Thinking out loud

[starmac]

I was just thinking about the affects of the ammo and component shortages.

For nearly all of us it is a minor inconvenience or annoyance, but there are many folks here and elsewhere that live in the bush that just comes to town 3 or 4 times a year to resupply.
Many of these hunt and trap for at least part of their living and depend on ammo. Most of these do not live on the road system, so must get all their supplies home by foot, atv, boat or have it flown in a bush plane, none of which is real good for stocking large amounts of anything. These guys don't have the luxory of checking back on thursday or in two weeks to see if any ammo has come in. Most of these guys have smaller cabins so just mainly stock enough supplies to last till their next planned trip to town.

I am just thinking, but while we are whining about not shooting because we can't readily replace the 10 or 12 bricks of 22 shells we would normally shoot tin cans with, there are probably guys hoarding their last 50 round box, that truly needs it to continue with their way of life.

All of these people are the type that will make do with what they have to work with, but it would literally suck to not be able to resupply on the rare occasions that you get to town.

[41 mag fan]

You got that one right...it would suck!

[otter5555]

my cabin was stocked with a generous lifetime supply when clinton was elected. if you ain't got room for shootin' stuff nothin' else really matters :)

otter

[starmac]

Can you drive to your cabin?

[wlc]

I agree Starmac. Lots of folks living here in AK are probably in a bind over this shortage. Even some folks on the road system. Not everyone lives close enough to the larger (for us) cities with the more well stocked stores to be able to check back next thurs. I have a friend that would have a hard time with ammo resupply if he didn't have a small stash. I just cast him some more boolits and sent to him. He has to wait till he comes down here or I go up there for powder and primers as they aren't available reasonably priced locally, even in good times.

[btroj]

It would truly be a big problem in that case.

I think that AK has more people like that than all the other states combined.

[WRideout]

My ex-wife is half Eskimo. Her mother grew up on the Bering straits. The Alaska contingent, up until a few years ago still lived a hunting and gathering existence. To the best of my knowledge they still dry salmon and pick berries every summer, and shoot a seal once in a while to render it down for the oil. It bothers me to think that my kids know nothing about that way of life.

Wayne

[starmac]

There are still those that live by hunting and gathering, when one gets too old or disabled for some reason, someone else can proxy hunt for you.

[bearcove]

Recreational shooting and subsistence hunting are two different things. If you have a permit for 20 caribou you need say two boxes of shells. Plus next years supply. You would use your rifle for all hunting and defense from bears. In that position you would shoot a 30-06. If you want to do something more exotic then you should have components to deal with the scarcity of your ammunition.

[otter5555]

Can you drive to your cabin?

when there's no snow you can. it's 4wd even in dry weather :)

[starmac]

Recreational shooting and subsistence hunting are two different things. If you have a permit for 20 caribou you need say two boxes of shells. Plus next years supply. You would use your rifle for all hunting and defense from bears. In that position you would shoot a 30-06. If you want to do something more exotic then you should have components to deal with the scarcity of your ammunition.

Then there is duck,geese,grouse,ptarmigan,rabbit,wolves,fox,wolv erine,and beaver, moose, bear,musk ox, etc. I am probably forgetting some things, but some of them can go through quite a bit of ammo.

Otter, some of these guys live as much as a hundred miles from a road, complicating packing lifetime supplies of anything in. It just complicates things when they make their rare trip to town and find they can't resupply. Like someone mentioned, it isn't like they can check back next thursday. lol some of the villages on the road system are as much as 300 miles from a store.

[Jim]

..... Lots of folks ..... are probably in a bind over this shortage. Even some folks on the road system. Not everyone lives close enough to the larger (for us) cities with the more well stocked stores to be able to check back next thurs.....

My 'coon huntin' buddy's wife told me she hasn't bought meat from the grocery store in several years. Jeff puts it on the table with a .30-06 or a 22 mag.

Walmart, Dick's and stores like that are a 45 minute drive from Floyd, so a trip into 'the big city' isn't something you do every day. Jeff tries to pick up a box of each caliber when they do go.

A month or so back, he called me and asked how come none of the stores have any ammo. Jeff's just a good ol' hard workin' country boy and sometimes doesn't stay on top of current events. I tried to explain it to him 'in a nutshell'.

He was gettin' low on 22 mag stuff, so I found a coupla' boxes for him. It seriously worried him that he might not have ammo to hunt with when the time came. I told him "Jeff, if it comes to it, I'll give you the coupla' boxes I got."

Jeff is an 'up close and personal' example of the type of folks we're talkin' about here. I think I'm beginnin' to understand why he lets me do all the shootin' when we go 'coon huntin'. I think he's savin' his nickels and dimes for ammo to put meat on the table.