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What's the difference between a hunting rifle with ammo and a primitively musket or muzzle loader? They both go boom. They would both be used for game. I'll pass on the older less accurate relic.
A bow on the other hand is totally different. Just ordered some for the family a couple of days ago. Would like to start using them on grouse.
Much attention is given modern firearms when people talk about being prepared for a survival situation. I've given a bit of thought over to other equipment, given factoring in the area I look to as a fall back point should some disaster or another force me to seek solitude. There is good water and game in this area, and I have a goodly amount of provisions for a protracted stay. I have used the place as a hunting base for many years and have often just gone there to get away from things.
Should a very extended saty be required I have put in a goodly supply of things to keep my bows in the game. Extra string, arrow making and repair supplies and such. My bows are both traditional. 55 and 60 # longbows respectively. Quite capable of bringing meat to the fire from squirrels up to elk should their services be required. I've put up a good supply of new shafts, fletching and make my own tips so thus have a good amount of arrows at hand.
I went with the longbows for the sake of rugged simplicity, and the ability to use wooden shafts. Compound bows need aluminum or composite shafts and tend to not work well with wood. So I stayed old school.
For BP outfitting, I have a brace of 1860 Army Colts, 44 cal, with extra cylinders and a supply of fix it parts. Mainsprings, cylinder latches etc. I also have a 50 ca Kentucky single shot percussion and a rifle to match. I have five pounds of ffg, and scads of caps plus pre made projectiles and lead alloy to cut new shot from in goodly amounts. These guns and the bows will be my primary hunting weapons. I'll save my modern guns and ammunition for other purposes.
I've come to believe that for true survival needs archery and BP should not be overlooked. Traditional archery in particular is a low maintenance and reliable option to have in the stash of stuff when talking about weapons. Arrows are reusable and easy enough to make, even if it came down to using native materials on hand to do so. BP is easy to stock up a LOT of shooting for, and drives one to proficiency. One shot, make it count and stalk up as close as possible to take your bag. My single shot pistol will handily take a deer within the 50 to 75 yard range and shots with the rifle are totally within reason at 200.
For shear survival needs, and being able to maintain a supply of shots BP is a good option. So, anyone else have a mindset geared toward more ...primitive...options for backup in the survival gear? I know were I to be spending a protracted period of time living at my fallback spot, I could augment my food supply quite well with such gear, and last for quite a spell. I'm not thinking about combat here. Don't plan on a militaristic type scenario where I'm engaging with enemy forces. Just keeping meat hanging and curing. True self sufficiency. Such equipment kept people alive and not hungry for a LONG time before cartriges were invented and optical sighting became the norm. To my mind, having the ability to go back to basics is not something that should be overlooked. What says the gallery?
There are a lot of options in the muzzle loading area now. I stay with the original style with a side hammer that uses percussion caps. These modern in lines are just about as good as most cartridge rifles. They use a shotgun primer, have means for optical sighting and are quite accurate. The limitations with any muzzle loader is the type of powder being used. BP does not push a projectile to the velocities of smokeless, so bigger projectiles must be used.
However, even with my period style Kentucky long rifle in 50 cal, I can handily take a buck at 200 yards. I use a trick with modern 45 cal projectiles (my favorite being the Hornady 300 gr XTP for the 45 Colt) patched to match the bore. An 80 gr charge of fffG will send this downrange with excellent force and precision. My Son uses the same trick with his Hawken, and the Hawken can take a bigger powder charge. Quite a bit bigger actually, and dropping a big buck in his tracks at 200 yard is well within reason. It will even drop a much bigger animal like an elk just as well with proper shot placement. In either his or my rifle. Either gun will take any animal we will encounter around here with alacrity.
And laying in a lot of shooting is cheap and easy to do. We both have more modern style iron sights on these rifles that are adjustable for windage and elevation without having to drift them. That is one modern modification I find is advantageous.
