Smelly Swiss Dilettante

[Jean]

I have it quite precisely drawn on 1:200'000 maps with a stabilo mark.
If you don't want to visit me immediatly, there is also this map.



The High Tatra part was really nice, altough the eastern most third is very crowded. The rest is relatively quiet. There is a "secret" camping spot in the close to oko morskie (completely legal), they have their own tents and charge about 5 euros.
So you only need to take a sleeping bag with you if you wan't to do a similar hike.

I really like hiking this divide, because it takes you trough all sorts of mountains or plateau landscape, most of which aren't famous at all, so you get to discover things about our continent by yourself, which is very rewarding.

Also, the Rhine has 2 sources, arguably 3, because the Aare is usually bigger than him when they meet, so her source could also qualify as the Rhine source.
I happen to have the Aare just in front of my windows, and the old Aare (where it use to flow before we build some antiflooding infrastructure, which are very impressive in how efficient they are at preventing flloods in switzerland) about 30 minutes hike away. Old Aare is realy nice, they still let some water flow in it, so now, it a nice small river, most of it banks are protected against development and lovely.

[guitarplayer]

Hi, I PMed you about the Morskie Oko spot, this would fit perfectly our itinerary.

These can really be dangerous ideas for me to think, because appealing.

[Jean]

Ernst Scribler visited me.
We walked around the city, and the day after, we biked (and pushed bike) toward my house.
He seemed impressed by the scenery, i was a bit ashamed by how squeequie my bike chain was.
I greased it, after a quick brush, and now it's silent enough for me to ear the unevenness of my frontwheel.
It's always a pleasure to meet other forumite, don't hesitate to manifest yourself if you are around.

[theanimal]

Congrats on passing the shooting exam! How many more exams do you have left before you can get your license?

[Jean]

it's all done, there are only two exam days (theory and shooting). I'll start with boar in august, then elk and chamois in september, 'I'll pass on roe deer to go for ducks in october and november, and then boar again when there is full moon or snow, duck otherwhise. I'll end the season with cormoran that are a pest here, and maybe some fox, but probably not.

[Jean]

I don't think I wrote it here already, but one of my goal, Is to be able to pay my bills by selling game meat, and also be able to save money from it.
There are several aspect to this goal. One is having some financial margin, because i don't wan't to have to forgo medical treatment or preventive exams because of a lack of money. And those things are very expensive, And my current passive income isn't enough to keep saving money.
An other one is freedom. I imagine it would feel extremely good to live of the land. I don't wan't to be a farmer. So hunt it will be.

The last one is spiritual. I think my greatest privilege is to have been born as an apex predator. Possibly the greatest predator that ever walked on this planet (not me personally, but humans). We may be one of the last generation of human that live in Flesh, because computers might be better than us at surviving. We might even be one of the last generation of animal. I think the most intense experience we can have, are the one we have been having for a very longtime, sex, becoming parent, being pregnant, feeding your loved one, and of course hunting.

We started becoming human when we started hunting. this adventure lasted a few million years. Stoping hunting is what led us to civilisation, and creating our possible successor. This might be the end of our story. This is all natural. But hunting is a form of communion with the billions of human that hunted before me. It's also a form of communion with all the other humans and predator that hunt now. We all share the thrill of outsomethinging our prey and catching it. And eating it.
I want to be that again. I feel like a slave that bought back his freedom. I feel like I now belong to the elite club of the animals.

On a more practical note, an AI might want to ear me talk about this experience instead of turning me back into a pile of minerals.

[theanimal]

You can sell game meat in Switzerland? It's very illegal in the US. There was a law put in place in 1900 that banned it nationwide after market hunters nearly wiped out all the bison in the West. It existed in Alaska until the 30s I believe, but has been banned since then. The only real equivalent here are "super-hunters." In some native villages, a few young men will hunt for the whole community. Their full time "job" is going out and hunting for everyone else. They aren't paid, but besides the elders, they are the highest status individuals in each village.

Anyways, we share a similar philosophy on this matter. Hunting is the most fulfilling activity that I do by a long shot. That sounds like a worthwhile endeavor.

