As I have always stated, food is typically not my top priority in a survival situation. However, if you are going to go after food, you will eventually want protein. There are several ways in which you can acquire protein but many are risky or calorie-burning activities.Trapping is one way you can set and forget to collect animal protein.

In this article, I will cover why trapping is so essential for survival and also the different trap designs that you can use to catch the protein you need.

Is Protein that Important?

Before we can talk about protein specifically, we need to discuss the importance of food itself.

The four pillars of survival are food, water, fire, and shelter. These are the items required to survive the wilderness.

You can only survive a few hours in the cold without fire or shelter, so these are vital in certain weather conditions. You can survive about three days without water before dying of dehydration. Your body can survive about 30 days without food. So why is it so important?

The answer is complicated. Food is not just about staying alive. It gives you the energy you need to complete other tasks. Also, your body starts to degrade before you die from starvation.

You should also read: Protein, the foundation of a survival diet

How the Body Copes With Hunger

Without calories, your body starts to break down fat and muscle for energy. This makes you weak and clumsy which can cause injury. Then your body starts to break down the brain and internal organs. This process causes confusion, depression, and anxiety.

These issues can easily cause you to make a fatal mistake in the wild. The flip side of the coin is that even a little food can be an excellent way to boost the morale.

Wild edibles are a great way to get calories without expending a considerable amount of energy. With the right knowledge, you can easily provide a few meals with a quick walk in the forest. However, leafy greens alone are not enough.

You need foods with more fats, oils, sugars, proteins, and calories. These are the nutritional elements that keep your spirits high and keep you mentally and physically strong. There is also nothing quite like a steaming hot piece of meat to put a smile on your face.

Why Trapping?

I am sure you have seen some scantily clad madman chasing boar with a spear or hunting bow to survive on television. However, you must think about risk versus reward when going after protein.

Whichever method you use to find protein, there are resources and risks involved. You risk your time, energy, safety, and mindset. You have to consider these factors too:

• What happens if you come home empty-handed after tromping through the woods all day?
• How about if you spend all of your time looking for food when you need to be building a shelter?
• What happens if you trip and hurt yourself, get bitten by an animal, or fall into the water and freeze?

While hunting might be a viable option in some cases, with primitive tools, I put it pretty low on the list.

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