Dont go too far when the weather is not very clear. You might not find many fruits in the jungle during the deer hunting season. Animal meats are the best available foods for him. There are some meats you can eat when lost in the hunt. Read here for more tips on what kinds of foods you can find in the jungle.
If the sun is not shining and there is the prospect of stormy weather, the temporary camp is the place to stay in order to avoid becoming more thoroughly lost. In this case food becomes a problem. It is not absolutely necessary for a man to eat at this time, but it is desirable to give the digestive juices something upon which to work. A man can live a long time without food, but prolonged hunger weakens not only the physical being but also the mental reactions, so that, even if a man is able to travel, he is often unable to think clearly enough to decide which direction to take. For this and other reasons, food is a very good thing to have and there is food to be had in almost any woods if we know where to look for it and what to look for.
Deer hunting time is a little late in the season for the lost hunter to find very many of the woodland fruits and vegetables. The ground is usually frozen too hard to dig for the roots of land plants, and vegetation which identifies the edible species of aquatic plants is gone. But if a man is near water and knows what to look for, there are several plant roots which may be used for food. Unless he knows these plants, it is better to leave them alone, for some of them require special treatment in order to prevent digestive disturbances. Most of the acorns come under this category. Meat is the hunter's food and meat is the easiest food to obtain in the woods. The man has a gun. To be sure, it is a rifle of large caliber and not intended for small game, but if the hunter knows his gun as he should, he can use it to kill small animals for food.
The first food animal which comes to mind is the porcupine, the traditional meat for the lost person. These pesky rodents are comparatively easy to corner and kill, if they can be found, but like the proverbial policeman, there is seldom one around when wanted. On numerous mornings, I have had to drive them from the warm bed of my evening fire so that I could start my breakfast fire. They would be reluctant to leave the warm ashes and would grumble as they ambled to the nearest tree, which they would climb and then sit and tell me their thoughts in their own peculiar language. On other occasions I have looked for them without success, even in places where they have been feeding, and have often hunted for days, looking for other game, without spotting one of these animals.
They should be looked for in the hollows under stumps and rocks as well as in trees. Hemlock trees seem to be a favorite with these animals, but other species should not be overlooked. They are often seen on a high limb on some of the coldest days of winter. Cold doesn't seem to bother them, but they are primarily a night feeder, so that they are more apt to be seen at dusk and dawn.
If the lost hunter should see one of these animals, he should kill, dress and cook it. In skinning a porky, split the skin from chin to tail on the belly side and work from there to avoid the quills. I hang the animal by the head and, reversing the usual skinning procedure, work from the head down to the tail.
So now you know what kinds of foods that you will find and how you can eat them. They are the only options that could keep you away from going hunger in the woods besides any food that you might have from home. |
