porcupine should be skinned from its bare belly. If you see porcupine
damage on the branches of trees, watch carefully. You will probably encounter more
porcupines in trees, and they are easily shaken down…

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The only other mammals that can be killed with a club are lemmings and mice.
Lemmings in particular may be a very important source of survival food in the Arctic
Regions... I once saw this movie about a wolf researcher who spent months eating nothing but voles and lemmings…Such aquatic mammals as beavers and muskrats are also easily killed with a club, if you can catch them on shore…. If you see beaver activity, watch carefully. Sit down and wait. Perhaps you can catch one by cutting off its escape route once it goes on land...
Ask me in an IM and I will share with you a great recipe for beaver tail stew.

Other simple weapons are:
Throwing sticks for birds and small mammals, a slingshot made from any rubber or elastic, or even a bow and arrow… But usually these weapons are not very effective and practice is needed with them to achieve a fair degree of proficiency… Still useful tools for a combat hunter when silent kills… is the rule of the day

A firearm is the primary tool of a combat hunter… but when hunting for survival, one must forget any sort of sporting ethic…. Your ability to survive depends on your skill as a hunter… The man/woman who knows intimately the habits and habitat requirements of wildlife is bound to be more successful as a hunter… When the poop hits the fan now is not the time to be squeamish or to debate the morality of taking an innocent animal…

The basic rules of hunting are:

move quietly and slowly; look twice; move upwind or cross wind; watch for game signs such as well-worn game trails, tracks, droppings, feeding activities, dens, holes, and salt licks. In dry country, water holes are good places to wait downwind…

Remember that any bird or mammal can be eaten … even such fur-bearing animals as
mink, martens, fishers, foxes and wolves. The various ground squirrels, marmots, and
woodchucks are all edible. Such animals as otters, lynx, bobcat, and cougar have a
reputation of being very tasty. Owls are said to be indistinguishable from grouse in a stew
pot.

Remember not to waste ammunition…One Shot, one Kill… Kill the biggest animal you can find. Deer, elk, moose, and bears are all very good to eat. So are seal, caribou, muskox, and polar bear in the Arctic regions…As wild boars are in the south

Any sort of firearm is better than none. In an emergency, game can be
killed with a shotgun loaded with bird shot if the hunter can get close enough. Big game
can also be killed with a small-bore rifle such as the common .22 rimfire. However,
center-fire rifles of .30 caliber are the best choice for big game animals, while a twelve gauge
shotgun is the most efficient type of firearm for small game…

But in the real world where the game of life and death is played out every day… the weapon of choice for a combat hunter is every bit as specialized and those made for snipers… Real Marine Combat Hunters are currently issued the HK417 20" or the SA58 FAL Medium Contour Rifle. in 7.62x51mm NATO or .308… 21”… parkerized camo finish… mounted with a specialized Leitz hunting scope, but because this is a dual purpose weapon… Combat and Hunting… they come with 20 round mags… why this weapon, and not a modified M4??? Remember the prime rule of being a combat hunter… not to waste ammunition. Kill the biggest animal you can find. Deer, elk, moose, and bears etc… the smaller 5.56 might be fine for taking varmint size game… but you need something with a lot more kinetic energy to bring down the big boys…
As a side note… the US Marine Corps did place an order to replace all M4’s with the HK 417. Congress killed that plan…


Fish

Fish can be an important source of food. During spawning runs in the spring or fall, many species of fish … pike, trout, char, salmon, and suckers …are particularly vulnerable. Dams of various kinds can be constructed in the shallows to trip or contain the fish. They are also more vulnerable to spearing and snagging at this time. A surprisingly efficient fish spear can be made from a tri-fork of a green hardwood limb that has been baked in a fire to harden. The points should be sharp and, if possible, have barbs…

Of course fish can also be caught on hooks and line. Certainly every personal survival kit
should have strong line, hooks of various sizes, and some artificial lures such as spoons
and spinners… Hooks can also be fashioned from nails, pins, animal bones, and shells...

Metal can be heated in a fire and crude hooks pounded and bent with stones...