My bows are straight up traditional. No gears or pulleys. My Son uses compounds. He has my compound which I gave up in favor of utter simplicity. I make all my own arrows. I can forge points of all manner of style and purpose using just my Mapp gas torch and a supply of steel spikes. I have bundles of pre made shafts, fletching and knocks, but have been known to use materials off the land as well. Just so I know I can. That's the advantage the longbows have over the compounds. Compounds will split wooden shafts, necessitating using aluminum or composite, which is much more expensive to stock up on. However I have to admit that compounds are a lot easier to use and a lot flatter shooting than my longbows.
At any rate, I know we can survive off the land quite well without having to raid the stores of modern ammunition for our modern weapons. As has been mentioned the bows are also nice and quiet, and won't tip us off to anyone who may be looking. Modern materials have made primitive weapons much more effective, and I've found them to be a handy thing to have in our gear.
There is a large community of traditional bow makers and hunters. I have made almost a dozen longbows myself if you include a couple that I haven't finished.
The advantages to knowing how to make a bow, strings, and arrows are numerous. Considering that high poundage bows can be made from nearly any hardwood species and materials for strings, arrow shafts, and points are exceedingly common and can be made without specialized equipment, the sustainability factor is obvious.
Also, the bow is far stealthier than firearms if betraying your location while practicing or hunting is a consideration. Finally, the skills needed to successfully still hunt with a bow, including tracking, awareness, and silent movement, have much higher tolerances than the hunting with a rifle, whether still or in a blind, which is valuable in general for being undetected by any species including other humans.
By all means have good archery skills as a backup. I believe that a cross bow to be more accurate when it comes to hitting a mark.
If you are concerned about losing composite arrows used with a cross bow, I use a combination of hay bails that make bolt recovery easy. When practicing long range shooting, put two to four hay bails behind the target. Behind that stack four more bails with a gap of two feet between the front bails and the rear bails. I guarantee that if you are not too far away from the target and miss the foam block entirely the bold will be easily retrieved from the front of the rear bails.
Crossbows are ok, but I find them rather clumsy. They are easier to shoot accurately I would say, but tend to be on the heavy side. I'll stay with my Kentucky rifle for primitive shoulder fired options. The longbow or BP would be better for slinking about through heavier cover as well. Less protruding stuff for things to get hung up on. As things are in the area I would be should I need to subsistence hunt, I would still hunt with my bows, staking out food and water sources. Most stalking hunts would be done with my BPs. With their much greater range and knock down power.
Archery hunting is hard work. The animal does not usually just drop as when hit by a heavy slug and one ends up tracking a blood trail. I will never take a shot with either bow or rifle that I am not certain I can't put straight into the vitals. With a bow, shot placement is even more key. Mere inches count. One is not counting on the shock factor and energy transfer as with a heavy slug.
Crossbows are ok, but I find them rather clumsy. They are easier to shoot accurately I would say, but tend to be on the heavy side. I'll stay with my Kentucky rifle for primitive shoulder fired options. The longbow or BP would be better for slinking about through heavier cover as well. Less protruding stuff for things to get hung up on. As things are in the area I would be should I need to subsistence hunt, I would still hunt with my bows, staking out food and water sources. Most stalking hunts would be done with my BPs. With their much greater range and knock down power.
Archery hunting is hard work. The animal does not usually just drop as when hit by a heavy slug and one ends up tracking a blood trail. I will never take a shot with either bow or rifle that I am not certain I can't put straight into the vitals. With a bow, shot placement is even more key. Mere inches count. One is not counting on the shock factor and energy transfer as with a heavy slug.
Spoken like someone who has actually used a bow.
Shot placement is paramount no matter what weapon you use. The better you know your weapon, and how to use it, the better your chances of success. I've seen too many people overbowed that can't hit anything, or shooting a rifle that is far more than needed for what they're hunting, they end up wasting most of the meat because it's been turned into jelly from the massive shock.
