"Instead of salting i would choose to can my food and store it. You can get all of your vegetables and even some meat into the jar, plus you get the water that you use to can it. plus there's nothing better than a nice hot bowl of soup in the dead of winter.


I would expect that eventually the wild boar population would reach my fortress (seeing as how the only thing stopping them now is human intervention). A wild boar can reach 400 lbs or more. That is enough meat to last a group of 10 (3 meals a day with a 2lb serving of meat) just under three weeks. So killing 1 boar weighing at least 350 lbs every two weeks will provide enough meat for each person AND extra to be cooked and canned for winter.
As for concerns regauding wildlife population, its not something i would worry about. Even if there are 3 million survivors in the US they will be scattered across the country. even if the majority, say 75%, are hunters; the remaining 25% will not have much luck at hunting and will stick to raiding and foraging. Even the majority will not hunt everyday and will not always be successful. there's a reason its called hunting and killing, there is a chance you will fail."

"Obviously some of any animal can not be eaten, but it is not like that is the only thing we would eat. And yes 400 lbs is pushing it...today. But if people are suddenly removed from the picture... Wild boars don't have many predators...so if allowed to roam the whole country and without anything to keep them in check, they will continue to grow. There is also speculation claiming that american wild hogs are being cross-bred with much larger and more agressive Eurasian boars. A Eurasian boar can reach 3.5 feet tall and weigh in at close to 500 lbs. Again if unchecked the boars will become large and dangerous, but extremely plentiful.
Trapping is a silent and resource efficent way of getting food, but you would need leathal traps instead of live traps because the noise can attract unwanted attention. Two downfalls to the traps though are size and scent. Size because you won't catch anything bigger than a rabbit with a leathal trap (which runs the danger of injuring you if accidently tripped), and scent because if you set and check the traps everyday you will leave a strong scent. Both problems are solved by hunting because you can hunt large game and postion yourself down wind.
to solve the canning reliablity issue we wold make sure there is a tight seal before storing it and check everything once a week to make sure everything is closed properly. "

"Has anyone made any serious planning for food? "

"Two downfalls to the traps though are size and scent. Size because you won't catch anything bigger than a rabbit with a leathal trap"

".
Trapping is a silent and resource efficent way of getting food, but you would need leathal traps instead of live traps because the noise can attract unwanted attention. Two downfalls to the traps though are size and scent. Size because you won't catch anything bigger than a rabbit with a leathal trap (which runs the danger of injuring you if accidently tripped), and scent because if you set and check the traps everyday you will leave a strong scent."