Lures can be fashioned from shiny metal. The bowl of a soup spoon makes a very fine fishing spoon once a hook is attached… Did you see my thread on the bottle cap lure…?
Brightly colored bits of cloth and bits of aluminum foil can also be used as lures. Meat of any kind, particularly the less edible parts of fish, and, of course, large insects, frogs, crawfish, and earthworms all make suitable bait…

Fishing with a net is far more effective than fishing with a hook and line. Once the net is set, it works continuously… A net can be set just about anywhere, including under the ice, by being passed from one hole to another with notched sticks. The places to set a net are near steep drop-offs, entrances of weedy bays, stream mouths, and pools below rapids … in short, the kind of places that fish frequent…

Well that’s it for this lesion… I haven’t planned on writing a third part yet but I do have an idea rolling around in my head… Probably dying of loneliness in there all by itself in the dark… anyway I’ll leave it you guys… let me know if you want me to continue with the Combat Hunter series??? Or just go back to covering the basics???

Hey DB. You may want to consider making a video and embedding it that shows how to make snares. They are tricky and take practice. Dead falls and "box traps"(same as your beehive?) are simple, but making actual snares from wire, cordage, or even dental floss(unwaxed) takes practice.

I hope you don't mind if I add a little bit to your thread.



There are a bunch of snare making videos here

Very cool and thank you Daddybare.
I have been extremely interested in making snares,but haven't gotten around to it.
I have plenty of small game on my property that I see all the time.
I guess the question I have is the details of activating the trap.
Spring loaded,weighted,or just simply hanging there.
Like squirrels,I have many that have tore up my apple and pear trees,but I'm not quite ready to eat one yet.
But to be on the path of preparedness,I guess I should try and learn.

reply to post by sonofliberty1776


Thanks for that vid,I understand the loop and after watching a vid from the link you provided,I understand how it operates.

Dont teach everybody to snare. There will be no food left! Joking

Another really easy trick is to get a can like a gallon coffee can. Cut 1/4 of the lid off and bury it into the ground flush. Check on it daily and critters will go in there for shade from the sun.

Have caught frogs, snakes, spiders, many insects, mice in this.

Best thing as a forager is to conserve energy! Let tools work for you 24 hours while you relax and save those precious calories

If you have a 3-4 people or more you can snare an entire edge for about 100yds, then form a horseshoe shaped group a hundred yards from the edge with large sticks and beat the brush driving all of the small animals into the snared edge. You will seldom see them moving ahead of you until you get close to the line. If your drive produced no results move to the end of the line and set up the same horseshoe on the other side of the snares and drive from the other direction. You will learn fast where they are at various times of the day and drive from the active side with some practice, but driving from both sides of an active edge will bag the smaller game. When your buying quality snares spend an equal or greater amount on ground anchors. That way you can easily cover every run, even if there are no saplings or other types of snare anchors. I have used braided dacron line in earth tones and anchors made from green wood that has been sharpened then fire cured, and a very hard fire cured stick to drive them in.

The benefits are:
1. No worries about seasoning or human odors on the snares.
2. Collecting all of the small game at one time with the smallest expenditure of energy.
3. It only takes two drives at the most if game is present with fresh sign.
4. You dont lose any snares because they are always worked in a line and easy to pick up.

This is of course probably illegal in all 50 states and should only be done for survival purposes. you should also put as much distance as possible between drive sites as you will strip the wildlife and it wont recover. Good conservation practices should be in order, even in a survival situation.

One more thing. Carry a small steel latrine shovel to recover your anchors. But I guess if you ever have to do this you would figure that part out real quick.

reply to post by Shadowalker


Great info when the time comes.
Actually I have two hav-a hart traps,cages.
One big for a good size raccoon,which I have caught many and have relocated,and a small one with double entrance for squirrels and such.
If needed ,I will utilize the info here.
Thanks guys.

Thanks DB and everyone else who has added to this thread. Good info.

One of these days I'm going to get around to making a thread about tracking but I think I better get myself a video camera first.
Did you do search and rescue mantracking DB or just join in a search?
Thanks again.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Thanks DB and everyone else who has added to this thread. Good info.