A real hunter knows the animal, their weapon, and their own capabilities. In an emergency, your skills and abilities are all you have to depend on. Looking at alternatives before you need them is just good sense.
Shot placement is paramount no matter what weapon you use. The better you know your weapon, and how to use it, the better your chances of success. I've seen too many people overbowed that can't hit anything, or shooting a rifle that is far more than needed for what they're hunting, they end up wasting most of the meat because it's been turned into jelly from the massive shock.
A real hunter knows the animal, their weapon, and their own capabilities. In an emergency, your skills and abilities are all you have to depend on. Looking at alternatives before you need them is just good sense.
Oh, I've seen some people seriously overgun for what they are hunting. One guy I knew used a 300 HH for mule deer. Wow. Honestly, there isn't much of anything in N Am a good ol' 30 06 won't take. When hunting with my Kentucky, I work as hard as I can to be able to take a neck shot. A solid neck hit will drop an animal in its tracks an saves a lot of meat.
I have hunted feral hog and all in all, I think they were about the toughest animal I've ever aspired to stock the freezer with. I wish we had them around here. Those were the best hunts of my life, and the meat is awesome. With my bow I would stake out the spring wallow where I hunted and get in a tree. So I could add the downward angle to the momentum of my shot, and of course to be safe should the animal turn on me. A vey real probability with hogs and a bow. I wanted to ensure driving the broadhead into the heart/lung area for as fast a bleed out as possible.
I've seen hogs hit right through the boiler with a 12 ga slug run better than 200 yards through the manzanita. The surface shock was there but not enough penetration.
Oh, I've seen some people seriously overgun for what they are hunting. One guy I knew used a 300 HH for mule deer. Wow. Honestly, there isn't much of anything in N Am a good ol' 30 06 won't take. When hunting with my Kentucky, I work as hard as I can to be able to take a neck shot. A solid neck hit will drop an animal in its tracks an saves a lot of meat.
I have hunted feral hog and all in all, I think they were about the toughest animal I've ever aspired to stock the freezer with. I wish we had them around here. Those were the best hunts of my life, and the meat is awesome. With my bow I would stake out the spring wallow where I hunted and get in a tree. So I could add the downward angle to the momentum of my shot, and of course to be safe should the animal turn on me. A vey real probability with hogs and a bow. I wanted to ensure driving the broadhead into the heart/lung area for as fast a bleed out as possible.
I've seen hogs hit right through the boiler with a 12 ga slug run better than 200 yards through the manzanita. The surface shock was there but not enough penetration.
Hogs are tough, no question, but they're smart, adaptable, prolific, and even though they are dangerous, they would be one of the last species available in a cataclysm.
Funny you should mention them in conjunction with primitive weapons as in the past year I've gotten orders for several boar spears. I wouldn't want to have to use them, but that's the way the old aristocracy in Europe used to hunt them.
So I guess if absolutely necessary, it could work.
Hogs are tough, no question, but they're smart, adaptable, prolific, and even though they are dangerous, they would be one of the last species available in a cataclysm.
Funny you should mention them in conjunction with primitive weapons as in the past year I've gotten orders for several boar spears. I wouldn't want to have to use them, but that's the way the old aristocracy in Europe used to hunt them.
So I guess if absolutely necessary, it could work.
A local I met when vacationing on Kuaui did the native style hunting for hogs. Drop on them out of a tree with a spear or a big knife and go Tarzan. He said anytime we wanted to go just holler and he'd take us. My son wants to go quite badly. lol, This kind of stuff is right up his alley. Hopefully soon I can afford to take us back. Personally, I'll stick with my bow, I'm a bit busted up to be playing Tarzan these days. My son in only 21 so he's a game rooster. I'll watch, and back him up. I'm working on a spear for him, and already made a knife.
That he'll do it I have no doubt. Crazy little cowboy.
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