Defining the True Hunter: Big Game Hunting, Moral Distinction, and Virtuosity in French Colonial Indochina

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-680
Author(s):  
Shaun Kingsley Malarney
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Prey Selection ◽  
French Language ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Practical Realization ◽  
French Colonial ◽  
Moral Distinction ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting ◽  
Sport Hunting

AbstractThis article examines the concept of the “true hunter” (vrai chasseur) among big game hunters in French colonial Indochina. Drawing primarily on French language texts published by highly experienced European hunters between 1910 and 1950, it first examines in detail the true hunter ethic, which required hunters to hunt and kill their prey in a “sporting” (sportif) manner. This ethic involved adherence to an expansive and complicated set of rules related to stalking, marksmanship, knowledge possession, restraint, prey selection, choice of firearms and ammunition, and others. True hunting was regarded as by definition difficult and, as is argued, the practical realization of the true hunter ideal entailed not simply engaging in hunting as an activity, but instead successfully performing a very difficult but specific type of killing. The article's second purpose is to engage a paradox associated with the texts, their authors, and the ethic. While critical of other hunters for “unnecessary slaughter,” many killed staggering numbers of animals. This paradox is accounted for by placing the true hunters in the broader social context of colonial Indochina. Both their type of sport hunting and the virtuosity of their killing distinguished them from the indigenous populations that served their hunts and other European hunters. This virtuosity also legitimized the scale of their killing and placed these hunters into a distinctive social and moral community.

Palaeolithic Big Game Hunting at HP766 in Wadi Umm Rahau, Northern Sudan

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achilles Gautier ◽  
Daniel Makowiecki ◽  
Henryk Paner ◽  
Wim Van Neer
Keyword(s):  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting ◽  
Bone Remains

HP766, discovered by the Gdansk Archaeological Museum Expedition (GAME) in the region immediately upstream the Merowe Dam in North Sudan and now under water, is one of the few palaeolithic sites with animal bone remains in the country. The archaeological deposits, the large size of the site, the lithics and the radiocarbon dates indicate occupation of a silt terrace of the Nile in late MSA and perhaps LSA times. Large and very large mammals predominate markedly among the recovered bone remains and it would seem that the palaeolithic hunters focused on such game. They could corner these animals on the site which is partially surrounded by high bedrock outcrops. Moreover swampy conditions of the site after the retreat of the annual Nile flood may have rendered less mobile the prey animals. According to this scenario, HP766 would testify to the ecological skills and generational memory of late prehistoric man in Sudan.

Shikar in the Princely Reserves

2018 ◽  
pp. 220-261
Author(s):  
Vijaya Ramadas Mandala
Keyword(s):  
Political Authority ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Political Alliances ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting

Chapter 4 examines the complex relations between the British and Indian princes in relation to shikar and the political subtext of power politics at play. The reconstitution of Indian ruling values and identities between the British and Indian princes under the umbrella of big-game hunting is an important arena of colonial fabric. The Britons successfully mobilized these in establishing elitism and hierarchy in the realm of hunting, and enlisting the support of the Indian princes for the continuation of the colonial enterprise. The other important aspect of hunting in India was shikar in the princely reserves, maintained exclusively by Indian rulers for the highest ranks of the colonial elite. Hunting on such occasions was an extravagant affair involving state elephants and other elaborate entourage, in a powerful display of ancient and more recent ruling privileges, and underlining critical political alliances between the princes and the Raj. For the British, the royal shikars lent ritual credence to their political authority in a staged show of solidarity with the traditional rulers of the land. While confirming the solidarity of the ruling classes, the shikar expeditions also tested the strength of bonds between the British and Indian rulers. The colonial government’s endeavour to devise a series of British royal tours in the princely states involving big-game shoots and associated courtly trappings implies a shared aristocratic lineage and desire to promote the idea of Indian empire.