One of these days I'm going to get around to making a thread about tracking but I think I better get myself a video camera first.
Did you do search and rescue mantracking DB or just join in a search?
Thanks again.

Well tracking is an Apache tradition ya know.... now where did I leave my glasses???

I was part of the New Mexico mountain search and rescue team for several years...

Later I volunteered with the NM State police mounted patrol... they do much the same thing... with other add on's like crowd control come state fair time... and a shiny badge that impresses the ladies

you know most states have these kind of organizations... and they are great places to learn your outdoorsmanship skills...with other very experienced and dedicated men and women...

I always get a chuckle when I hear folks talk about not knowing what to look for when foraging.

Had it not been for being raised by my grandfather, I would have been in bad shape in Southeast Asia.

The human body was designed to forage a few million years ago. However we currently live on the cultivation of about twenty different plants species and their varieties.

We choose our food more on it's appearance far more than it's real value.

Originally posted by kdog1982
Very cool and thank you Daddybare.
I have been extremely interested in making snares,but haven't gotten around to it.
I have plenty of small game on my property that I see all the time.
I guess the question I have is the details of activating the trap.
Spring loaded,weighted,or just simply hanging there.
Like squirrels,I have many that have tore up my apple and pear trees,but I'm not quite ready to eat one yet.
But to be on the path of preparedness,I guess I should try and learn.

For squirrels you need to set up a few Squirrel poles... just remember to cover your pole in offset snares...

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get it now????

Always use wire for snares .020 stainless for squirrel poles... slightly thicker wire for bigger critters... why wire...
it can be bent and shaped and will hold itself open...
A quick trip to your local hardware store will get you everything you need... and you dont need much... besides a good pair of pliers and a few odds and ends
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I forgot the most important part.

YES, we want part 3, as soon as you get some time.

Another very effective tactic is to use your trotlines on land and heavily anchor them is several spots. On land you want to use #6 or 8 or 12 baitholder hooks and leaders in the 2' range. This will pick up ducks and waterfowl close to the water. Other types of game further out in the woods edges.

The downside:
requires bait
Is easy for other humans to spot, and steal game or gear.
constant pulling frays the dropper lines and risks escape.

Upside:
set up and walk away.

If you find the hooks missing, you have rodents with sharp teeth, and a place to set up snares.

I have a question. I reread, My Side of the Mountain. The book said to watch what the animals eat regarding leaves,berries and such. It makes sense because currently the birds are wiping out our choke cherries but are there lists of wild plants that a human should not eat vs. what an animal will?

Originally posted by AuntB
I have a question. I reread, My Side of the Mountain. The book said to watch what the animals eat regarding leaves,berries and such. It makes sense because currently the birds are wiping out our choke cherries but are there lists of wild plants that a human should not eat vs. what an animal will?

Originally posted by AuntB
I have a question. I reread, My Side of the Mountain. The book said to watch what the animals eat regarding leaves,berries and such. It makes sense because currently the birds are wiping out our choke cherries but are there lists of wild plants that a human should not eat vs. what an animal will?

Asktheanimals is your go too guy for all things green and good to eat... maybe we can talk him into shareing a few good idea's... lot's of books out there
The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and Central North America
Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide
this one I keep in my pack...Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants
and of course the classic...Stalking the Wild Asparagus


here's a link

Wild Edible Plants
Blueberry (fruit)
Garlic Mustard (green plant)
Gooseberries (fruits)
Indian Cucumber Root (tubers)
Jerusalem Artichoke (tubers)
Mayapple (fruit)
Nettles (young whole plant) (& cordage)
Ostrich Fern (fiddleheads) (young plants)
Trout Lily (tubers)
Wild Carrot (roots)
Wild Garlic (whole plant)
Wild Leeks (whole plant)
Agave Root (root)

Wild Edible Fungi

A Note on Eating Alder Catkins - by Storm

At Home In The Wilderness Part V: Edible Plants
by Tom Brown Jr., from Mother Earth News, Issue #75

Originally posted by AuntB
I have a question. I reread, My Side of the Mountain. The book said to watch what the animals eat regarding leaves,berries and such. It makes sense because currently the birds are wiping out our choke cherries but are there lists of wild plants that a human should not eat vs. what an animal will?

