SHTF Survival Hunting, Wilderness Survival, Foraging, and Other Survival Skills

The term SHTF survival is probably something you’ve seen, even if you are fairly new to the world of prepping and survival. Or you may be more familiar with the actual words represented by the acronym “SHTF” when someone on a forum or a group says something about “when the poo hits the fan”. Of course, they don’t use “poo”.

But what exactly is meant by the term varies by each person, depending on the most likely scenario that could impact their life in a negative way. For some this could be job loss or divorce, while for others it might be ground zero in a hurricane, tornado or earthquake.

However, still others are preparing for a time when there is a complete societal breakdown, either due to an economic and dollar crash, some kind of nuclear exchange, another black plague, or even an EMP. Whatever it is would result in a real TEOCAWAKI (the end of civilization as we know it) event.

Something like that means no banks, no grocery stores, no fuel deliveries, no electricity, no doctors, no law enforcement…no or limited government. (I know, some people are just waiting for that day!). While this kind of change might seem to some, impossible to survive, others know that SHTF survival is entirely possible.

When All Fails

Of course those who plan on surviving such a long-term apocalyptic event realize that at some point, no matter how much you stock up now, some people may have to return to hunting and foraging to survive. Even with a large enough group of people to allow for farming, gardening and raising livestock, being able to utilize some basic skills of our unsettled ancestors might come in handy. SHTF survival skills like:

• Hunting
  
• Trapping
  
• Fishing
  
• Tanning hides
  
• Foraging
  
• Tracking
  
• Snares
  
• Butchering
  

Don’t Wait to Learn SHTF Survival

You do not want to wait until you are in a SHTF survival situation to try and learn how to set a trap, catch a fish or tan hides. Instead, now is the time to learn those necessary skills. “But how?!” I can hear someone wailing right now.

Practice doing, and don’t depend on learning everything by watching Youtube videos.

• Safety - Take a gun safety course
  
• Go Hunting - Find someone (a family member, a co-worker, a church member, a friend) to take you hunting…after you learn how to handle a gun safely
  
• Take a Trapping Class – Most state Fish and Wildlife agencies will offer the U.S. Trapper Education Course. Check with your state
  
• Learn to Fish – Again most states’ Departments of Fish and Wildlife or the U.S. Department of Natural Resources offer classes on fishing. Then again, don’t be afraid to hang around the nearest bait shop or fishing hole and just start asking questions. You might also be surprised to learn that one of your aging relatives would love to pass on his/her love of fishing. Of course, this includes learning to bait the hook and clean the fish afterwards.
  
• Tanning Hides – This is probably something you can learn by watching Youtube videos or reading books, as long as you put into practice what you are learning. If you’re not a hunter find someone who raises meat rabbits and ask to buy a couple of hides from them the next time they butcher. Most will gladly sell you the hide. You might even be able to watch the butchering and learn a second skill at the same time.
  
• Foraging Ahead – While books are handy, especially for plant identification, check with your local community college or extension office for courses on wild plant foraging and edible wild plant identification.
  

Another great source for some of these skills might be in your very own families. Contrary to popular culture some of those old folks are a wealth of information and could be all that stands between dying of starvation in a SHTF survival world and surviving and passing on to the next generation.

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