Hunter-Gatherer - Hunting

The Debutante Hunters

John — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:43:39 +0000

This film about some Southern belles who hunt just won the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival. Here's the full thing, it's about 10 minutes long.

I love everything about these women.

Thanks to Joe for the link.

Can hunting save endangered species?

John — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:52:19 +0000

A number of African endangered species are now thriving in Texas -- for hunting. Of course, this drives animal rights activists wild -- who as you'll see, don't use logic, and would rather see species die out than be hunted. By lobbying federal bureaucracies, these ideological radicals are getting rule changes to disallow hunting of certain species without a federal permit, which will be difficult to obtain and which inevitably will lead to the decline of these endangered animals.

60 Minutes reports:

Let's me be as clear as day: radical animal rights activists are the enemy.

Link via Alex Tabarrok.

How to hunt an NYC mouse (with a slow-cooker)

John — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 08:35:49 +0000

I tell it straight. We had a little grey friend in our apartment. He escaped our best efforts to trap him. When trapping fails, you have to hunt.

I've got a bunch of blog readers who hunt. I'd like them to appreciate the skill required to successfully hunt a New York City mouse. The big game hunter Theodore Roosevelt once wrote of the New York City mouse:

"[It] is a shrewd, wary, knowing beast; but it owes its prolonged stay in the land chiefly to the fact that it is an inveterate skulker, and fond of the thickest cover. Accordingly it usually has to be killed by stealth and stratagem, and not by fair, manly hunting; being quite easily slain in any one of half a dozen unsportsmanlike ways."

- Theodore Roosevelt, The Wilderness Hunter

Okay, maybe he was referring to whitetail deer. Regardless, "inveterate skulker" is an apt description of the New York City apartment mouse (not to be confused with the New York City rat, who is better described as a brazen pandhandler).

Here's how to kill mouse by "fair, manly hunting".

Stalk your prey (or work on your laptop for hours)
Listen for rustling in the underbrush (or on the kitchen counter)
Corner your prey (by swatting at him with a rolled up copy of Men's Health)
Attack his hideout from above (by lifting up the slow-cooker and slamming it down on him)
Return his body to Nature (on a flaming pyre in the East River)

Never let it be said that New Yorkers don't know how to hunt.

Man the Fat Hunter

John — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:12:56 +0000

This is an awesome paper:

The worldwide association of H. erectus with elephants is well documented and so is the preference of humans for fat as a source of energy. We show that rather than a matter of preference, H. erectus in the Levant was dependent on both elephants and fat for his survival. The disappearance of elephants from the Levant some 400 kyr ago coincides with the appearance of a new and innovative local cultural complex – the Levantine Acheulo-Yabrudian and, as is evident from teeth recently found in the Acheulo-Yabrudian 400-200 kyr site of Qesem Cave, the replacement of H. erectus by a new hominin. We employ a bio-energetic model to present a hypothesis that the disappearance of the elephants, which created a need to hunt an increased number of smaller and faster animals while maintaining an adequate fat content in the diet, was the evolutionary drive behind the emergence of the lighter, more agile, and cognitively capable hominins. Qesem Cave thus provides a rare opportunity to study the mechanisms that underlie the emergence of our post-erectus ancestors, the fat hunters.

Our big brains are expensive. Fat is the most efficient source of fuel. Elephants are the best source of fat. We hunted the elephants until they were gone. And then we were forced to adapt to hunting faster, more elusive sources of fat.

I'll be posting more on this paper. Full text here -- well worth reading in full. Thanks to Allison for the link.

The Far Side on hunting

John — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:36:32 +0000

The Far Side was my favorite cartoon growing up. Gary Larson always had funny ones on hunting. Here are a few.

Tweet Hunter

John — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:12:54 +0000

During most of my hunting experience last week, I was focused on the hunt and blended into nature. (More on that soon.) But just before going in for lunch, I turned on my phone and started live tweeting the hunt -- A GLOBAL FIRST (unverified).

Live tweeting my hunt for a bit
Been up in a tree stand since 6:40am, no deer yet today
I am using an old Sears, Roebuck, and Co. branded shotgun. Paul Revere carried this very model on his midnight ride.
No bucks. I am going to start tweeting like a doe in heat and see what happens.
Ehhhh beh ehhhh bghhh aahheeehhhh
The only thing I've ever wanted for Christmas is a blunderbuss. All I get are sweaters.
An 8 point buck just DM'ed me after my "doe in heat" tweet
On twitter, nobody knows you're not a doe in heat. Thats why it is a revolutionary technology. Also, #arabspring
Just so you know, I am keeping my trigger hand warm while I tweet. In case you were worried
I'm a righty, but play pool and fire shotguns left-handed. But you already knew that from my match.com profile
There's a version of the universe where I just shot a 12 pt buck from 125 yards using a blunderbuss. Not this version
Wait, is that a deer?!
Nope, just a stick
I got within 5 yards of a small blue jay but didnt fire. Waiting for a larger one
Deer-hunting isn't at all what I expected it to be like: Big Buck Hunter.
I look good in blaze orange. Just saying
I'm getting hungry. You'd think that would motivate me to hunt. But it does just the reverse, because I have a fridge with food in it
I haven't had this much fun tweeting since the last time I went fishing
Can you imagine if humans went into rut? Nobody could go into the office
Just heard a gunshot. I hope my species won!

In summary, I do not recommend turning on your cell phone while you're hunting.

I shot Bambi

John — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:29:03 +0000

Look at the 12-point rack on this bad boy.

It's a shame I didn't shoot that one.

I shot Bambi!

Don't worry, Bambi didn't suffer. I got him from maybe 30 yards, open sights, spine/lungs, dropped right where he stood. More to come.

Gone hunting

John — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:32:04 +0000

Not sure why I look so angry. Because I'm really looking forward to opening day tomorrow. Hung out with an awesome group of guys tonight. Early day tomorrow.

Buying hunting gear

John — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:48:06 +0000

I'm going deer hunting next week, which I'm excited about. I visited the tree stand where I'll be perched, and scouted out the sight lines, distances, and local tree lines. Bought some hunting gear too.

In the tree stand

Getting gear

Can you spot me? I'm right there in the middle. Camouflage is great for hiding in the hunting section of the store.

Calling all Michigan hunters

John — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:46:28 +0000

If you are a hunter in Michigan, and if you plan on going hunting in November, and if you don't mind me tagging along, drop me a line. Email john [at] hunter-gatherer.com. Thanks.