Animal watching is a wonderful way to learn many things but sadly not what you can eat in the wild. Many animals and birds can eat plants and mushrooms that would kill a human while suffering no ill effects themselves. There really is no substitute for a good book and my recommendation is the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants which is the only book on the subject I have found that does not contain major errors of some sort. The only drawback is that most of the plants listed are found in the Eastern US, though the range of some is throughout the Continental US.

There are 4 groups that one can eat safely that are widely distributed and they are:

Acorns - though somewhat bitter the tannins that cause this can be removed by repeated boilings. Chopping or crushing them first helps the process along. When changing water make sure you put the acorns in to a fresh batch of water that is already boiling as putting them in to cold water tends to "fix" the tannins in. Acorns are very high in fats and protein and can be dried and ground in to a flour for use like regular wheat flour.

Grasses - There are only a very, very few types of poisonous grasses and most of them grow on continents other than North America. You can eat the seeds that are not black or purple. Yellow, brown, red and green seeds are all safe and like acorns can be dried and ground for later use as flour. Also chewing grasses and swallowing the juices can give you some nutrients, just don't swallow grasses as our digestive systems are not made for digesting materials high in cellulose.

Cattails - The rootstocks can be crushed in water, allowed to settle. Repeat process as necessary to remove indigestible plant material. what settles at the bottom of the pot is starch that can be dried and again used as flour. The young shoots up to about a foot tall can be peeled and boiled. What you are eating is the central white core of the shoot. This is called "Cossack Asparagus" by some. Also the yellow pollen that grows at the top of the stalks can be shook in to a bag and collected and used as flour or soup thickener. Lastly, you might find whitish lumps growing on the tops of the rootstocks. These are corms that are rich in proteins and will later grow in to new shoots. Just boil and eat like potatoes.

Pine trees - Pine needles can be boiled to make a tea very high in vitamin C. They can also be chewed like grasses and again do not swallow the leaves. Pine cones contain nutritious nuts though some species have seeds so small they're not worth the effort. You never know until you try them unless you are an expert already on pine trees. Some species like the Pinon Pine have large nuts like the ones you buy in the grocery store. Those do not grow in the Easter US unfortunately. In a true starvation situation Pine bark can be stripped and the stringy inner cambium layer can be dried and ground in to flour.

Just learning the Big 4 will get you by in many situations but for long term survival you will need a larger plant base to draw food from. There is no substitute for learning them and there are people who teach classes on the subject. Avoid all mushrooms as one mistake can cost you your life.

Here's thread I did that you might find helpful - Wild Edible Plants Safe Gathering and Usage - www.abovetopsecret.com...

I hope that helps.

Cheers,
Asktheanimals

ETA I forgot to say that My Side of the Mountain was what got me started learning wild edible plants. That was back when I was 8 or 9 years old

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Ya know birds wont touch the wild plums I got in my back yard...
but I do and man do they make tasty jam....

There are foods we eat animals wont touch so keep that in mind too...

thanks for helping us out bud... and since you brought up acorns...

Apache Acorn Soup


3 lb Stew beef 2 qt Water
1 ts Pepper 1 ts Salt
1 c Ground acorn meal

Cover beef with water and bring to boil in a heavy pot. Simmer until
done; add salt and pepper as meat cooks tender. Remove beef and chop on a
flat stone until split in shreds. The meat broth continues to cook
vigorously while meat and acorn flour (meal) are mixed together. Apaches
stress that their food is always well done; no instant cooking. Broth,
meat and meal simmer together until the broth bubbles creamy white with
yellow flecks, pleasantly acorn scented and flavored.

Daddybear & Ask the Animals- thank you both so much. I have put all the books on my list. I have found that the East tends to have more edible plants. I like the grass suggestion. I am unsure if I could ever eat a wild mushroom, my Mom put the fear into me when I was young.

Thanks for the acorn recipe, if I can find an acorn or two I would try to sneak it past the family.