Today’s Question: What is the History of Hunting?

Hunting has been an inseparable part of human evolution. For millions of years, man has been hunting animals not only for his food but also for his clothing. There have been several discoveries to prove that man has been hunting for millions of years. A recently discovered fossilized spearhead was found in Asia which is believed to be thousands of years ago. Even two million years ago man has hunted down large animals for food.

The very early hunting was done with the primitive tools like spears, bow and arrows and so on. Man also ran after its prey to catch it just the way we watch the wild cats chase their prey on savannah. Until man invented the long range weapons, he had to go miles chasing its prey until the animal would get weary and finally give up. Without any exaggeration, the prehistoric man would chase the animal in scorching heat for over 10 miles! African hunters would chase a Kudu, which is an early version of the antelope, by startling the animal so it ran away. They would chase the beast at a fast pace but when Kudu would stop to rest in the shade, they would seize the opportunity and catch it. The animal could be killed only by spear after the man would reach the throwing range. It might surprise you but this type of hunting is still practiced in certain parts of Southern Africa.

With the evolution of mankind, hunting also evolved. With time, man settled down at one place, learned the art of cultivation and began to domesticate animals. Now hunting had become a specialized task and not just a traditionally masculine endeavor. Man started acquiring specialized training for hunting. Those belonging to the upper class took up hunting as a sport and recreational activity. It was not until this time that the English word ‘game’ became common.

There were several other effects of hunting on our modern society. Our ancestors used various animals while they would go for hunting, most important being the dog. This is owing to the fact that in the past, man has used wolves to find the prey. Domestication of dog is indeed a great accomplishment that man has achieved over the centuries. Apparently, the word that described hunting in ancient Greek language is derived from the word dog.

Ernest Hemingway was the man who popularized Safari – Today’s most famous form of hunting. The word safari has come from Swahili and means long journey. Safari is very commonly seen in Africa. It involves several weeks of camping in the forests for stalking and hunting down big animals. However, now safari is more commonly referred to the trips through African national parks or to that matter any national park. However, there are now certain legal applications to hunting. Unlike our predecessors, now the hunters have to acquire a special license and hunting of several animals has been banned. We all may not be in the position to go for that ‘real’ safari. But as mentioned earlier, there is also a safari wherein no animal is killed. This modern safari is known as photo-safari or bloodless-hunting.