Ancient big game hunting

[Trick]

I know almost nothing about ancient hunting techniques and I will soon be writing about my MC learning to hunt big game with wooden spears. Luckily, he is from a modern society and also knows nothing about it except that he has to hunt in the traditional way of his people for magical reasons. Dr. Google has had very little to say about ancient hunting techniques so I'm hoping there might be an expert (or anyone one who knows something about this) hanging around Mythic Scribes. Please Help!

 

[Queshire]

What sort of prey, and what sort of tech level? From him using a wooden spear I presume caveman level?

 

[Trick]

The world is actually a mash-up of Victorian tech, early future tech and everything in between due to a boom in scientific discovery. However, his tribe had a tradition to make their "special" hunts with the simplest weapons possible. The wooden spear would even have been low tech for them over a thousand years before but it was to increase the challenge of the hunt and it increases the magical reward. His prey will range from elephant-size down to gibbon-size. He has to hunt and kill 13 mammals of different species and share their meat with his tribe. Once he has done this, he can gain certain abilities through a following ritual. His tribe is no longer a primitive group, they are an oppressed race living in tenement housing and working as blue collar serfs, basically.

 

[KC Trae Becker]

I've read that herding large game to fall off a cliff like the Lakota Indians sometimes did with buffalo was one possible way to kill mammoths. It requires the cooperation of many people to accomplish, though. The spear would only be used for the mercy killing at the end for animals that didn't break their backs or necks in the fall.

There would be copious amounts of meat, skins and bone that would have to be butchered on the spot and dragged away by travois. The processing time for such a venture would be huge.

There's also the trip wire method, as large animals have a much harder time getting back up once they are down. This method might be more useful to a smaller hunting band working against a smaller herd or even a solitary beast.

 

[KC Trae Becker]

If you are dealing with smaller prey, like the gibbon, a net might be employed, either as a triggered trap or with group herding and a group netting. The efe of the Congo jungle still use this method.

 

[Guy]

Against an elephant on foot with a spear would be fatal for the hunter. Perhaps sneak up on it while sleeping, stab it and run like hell. There were some Arabs who used to hunt elephants from horseback and armed with swords. If they found a sleeping elephant, a guy would sneak up on it, hack the trunk off, then jump on his horse and light the afterburners. If the elephant was awake, they would goad it into charging. One man would gallop off, but stay close enough so the elephant would think it might catch him and keep chasing him. Meanwhile, two other guys on horses would run up behind the elephant and hamstring its hind legs. Now immobilized, they'd finish it off however they could. In addition to the technique KC mentioned, Stone Age hunters rolled boulders onto elephants when they were walking through canyons. When hunting large, dangerous game with a sharp stick, it's best to be highly mobile - the aforementioned Arabs on horseback, Assyrian kings hunting lions from their chariots, Innuit hunting whales from their boats, etc. Animals generally don't appreciate getting stabbed, and large, powerful ones will express their dismay in ways that are often fatal to the hunter unless the hunter has a quick means of escape. Peter Capstick once wrote an article on how he hunted cape buffalo using only a spear made by a local African smith. He succeeded, but if his pal with the rifle hadn't backed him up the buffalo would've killed him before dying from the spear wound. Fred Bear successfully took elephant, lion and cape buffalo with a bow an arrow.

For smaller game, hunt it the same way you would any other animal - either stalk it or wait in ambush.

 

[Jabrosky]

I have an affinity for tribal characters who hunt big dangerous game with pre-industrial technology, so I'm grateful someone created this thread at last.

Fred Bear successfully took elephant, lion and cape buffalo with a bow an arrow.

I wonder what kind of arrows he would have used for the elephant? I'm guessing something with very long and sharp heads to better penetrate the thick skin.

 

[Trick]

I'll qualify somethings because I think it will lead to a better understanding for those trying to help me out:

The MC gains abilities from the animals he kills. He goes after small game first. He spears a worn out Cheetah (which is all of them after a couple runs) and gains speed. He spears a coyote and gains an uncanny survival instinct. These abilities afford him an easier time hunting the bigger game. All in all, he is shooting for 13 abilities (it's more complicated than that but does not need to be explained for the purpose of this post). Among the animals are, basically if not exactly, an elephant, a gorilla, a rhino and the rest are smaller.

