Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Martinez, and I would like to gauge the public's interest in a project I am working on.
I will be conducting a groundbreaking experiment in human adaptability and endurance, documenting the odyssey of an attempt by a group of modern people to recreate the conditions experienced by the earliest humans.

For one year, a group of volunteers will do something that has not been attempted with success before: live ENTIRELY by hunting and gathering wild foods using only early Paleolithic technology or less. The project will be documented in detail by small cameras mounted on the participants--the ultimate reality show! In addition to creating a documentary, a nutritional study will be conducted to analyze caloric intake and expenditure and discover seasonal fluctuations.

Promotional Extract:
Could you live like your "stone-age" ancestors did? Not just for a few days or weeks, but for a year, for a lifetime? Not just barely escaping death, but truly thriving? For years many people have asked this question--We want to find the answer.

Join us as we challenge the limits of our endurance in the ultimate test of survival

ONE YEAR
water, food, clothing, shelter and tools not provide
--Just your will to survive.

Objectives:
*Gain unique insight through personally experiencing the physical, social and emotional reality of daily living within a small foraging band.

*Raise young people's awareness of foraging cultures and bring international attention to the plight of modern-day subsistence hunters and gatherers.

For more information, please visit Walking On The Land (http://foragerprojects.tripod.com)

A major problem I see with your project is the Subsistence hunting.

As far as I can find on the internet, ONLY Alaska allows subsistence hunting.

Anywhere other state as far as I can gather your participants would have to abide by that states fishing and hunting regulations which would severely hamper Subsistence hunting as they would only be able hunt what is in season at the time.

You MAY be able to apply for a permits from whichever state your project takes place in to allow the participants to hunt/fish year round.

Your project sounds interesting, though I think you will have difficulty in setting it up and in finding participants that will be able to stick it out for a year.

A group which may be likely to stick it out for a year would be the homeless as many of these have lived on the streets for years, though I realize this is not the demographic you want to "test" in your project.

The majority of mammals and fish in most states are classified as non-game and can be pursued year-round (mice, rats, rabbits, armadillos, ground squirrels, snakes, lizards, turtles, crayfish, suckers, crabs, insects, etc.) These smaller to medium-sized animals (and plants) made up the bulk of the diets of many foraging peoples in warmer areas. Smaller animals are more plentiful and easier to capture. However, if big game is needed, there are numerous exotics (think feral hogs and sheep) that also have no season or bag limits.

Part of my preliminary research has been to calculate the nutritional value of small animals consumed whole and use their population density and probable capture rate to estimate the required range size need by a human to survive.

Still great care will need to be taken to insure no game laws are violated. Depending on which state (or states) you project takes place in some of the species you mentioned are regulated, such as Rabbit and also may not contain such non-native species as feral hogs or sheep.

Also, it seems that hunting non-native species would skew the results of your project as these animals would not have been available to our ancient ancestors as would have the native large game animals.

The purpose of the project is to discover if it is still possible for humans to live by foraging on a small scale level in TODAY'S world, not to precisely replicate conditions in the early Pleistocene! The climate, flora and fauna were radically different. And obviously this project is not taking place in Africa or Asia (where it should) because I don't have that kind of funding.

The project will take place in Texas, my home, and I am well versed in all of the laws relating to hunting, fishing and camping.

Ah well obviously, people with the proper skills could survive in TODAYS world in the wild by foraging off the land.

If you are at all familiar with Les Strouds biography you know that he and his wife did just that, for a year in the boreal forest of Canada.

Naturally skill level would play a major role in how well the group performed early on and their skills should improve as they become familiar with the game and its habits in their range of operation.

Good luck with your project, though I suspect in this day and age it will be quite difficult to find an area large enough for the activity and to minimize outside human interference and to allow for migration to other areas as forage is depleted in one area.

I'm not just talking about merely living off the land--there are obviously many people that DO live off the land in the US (In Wisconsin and Alaska, for example). I'm talking about living without virtually ANY kind of technology (no bows, no clothes, NOTHING) and why on earth would I want to do this? Because humans lived this way for most of their existence on earth. For an unimaginable length of time they had no tools other than sticks, fire, the hand-axe and simple flakes. They were just as much a part of the environment as any animal. This is what I want to experience.

One of my biggest inspirations are the stories of feral children--those who were abandoned or lost in the wilderness. They endured hardships most of us cannot imagine, living without clothes on the meagerest of diets. But they thrived, but when they were forcibly brought into civilization, they wasted away. Our perceived needs today have been blown way out of proportion to our actual ones. We can get by, even thrive and live fulfilling lives on MUCH less.

I haven't had the opportunity to see Survivorman or Man Vs. Wild, but have heard a lot about them from other people. I know that many people like Les Stroud and others have successfully lived off the land, I just want to take it a step further. I know there is a school in Wisconsin where the students live ON the land for a year, but not entirely off it. They eat a lot of roadkilled deer, but their diet is supplemented by store-bought nuts and fruits. I wonder to what extent Les got his food from the land in his yearlong journey and how he procured it? It would be interesting to hear more about it in detail.

Yes, I know with all the laws regulating our activities that what I am trying to accomplish will be extremely difficult--but not impossible. It can, and NEEDS to be done. People need to see that there is not just one way to live (accumulating material things) that can make them happy.

Cool. I hope you get the logistics all worked out so that you can make your project a reality.

A great hurdle I see now that you have explained it more in detail, is the whole "no clothes" thing.

While yes, the participants could eventually cloth themselves with skins or natural fiber, it may be difficult to actually get someone willing to be naked in a group setting.

Then of course there is the legal issues of being nude in "public" if any or all of the project takes place on public lands.

Reguardless of the scientific value behind your project, there may well be complaints and possible legal action takenby (for example) a family out hiking/camping who encounter your group and are offended that their pre-teen children were exposed to naked men and women.

Also to consider the dangers of the participants may face if they were stumbled upon by the "wrong crowd", they could face all manner of violence.

Also consider the participants safety during normal hunting seasons which may require the use of hunter orange.

Yes, you do have a lot to work out and I hope you succeed.

If you want to find out more about Les Stroud, you can go to his official site. www.lesstroud.ca

He has a DVD documenting his experience with the year long survival in the Canadian Boreal Forest. It is called "Snowshoes and Solitude".

I believe you can also watch it on Youtube, though it will be broken down in several segments.

Please keep us updated on the progress of how your project is coming along!

Thanks for all the advice, and especially the links to Less Stroud's documentary--I will definitely check it out!

I didn't say we wouldn't be wearing clothes, just that they wouldn't be PROVIDED for us! If need be, it's pretty simple to whip together a couple of rabbit skins or fibers in a matter of minutes to make some coverings--I don't think it will be a major problem. Of course, we could always make them prior to actually heading onto public land, since they don't contribute to our survival anyway (unless you consider keeping from getting arrested!).

I'll definitely keep you updated though. I have a website (which I posted above) but its a work in progress.

Thanks again for the input!

Cool. I wish you luck and will follow your progress at your website and hopefully you will update us here as well.