The report looked at “major,” “severe,” and “extreme” scenarios. The authors found that the “major” case would cost the world $3 trillion over a five-year period, which they estimated has a 2.3% chance of happening per year. Over a 30-year period, those odds equate to about a 50% probability of occurrence — assuming the risks are not increasing each year, which they are.
Try fishing first before hunting, it’s a lot easier and if it makes you too squeamish (gutting, prepping, ect) then it’s a lot easier to offload old fishing gear than firearms
Not to mention the barrier to entry is a lot lower
Plus being in the PNW (I am as well) fishing spots are basically everywhere
Not to mention catching some good sized fish are more than a few meals in size and they’re pretty common
I’m already a fisherman, although not a very good one. I was a decent fisherman when I was younger, but something changed and I’m not that good at it anymore. I’ve watched a bunch of videos and read a couple of books, but I still skunk out more often than not. I’ve been at a spot for hours before, had someone walk up 3 feet from where I’m fishing, catch their limit in half an hour, and take off. I’ll continue fishing for another hour and not catch anything. I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. I even bought all new gear, thinking that maybe mine was like old and smelly or something, and it didn’t change anything.
As with most endeavours, it helps to do some networking. Get out there at all hours and all conditions (be safe!) checking to see who is out when. Pay special attention to those who seem to catch fish quickly; anyone can catch their limits if they spend 40+ hours a week with wet line.
Try to make the acquaintance of the successful ones and get tips. Some will be secretive, but most are happy to share their knowledge. It quickly becomes apparent that they are mostly doing the same things at the same times.
I used to consider myself a pretty good angler. Then we moved to live at a lake that I had never fished before. I was getting skunked so often that I just assumed the fishing wasn’t great. Then I started hanging out with others and learned that my old techniques were useless, except under specific circumstances. I adopted the new techniques and now think that this lake may be one of the best fisheries in the province for subsistence angling.
Yeah, I guess that’s what happened to me. I learned to fish in the high Sierra Nevadas, and I’m still pretty good up there. But those techniques don’t seem to work in the PNW.
The best fisherman I know says to walk until you can smell the fish. That always seemed nonsensical to me, and I assumed he was trolling me. But last year I was walking along the water’s edge and actually smelled fish! So I think he was being truthful. I’ll definitely give that a try this spring.
I’ve stopped to fish where I can smell fish and been successful, but I always just assumed confirmation bias or pattern seeking was happening. Maybe I’ll have to pay more attention!