Category: Hunting

Pellet Rifle Hunting, by D.M.

Due to financial circumstances I found myself living out of the back of my pick-up for several months on public lands in South West mostly BLM and NF mostly. Just before setting out I sold most of my belongings in a yard sale that netted me just over $800 dollars. This money would have to be rationed wisely over the summer, most went for fuel. Don’t think I did not look for work anywhere I could, what I found was it was depleting my resources with no results. I finally moved onto public lands with the idea of hunting, fishing and gold panning (which …


Letter Re: Day to Day Survival–From the Perspective of a Homeless Man

It may not be TEOTWAWKI, but the end of “your world” may be closer than you think. Mine came eight years ago with the end of my wife’s battle with cancer. With the down turn of the economy and a mountain of medical bills, we had already leveraged every penny that we could. We took out a second mortgage, maxed our credit cards, sold the boat, the four wheeler, and travel trailer. Since then I’ve sold my pickup, her car, the tools of my trade (I’d been a carpenter), and anything else that could bring in a dollar. I’ve been …


Letter Re: Recurve Bows for Survival

Dear Jim, First let me say that I really enjoy SurvivalBlog.com! I faithfully read it daily even if it is very late when I get the chance, I read it daily. I pastor a church and much of my day is spent running around, so sometimes I don’t get the opportunity to “research” the news like I want to; SurvivalBlog readers do a good part of that for me. Thanks for all you do and for all they do. About two months ago I stepped into my local archery shop and purchased a bow. I bought a recurve with 50 …


Letter Re: An Arms and Armor Maker Recommendation

Sir: I recommend that you and your readers look into Windlass Steelcrafts, a company with a wide range of hand-weaponry, armor, etc., from ancient to modern. Most swords, for example, on the market are soft stainless steel. This company provides swords made from a variety of steel, including layered, high carbon, Damascus steel. These people make real weapons: “Its founder, Mr. V. P. Windlass set up this manufacturing plant to supply the British Gurkha regiments with Kukris, their main sidearm weapon.” Here is information on how they manufacture swords. Some examples of their weaponry: A Damascus Viking Sword Erbach Sword …


Letter Re: The Versatile Sling Bow

Dear Mr. Rawles, I would first like to thank you for all the work you do, your ever informative blog, and for opening up my blind eyes to the world or prepping. I’ve made leaps and bounds in the last 2 years, however my preparations are not the topic of this letter. I recently found a youtube channel online called WildernesOutfitters by Mr. Dave Canterbury, who some of you may be familiar with from the Discovery Channel show “Dual Survival”. Mr. Canterbury is located in my back yard of south eastern Ohio and i would recommend everyone to search out …


Two Letters Re: The Essential Gun for Survival

Jim, I absolutely concur with Cory M.’s article extolling the benefits of the .22 RF cartridge. If you are limited in the number of firearms you can own or can afford to own, there are two options using the .22 of which everyone should be aware. A multi-barrel long gun (sometimes called a drilling) was one of my first firearms. The Savage .22 RF in combination with a .410 shotgun (aka 22/410 over under), makes a great hunting firearm, and when using a rifled slug in the .410 shotgun, a pretty effective defensive tool. The other is the ubiquitous Black …


The Essential Gun for Survival, by Cory M.

At least one firearm chambered in .22 Long Rifle (LR) rimfire should be part of every survival plan.  If you do not currently own a firearm or if a .22 is not part of your current arsenal it should be high on your “next to buy” list, if not at the top.  The .22 is essential to your TEOTWAWKI preparation.  From providing food for the family to [marginal] self defense, the .22 will work for you.  Here are a few reasons the .22 LR is so important to your preparation and survival. Practice Whether or not you are currently familiar …


How to Get Prepared as a Teenager, by Jonathan E.

