Some Myths About Bugging Out on Foot

O good snare is worth a hundred stick bows and crooked arrows. I have fine spring wire in my Bob. Learning to trap is a great skillset for wilderness survival. Now you have half a dozen rabbits and maybe a few fish from the local stream. You could have time to build a good bow. The myth is that with a knife and some cordage you can make a bow and arrows in time to kill something before you starve. Not the best choice. Snares, and other traps, fishing and what you can carry will serve you much better. And nothing beats a .22 caliber pack rifle and a couple thousand rounds for hunting. My pack out would contain a pistol and rifle in .22 Rimfire. I have both a family Farm and Home and Tractor supply and have seen the Bikes and mini bikes at both places. Still cant carry much but at least on a bike My wife can move long distance without gasoline. So I look forward to seeing what you come up with in your woods. I live in the western side of Michigans lower pen. Lots of oak and Pine in my area. Thousands of acres. I spent several days and never found a feather, not one. Never found a straight arrow shaft. I did dind a dead Ash sapling which made a fairly good bow. I could have killed a squirrel or rabbit if I could have hit one. That is the real challenge. Unless you have an area with abundant arrow materials you will not build an accurate arrow. Guys who live in the south where cane grows have the best advantage. But my Challenge is for Michigan . I dont think anyone could build one in my woods. I have goose feathers all over my yard as we live on a private lake. Just few miles away there is nothing. Fletchings are so very important in arrow flight. Having the means to attach them to an arrow is another big hurdle. If I allow you to carry your bob you can stock it with anything you need. Im talking the myth not preparation. You get a knife, multitool some cordage and fire starter. Things you would have in your pocket when the plane goes down.

 

I can do that. Do I get to choose the knife?

 

hunting deer with primitive bow - - Yahoo Search Results

Watch the second video down. The guy has no shirt on and several years after this video was on Naked and Afraid. He gets into great position and even hits the deer only to lose his stone broad head leaving it in the deer which probably died a couple weeks later of infection. This was with a real self bow that took lots of time to build. This is the reality of the myth. There are very few exceptions. Scott Moore is one of those. Google his videos to see primitive kills on film.

Here is a primitive artist. This man kills deer with primitive stone heads. He is not your normal type of guy. He is the real deal.

 

The other guy is a madman. Haha. I watched a lot of his stuff. He he a really good video on primitive points, a testing video.

 

Even in this video, the deer is small went 40 plus 35 yards the bow is a 60 pound Osage self bow which is 50 times better than any field expedient bow. This should put the myth in perspective. Scott takes years to build his bows and arrows. Here is a video on his preparation

 

I am well aware of what goes into making a bow, and the amount of time and attention it takes. That said, a 10 pound bow wouldn't cast an arrow 10 feet. And frankly, if it ran two miles with that kind of a blood trail, even the LAW says I have the right to track it. Dead is dead, and eating ain't starving.

There are a few tricks to it, and I am wanting to put my living history background and info to the test. No worries here.

 

So in short , to me this primitive weapon stuff is romantic at best. The chances of making a kill with a field expedient weapon are so slim it is almost impossible. It takes lots of time and preparation to be able to make these weapons. Scott has two arrows there . What if he hits a branch and loses one? then makes a bad shot and just wounds the deer like first guy did?? Now you have to find more materials and start all over and now you are really hungry . I tried the challenge. I failed. Anyone can make a 30 pound stick bow with some cordage and a Knife. Might get lucky and get a stick to pull 40 pounds. But the Arrows are the real tough part. Heads even more of a challenge. Better to pack a .22 and lots of ammo. Just sayin.

 

As an archer, breaking/loosing equipment is some much a part of archery, it turns into a sort of a game on how to find things that "could" be arrows, or arrow parts. Not saying that I have bookoos of experience DOing it or anything, but in archery, things just don't turn out in the strangest ways.

Going into it, an archer knows that nothing but time is going to get things done right. And dedication. And that is what two years of working on one bow is.

If YOU are down to a bow, you should already have several staves drying or being worked on for when this one breaks. And as many arrowshafts as you can bundle and store. And have caches when you can. Bows and arrows can do things you wouldn't believe seeing them with you own eyes. They can also do so bad you'll have no idea why we ever kept using them in the first place. Lot to it, and I know just enough to get myself killed doin it all. Haha.

 

Good luck.

 

so how many hours did it take for him to set up that shot and do this video?

