Sources of food during winter?

[SnoWidget]

Currently my ideal setup for winter food is using pigmen to kill spiders then converting spider meat into eggs and using the eggs to make meatballs. Currently this is a very lengthy system to setup though so I'm wondering if anyone get good ideas for food sources that will sustain during winter. 

[osmRhodey]

My honest opinion?

 

Know where the rabbits are. Know where your beefalo are. If it's early in game make sure you are supplied enough to go off on koalefant treks.

 

Rabbits are great sources of food when you trap them. My suggestion is putting a trap directly over a rabbit's hole. When morning comes and they pop out they get caught right away without use of a carrot and you get the free morsel.

 

Beefalo are a lot harder but worth the reward. When you find the heard you attack one(so long as they're not in heat). When they're all charging at you, you run the heck out of there. You only want the one after you. If it's aggro wears off you hit again and repeat the process until you're gotten it out of the heard. Now to kill it and not die is simple. You wait for the beefalo to attack, run back at it, hit it about 4 times, run away and repeat until death. If you gather enough wool and a horn you can have a beefalo hat which is very good for winter and mating season.

 

Koalefants are by far the most difficult of these three. First you have to locate the suspicious dirt pile, then uncover the footprint and follow the direction to another. From there you just follow the tracks until you've come across your koalephant. This could likely take a day or more. If you're nearing the end of the day and haven't found the beastie yet, DO NOT UNCOVER THE TRACK UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. Instead it is suggested you camp by it, wait until day and continue on. Hunting it, is the trickier part.  If you have a blow dart, then you're good. Why? Because these buggers are hard to aggro. Ranged weapons are usually good to start but if you have none you'll have to spend your time running the creature into a corner. When you do begin the attack though, killing is easy, you again wait for the first attack. You strike 6 times after that first move, then run away, it will attack again but not hit you and you run back repeating the process until it is killed. And there you go!

AND! If this is a winter koalefant, it is very much worth it. koalefants drop trunks, which you can either eat, or make into vests for winter to keep you warm. The winter one is best and could last you all winter, no problem. Again though, they are difficult.

 

As for other sources of food. Pengulls are pretty simple. Once they've nested you just run in there and chase one out. Chase it out until it's a far distance from the rest of the group. Then kill it. With a spear this is very easy, as they flinch and die before they can attack.

 

Hope this long ramble is helpful!

[imsomony]

Currently my ideal setup for winter food is using pigmen to kill spiders then converting spider meat into eggs and using the eggs to make meatballs. Currently this is a very lengthy system to setup though so I'm wondering if anyone get good ideas for food sources that will sustain during winter. 

 

I'm assuming you're playing vanilla, so please chime in if you're playing RoG =)

 

Food-wise, my plan by day 20 is to have:

 

2-4 drying racks 

2 crockpots

3 improved farms

a minimal twig farm

bird cage 

 

These are listed in order of importance for me, meaning, I can live without the bird cage if necessary. Assuming I have no bird cage, I usually kill a Koalefant or Beefalo every couple days, and spiders or hounds for monster meat. 

 

Through my first winter, I dry any excess meat, and cook what else I can into Meaty Stews or Meatballs (depending on my surplus of ingredients). It's usually not until the second year rolls around that I can get dragonfruits going on my farms, or bees and honeycomb to make my own hives/boxes. 

 

Since you have a bird cage already, make Bacon and Eggs if you need a health boost: 2 eggs, 1 1/2 meat (1 full meat, 1 morsel). B&E is also a bit better on hunger than meatballs. If you have been fighting a lot and need health rather than hunger, a quick fix is Pierogi: 1 egg, 1 morsel, 1 veggie, and anything else except sticks. The extra ingredient is easiest as a veggie or an egg. If you've been in the swamps, grab those fish and frog legs! Froggle Bunwich and Fishsticks are great alternatives that provide both health and hunger. 

 

In winter, I tend to stick with high-hunger recipes and am cautious in fighting so I don't drop my health unnecessarily. In summer, I'm more radical, and tend to need the health-restoring foods more often.

[Snob]

Beef jerky's pretty good for meat.

[Nburton]

I usually try to make as many bee boxes as I can. Honey takes a long time to spoil so if you can stockpile a lot for tough situations.

Also I usually gather and explore for the 20 days until winter/summer, and when winter/summer hits I go througt the teleportato to have another 20 days to prepare for winter/summer. This gives you a long time to get useful items on the first run through, and then gathering food and setting up base on the second.

[Barbarian]

I'm usually hunting walruses during Winter, so I eat them, plus monster meat from their hounds.  They respawn every couple of days, so it's usually enough, with any tallbirds nearby.  And if I see any tracks I hunt the koalefant as you get a lot of meat.

 

If not hunting walruses, then rabbits.  And I try to stop harvesting berry bushes a little bit before Winter so those are there for emergencies.