Some Hunting History

game for food, clothing and shelter is a big partjust the traditional masculine endeavour anymore,
of the story of the human race. It predates thehunting became a specific duty with tradesmen
human civilization we know today in many ways.acquiring precise training. The other trend was
There are many discoveries that are being madehunting becoming the sport and leisure domain of
that confirm that notion. An Asian fossilizedthe upper classes. It was here that the English
spearhead discovered recently was dated at overword 'game' became common.
16,000 years old, for example. There is alsoHunting has had other effects on our modern
evidence that we used larger animals for foodsociety as well. Various animals have been used
almost two million years ago.to aid the hunter, but none has become as
The earliest form of hunting involved, as far asimportant to us as the dog. The use of the
the experts can tell, involved weapons like spearsancestors of the wolf to retrieve prey and be our
or bow and arrows shot from a distance. Believeloyal companions has set the dog apart. Its
it or not, our ancestors caught their food usingdomestication, which took thousands of years, is
the same method we use to catch the bus toconsidered a remarkable accomplishment. The tie
work when we're late. We ran after it. Before hebetween hunting man and dog goes so far back
learned to use long range weapons, early man hadthat the very word for hunting in ancient Greek is
no other way of catching his dinner than beingderived from the word dog.
persistent and wearing it down over a long trek,Perhaps the most famous type of hunting is the
sometimes even in the oppressive midday heat.safari, which was popularized by the American
Some early hunters would chase antelope overauthor Ernest Hemingway. The word itself is from
20 miles in heat over 100 degrees. Persistencethe Swahili, meaning long journey, and the most
hunting would be the order of the day. Africancommon type of safari occurs in Africa. It was
hunters would chase a Kudu, which is an earlyfrequently several days or weeks of camping
version of the antelope, by startling the animal sowhile stalking or hunting big game, but in a more
it ran away. They would chase the beast at amodern sense, it also encompassed trips through
fast pace, and, while the faster Kudu wouldAfrican national parks to hunt or watch the big
always be further ahead, the hunters would catchgame. Unlike their predecessors who ran their
up to it when it took time to rest in the shade.prey down years before, the modern African
The hunter would eventually finish the animal offhunter often acquires a special licence and enlists
with a spear, but not until he was at close range.the aid of local professionals. There is even a type
This type of hunting is still practised in Southernof modern safari where no animals are killed. The
Africa.photo-safari is exactly what its name implies and
With changes in human society, hunting evolved.a Polish photographer first used the term
As we began to grow our own food and keep"bloodless hunt".
animals, hunting became a specialized task. Not