[Jean]

Yes you can sell game meat in Switzerland. I imagine that it's because the territory is much smaller, so It's not prohibitely difficult to enforce how much game is being hunted. As long a the game as been lawfully hunted, it is fully yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. If you sell it for consumption by other humans, you are subject to hygiene regulation when butchering it. If many species is threatened they just reduce how much of it we can hunt.
As an example, you can only have 2 chamois per year, and only one of them can be shot in the jura area of the canton. On the other hand, Elk (red deer) and boars are multiplying, so boars are unlimited, and the canton's goal are about 1000 elk per year (for 6000 person with a hunting license, but not all of them will hunt elk, so they are not limited at an individual level, they just close this hunt for the year when the goal has been reached, or at the end of november).
I didn't know selling game was illegal in the US. Now I understand why no one bother selling the boar meat in the area where they are handled like an invasive specie.
Do i understand correctly, they banned the sale, because it was easyer to find someone selling meat than someone poaching, or becuse regulating hunting was out of the question for ideological reason?
Anyway, this info makes me realize how lucky I am. Even if I'm not sure I'll feel good hunting for money because It sounds a bit like prostitution, even, if it's a win win win (me, person eating meat, forest) situation (well, the deer loses). I'll see how it feels then.

[theanimal]

I think the main reason it was banned was because there were so few animals left. Bison were in the low hundreds (from their estimated peak anywhere from 30-100 million), while deer and sheep were far lower than where they are at today. Some species, like grizzlies, had already been completely killed off throughout most of their historical range.

Regulations regarding invasive animals are few, but yes it is my understanding that you still can't sell them. The wild hogs are also supposedly a mixed bag when it comes to eating. I've heard from some dedicated chefs/hunters that you can make good use of them with the right prep, while others say they're often inedible. I suppose they could both be right.

[Jean]

I mean why they banned the sale instead of just banning the killing.
Boar meat has a quite strong taste. Some people like it more than others, and some preparation method can reduce it.
What i'm curious about is the taste of cormoran, because they are invasive here, and a few people told me it was disgusting.

[theanimal]

Oh I see. At the time I think it was both. I imagine the selling was banned in an effort to prevent any possible poaching.

[Jean]

I was walking back from work, and it was hot, so I bought some trash bags to put my stuff in, and let the river carry me home. It was great. I saw cormorans, which are an invasive specie that can be hunted with very little limit a few minutes away from where i live. I need to determine which angles are safe to shoot in the area.

edit:
Is there any other country where swiming is a relatively common way of commuting?
Rivers clean enough to swim in them is one of the greatest thing one can have.

[guitarplayer]

So is swimming a relatively common way of commuting in Switzerland? That sounds good, and also that rivers are clean enough to swim. I read some articles a while back about Thames in particular being not fit for swimming any longer.

When I first arrived to Scotland it was to Aberdeen/shire and there a fairly common summer pass time is for people is to take kayaks and have someone drop them off up river Dee, say by Balmoral castle, then swim all the way down.

DW has been talking to a South American friend that is doing a MSc in Switzerland now and will be starting a job in Zuerich next month I think. We are generally thinking increasingly about moving to Switzerland so give it a few years for the ergodicity to work.

[guitarplayer]

Scottish english sound like english with a strong swiss german accent. When I was 18, i went to scottland and could understand everyone, which wasn't the case with english accents.

Yes I agree with this. Though I have more of an experience of Austrian German but think it is close enough.

[guitarplayer]

@guitarplayer
your suggestions are good from a reasonable stand point. I'm quite likely to follow them when i'll be back from Norway. But i still need to do something out of the anger.

I suggest you look at my suggestions on care work again!

Also, on owning a forrest or land in Switzerland, do you find people commonly trespassing your land then? I bet there is a law that prohibits that and wonder if it is respected. In Scotland there is an opposite law called ‘Freedom to Roam Act’ that allows walking through somebody’s meadow or woods.

Sorry for all the posts I did a little recap of your journal as part of my research on the future of DW and I.

[Jean]

there is some kind of freedom to roam too in switzerland. You can walk freely in any forest or meadow. Access to lake shore is guaranteed too, but unfortunately, some own illegaly block acess to their land.
People would kinda need to ask me if they wanted to camp there. As long as i don't see trash or destroyed trees, i don't care about any form of tresspassing.

[Jean]

Bos and his girlfriend spent a few day at our place.
We had a very good time. On the first day, we went for a walk trough 2 gorges and along a ridges from which we had a clear view and the alp, and the second day, we went rock climbing. We had a lot of very pleasant and interesting conversations. I'm really looking forward to the meetup at loutfard's place.

[Jean]

hunting opens tomorrow.
I'm on my way. I forgot my map and a gaz canister.
Not dramatic, because i know the area quite well, and it shouldn't be too wet to start a fire.
I'm scared to do something wrong, so i took all the laws with me to reread them at my bivouac tonight.
I'm quite stressed about the posssibility that i actually shoot a boar, because dressing it alone will be an other story than dressing it with someone telling me what to do.
Also, i sold my cpu and bought a new one. My pc built 5 years ago is as upgradable as i hoped it would be.

[theanimal]

Good luck!

[Jean]

Weidmannsdank!
I can't sleep, im too excited. I already reread all the laws
I'm eating olives and listening to nokturnal mortum to calm down.