There was a time when there was an inherent ‘Plan B’ for almost anyone. Given all sorts of possible disasters, a person could load up their family and a few posessions and drive up past the end of a dirt road. There, they could stake out a future in the wilderness and make due with what they could catch, gather and kill for quite a long time.
I’m here to tell you that that window of opportunity has closed. This is no longer a viable ‘Plan B’ for anyone that doesn’t own a really large plot of land with fences around it and sharpshooters to protect it. In short, unless you are already rich and have the means to bug out to another country anyway, you are screwed.
First off, there is insufficient unoccupied land to support a hunter-gatherer lifestyle for humans. Nearly all the productive land has already been turned into cities, farms and suburbs. The remainder is almost all sufficiently desolate that the heat, cold and lack of water will make it uninhabitable for all but the most hardy and fit. (i.e. maybe one in a thousand people)
Second, Even those who have personally and recently hunted and butchered an animal for food are going to find that that skill set isn’t going to be that useful. If Armageddon started today, one of the first things that would happen would be a huge traffic jam up every back road, scenic byway and 4×4 trail in the land.
You can bet that every bit of furry wildlife in any wilderness area accessible to humans (which is pretty much everywhere) will be executed within a the first few months. There are too many mouths to feed and too little protein per square mile when all the folks with guns and ammo and half a plan leave town at once.
Before long, the biggest threat will be from other humans trying to take your food, your supplies and even your life. Even presuming you can get over this hump, you’ll find that the lack of medical care and clean water will soon become primary problems rather than conveniences that are taken for granted.
Like all rules, there will be exceptions. Don’t count on being the exception. Your best bet is to work hard to make your community self-sufficient, to volunteer for the common defense and to oppose all calls for rule by force and suspension of civil rights.
Heresies.org 
Yep. I have hunted and fished, I was even the guy leading the wild edibles nature hikes for a couple of years. I guarantee there is no cheeseburger tree.
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Yep. I have hunted and fished, I was even the guy leading the wild edibles nature hikes for a couple of years. I guarantee there is no cheeseburger tree. When all the game is gone (if not sooner) It’s dogs and cats, then other people.
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Thanks for taking the time to comment. I am rather concerned that desperate people will make a lot of trouble for those who try to keep some kind of society functional. I hope to discourage people from making the kinds mistakes that will make them desperate when the music stops.
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We can hope. I read a book about the goshute a few years ago, they were described in period sources as “the laziest people on the planet.” During the summer, They would sit in a shady spot, and move as little as possible. See, the thing is, they didn’t have to replace the calories they weren’t burning, and in the hot and dry, sources of food are few and far between. I’m seeing a lot of hot and dry these days…
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