meat eaters

M

machinest

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Their is a lot of discussion here on harvesting game for survival, how long can a man survive on meat alone.
 
in all environments a man can find plant life that will help to sustain him. in my area (boreal forest) a man would expend less energy in finding edible plants than meat.

and i have no idea of the timeline but scurvy would set in and thats the end.
 
As I understand it — and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong — a man can live almost indefinitely on fresh wild meat. Wild meat is not the same as the farm raised processed meat that most of us get in the supermarket. Apparently almost all, if not all, of our nutritional requirements are met by fresh wild meat. I would think fresh meat and pine tea would keep you running for a long time.

Edited to add: When we talk of eating meat for survival, we're not talking about only rabbits. Rabbits don't have enough fat, which humans need. We're talking about eating animals that do have some fat on them. Rabbits are good for some meals, if you have another source of fat.
 
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All furbearing mammals are edible.

All birds are edible

ALMOST all fish are edible.

A good portion of plants can KILL you very quickly.

If I ever get stranded in the wilderness, I'm eating critters. You salad eaters can have whats left of the plant life.

I don't even bother to think about or study edible plants any longer. Pine needle tea or something maybe for vitamin C, but other than that, it's critters beware.

Carl-
 
Some cultures, like the Inuit, have pretty meat intensive diets. I believe the Masai also have a diet with a lot of animal protein (meat, blood, milk). Unfortunately, I don't know how long it would take the average North American to develop health problems from an all-meat diet but I certainly wouldn't worry about it over a period of weeks.

DancesWithKnives
 
Raisedby wolves said:
A

I don't even bother to think about or study edible plants any longer. Pine needle tea or something maybe for vitamin C, but other than that, it's critters beware.

Carl-
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That is your prerogative, but I hope you are a lucky man, cause even the best hunters get skunked occasionally. Not to mention if you get hurt in a survival situation and say can't walk very well; hunting, and even proper trap placement will be a real PIA. A smart instructor told me once, "I never seen a plant run away from a hungry person."

Knowing edible plants is a very valuable skill in my opinion.
 
I am definitely not going to end up in an "Into the wild" sitch though.

I seriously doubt I am going to ever starve to death in North America. Hungry maybe, but die? Nah

I have hunted and trapped and fished my whole life. I'm gonna survive just fine on meat.

Set 20 or 30 snares, have my air rifle handy and my 870 shotty for the big stuff and I'll be just fine.

But your prerogative also. Just make sure them berries your eatin are the right ones my friend.

Carl-
 
How long you can last depends on what you are willing to eat.

Some cultures, especially in arctic areas had diets of almost exclusively meat. However, that included eating the liver and kidneys where most of the vitamins and minerals are stored. They'd also open the gullets and eat the partially digested plants the animals had eaten. This is because humans don't have the proper enzymes to digest quite a few plants, but those animals do. If you eat their stomach contents, the enzymes are already mixed in, so you can digest it.

Me? I'd rather look for plants I can digest than eat herbivore vomit.
 
If it is under a year, I'm going to be fine with meat alone.

Will I get every vitamin and mineral I need? No, probably not. But I am probably not getting them now.

Seriously, where are you going to be stuck for YEARS in the wilderness with no contact?? Throw a bottle of Centrum vitamins in your pack if you are that worried for the short term (1 Year or less)

Couple of months at most. Why risk poisoning yourself?

If Armogeddon comes, plant some tomatoes corn and squash and build a cabin.

Short term survival on plants is uneccesary and dangerous.

Carl-
 
I have been on an extremely meat intensive diet for over the last year. ( Ketogenic diet )
Meat and animal products are approximately 80 % of my diet. My bad cholesterol, triglicerides,and blood pressure are all DOWN. I have more energy, better digestion, better bowel movements,less appetite, and over-all more well being. I'd have no problem surviving on meat only for a while, but vegetation does need to be added to be healthy.

50 Lbs. fat lost in the last year so far.
I take supplements to compensate for certain vitamins and minerals.
 
Raisedby wolves said:
Short term survival on plants is uneccesary and dangerous.

Carl-
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Carl, please don't think I am calling you out cause I quoted you twice, I am not. I enjoy the conversation of meat vs plants for survival. I like to practice traps/snares and study plants. I feel they are both important skills to learn.

