Would you ever do a Bushman-style hunt?

[tigris115]

By this I mean would you go into the deserts of Namibia, rely on minute little scratchings in the sand to track your prey and run after said prey for many hours under the baking African sun?

 

[spike.t]

By this I mean would you go into the deserts of Namibia, rely on minute little scratchings in the sand to track your prey and run after said prey for many hours under the baking African sun?

why dont you warm up first with an ele or buff hunt in the zambezi valley in oct or nov when its a pleasant 35 to 40c +temp. pick up the tracks first thing in the morning, follow them for 6 or 7 or so hours and then find they arent shooters, and then you have a nice hopefully shorter more straight 4 or so hours walk back to the vehicle. all while carrying a 10 to 12ibs rifle. thats fun , but i am buggered if i will run when i dont need to.

 

[SCJagter]

Spike.t that kind of hunting is always great and always fun that is why they call it hunting! Hate to be a buzz kill but once proud peaceful people has mainly left their unique way of hunting and now it is hundreds if not thousands of snares catching and killing anything and everything. It is a shame what the Botswana government has done, First the Bushman and now the Elephant hunting.

 

[SCJagter]

But to answer your question, If i could take minimal supplies to live off the land and hunt for weeks in the bush with a skilled bushman leading and teaching... The answer is YES!! I would in a heartbeat!! It is an amazing thing to watch a real bushman track!

 

[Velo Dog]

Spike.t that kind of hunting is always great and always fun that is why they call it hunting! Hate to be a buzz kill but once proud peaceful people has mainly left their unique way of hunting and now it is hundreds if not thousands of snares catching and killing anything and everything. It is a shame what the Botswana government has done, First the Bushman and now the Elephant hunting.

Any pie any where in the world that, any government anywhere in the world, sticks it's dirty fingers into, will go sour and begin rotting almost immediately.

 

[spike.t]

Spike.t that kind of hunting is always great and always fun that is why they call it hunting! Hate to be a buzz kill but once proud peaceful people has mainly left their unique way of hunting and now it is hundreds if not thousands of snares catching and killing anything and everything. It is a shame what the Botswana government has done, First the Bushman and now the Elephant hunting.

was having some humour

 

[ActionBob]

Didn't the traditional Bushmen hunt with poison arrows and very in-accurate equipment... then after a shot, track the animal while it took several days to die... or am I mis-informed?

 

[Dinsdale]

Recent billboard in Windhoek.....

 

[BRICKBURN]

Didn't the traditional Bushmen hunt with poison arrows and very in-accurate equipment... then after a shot, track the animal while it took several days to die... or am I mis-informed?

The San "Bushman" never ran anything down, but used tenacious tracking skills before and after the shot.
They actually used very effective equipment for in close hunting. Poison was used in hunting with bow and three part arrow and , digging sticks and gathering.

They are my hunting heroes.

Hunting with them anywhere is a dream come true. Sadly their culture is being eradicated in Botswana. While in Namibia it is a shadow of its former self. Like the sign notes, there are cultural villages where you can "experience" walks, etc.

 

[tarbe]

"The Gods Must Be Crazy"

 

[ActionBob]

Thanks for the clarification. Got any pictures of their tools and hunting?

 

[jeffpg]

"The Gods Must Be Crazy"

That was a great movie!

I only thought I appreciated it back in the day when I first saw it.

After a couple of trips into the Kalahari of Botswana, I really related to it!

 

[BRICKBURN]

This is something very similar to what I have.
This is an authentic bow, quiver (Baobab Root, Acacia) and arrows.
Note the arrows are in THREE parts.
The second arrow from the left is an excellent example and shows a white section two thirds of the way up the shaft. It's a bone section that holds the shaft and the point together.
Ingenius design.
The point stays in the animal and the other parts fall away and are collected on the track.

My set actually has the poison on them and I have left them in the quiver until I can get a proper (safe) way to display them.
I have taken them out once with gloves on.
(Amputation is the only way to save yourself if you get it in a cut, etc)

 

[jeffpg]

That's way cool stuff Wayne!

I read Peter Capstick's "Sands of Silence: On Safari in Namibia" while sitting in a blind waiting for a badger in South Africa recently and he covered these weapons and their use of them by the bushmen in Namibia in great detail.

I discovered much about the bushmen cultured during my first trip into Botswana 2 years ago, and I became quite intrigued by it. While there in Kanana I read much from a book on their history that Claire shared, witnessed the historical native dance put on by the local bushmen women, and had the pleasure of Happy's company every day as I observed his unmatched skill on the track of both the wounded and the not yet seen game animals there, not to mention the impressive eyesight that allowed his detection of animals that I eventually saw after minutes of almost disbelief while struggling even with binoculars to see what he did with the naked eye at great distances.

Sadly, the bushman's way of life that has served these special people for so very long is rapidly disappearing.

 

[BRICKBURN]

…………...I observed his unmatched skill on the track of both the wounded and the not yet seen game animals there, not to mention the impressive eyesight that allowed his detection of animals that I eventually saw after minutes of almost disbelief while struggling even with binoculars to see what he did with the naked eye at great distances.

"Xhose" (sp) showed the incredible skill you describe during my hunt at Kanana. I have become a pretty decent spotter in Southern African conditions and this man saw an Eland herd that shocked me, distance and cover. He did it again on a Kudu bull in cover. He constantly outdid me.
I noticed a very interesting pattern during my stay.
In the early morning he would be bundled up in his jacket clutching his arms and basically looking miserable, like I would if I were in a blizzard at home. He would hardly be looking out of the vehicle, just working hard to keep warm.
Shortly, as the sun climbed and the temperature rose the jacket would come off and he would start energetically scanning. It never took long before the first sighting occurred. It was exactly like he and the animals were in tune with the air temperature and started moving and came alive at the same time.
That was a great lesson.

Sadly, the bushman's way of life that has served these special people for so very long is rapidly disappearing.

It is sad/disgusting/infuriating that the Botswana government is actively facilitating that disappearance in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.