Imperial Culture and Hunting in Colonial India

2018 ◽  
pp. 38-78
Author(s):  
Vijaya Ramadas Mandala
Keyword(s):  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Colonial Administration ◽  
Colonial India ◽  
East Indian ◽  
Imperial Culture ◽  
Indian Company ◽  
British Military ◽  
The World ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting

This chapter offers a brief account of the institution of the hunt, or shikar, and its significance as an allegory of rule in pre-colonial and colonial India, by illustrating the transition of hunting from the Mughals to the East Indian Company period. Further, this study moves away from the purely recreational focus on hunting, and places it within the world of everyday colonial administration and rule. It firmly establishes the link between shikar and governance, particularly how the British positioned and employed big-game hunting and conservation at various levels, and in different situations, aimed at the establishment and stabilization of colonial rule, and in ordering and redrawing Indian marginal territories. Another key aspect is how shikar served as an essential platform, where power and rule operated in a recreational situation. Here, the chapter illustrates the way the hunting field aided and enabled the British to formulate their political and imperial agendas in an expedient way. The sporting lives of the Company administrators like John Malcolm and James Outram are studied in detail to demonstrate the nature of high imperial decades and British military credence in the Indian hunting field.

Fossil Bison and Associated Artifacts from Milnesand, New Mexico

1955 ◽  
Vol 20 (4Part1) ◽  
pp. 336-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. Sellards
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Sand Dune ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Post Office ◽  
American Continent ◽  
The West ◽  
North American Continent ◽  
The North ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting

Several Early man hunting sites have been discovered and excavated by various institutions in and near the High Plains region of Texas and New Mexico, including the Folsom, San Jon, and Clovis, or Blackwater Draw, localities in New Mexico, and the Miami, Plainview, Lipscomb, and Lubbock localities in Texas. To the west and north are similar sites in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. This large region, including a part of the great interior plains, was indeed for early man a big game hunting area of the North American continent.A new hunting site in this region, located in the southern part of Roosevelt County near Milnesand, New Mexico, about 40 miles south of Portales, is here described. This locality, containing artifacts, a bison-bone bed and charred bison bones, is in a sand-dune region about 3 miles northeast of Milnesand post office. (The name Milnesand is derived from “mill in the sand,” a term formerly applied to a windmill and watering place located near the present town.) The first artifacts obtained from the locality were collected by Ted Williamson of Milnesand.

Blood Residues on Fluted Points from Eastern Beringia

1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Loy ◽  
E. James Dixon
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Human Predation ◽  
Pleistocene Mammals ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Biological Methods ◽  
Fluted Points ◽  
First Time ◽  
Big Game Hunting

Blood residues have been microscopically and chemically detected on fluted projectile points from eastern Beringia. From these residues a variety of large mammal species, including mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), have been identified using biochemical and molecular-biological methods. This is the first time a direct association has been made between the use of fluted projectile points and human predation of extinct fauna and other large Pleistocene mammals in arctic and subarctic North America. This suggests the northern fluted-point assemblages are part of the Paleoindian big-game hunting tradition that was widespread in North America at the close of the Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Red-Legged PartridgeAlectoris rufaAbundance on Big-Game Hunting Estates: Implications for Management and Conservation

Ardeola ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-297
Author(s):  
A. J. Carpio ◽  
J. Oteros ◽  
J. Vicente ◽  
F. S. Tortosa ◽  
J. Guerrero-Casado
Keyword(s):  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting ◽  
Management And Conservation

Hunters' preferences and willingness to pay for driven hunts in southern Europe

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Soliño ◽  
Begoña A. Farizo ◽  
Pablo Campos
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Wild Boar ◽  
Wildlife Management ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Free Range ◽  
Small Game ◽  
Marginal Willingness To Pay ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting ◽  
Wild Boar Hunting

Context Driven hunts exemplify the most representative form of big-game hunting in southern Europe. Aims We analysed hunter preferences for driven hunts and the marginal willingness to pay for their characteristics. Methods We conducted a discrete-choice experiment for driven hunts, taking into account the number of deer that could be hunted, the possibility of free-range wild-boar hunting, the presence of trophies, and other characteristics of driven hunts, such as congestion and travel time. Key results The highest influential driven-hunt characteristic on the utility of big-game hunters is the presence of trophy specimens, whereas for the small-game hunter it would be free-range wild-boar hunting. Conclusions Small-game hunters are reluctant to participate in the big-game market because of cultural factors and not because of budgetary restrictions. Implications Wildlife management and marketing of driven hunts can be improved taking into account the hunter preferences.

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