Hunting is a key survival skill that humans have been practicing for thousands of years, from the jungles of South America and the plains of Africa to the Highlands of Scotland. Hunting skills for survival have evolved and developed over this vast timespan from primitive spears and bows to the high-powered rifles and shotguns we use today.

As preppers and survivalists, we should be ready and willing to get back in touch with these ‘primitive’ skills, take the responsibility for sourcing our own meat through hunting, and take active steps to tune up our abilities so we’re ready for whatever comes.

Hunting animals for survival provides us with a valuable source of meat, and without it we’d have to survive solely on a vegetarian diet which is not ideal for long term survival. It also supplies us with fur and hides which can be used to keep us warm in winter as well as antlers, horns and bone which have unique purposes of their own.

Different hunting strategies are used when dealing with specific animals, and learning how to hunt your prey successfully will ensure that you and your family will be well-fed should the worst happen.

Too many people in this modern age have become used to picking up their meat pre-packaged in a supermarket, primarily from farmed domesticated animals such as cows, sheep, pigs and chicken. When the SHTF, this way of obtaining meat in the UK will become obsolete, and your skill to hunt wild native UK animals such as deer, pheasant, rabbit and pigeon will be of vital importance to your survival.

Understandably, there will be a lot of preppers who are uncomfortable with killing animals for food, having become so comfy with the benefits of this modern life, where killing for meat only takes place behind the closed doors of abattoirs. In a survival situation, hunting will become an essential part of life and could make the difference between just surviving or really thriving.

In this section you’ll find important articles related to hunting skills, such as what kind of weapons you need to hunt successfully, which animals are available to be hunted in the UK, and how to improve your hunting success rate.