What I'm hoping for are techniques that a more-than-human person could use to hunt animals with nothing but a wooden spear. Nothing else is off the table in terms of methods, but his weapon is restricted to just the spear. I've thought of a few things and I already have it planned for him to nearly die hunting the rhino (it has nearly impenetrable, armored skin much tougher than real rhinos, I'm thinking a lucky strike to the eye).

Hope that helps you help me! (ah, so selfless...)

 

[Queshire]

Hmmmm.... well, when you factor in superhuman abilities into the mix, I would be concerned about the wooden spear breaking under the force. *shrug* It might be something to consider. Honestly, between super human abilities and fighting big game, I don't know where to even start thinking of recommendations, it's just so far out there from the human norm. The only thing similar that I can think of is something like this: Gunnerkrigg Court - By Tom Siddell

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Have you considered using poison on the end of the spear tip. It's used by some South American tribes. Also basic tactics like herding the beast into narrow canyons from which it's not free to run. And the ancient technique as mentioned of running animals off cliffs. In addition if it has to be one animal alone, he might employ fire as a tool to drive the animals in a particular direction.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[wordwalker]

I was going to add that besides a spear, other ranged weapons are of course the bow (takes work to make even a crude one), the sling (takes practice to use well), and the atlatl. The last is what I call a wooden "arm extender" for throwing javelins with more power-- and even if he's limited to just the spear, I can see him using a newly-gained "monkey cleverness" or similar to turn the weapon he's been using into a longer-range attack.

For other stories, the only smart way to hunt something like an elephant is definitely to chase it off a cliff (preferably with fire)-- or at least into a spiked pit.

 

[Trick]

Is anyone on here a big game hunter? If so, do you know what it takes to kill these large animals? If I had a better idea of that I could employ some of the methods suggested in a way that suits the set up in the book.

 

[ascanius]

for an elephant best bet would be a an "elephant jump" like the native Americans did, or herd them into a box canyon and role boulders on top of them, or herd the elephant into spiked pits. You would have to be suicidal to attack an elephant on foot with a wooden spear by yourself, 99% of the time the elephant is going win, same thing with a bison, moose, elk, and a lot of African game. I think in this case traps are going to work the best. If your MC absolutely needs to do this alone he would most likely do what predators do. find the weak and young, separate them from the herd and pick them off. Depending on the prey it may be critical to make the kill as quickly as possible while other prey this may not be as important. wooded areas would probably work the best because of concealment. I think a use of traps, mixed with spear and simply jumping from behind a bush would be used in relation to the size, speed, and aggressiveness of the prey, I would lean towards traps though for bigger elephant and bison sized game.

how he goes about finding the prey is dependent on the animal but best bet is a water source then food source.

 

[Guy]

I'll qualify somethings because I think it will lead to a better understanding for those trying to help me out:

The MC gains abilities from the animals he kills. He goes after small game first. He spears a worn out Cheetah (which is all of them after a couple runs) and gains speed. He spears a coyote and gains an uncanny survival instinct. These abilities afford him an easier time hunting the bigger game. All in all, he is shooting for 13 abilities (it's more complicated than that but does not need to be explained for the purpose of this post). Among the animals are, basically if not exactly, an elephant, a gorilla, a rhino and the rest are smaller.

Ah, okay. That changes things. Combine the strength of a gorilla and the speed of a cheetah and he could hurl the spear into its heart, then outrun it.

 

[Trick]

Ah, okay. That changes things. Combine the strength of a gorilla and the speed of a cheetah and he could hurl the spear into its heart, then outrun it.

That's actually what I'm thinking know. His series of hunts will have to be carefully mapped to get the abilities needed for the next hunt. I think the elephant and rhino will be close to last with the coyote being first for the hunting/survival instinct.

The goal is to be able to combine these abilities, ie gorilla and cheetah and others, to become a nearly superhero type of character but with extremely different motivations.