 

I am an accomplished archer. I have taken 50 plus deer with various bows. I started with a bow similar to the one Broker posted. It was a Bear 76er 45 pound take down recurve. I killed two deer with it using aluminum arrows and steel broadheads. I barely killed them and had I not known the area would have lost both of them due to low blood letting. The first deer I killed was a perfect lung shot and I got about 6 inches of penetration. I was hunting our private property and pretty much knew where the deer was heading after the blood trail dried up. I graduated to a Bear Whitetail II 65 pound compound and took 41 deer with that bow before losing my ability to shoot instinctive because of Diabetes. Blended Bifocals really mess up your vision. I can now only use scoped weapons. So today I use a Wicked Ridge Invader Crossbow that shoots just over 300 feet per second and blows huge mechanical opening broadheads completely though every deer I hit. The blood letting is second to none. So far since 2009 I have not lost a deer and every one dropped within 75 yards of the hit. I KNOW what it takes to hit game. I have lost countless arrows and expensive heads over the years. I first encountered a young man on Survival boards .com who was all excited about going out in the woods and carving out a bow and being able to sustain himself with it. I was amazed to watch all the so called experts trying to sell this kid a dvd on how to build bundle bows, ash bows etc etc etc. To make this story short he failed to ever make a kill in 5 years of any type of animal until he got squirrel off his bird feeder. ACCURACY is the biggest problem in archery from hand carved stick bows to modern high speed Cross bows. My crossbow for instance will not shoot fixed broad heads accurately. I have to shoot mechanically opening ones or miss my shots or even worse make bad shots and wound deer. There is no equal of an accurate bolt action scoped .22 rifle for taking game in a survival situation. You can carry hundreds of rounds if not several thousand. I did penetration tests on deer heads and proved the lethality of a solid 40 grain lead bullet to the side of the head on a mature doe. Massive bone fragmentation and complete pass through of the skull. From 30 yards and under a .22 will take any game from deer down so why even consider any other option?? At least to buy one the time to construct other weapons if for no other reason. If I ever have to bug out my Marlin 981t rifle will be my choice for game taking along with snares and fishing gear. Defense is another story all together. The .22 is limited in range to about 100 yards and the lack of shock power makes it a poor choice for defense but far better then a field expedient bow. Since this thread is about myths I am concentrating on the myth that a field expedient bow can serve you as a survival tool. I think its a waste of time energy and space. Better to pack a small .22 rifle for game and something to defend yourself like an AR 15 . I HAVE DEBATED THIS WITH HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE OVER THE YEARS. There is no one tool that does it all. You need a good weapon, fire starter, water purification, shelter, and the means to procure food. Knowing what plants you can eat is more important than the ability to build a field expedient bow.


Now Let me tell you a little story about a crazy dude I met in 1977. He was a raw boned county guy who loved to drink and smoke dope. He took deer with just about every weapon source I can think of just to say he did it. He speared one with a big ice fishing spear from a tree stand. Stuck the deer in the back of the head/neck area and dropped it right there. He used an 8 foot long handle to do this. He almost killed himself by jumping out of a tree with a large bowie knife while trying to stab a small buck. This guy was nuts but he did take a few deer with real strange devices like heavy wire snares and even tried catching one with a fishing rod and snare set up. I would have paid money to see that one. But he pushed the limits of what was legal and broke the laws many times in his quest to kill deer. Traps and ability to set snares along with knowledge of animal habits really is second to none in the survival world. Wire snares set on game trails is expending almost zero calories . This is key when you have limited food. The more calories you burn the less time you have to procure more food. It really is that simple. You can spend all day trying to build a bow or you can find some edible plants, catch fish or set some snares then set up some shelter. I am a real good fisherman. It is my best skillset. I build fishing lures for a living and can catch any freshwater fish in north America. To me a small fishing kit is priceless in the B.O.B. hooks line and some splitshot all fit in one little Quart ziploc. Bait is everywhere. Crickets, worms, maggots etc.

 

@ Ganado, I talked with Scott Moore by email several year ago about that gillie suit hunt. He had a ridge where the deer were feeding every day. He preset the two cameras and planned the stalk. He had an approaching front and used the wind to his advantage. He used the Beech nuts like a bait pile so he knew where the deer would be standing and his approach route. I hunt over bait and have game cameras on the sites right now taking pictures of deer . The cameras give me time and day. It is pretty easy to pre set cameras before the hunt. H e had to have perfect conditions and told me he failed on several other tries to get into position. What he didnt say on the video was that the deer almost ducked his arrow and this was why the hit was high and back as the deer was wheeling away from him and dropping at the same time. This is classic from slow moving arrows. A deer can drop 8 to 12 inches in 3/8th of a second and this is key when arrow speeds are looked at. He even uses puffs for quieting down his bow and it is not a loud bow by any means but at this close range they can hear even the quietest string noise. He did kill the little doe and the arrow went through but did not pass through and that to me shows a lack of power. It was enough but in my book I want an exit hole low in the deer so that Blood is pouring out as it runs. I hunt almost exclusively from tree stands so I get those low exit wounds for maximum blood trails. That also saves many of my arrows from just flying out into woods after pass through. But again here is 64 pound Self bow shooting a solid ,straight cane arrow and he almost failed. Now add 50 times more adversity by trying to do this with a stick bow and some cordage and some hastily made arrows. Even with modern Archery people still miss and still lose animals due to poor hits and bad penetration.

