Bugging Out to the Wilderness

In the aftermath of any major disaster, if it is at all possible, and safe to do so, you should remain in your home. Your home contains most if not all of your personal possessions, to include disaster preparedness supplies that you may have stored. You are familiar with your home and the surrounding area (you are familiar with the surrounding area, aren’t you?); and you will almost certainly be more comfortable in your own home than on the road or in some refugee camp.
    
However, a common theme in the “prepper community” is the plan to bug-out to some remote wilderness area with only the supplies you can carry in your bug-out bag; there to live off the land and survive the end of the world as we know it.

If your plan to survive a major disaster is to bug out to the wilderness and live off the land, you will almost certainly fail! There are very few people who are skilled enough to support themselves and their families entirely by hunting and gathering, over any length of time (especially in the aftermath of a major disaster).

Mel Tappan, one of the early leaders of the survivalist / prepper movement said: “If, however, your idea of living off the land is heading for the nearest woods with nothing more than a backpack and a gleam of confidence in your eye, then I would rate your chances of surviving the sort of catastrophe which I contemplate as somewhere between zero and none.” (Tappan, 1981, p. 49)  

U.S. Air Force survival instructor, Jonathan Hollerman expressed a similar sentiment, saying: “The #1, absolute, positive, you’re-going-to-die mistake is to take the “Lone Wolf” approach. You know who I’m talking about. The guy on the prepping forum that plans to move out to the national forest and “live off the land” like the Legend of Mick Dodge.” (Hollerman, 2016)