When I discovered SurvivalBlog I was 17 years old. My friend had given me a copy of the novel “Patriots” that he had picked up on our twenty-three day trip around the United States. After I had read the novel, I realized that I was so far behind on my prepping for TEOTWAWKI. Before had I had only focused on wilderness survival and when I went hiking in the woods. I never perceived how fragile our economy was and how easily it would fall apart with the slightest push. I had to do something about my preparations. This article is …


Letter Re: A Source for Rifle Racks and Build-It-Yourself Rack Plans

Jim, I found an Internet vendor who makes and sells gun racks right here in the USA! His prices are good and he publishes the dimensions of the racks on his site so anyone who is handy can build them at home. I know you hear this everyday but I’ll say it anyway. I sincerely enjoyed your books and SurvivalBlog. I am sorting my way through the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. I want you to know I appreciate your attempts to open the public’s mind to the crisis which is coming to our country. Knowledge gained and then …


Baby Steps, by Doctus

If you have seen the movie What About Bob can in some way relate to the OCD character Bob and cannot help but laugh at his ridiculous antics.  The funniest and perhaps most well known scene is when Bob meets with the psychiatrist and receives what would become the most famous cinema prescription, “Baby steps.”  When trying to conquer any fear, or overcome difficult circumstances in any situation, we need the same advice, baby steps. I was just recently introduced to the SurvivalBlog. Upon first reading it, the amount of information is daunting.  The amount of preparation for TEOTWAWKI is …


Letter Re: A Simple But Effective Firearms Caching Technique from Afghanistan

CPT Rawles: While there are many potential methods to emplacing a cache of supplies, I wanted to provide some insight into a very simple but very effective cache method that I have saw during a recent deployment to Afghanistan. Most Afghans rely on the karez system for getting water for survival and watering plants. For an aerial view of what the karez system looks like, look at Michael Yon’s photo essay on water in Afghanistan. The lines of holes dug in the ground are the karez system. Some of these tunnels are very deep in order to get to the …


Letter Re: Advice on a Multipurpose Rifle

Dear Mr. Rawles: In reading the responses to Criss K.’s question regarding a good multi-purpose rifle I was surprised to find no mention of the Savage 99. The later Model 99 can be found in .308 [Winchester] with a detachable box magazine and while “collector” grade rifles command a higher price, “shooter” grade rifles can generally be found for a very reasonable price. Granted, you can’t get high capacity magazines for these, but this lever action does address the problem of reload time and you get the power and availability of the .308 [Winchester] caliber. Thank you, – Will S.


Two Letters Re: Advice on a Multipurpose Rifle

Sir, While I do basically agree with your statements on rifles for defense, I think you should rethink your comments about the lever gun in 30-30 or 45-70. You mentioned several drawbacks to the lever gun that I’d like to address if I may: 1) Slow reload time: While it is quite true that a 20 round detachable magazine is faster than any other empty reload method except a second gun, the trick to the combat use of a lever gun is to continuously reload. While my combat experience is over 3 decades old now and I was using an …


Letter Re: Advice on a Multipurpose Rifle

JWR, I am a 50-something urban homesteader, selling my house to move to a rural area. I currently own a handgun (S&W 459 9mm) and a shotgun (Mossberg 12 gauge pump) and am researching what kind of rifle would be good for my new urban homestead. I am a good shot, not pro and not wild, just get within the target lines. I have hunted in the past with a 30-06 but feel with my age and all this would be too much for me now. Not to mention that I am a petite female at only 5’1″ tall and …


Practical Steps to Preparing a Family for TEOTWAWKI, by Mitch D.

Author’s Background I live in Northeastern Minnesota with my wife and four children ages: four to seven.  I teach and am a sports coach at the local high school in town (population 1,200).  We live two hours away from any type of big city, which in our case is Duluth, Minnesota (population 85,000).  My wife is a stay-at-home mom.  Three years ago, we built a new house four miles outside of town on 15 acres that my parents gave us.  Combined, we make just over $56,000 a year.  In just this past year, my wife and I have started making …