For a number of years, I and a number of friends held a fall 18th Century camping weekend that we called the Hunt Or Starve! We drove into the campsite with all our gear, but could not bring any food along - only some spices, a little flour, some dry beans, and some cooking oil. (And our beverages of choice - of course!) If you wanted to have anything to eat, you had to hunt/fish/gather it! We held this in late October or early November - so various hunting/trapping seasons were open.
When you put yourself into that type of situation, it has a way of really focusing your attention! There were few plants to "gather" at that time, but we did usually get some cattail and arrowhead roots, even some Jerusalem Artichokes. Apples were usually too far gone (any that the deer had left), and we were actively competing with the squirrels for walnuts and hazelnuts. Of course, we also actively hunted those squirrels, rabbits, grouse, pheasant, racoon, opposum, and some assorted other critters. We even picked up the occasional fish or dug a turtle out of the mud. Deer and Turkey were out of season at that time.
But mostly we were just ... hungry! A dozen or more people suddenly playing hunter/gatherer in a small area at the end of Fall just don't come up with much. But it was a great learning experience. And the consequences of missing a shot or losing a fish really sunk in to our dim brains. At least we had an assortment of ... adult beverages ... to help ease our discomfort.
I'm sometimes amazed at all the ways we've come up with to torture ourselves - and that we survived them! We sure grumbled back then when we were "living it", but now we mostly laugh at outselves and that "shared trevail".
Mikey - that grumpy ol' blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
