Big game hunting
Encyclopedia
Big game hunting is the hunting of large game
. The term is historically associated with the hunting of Africa
's Big Five game
(lion
, the African elephant, the Cape Buffalo
, the leopard
and the rhinoceros
), and with tigers and rhinos on the Indian subcontinent
. In North America, animals such as bear
s and bison
were hunted. Most of these species are protected now, but other species such as kudu
, antelope
, hartebeest
, moose
, elk
, and deer
are still hunted.
Big game hunting occurs in places such as Argentina
, New Zealand
, Canada
, many parts of the USA, and in many parts of Africa.
in groups, using a combination of spears or large rocks, or alternatly stampeding an animal over a cliff. Native Americans hunted bison on the plains, often using arrows fired from horseback.
. A hunter will set up a tree stand and wait for the prey to approach. The same technique is also used on the ground, but because animals tend to be more aware of things on the ground, stealth is more important.
Another common approach is stalking. While stalking, a hunter will approach his or her prey using stealth, with the intention to get into range with their particular weapon and ensure a clean hit.
Driving is another method. The shooter or shooters take position stealthily, using the natural landscape of the area to choose a spot that will help ensure a wide view. Then the drivers move toward the shooter in a line, making a lot of noise with the intention of forcing the animal to run toward the hunter, giving him a chance to kill the animal. This technique only works well when there is cover, and if there is a natural feature to help corral the game.
Helicopter hunting is sometimes done with large, swift animals because they may be too wary to approach otherwise especially in wide open terrain. It is not done for sport, but by game management officers. Ivory poachers will shoot from their vehicles as well.
Almost every kind of firearm has been used to successfully hunt big game. Handguns are quite popular for big game in North America, but are not used as often in Asia and Africa. Shotguns are used to take big game, being safer in flat country as the large but relatively slow moving slug loses velocity quickly compared to the rifle bullet. With the advent of saboted, sub caliber projectiles for use in shotguns, there are questions about whether there is any practical difference in range compared to often identical bullets fired at similar velocities from a rifle. Rifles are perhaps the most common weapon for taking big game. In North America, the .30-06 is probably the most popular caliber and is often used for everything from pronghorn
to grizzly bears although grizzly bears and Alaskan brown bears are usually taken with more powerful cartridges. In Africa larger cartridges such as the Nitro Express
series, or other elephant gun
chamberings are frequently used, and can take even the largest game. African hunters often prefer to use a double rifle
as a stopping rifle (a rifle intended to incapacitate a charging dangerous game animal as quickly as possible) since these double rifles provide the possibility for a very quick second shot, but bolt-action
rifles also take the largest game.
Bows and crossbows are also used to take big game all over the world. Bowhunters and blackpowder shooters generally obtain earlier access to hunting grounds, making those kinds of hunting popular even for people who also hunt with modern firearms. Alternative weapons, such as the atlatl
are also being explored by big game hunters, and are legal in some states in the US.
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
. The term is historically associated with the hunting of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
's Big Five game
Big Five game
The phrase Big Five game was coined by white hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The collection consists of the lion, African elephant, cape buffalo,...
(lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
, the African elephant, the Cape Buffalo
African Buffalo
The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, Mbogo or Cape buffalo is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear...
, the leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
and the rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
), and with tigers and rhinos on the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
. In North America, animals such as bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s and bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
were hunted. Most of these species are protected now, but other species such as kudu
Kudu
The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus Tragelaphus:*Lesser Kudu, Tragelaphus imberbis*Greater Kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros- Etymology :...
, antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
, hartebeest
Alcelaphus
Alcelaphus is a genus of antelope. It contains the Hartebeest, Red Hartebeest and Lichtenstein's Hartebeest....
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, and deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
are still hunted.
Big game hunting occurs in places such as Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, many parts of the USA, and in many parts of Africa.
History
Hunting of big game is an ancient event, dating back thousands of years. Based on cave paintings, it appears that early man hunted mammothMammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
in groups, using a combination of spears or large rocks, or alternatly stampeding an animal over a cliff. Native Americans hunted bison on the plains, often using arrows fired from horseback.
Methods
Big game hunting is approached in many different ways. A popular way to hunt is by using a tree standTree stand
Tree stands are open or enclosed platforms used by hunters. The platforms are secured to trees in order to elevate the hunter and give him or her a better vantage point. Many people also know tree stands as deer stands...
. A hunter will set up a tree stand and wait for the prey to approach. The same technique is also used on the ground, but because animals tend to be more aware of things on the ground, stealth is more important.
Another common approach is stalking. While stalking, a hunter will approach his or her prey using stealth, with the intention to get into range with their particular weapon and ensure a clean hit.
Driving is another method. The shooter or shooters take position stealthily, using the natural landscape of the area to choose a spot that will help ensure a wide view. Then the drivers move toward the shooter in a line, making a lot of noise with the intention of forcing the animal to run toward the hunter, giving him a chance to kill the animal. This technique only works well when there is cover, and if there is a natural feature to help corral the game.
Helicopter hunting is sometimes done with large, swift animals because they may be too wary to approach otherwise especially in wide open terrain. It is not done for sport, but by game management officers. Ivory poachers will shoot from their vehicles as well.
