One thing I learned is to learn how animals act when being chased. It is no exact science but good preparations can overcome many of the instincts they have.
preparing jerkey can be done with salt and / or vinegar and lots of heat. I have seen guys jerk their meat and hang them on the spine of cactus. It always requires keeping critters away for awhile. Once the scent diminishes, smoke seems to keep bugs and birds away. If flies are a problem it requires lots of attention.
any insights I may have missed?
Yup - practice.....
When you are extremely hungry, is no time to try to learn to outsmart a deer. Besides, how many companions do you think it would take? How many of them would continue being companions if a couple of them got really hurt by a charging wild boar (or buck, bear, elk, etc.)? Experienced hunters have been gutted themselves for carelessly going up to a downed animal too soon and gotten ripped open by a flailing hoof. A close kill is not going to be without much risk.
Better option is to build a fish weir and trap them. Easily done by one person with some time on their hands. In fact, trapping smaller animals is much more productive.
I still digress though - aren’t you better off having your own chickens, pigs, calves that you have raised and can slaughter at the appropriate time? Combine that with fresh dried or canned vegetables for a balanced diet that will help to keep you healthy for the long-term?
Don’t get me wrong - I have trained with Don Kepler at Penn State on minimalist survival back in the late ‘50’s, and can bake a cattail root like a potato, prepare a rattlesnake for eating, get fresh good water from a wild grape vine, set a trap for a rabbit, skin, gut, cook and eat it,make strong fishing line from the cambium layer of a sapling, make a fish hook from a button or bone, collect edible greens and nuts for a number of different dishes - all with nothing but one pocket knife (or sharp stone if needed). So I do appreciate what you are saying, but without practice, you are a dead duck in most cases.
On the other hand, consider having cases of your own preserved foods, pails of your own grown grain for bread, AND the resources to replenish it year after year. If you use that stock as your everyday food (as I do) there is no conversion shock at all. You have that down pat, and can focus on the new problems as they arise without having to be preoccupied with your next meal.
Does that make any sense?