With the cost and increasing scarcity of food going up, will we see a new trend of people getting hunting and fishing licenses?

Probably not. Most fish in the more populated parts of the country are contaminated with heavy metals and pcbs, and you really shouldn’t eat more than a serving a month.

Venison is ok, but not that fatty, and not really worth the effort unless you’re really into it. Sharing is ok, but again there’s not that much on a deer. Moose hunting perhaps? Also I’ve heard bullets are getting expensive too..

Both hobbies can be pretty gruesome, and tend to be practiced by people who learned from their parents. I doubt the city folks (the ones most affected by fluctuating food prices) are going to be signing up in mass numbers.

As a general rule, it’s way more cost effective and easier on the environment to pay a farmer to grow your meat efficiently, than have the whole population ranging for its calories.

Doubtful.

First, very few people have the skill or the patience to catch and kill their own food. They’re not about to go and learn that.

Second, both for fishing and hunting, you need some pretty good equipment. Especially if you plan to be successful and catching anough for household needs. That costs serious money.

Third, given that dressing a dead deer (or bear, or fox, or whatever) is messy business, I don’t see a lot of people wanting to deal with the dead carcass and preparing it for food.

Finally, in many places there is a fishing season and a hunting season regulated by the state.
What will people do for food off-season?

I think it’s more likely that if food shortages continue, people will become cannibals and eat their family members, Much less effort than buying fishing or hunting equipment.

People may move more to a plant based diet. Potato chips are plant based right? There’s certainly validity to the idea of hunting and fishing for food but as mentioned above, there’s a learning curve and I don’t see hunting becoming more widespread.

Hunting doesn’t appeal to many people. Fishing, from what I’ve seen, can take a lot of time with little or no reward. It seems like many people will spend the day with a fishing rod in the water and catch nothing, so it doesn’t seem practical as a way of obtaining protein.

I was going to say yes, of course, but based on your replies so far, it may just be those of us who help others.

We helped five families with our last deer and I just gave cucumbers and zucchini to four families this week. So I think we’re okay here in the middle.

The economics of fishing don’t work out. There is quite a bit of knowledge and skill involved too. I have a lifetime supply of squirrels digging up my flowerbeds. If anyone needs them for food be my guest.

@KNOWITALL It has nothing to do with those who help others. Many of my friends work at food banks or pantries. One maintains a private food locker where folks can come and take what they need. It is just a question of rural vs suburban or urban settings. If more of us started shooting the deer on our neighborhood streets, there would definitely be accidents! There are however, controlled shoots in some of the parks.

There are many ways to help neighbors. I baked and cooked during the pandemic and brought lasagna and brownies to locked in neighbors.

@janbb It does to me. In these tough times we increased our garden production and networked with others to help those who are struggling.

I was mostly surprised by the ‘deer doesn’t have much meat’ and ‘fishing takes expensive equipment’.
It’s great you help others, but hopefully more will help themselves.

@Blackwater_Park We call squirrels ‘tree rat’s. My FIL would use a small .22 in suburban area of Kansas City and eat fried squirrel. It’s not my favorite but it’ll keep you alive in tough times. :)

We were always told to stay away from squirrels, @KNOWITALL , because there was a good chance they were rabid.

No. But we will see a trend in ILLEGAL hunting and fishing!

I do know not to eat squirrel brains, apparently you can get a prion disease from them.

@elbanditoroso Never heard that, various family have eaten them all my life. I know a conservation agent so I’ll ask him! (Personally I’m not a fan but survival is a different story.)

@kritiper Believe it or not, when times get tough, people often go steal and butcher other people’s cattle. They even stole an abused goose from a rescue! So you’re right.

While all these people are away hunting and fishing, we may see a new trend of people breaking into their homes and stealing what is in their refrigerators.

I think you might see more rural people go that way, but I don’t see many city dwellers picking it up.

Sure, people who hunt/fish a few times per year may be doing it more often. Some folks who may be curious about getting started may be more motivated to give it a try. I don’t think it’s going to be a radical change, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was significant enough to show up in the data.

No, but we do see a lot more gardens and backyard chickens.

Good point @YARNLADY some may indeed pick up hunting and fishing to combat the price of food going through the roof, but I think more will turn to back yard gardens ,and chickens, some if the have the room may raise a pig or a cow as well.

Not sure BUT we will see new sources of food such as locusts and cockroaches.

Yum!