Your above statement about short term survival I don't agree with though. If by short term you mean a few days or so, yes I see it being unnecessary, but dangerous no. If you know what you are doing, eating plants are not dangerous at all. That said, you can get very sick eating meat that is poorly prepared or uncooked just as easily as eating the wrong plant. So again practice and study are important in both aspects.
I bet you would be surprised at all the plants you step on everyday that are edible and actually quite tasty. I recommend you get a field guide or take a walk with someone who knows his plants. You may even find somethings to help add flavor to the meat you love so much ;)

All the best :thumbup:,

Tony
 
I agree with you 100%

I eat wild berries, make pine needle tea, can identify numerous plants and could probably survive on many of them. Have eaten cat-tails, skunk cabbage, walnuts, acorns, etc. I COULD survive on plants, but wouldn't chance it. I would eat what I was 100% sure about. But NOTHING I was 99% sure about.

For those that know their plants, by all means use your knowledge and for those that want to become experts, I admire you.


But for the average survival type guy on this forum, you are going to be much safer eating critters than plants, that's all.

Carl-
 
Cpl Punishment is right, most indigenous cultures that survive mainly on meat eat *all* of the animal- intestines and stomach contents included, and this does supply a lot of vital nutrients that otherwise wouldn't be found in meat.

That being said, learning to identify edible plants is a very valuable skill, one that shouldn't be neglected. Plants are much more abundant and easier to acquire than game. Most of the people on W&SS try their best to be prepared for every possibility- why would you knowingly deny yourself an option in a survival situation?
 
dawsonbob said:
As I understand it — and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong — a man can live almost indefinitely on fresh wild meat. Wild meat is not the same as the farm raised processed meat that most of us get in the supermarket. Apparently almost all, if not all, of our nutritional requirements are met by fresh wild meat. I would think fresh meat and pine tea would keep you running for a long time.
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That's my understanding as well. I recall reading an article that said pemmican provides all of the nutrients that a person needs. It also stated that berries were only put in to satisfy the mountain men/explorers and the Natives seldom if ever used them in the stuff they made for themselves.
 
As was stated earlier, most meat intensive cultures eat far more that just the "steaks", eating organs, fat/blubber, bones, eyes, etc. I know that Inuit also eat kelp and other seaweed which is surprisingly nutritious.

Also as was stated earlier as far as meat vs plants, knowledge is key. I don't see the logic in becoming an expert hunter/trapper/fisherman and neglect to educate yourself in a valuable resource.

It bears noting that in short term survival, food would be of fourth priority; safety, shelter/fire, water, then food. Even then you can survive by budgeting energy expenditures and continue to function for quite a while without food. That said all this goes out the window in arctic environments where caloric requirements are much much higher.

As far as how long before ill effects are noticed? 322 days.

;)

In all seriousness, it also bears noting that many of the indigenous arctic peoples, specifically those that rely primarily from the sea, suffer from hepatomegaly (big huge diseased livers), fatty liver, cirrhosis, due to the exponential accumulation of mercury and other pollutants in the meat and especially the fat of pinnipeds and whales that make up a large part of their diet. I guess the sad factor of widespread alcoholism may also have considerable contributory effects.
 
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Let's not forget insects - high in protein. But you do have to watch out for the sharp parts that can cut you digestive system.
 
In 1928 two men, Stefansson and Anderson ate nothing but fat and meat for a period of a year. They were monitored by physicians. Labs were drawn, urine analyzed, weight was followed, etc....

At the end of the year, one man had lost 6 pounds, the other 3. Neither man had evidence of any nutritional diseases. Both had normal kidney function. Both had normal cardiac function and blood pressure (one of them was noted to have started the experiment with borderline high blood pressure, but that became normal over the course of the year).

It turns out that meat is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Not vitamin C however. And yet neither man developed scurvy. It would appear they were not depleting their vitamin C stores. The speculation is that eating high carbohydrate foods (think ship's biscuits) does deplete vitamin C stores. So sailors living on a carb rich diet without replenishing their vitamin C stores develop scurvy, whereas an Inuit can eat just fat and meat for months in perfect health.
 
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it's impossible to get all the calories/nutrients you need from only foraging. you would have to eat animals to survive for long.
 
I'm a firm believer in that if you cook everything over an open flame it will taste good, meat wise!!!!!!!
 
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