If you are interested in a wolf tag...

You won't have to wait long to buy one. Thanks to IdahoBob, who informed me in a comment on my last post, that they go on sale August 24th. More information is always helpful...

A new policy on wolves. What does that have to do with food storage?

Was interested to learn that there will now be a hunting season on wolves in Idaho--as this article points out. One of my first thoughts was, if I were able to hunt down a wolf, would it have any edible value for my family? Is wolf meat edible for anybody? If we hit hard times, it might be useful to know...

One of my second thoughts was to wonder where I put a cookbook that I bought a couple of years ago---it's a collection of recipes, many of which are older, and if memory serves, there is a recipe for preparing muskrat in there somewhere. Ah, good times---not that I personally have ever even been in really close proximity to a muskrat, but it is good times when people know how to use anything and everything to provide food, etc. for their families.

I ordered that county recipe book from e-bay, and was hoping to find some really basic recipes so that I could use my really basic long-term storage supplies. I didn't start in earnest using my long-term supplies until considerably later, so the cookbook (once located) will probably be a lot more useful for me now.

After I thought about that cookbook, I remembered that you don't always have to go to all that much extra effort to get a recipe for something. This was evidenced by the fact that I was looking for something to do with my pumpkin puree last year, and should have looked to my grandmother first, who has a pumpkin bread recipe that I posted about here on my other blog. Having supplies is a necessity, as is knowing how to use them once you have purchased them and/or have managed to get your hands on them. (I'm thinking getting a hold of wolf meat is no walk in the park, for example. :)

Well, seeing as how this post seems a little disjointed, here are the points I was trying to make...

--The policy on hunting wolves has changed in Idaho. If you're interested, I believe the season starts in September, according to the linked article.

--Really basic recipes that work with food storage items can be found in older cookbooks if you are willing to look for them.

--Sometimes the best recipes you can find are within your own family, if you think about it and are willing to ask. (Unless you have relatives who have some famous, classified, top-secret recipe that nobody gets, even if they ask.... :)

So, the question remains: is wolf meat edible? And hey, if you're willing to share, food storage recipes are always welcome.... :)

Hunters might like this one...

I don't hunt, but still got a kick out of the quote below, which was sent to me in an e-mail as a picture of a newspaper with the quote marked:

"To all you hunters who kill animals for food, shame on you; you ought to go to the store and buy the meat that was made there, where no animals were harmed."

Hunting and gathering information in this person's case might be in order. I know I'm always looking for more... :)

Always good to have a reason

Thinking about it, I guess my last post could be questioned in terms of how it actually relates to emergency preparedness---isn't just a matter of me asking people to make their voices heard on yet more legislation that I don't like? Kind of--I don't like it, and I am asking people to speak up--but that is not the entire reason that I wrote the post.

I've heard things along the lines of, "you can only keep what you can defend" when there are discussions of what might happen if a situation arose where the only resources available were what people had put away in terms of food/water/supplies storage. This post on PreparednessPro provides a lot of food for thought on the need to be prepared when it comes to defense. It's unfortunate but true that there may come a time when we have to defend either our storage, or ourselves/our family/loved ones. Legislation along the lines that I wrote about could inhibit our abilities to do so (or even hunt for food to sustain ourselves) by prohibitive costs or other restrictions that directly affect our ability to prepare ourselves for emergencies. That, and I love the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution, and don't want them messed with. At all.

Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. I just hope that we all will do what we can to make sure that our ability to prepare for the worst is not hampered in any way, including making our voices heard.

This is for the hunters...

Found out today that they are considering changes in the hunting regulations in Idaho. I personally don't hunt, but think that it's a valuable skill and useful for feeding your family if you also have the skills to harvest the meat. Read here for more information--there's a meeting coming up and they are asking for public input. If you have something to add, you might want to speak up now....just a head's up!

Related articles can be found here and here.