Well maybe not so much. This one story only tells us this one perspective, but what I'm getting out of it is that he might not be doing so hot on the survival front if he wasn't stealing everyone's food.
Anyone with some moderate camping skills can survive in the wilderness in Winter if they have plenty of food handy. Plus it sounds like he's been sleeping in warm cabin beds as well.
The best one can say for him is that he's managed not to get caught (or shot) yet.
That's how I interpret the article.
Investigators have clawed for clues, scouring cabins for fingerprints that match no one and chasing reports of brief encounters only to come up short, always a step behind the mysterious recluse.
The above makes him sound clever, but doesn't it just mean that he robs places out in the sticks, where it takes a while for anyone to notice, or for police to arrive? They say they've found some of his camps. So is he all that cagey, or is he just moving around a lot, and staying away from other humans?