[TraderBob]

The Ozarks of course
My son and I are currently building our new home far and away on a ridge. Will be totally off-grid by necessity.
Long growing season, plenty of wild boar, turkeys, small game.
Haven't found a downside yet.

 

[Engel]

I will keep that in mind the next time I trade with people who do it.

Currently there are neighbors of mine who hunt, forage, trap and fish for their subsistence.





Hold on, in my region of North America the Indigenous Peoples did not use Agriculture. The technology had not traveled this far East, before Europeans arrival. It had only reached the Pequots / Mohegans within the very same generation as when the Plimoth Plantation colonialists arrived.

The line between the Pequots / Mohegans and the Nipmucks serves as the boundary of where that technology ended. The Nipmucks did not get it.

I live on land that was part of the Abenaki lands. The Abenaki, Abenaki, Algonkin, Massachuset, Mattabesic, Micmac, Nauset, Nipmuc, Pennacook, Pocumtuk, and Wampanoag did not use Agriculture.



Areas prone to drought, have a much harder time surviving. People in those areas have a much stronger need to find other ways to survive.

Areas that have never been exposed to drought, are very much different.

I chose to homestead in an area that is not drought-prone, for this very reason.





You are the only person to bring the idea of 'bushman' into this conversation

Here in my township there are already multiple families who are off-grid.

I plan to be off-grid before this season is over.





There are myths, sadly you may be living in one.





You are really jumping around a lot in this.

Okay, nobody said anything about lone-wolf survival.

'Tight-knit' community is certainly over-stating it. But community is needed.



I am an organic farmer. I do bring in a small pension [less than minimum-wage] which helps me to build my new farm. I am able to produce more than what we need for food, I market the surplus. [however only about 80% of our diet is currently produced on our property] I allow a couple neighbors to forage, etc on my land.

There is a big learning curve, I am learning more and more each year about the edibles that grow wild here.

Fortunately this is a region where a family does not need very much cash to thrive.

So you do farm!

You just proved my main point. Thanks.

 

[dm1911]

what about the north the north west ( Oregon/ Washington state area?) there must stil be out back land there.

 

[RossO]

another Ozarkian here.

I am in MO, no zoning rules or regulations, it you are on more than 3 acres there aren't even septic regulations in my county. LOTS of underground water for wells, springs are somewhat common, the land is beautiful.

 

[me]

So you do farm!

You just proved my main point. Thanks.

I think his point was some of his neighbors and the Indians who lived there do/did not farm.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

another Ozarkian here.

I am in MO, no zoning rules or regulations, it you are on more than 3 acres there aren't even septic regulations in my county. LOTS of underground water for wells, springs are somewhat common, the land is beautiful.

My paternal grandparents used to farm in MO. They had to leave because there was a time when MO had no water.

When there is no drought, the land can be very beautiful.

 

[MattB4]

what about the north the north west ( Oregon/ Washington state area?) there must stil be out back land there.

Washington State is restrictive in land use. You need a permit to do anything on or to your land. The taxes are high and the State is very leftist in government. Oregon is not much better. Much of the desirable back country land is the recreation spots of the large population centers of Seattle and Portland. This means urban folks there do not respect private property and will trespass. Many of them will also vandalize or steal anything not chained down.

The Pacific Northwest is beautiful but not a great choice if you want to live free.

 

[RossO]

My paternal grandparents used to farm in MO. They had to leave because there was a time when MO had no water.

When there is no drought, the land can be very beautiful.

I suppose it depends where you live. My in-laws have been here for over 50 years. Their springs and wells have never run dry. I am on rural public water, which is from wells, and water shortage has never been an issue.

There may be times when there is little rain fall and irrigation could be necessary.

 

[ForestBeekeeper]

Washington State is restrictive in land use. You need a permit to do anything on or to your land. The taxes are high and the State is very leftist in government. Oregon is not much better. Much of the desirable back country land is the recreation spots of the large population centers of Seattle and Portland. This means urban folks there do not respect private property and will trespass. Many of them will also vandalize or steal anything not chained down.

The Pacific Northwest is beautiful but not a great choice if you want to live free.

My last boat was homeported at Subase Bangor, which is in Kitsap County Washington. I was there for 5 years, I spent a lot of time searching for a good retirement site.

The Olympic Penn is wonderful. Down by Grey's Harbor is nice. Even along the Eastern border up in the high plains desert is kind of nice.

I have had a number of friends who have owned parcels in each of those areas. Land prices are very high, and property taxes are high.

While it is a very beautiful area, my pension would have never allowed us to live there, off-grid / sustainable.

To live in a high COL / tax region, you need a high paying job. I do not believe that subsistence farming is possible in such a region, without a serious income from some other source.

 

[Retreat Living]

For a young, healthy hardcore survivalist, Alaska would probably be the state to go to. It's a brutal place to live, though, and not for wimps. Cost of living is high unless you really do live off the land for the most part. You will have to eat a lot of fish, moose, caribou, bear meat. I've looked into land there a few times and found that some land is high, other low in cost. The funny thing is it seems the more remote land is higher priced than land near a road and town.

The easiest area to grow your own produce would be the South, and it's easy to deal with the weather. The hot part of the year is about four months. You have about five months of great, low humidity and mild temps and two or three more of tolerable temps and humidity. I guess some from the North wouldn't find that many months out of the year comfortable, but I do. But even Floridians find from the last week of May (sometimes the temps aren't bad until the first week of June) to the middle of September uncomfortable. Since the middle of this month, temps have been warm but not bad and humidity has at times been mild. Nights have been in the mid to low 60s.