Weaponry
Pronghorn
The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...
to grizzly bears although grizzly bears and Alaskan brown bears are usually taken with more powerful cartridges. In Africa larger cartridges such as the Nitro Express
Nitro Express
The Nitro Express series of cartridges are used in large-bore hunting rifles, also known as elephant guns or express rifles. They are named after the propellant they use, cordite, which is composed of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine...
series, or other elephant gun
Elephant gun
An elephant gun is a large caliber gun, rifled or otherwise, so named because they were originally developed for use by big-game hunters for elephants and other large dangerous game. They used black powder at first but then started using smokeless powder...
chamberings are frequently used, and can take even the largest game. African hunters often prefer to use a double rifle
Double rifle
A double-barreled rifle or double rifle is a type of sporting rifle with two barrels instead of one, available in eitherside-by-side or over-and-under barrel configurations. Double rifles are one of the family of combination guns...
as a stopping rifle (a rifle intended to incapacitate a charging dangerous game animal as quickly as possible) since these double rifles provide the possibility for a very quick second shot, but bolt-action
Bolt-action
Bolt action is a type of firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech with a small handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon...
rifles also take the largest game.
Bows and crossbows are also used to take big game all over the world. Bowhunters and blackpowder shooters generally obtain earlier access to hunting grounds, making those kinds of hunting popular even for people who also hunt with modern firearms. Alternative weapons, such as the atlatl
Atlatl
An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
are also being explored by big game hunters, and are legal in some states in the US.
Africa
- WDM Bell (later known as “Karamojo” Bell) Scottish born elephant hunter,
- Frederick Russell BurnhamFrederick Russell BurnhamFrederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham...
(Lord Roberts'Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl RobertsField Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, VC, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ, PC was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo-Irish and one of the most successful British commanders of the 19th century.-Early life:Born at Cawnpore, India, on...
Chief of Scouts in the Second Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and known as: England's American Scout); - Bror von Blixen-FineckeBror von Blixen-FineckeBaron Bror von Blixen-Finecke was a Swedish baron, writer, and African big-game hunter.Born to an aristocratic Swedish family, he married his Danish second-cousin Karen Blixen in 1913...
(who was, between 1914 and 1926, married to Out of Africa author Karen BlixenKaren BlixenBaroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...
; - Denys Finch-HattonDenys Finch HattonDenys George Finch Hatton was a big-game hunter, and the lover of Karen Blixen , who wrote about him in her autobiographical book Out of Africa first published in 1937...
(who was, after her marriage collapsed, Karen Blixen's lover); - T.R.M. Howard (civil rights leader, entrepreneur, surgeon, mentor to Medgar EversMedgar EversMedgar Wiley Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi involved in efforts to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi...
and Fannie Lou HamerFannie Lou HamerFannie Lou Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader....
, hunted African big game in the 1960s and 1970); - John A. Hunter;
- Philip PercivalPhilip PercivalPhilip Hope Percival was a renowned white hunter and early safari guide in colonial Kenya. During his career he guided Teddy Roosevelt, Baron Rothschild, and Ernest Hemingway on African hunts. In fact, Hemingway modeled the fictional hunter Robert Wilson, in his story "“The Short Happy Life of...
- Frank M. "Bunny" AllenBunny AllenFrank Maurice Allen known as "Bunny Allen" was born on 17 April 1906 in Upton Cum Chalvey, Buckinghamshire, England died January 14, 2002 on Lamu Island was a renown white hunter and safari guide in Kenya.-Biography:...
, whose safariSafariA safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
s with Ernest HemingwayErnest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
led the author to write Green Hills of AfricaGreen Hills of AfricaGreen Hills of Africa is a 1935 work of nonfiction written by Ernest Hemingway . Hemingway's second work of nonfiction, Green Hills of Africa is an account of a month on safari he and his wife, Pauline Marie Pfeiffer, took in East Africa during December 1933...
, True at First LightTrue at First Lightthumb|250px|alt = bookcover showing a photograph of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background and a green plain in the foreground | [[First edition]] cover of True at First Light, published 1999...
, The Short Happy Life of Francis MacomberThe Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Set in Africa, it was published in the September 1936 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine concurrently with "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"...
, and The Snows of KilimanjaroThe Snows of Kilimanjaro"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It was first published in Esquire magazine in 1936. It was republished in The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories in 1938, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories in 1961, and is included in The Complete Short Stories of...
. - Former US president Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
travelled and hunted in Africa following his terms in office. - Frederick SelousFrederick SelousFrederick Courteney Selous DSO was a British explorer, officer, hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in south and east of Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard to create the fictional Allan Quatermain character. Selous was also a good friend of Theodore...
- Peter Hathaway CapstickPeter Hathaway CapstickPeter Hathaway Capstick was an American hunter and author. Born in New Jersey and educated at the University of Virginia, he walked away from a successful Wall Street career shortly before his thirtieth birthday to become a professional hunter, first in Central and South America and later in...
, American born, Capstick spent most of his life in Africa.
Further reading
- Foa, E. After Big Game in Central Africa. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-03274-9.
- Drawings by Douglas HamiltonDrawings by Douglas HamiltonThere are at least two hundred and twelve detailed drawings by Douglas Hamilton of South Indian landscapes, game animals and forestry operations...
- Herne, Brian. White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safari, Henry Holt & Co, New York, 1999.