It really doesn’t take a lot of skill to hunt birds, and you can catch all kinds of tasty species with little more than a slingshot and good aim. However, stalking them can take a lot of time and effort, and then you have to fetch them when finished as well. What if we could achieve the same results, with a fraction of the effort, by using a bird feeder to attract prey to us instead?
Just Look Around
The bird feeder idea came to mind after I put one in my back yard and started observing what happened. Larger species, such as doves, quail and robins, came in the afternoon and evening whereas smaller birds such as finches would pop in during the morning. This was a pattern that kept repeating itself day in and day out, and I realized that this little feeder was attracting all kinds of birds that I could hunt and eat.
If this is the case, then I can probably make bigger feeders to attract larger birds, and maybe I can tailor different ones with foods that a specific species eats. The possibilities are endless, and it seems that a simple bird feeder can be a great way to get an easy meal during a period of prolonged self-sufficiency.
While this may not be a practical solution in every survival situation, just knowing that this simple trick works gives me more options in the field, and maybe it can help you as well. What this line of thinking really did was to direct my attention to the abundance and behavior of edible birds that are in my area. A little bit of observation is all that I needed to realize that I’m only a stones-throw away from having access to a regular supply of food that I don’t have to work hard to obtain.
Don’t Overlook the Simple
Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the simple as we develop our bushcraft survival skills. We learn how to build elaborate traps, we practice throwing spears or making improvised bows in order to hunt. We learn tracking skills. While all of these are great skills to have, and they will undoubtedly be beneficial to us during a survival situation, nothing replaces the time and energy that we can save by keeping things simple whenever possible.
A bird feeder to catch prey is just one example of limitless tricks that we can use to our advantage if we’re paying attention to our surroundings. Take time to stop and look around, and chances are that you’ll discover a variety of animals that are all over the place that can be hunted for food. On the other hand, we can just as easily make things more complicated than necessary by not paying attention to our surroundings in order to take advantage of what’s around us.
At the end of the day, nature provides us with the tools that we need to survive, but it’s up to us to put these resources to good use. Keep your eyes on your surroundings, pay attention to what’s around you, and think of how you can extract what you need with as little effort as possible. Chances are that you’ll come across at least a couple of different tricks that can make life easier in the field, but it’s up to you to notice and take advantage of them.
