If the nation were in a crisis where people were incapable of getting food via their usual means, could there be a massive decrease of certain wildlife populations as people struggle to feed themselves by killing animals?
Good question. I bet so. Locally if things got really bad and food supplies dried up then I bet the Deer population would be destroyed.
It happened during the depression, not complete extinction, but big numbers of animals like deer, etc were pretty high. Trappers had a lot easier of a time during the depression feeding their families, so learn how to trap. Now though, there arent as many people that are self reliant as there were back then. IMO, a big number of people would be waiting for their hand outs, instead of hunting. That isnt to say that there wouldnt be some effect on animal populations. I hope that never happens, but things sure look worse everyday in this country lately. My first post, I imagine you have an intro thread somewhere, forgive my rudeness for not posting there first.
Whitetail deer and wild turkeys were virtually extinct in lower Indiana because of over hunting and no one paying attention to the reproduction cycles. The same thing is going on world wide as overfishing with no regard to size or breeding cycles with fish populations. (small, juvenile fish DO NOT reproduce, same with game) The demand for 'Bush Meat' in Africa & Asia is driving wild animal populations WAY down, even on game preserves and parks where they wouldn't normally get squeezed by humanity's growth... ------------------------- For Indiana Deer and Turkeys, Some migration from other places was going on just after the turn of the century when process foods started taking the place of hunted meat, and refrigeration ('Ice Boxes') allowed keeping perishable foods longer so they guys didn't have to 'Hunt' as often... But along came the depression and WW II and they were all eaten again! Re-introduction and strict hunting regulations in the 50's has been a booming success! We have more game animals now than you can shake a stick at! In fact, we have OVERPOPULATION of some game animals, like Deer, in a lot of places leading to starvation and disease problems. That wouldn't last long if there were another major depression or like during WW II, meat rationing again... I don't know about you guys, but I'm NOT going hungry, no matter what the government rules are! I will try and be sensitive to breeding and reproduction cycles, and I will do just like I'm doing now, grow rabbits or other meat animals, But if push came down to shove, I WOULD eat anything I could get in my sights! Gardens, especially indoor gardens, and rabbits just work out great, and not only do they provide everything you need, but they actually promote each other very well! Rabbits provide CO2 and fertilizer for the plants, the plants manufacture O2 and food for the rabbits! (Both provide food for me!)
If we start seeing a run on hunted food, because meat is getting more and more unavailable from the store, I don't think you'll have lots of problems getting used to it! None of the world's animal populations can withstand an onslaught of hunting though. Venison is awesome. I like elk. How hard are they as livestock to manage?
I think everybody has a farm nearby, within reason. they cull alot of animals all year round. I think that would be sufficient for locals.
The US produces more food calories per acre than any other country in the world, of course the population has been migrating to the urban areas for the last 100 years in exponential numbers so... hopefully people will embrace urban farming & take some burden off the overstressed agriculture & transport industries
I've been teaching people how to urban garden with great results. Built my chicken coop this weekend and plan to add chickens to the homestead (we have less than an acre).
At the time of the great depression most of society hunted. If it happened now the results would be different, most don't know how to hunt so the animal pop will most likely be OK. The first prey the people turn on is going to be each other.
