Severe trouble ahead, community suggestions to get through

Vice Lord wrote:

AspenValley wrote: Just a thought for those of you who have mentioned hunting as a means of getting by. I've a feeling that game around here would be pretty scarce in pretty short order in a real "stuff hitting the fan scenario". I don't think I'd count on being able to depend on it for long.

Right, believe me..Corporate interests will have all the hunting rights..The rules will change imeadiatly, republicans will move to privitise wildlife- Because thats what they always do with any valuable commodity thats owned by the people-It will be illegal for me and you to tap into any possible money making natural resource...And like you say- The animals will be gone in 3-6 months

Actually this is partially true- well nothing VL says is - don't worry VL- the elk will remain socialists. The natural law means they get to keep their liberty, unlike the rest of us.

My grandfather mentioned that during the depression (in the Ozark mountains) the deer and wild turkey populations were diminished in great numbers because everyone did hunt them and they are very tasty indeed. Just about everyone hunted back then. There were still plenty of ducks, possum, coons, squirell, goose, quail etc.

The numbers have of course come way back since then and deer are once again so numerous that they cause problems in gardens, fields etc. I presume the same thing would happen, maybe deer and elk numbers would fall- but there are 283,000+ elk in Colorado, it would take more than 1 year to kill them off. There would still be numerous other species to get food from.

The bigger problem would be no way to store the meat- unless it's winter time. Once shot and killed, it would have to be consumed pretty fast - or preserved. The community dinner would be a good way to knock off a whole elk in a day.

BearMtnHIB wrote:

Vice Lord wrote:

AspenValley wrote: Just a thought for those of you who have mentioned hunting as a means of getting by. I've a feeling that game around here would be pretty scarce in pretty short order in a real "stuff hitting the fan scenario". I don't think I'd count on being able to depend on it for long.

Right, believe me..Corporate interests will have all the hunting rights..The rules will change imeadiatly, republicans will move to privitise wildlife- Because thats what they always do with any valuable commodity thats owned by the people-It will be illegal for me and you to tap into any possible money making natural resource...And like you say- The animals will be gone in 3-6 months

Actually this is partially true- well nothing VL says is - don't worry VL- the elk will remain socialists. The natural law means they get to keep their liberty, unlike the rest of us.

My grandfather mentioned that during the depression (in the Ozark mountains) the deer and wild turkey populations were diminished in great numbers because everyone did hunt them and they are very tasty indeed. Just about everyone hunted back then. There were still plenty of ducks, possum, coons, squirell, goose, quail etc.

The numbers have of course come way back since then and deer are once again so numerous that they cause problems in gardens, fields etc. I presume the same thing would happen, maybe deer and elk numbers would fall- but there are 283,000+ elk in Colorado, it would take more than 1 year to kill them off. There would still be numerous other species to get food from.

The bigger problem would be no way to store the meat- unless it's winter time. Once shot and killed, it would have to be consumed pretty fast - or preserved. The community dinner would be a good way to knock off a whole elk in a day.

I was thinking along the same lines with regard to a successful hunt. To mitigate the depletion rate, a community could have hunters whose success would be either enjoyed in a or several community dinners or shared with other members of the community. It would be tragic to have anything go to waste ever and even more so when in short supply.

Haven't used it for anything but heat and to boil water so far, but our Quadra-fire 2100 millennium wood stove has a big flat cook surface on top. Wife has all the kitchen gadgets and the hand powered backups (grinders/mills). She cans and has a couple pressure cookers too (only way to deal with some foods at 9,400'). My skills run much more to mechanical and electrical, with handloading and firearms maintenance added in.
A .22LR rifle may be more valuable in the long run than the centerfire for hunting.

I don't know how time consuming it would be to set up a series of workshops if there were sufficient people out there with skills to share. If you had just a dozen people willing to teach a class and offered the same one twice a year, no one person would be putting in more than 3-4 hours a couple times a year and you could offer two workshops a month. You'd need someone to coordinate as well, but again, no reason it has to be some time consuming, involved thing.

I know most of us are busy with careers and family, and no one person would probably have the kind of time to devote to doing this single-handedly but that would defeat the purpose of it being a community effort anyway.

There are several things I would be happy to teach (setting up an economical emergency food storage, bread baking, maybe some others) but my big problem would be a place to do it. My house is small and my kitchen barely accomodates myself and the cat, I couldn't possibly fit in any students! So maybe besides "teachers" we would also need to locate people willing to share large kitchens, etc. for the workshops.

AspenValley wrote: I don't know how time consuming it would be to set up a series of workshops if there were sufficient people out there with skills to share. If you had just a dozen people willing to teach a class and offered the same one twice a year, no one person would be putting in more than 3-4 hours a couple times a year and you could offer two workshops a month. You'd need someone to coordinate as well, but again, no reason it has to be some time consuming, involved thing.

I know most of us are busy with careers and family, and no one person would probably have the kind of time to devote to doing this single-handedly but that would defeat the purpose of it being a community effort anyway.

There are several things I would be happy to teach (setting up an economical emergency food storage, bread baking, maybe some others) but my big problem would be a place to do it. My house is small and my kitchen barely accomodates myself and the cat, I couldn't possibly fit in any students! So maybe besides "teachers" we would also need to locate people willing to share large kitchens, etc. for the workshops.

Once again you make some excellent points and suggestions. Bread baking... now that is something I've not done in a long time. Used to be a baker of bread for a restaurant shortly after high school. On my wish list is a small commercial bread mixer.

We have a kitchen that would allow a small group. I'd need to check and clear this with the BOSS before volunteering it. With yeast breads, temperature is critical, not just with the ingredients, but also during the rising process. We can get the house into the 80's easily enough by using the fireplace and wood stove, but the air is very dry and needs moisture. It requires a solution.

Many creative humidifier/vaporizers for stove tops.

Not many people would hunt or can hunt, alot will not go where the animals are, so as far as reducing a large #,,, very doubtful.

1 thing that not many do here is smoke meat like hams and stuff. back east it is common and a good way to preserve it for along time. I'm not talking about the weekend BBQ type of smoking.

Rockdoc Franz wrote:

AspenValley wrote: I don't know how time consuming it would be to set up a series of workshops if there were sufficient people out there with skills to share. If you had just a dozen people willing to teach a class and offered the same one twice a year, no one person would be putting in more than 3-4 hours a couple times a year and you could offer two workshops a month. You'd need someone to coordinate as well, but again, no reason it has to be some time consuming, involved thing.

I know most of us are busy with careers and family, and no one person would probably have the kind of time to devote to doing this single-handedly but that would defeat the purpose of it being a community effort anyway.

There are several things I would be happy to teach (setting up an economical emergency food storage, bread baking, maybe some others) but my big problem would be a place to do it. My house is small and my kitchen barely accomodates myself and the cat, I couldn't possibly fit in any students! So maybe besides "teachers" we would also need to locate people willing to share large kitchens, etc. for the workshops.

We can get the house into the 80's easily enough by using the fireplace and wood stove, but the air is very dry and needs moisture. It requires a solution.

No problem there, RD. I have been baking bread in a house heated with wood for years. I simply cover the dough with plastic wrap to keep it humid and moist and let it rise in an oven that I have turned on for a minute or two and then off. Works even when the house is very chilly. (See, told ya I knew a trick or two about baking bread!)