 

The other guy is a madman. Haha. I watched a lot of his stuff. He he a really good video on primitive points, a testing video.

He also has a video out of him trying kill a squirrel with his self bow and hand made arrows. He did over a month of films and never hit one. That video shows how futile it really is.

 

Wow thanks @Kingfish I was wondering how many tries it took him.

 

I watched his Naked and Afraid when it came out. In general, I am not impressed with anything he can do other than a few points of academic knowledge. But I am a harsh critic.

 

As am I. When the first survival sites came out there were hundreds of wanna be survivalists who had something to sell. Ill never forget the guy selling dvds of how to make bundle bows Guaranteed to kill deer and yet he never once had a video of a deer being killed with one. That was the first tip off I had years ago that the entire survivalist community was laced with imposters selling lies, selling Ideas and basically selling anything they could market. I am a big fan of traditional archery. If I could still shoot instinctive I would be using a 60 to 70 pound self bow and shooting cane arrows but would tip them with points made from Carpet Knife blades or similar razor steel. As far as Broad heads go Nothing penetrates better and kills faster than razor points. NOTHING. I am getting ready for for the 2015 deer season which has already started but due to high east winds I sat out the opener. I have a doe permit and one regular deer tag. My wife also has a tag and will be joining me in the woods. Ill be hunting over bait and so will she. Apples. Lots of deer this year. Bucks and does and mostly mid size 1.5 year olds. Tender meat. So I take all the claims with grain of salt. Somewhere there is guy who has killed a deer with a stick bow and stick arrows. Might even be a couple of them out there. Most likely in the south where cane grows wild. That crazy guy Larry killed a deer with a fish spear so anything is possible but highly unlikely. To me my gentlemen friends, we need to focus on what works the best because it our very lives that are dependent on what we do, what we believe in, What is in that Bob and what skills we know. I like to think of it as removing things I cant control or things left to chance. Keeping the odds in my favor and for me that means a small accurate pack rifle and a lot of .22 Long rifle ammo. It means knowing I can filter enough water to keep me and my wife alive for a long long time. It means having shelter I can carry that is durable and light weight. The very best Knife and folding saw. Wire, fishing gear, vitamins, medical supplies, extra socks, good solid shoes. Why waste time and calories trying to make something that has a slim chance of actually working???? Why risk your life, your wives lives? Not me . I know what works right now and that is what I need and why bugging out is the very last option for us. We moved to the B.O.L. in 2008 . We built the survival farm and stocked the pantry, filled the gun cabinet, stocked up on ammo and good tools. My jeep can go about 600 miles on the propane tanks I have now and once I have a few more Ill have near a 1000 mile range. Lots of grill tanks out there to extend that.

To me there is no romantic rush about surviving a world ending event. I see misery and heart ache for millions of people and those who make it the longest will see hardships that none of us can imagine. I am mentally prepared to kill to defend my home. I am prepared to cut wood by hand and to grow food from Heirloom seeds. The biggest myth about bugging out is bugging out itself. Unless you have a place to go with life giving supplies waiting for you and some form of isolation you will be left to mercy of nature and rabid humanity. God have Mercy on us all in these days to come. The Chinese have entered the Middle East. Hannibal is at the gate.

 

Back on the bug out on foot topic, I am usually hundreds (800-1200) miles from home working. I live out of my RV and tow my work truck behind. Before I park the RV I fill it with gas and propane so it is ready to hit the road on short notice. But it only has about a 400 mile range when pulling my truck. I try to never let my truck get below half a tank of gas so that would give me another 200 miles. Assuming SHTF and I could not get any more gas, I could be looking at traveling the remaining 200-600 miles some other way. I could easily be on foot/bicycle etc for a month or more to make it home. Ideas on any special items to make a pack that would make that duration easier to survive?

 

That is a hard one. I always TRY to pack my bags with the idea that I will not be able to restock them once I am in the field. To do that, I pack crafting tools, such as a crooked knife, arrowheads, etc. Without knowing what you pack, I don't have anything more specific than that.

 

packed water filtration, fire starters, knives, hatchet, small stove, cooking kit, med kit, compass, flashlights, change of clothes, crank radio, paracord, 2 tarps, etc. My problem is i think i will have to look at some other mode of transportation, perhaps hopping a train, hitching a ride, siphoning gas, maybe getting a scooter that gets 80-100mpg and a 5 gallon jug of gas to make the last leg. If I truly had to hike all that way I will need to secure food and water daily, no way to begin the trip with enough food. I would also need a good compact tent and sleeping bag and probably a way to hunt/fish for food. I suppose for now I will complete a bag with supplies to make it a couple of weeks and hope I can secure at least 1 fillup on the RV to be able to make it home or close to it.