 

[HandLoad]

I would still promote some searching of the lands around the Puget Sound. Lots of heavily forested valleys, with year-round freshwater streams with Salmon runs! Temperatures moderated by lotsa water nearby. Saltwater food sources, freshwater food sources, wild game sources aplenty. Water transport to shortcut isolating terrain, so you can be near a small town/city, but still protected by long and narrow roads or difficult hiking. Very Large, Very Good boating/marine environment. Because the Sound is far from the Seacoast, the body of water is pretty calm. Kayaks are quiet and cheap.

Google "Key Peninsula" in Washington State for an example of "lay of the land" There are many lands available even more remote, in the multi-hundreds of Miles of Sound shorelines.

 

[Jdog67]

Oregon was absolutely beautiful when I drove through there last year, the area around crater lake was very remote and heavily forested, and their was plenty of game. There were lakes out there which could provide water. I imagine the toughest part of living there is dealing with the cold winters.

 

[Watchingtheweasels]

The Eustece Conway story illustrates what happens when someone wants to live the traditional way in NC.

Who is Eustece Conway and what happened to him?

 

[Nomad 2nd]

Who is Eustece Conway and what happened to him?

An idiot who ran a business under the radar.... And then was shocked when the government found out about it when he talked about it on TV.

 

[delta27]

An idiot who ran a business under the radar.... And then was shocked when the government found out about it when he talked about it on TV.

Boo! Boo! Hiss! Hiss!


I think Eustace is great! He's my favorite on the Mountain Men (History channel show)...and he's RIGHT!. (he is very much a constitutionalist and "libertarian"...if you listen to him he has a good grasp of the constitution, our founding fathers and natural rights)

some more in depth interviews/stories on Eustace...

edit: another vid...

Eustace Conway Discusses Turtle Island Raid And Natural Law

 

[Nomad 2nd]

Knowing a bit about "reality TV" I know for a FACT that everything about any "star" you like is 100% scripted and FAKE!

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/08/history_channel_mountain_man_s.html
Now, while I'm against building codes in large part, when you do this it's different than going and living on your mtn (as I'm working on)

.But it's all part of a complex dance. For Conway and Turtle Island, sustainability has come to depend on interns and apprentices, and on tax-exempt status from a regulatory system this self-styled "true old-time mountain man" openly despises.

It also depends, increasingly, on a steady stream of paying campers. And that is where Conway's peaceful coexistence with the "modern world" broke down.

FAKE!

. For the remainder of the season, Conway and his interns split firewood and fence rails to raise the cash needed to lift the lien from his "sacred" mountain. In the climactic final episode, titled "This is the End," Conway and a friend make a dramatic ride on horseback into Boone — rather than taking one of the many vehicles that dot the property.

He arrives at the courthouse just in time "to make his final stand."

But Conway's true nemesis is not "the courts" or some heartless "tax man." It's a 28-year-old woman who was injured during a visit to Turtle Island.

In August 2005, Kimberly Baker of Wilmington came to the preserve on a retreat as part of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program. She and the others were taking part in an orientation at Turtle Island's entrance when one of Conway's staffers pulled out a sling and began demonstrating how to hurl stones.

A rock flew backward, blinding Baker's right eye. She sued.

-note, LONG BEFORE the TV show.

."When I go out in public, I deliberately try to present myself as this wild guy who just came down off the mountain, and I'm aware that it's largely an act," the "Eat, Pray, Love" author quoted him as saying. "I know I'm a showman. I know I present people with an image of how I wish I were living. But what else can I do? I have to put on that act for the benefit of the people."

___

 

[delta27]

Knowing a bit about "reality TV" I know for a FACT that everything about any "star" you like is 100% scripted and FAKE!

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/08/history_channel_mountain_man_s.html
Now, while I'm against building codes in large part, when you do this it's different than going and living on your mtn (as I'm working on)



FAKE!



-note, LONG BEFORE the TV show.

Everything in that article and your post was known by me (except the woman getting injured and sueing). It's not as "fake" as you protest. And, even where it is "fake," it's not exactly hard to figure that out. The article doesn't "debunk" Eustace nearly as much as you think or would like to portray.

I stand by what I posted earlier. Eustace is a great example and knows his stuff. :thumb:

 

[Thai Expat]

Boo! Boo! Hiss! Hiss!


I think Eustace is great! He's my favorite on the Mountain Men (History channel show)...and he's RIGHT!. (he is very much a constitutionalist and "libertarian"...if you listen to him he has a good grasp of the constitution, our founding fathers and natural rights)

Mountain Men Series 3: Trailer - YouTube

Mountain Men S3 Sundays at 9 e/p! - YouTube

some more in depth interviews/stories on Eustace...

Mountain Man Takes On Building Codes - YouTube

Natural Living Advocate RAIDED for Housing Violations - Eustace Conway - YouTube

Eustace Conway: Self-Sufficient or Threat to Society? - YouTube

edit: another vid...

Eustace Conway Discusses Turtle Island Raid And Natural Law
Eustace Conway Discusses Turtle Island Raid And Natural Law - YouTube

I know some things directly about Eustace and his background. You might want to look a little deeper before you make him one of your heroes.

 

[Thai Expat]

So now I'm looking into where would be the best place in the U.S. to do this at?

Why limit yourself to the US? There are lots of places cheaper and with less government interference outside of the States.

 

[delta27]

I know some things directly about Eustace and his background. You might want to look a little deeper before you make him one of your heroes.

too late (although I wouldn't exactly call him "one of my heroes"...just someone I'm impressed and inspired by...my "heroes" are John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and my father) and I don't really care what you "know"...I have my own opinion and you're welcome to yours. :thumb: