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Squirrels n Such: 3 Reasons to Depend on Small Game in an Emergency

If you are a fan of old western movies, then you’ll remember the line in The Outlaw Josey Wales where one of the members of the cavalry unit, who is surrendering after the war, is told to turn in his rifle along with his two horse pistols. With a look of sheer unbelief he says to the Union officer: “I’ll be needin this… fer squirrels n such”. 

Needless to say, beyond great scope and setting, there was a lot of wisdom in that narrative. Because the truth of the matter is that rodentia are a viable means of food across the world.  The Rodentia includes beavers, muskrats, porcupines, woodchucks, chipmunks, squirrels, prairie dogs, marmots, chinchillas, voles, lemmings, and many others. What’s not included, (but should be noted), is that rabbits aren’t included as a member of the rodentia family, though they are rodent like in their mannerisms and they make an excellent source of protein for quickly gotten meals. 

So with that understanding, here are three important things to note about survival in a hostile environment.

  1. Food sources need to be obtained quickly. They also need to be easily prepared and discarded and then replaced quickly as well. This means that if you’re on the move you won’t have the time to prepare and deal with a large mammal such as a deer, an elk, or a bear. These food sources need to be killed easily, cooked quickly and evidence of their presence discarded easily.
  2. Small animals such as squirrels and rabbits take very little time to prepare. Not only can a small mammal be captured and killed efficiently, they can literally be cooked on the run. Even if using the meat as a base for a stew to feed an entourage or a small team or family, the cooking of the ingredients or the parboiling of the meat is easily achieved on the move.
  3. Small animals can be collected passively. Unlike deer or other large game, small game can be trapped while you sleep or pursue other endeavors, (yes, I know large game can be trapped as well, but not easily or quickly for that matter).  Simple knowledge of a trigger snare or a simple figure four trap can produce lots of small game in a very short period of time if set correctly.
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4 USES FOR A RUSTIC CAMPFIRE OVEN

Photo By: Instructables.com

I recently read an article on Freedom Prepper™ regarding the making of “bushcraft pizza” by a survivalist named Survival Lilly, who is reported to be incredible, talented, and very beautiful. The article can be seen in it’s entirety here, and the gist of this writing isn’t an accolade to the claim that Survival Lilly’s pizza is in fact “delicious looking”, (there’s something about a wood ash dusting on melted cheese that puts me in the ditch theoretically), however, her cooking technique is awesome, specifically her quaint method of creating a minuscule Dutch Oven from nothing more than what she finds laying around the wilderness. This brings me to the topic of today’s conversation, the many uses of a Dutch Oven when out in the bush. We previously discussed a commercial style solar powered oven that you can take with you while camping; however, I want to expand that notion to the realm of extremes survival situations, or at the least, military surplus tent adventures. So, here are four uses for a Dutch Oven in the bush. (Perhaps next I will delve into the many ways of making a dutch oven, but the theory is pretty sound and simple. It is, in effect, an oven within an oven… you’re smart, you can figure out how to get that). Here are four uses for a survival Dutch Oven:

  1. To make survival pizza. I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of this notion, especially while I’m sitting at McDonald’s using their internet connection and sipping hot coffee out of a paper cup; however, if I were in the bush for a few days, that dust encrusted bit of flatbread might appear Heavensent. You be the judge…
  2. To make acorn cakes. I have given this recipe before and acorns are plentiful all over the nation. I will only say, however, you better learn how to remove the tannins from your flour or you are in for a bitter surprise.
  3. To cook a meal unattended. There is nothing more rewarding to me than consuming the flesh of one of God’s creatures that I battered the life out of myself, skinned, and placed on a spit over a hot bank of coals, however, I do find it tedious having to spit cook the thing and spend so much time preparing my victuals. It is much better to set up the food, and be able to busy myself doing other things while the oven cooks it.
  4. Making survival bread. This oven will bake any type of bread that you choose to put together and will often keep it from getting too dry providing that you keep an eye on it.
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3 WAYS TO COOK WILD EGGS IN A SURVIVAL SITUATION

As was discussed earlier, if you are not a half a wild man and if you don’t have an iron stomach, then you probably don’t want to pour a hot, raw, wild egg down into your poor unsuspecting gullet. The truth is that if you are not used to it, then it isn’t going to stay in there most likely. And the worst part is that if it is a true survival situation then it has to go right back in there regardless… because the nutrients are too precious to part with. So, in this insert I am going to go over several different ways to get these morsels cooked and eaten in a way that is conducive with good digestion for most people. I discussed earlier how to cook fish in the bush, and cooking eggs in the bush isn’t too much different. So, with that in mind, here are three different ways to easily cook your eggs in the wilderness.

    1. Fried. This is usually accomplished with the use of a flat rock that is placed, frying pan like, over or very near the fire. This is not a difficult concept, you simply heat a surface and place the eggs on it to cook to readiness. Remember that in a wilderness situation the presentation isn’t necessarily going to be pretty, but it is important that you get the protein in you anyway.
    2. Cooked in ashes. This is my favorite method because it is the easiest. Basically you are roasting the egg in it’s shell. Remember that you don’t want to burn it up so you will generally cook it in hot ashes and place a vent hole in the shell. These roasted eggs are akin to boiled eggs and are quite tasty.
    3. Boiled. The method that you will probably be most comfortable with, but which is actually the hardest to obtain in the wilderness. You need to either have a vessel that can withstand the heat of a fire to bring water to boil, or you need one that you can place hot rocks into to bring your water to a boil.
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