Those of you who were around a few years ago may recall several posts concerning medieval-style hunting. Trad Gangers, who were also reenactors, discussed the possibility of conducting period hunts where we would dress up in authentic-style garb and use period hunting equipment and accoutrements. Well, there were only a handful of us on Trad Gang who seemed interested, so Huntsman Lance and I continued the conversations on our own, and I eventually started a website and discussion forum just for that topic.
Anyway, for a couple years now a few of us have been doing medieval-themed hunts, and despite my best efforts, I’ve had no luck in Michigan so far chasing bunnies, squirrels, and deer with my English longbow or medieval-style crossbow. However, last weekend I scheduled a hunt at Caryonah Lodge in Tennessee because my wife and I were going to be passing through that area on our way to visit family in South Carolina.
Previously, all of my hunting had been on open land, and I had mixed feelings about the “preserve” thing. But Caryonah has 2000 acres of rolling hills and hollows, which is bigger than most areas of public land I hunt, so I felt comfortable with the fair chase element. The boar there are a hybrid of razorbacks and Russian boar which were introduced to the area in 1912.
I arrived at the lodge early on Friday, April 6th decked out in my authentic (mostly hand-sewn), 14th C.-style, medieval garb. My 60# English longbow, self-nocked arrows (made by Trad Gang’s “Ragi”) with hand-forged broadheads, and all of my accoutrements were also correct in style for the period. Not everything is 100% authentic yet, but I, like most reenactors, am perpetually improving my “kit” as time and/or money allows.
The other hunters there, all wearing modern camouflage outfits, took quite an interest in me, and a few asked to have their pictures taken with me. However, I started to get a little concerned because most of them were experienced boar hunters, and they expressed sincere concern when I told them my ideal range with my longbow was 10 yards or less. “You want to be close enough to hear them breath?” one guy asked. “No way…not me…I’m sticking with my scoped rifle,” he said.
My guide took two dogs with us and we drove way back into the forest before setting out on foot. We slowly walked a trail up on a ridge while the dogs searched for a fresh scent. They would occasionally run off baying, but kept returning. After an hour or so with no hogs in sight, we ran across some fresh sign at a wallow near a well-used game trail. My guide told me to set up on the trail while he took the dogs down into the hollow below to try and flush hogs up towards me. About 20 minutes later I heard the dogs baying below me, but it was much more serious than what I had heard from them earlier. The sound was distant but kept getting closer and I was ready.
Then a few minutes later I realized the dogs had stopped and the baying kept coming from one location. I decided to head down through the woods towards the racket, and after a hundred and fifty yards or so I saw my guide waving me over towards him, away from where I heard the baying. When I got closer to him I could see the boar about 40 yards away, backed up against a large diameter fallen tree trunk, swinging his head from side to side trying to keep the dogs at bay. We crossed a stream and circled directly behind the boar. My guide told me I would have to approach from behind then slowly swing to one side and shoot over the log. I crossed the creek and snuck up within a couple yards, and the boar turned and looked right at me before the dogs got his attention again. He was a light, smoky-gray color, which I was told later is unusual for the area, most boars being black or a red. I slowly swung out towards the right, leaned over the log from about two yards away and loosed my arrow. I was essentially firing from above the animal so I visualized the location of the vitals. About half of my arrow sank into his back, angled towards the good stuff and he bolted out of the area and out of site with the dogs on his trail. My guide said I must have clipped the spine as well because the boar was kind of dragging his back legs as he ran. We took off towards the sound of the dogs.
The dogs had the boar bayed again in the creek about 100 yards away and we could tell he was hurting, which was a new experience for me. If you shoot a deer, it typically runs off, and after giving it a half hour or so, you track the animal, usually finding it after it’s expired. But hunting with the dogs we were on the boar again within a few minutes. My guide told me to go ahead and put my other two arrows into him to end it more quickly, which wasn’t an easy task. There was some overhanging brush on the sides of the creek. So, I had to slip into the stream, get down low with my bow parallel to the water to shoot under the brush. The only shot I had was slightly quartering towards me, which wasn’t ideal, but I made it count. The shots weren’t perfect but they got the job done, and the boar started sinking lower into the water, bleeding heavily. Then I was surprised and impressed as my guide got behind him, grabbed onto a sapling, and stepped off the bank with both feet onto the boar’s head, pushing it underneath the water. The boar was too weak to put up a fight and the guide’s actions just ended it more quickly.
Then came the hard part, dragging the field-dressed boar through the woods, up hill, to the ridge. My guide had left to go back and get the truck where we left it, and I managed to drag it out by myself. I’ll admit I was originally hoping for a monster sized-boar, but when it came to dragging I was thankful for “average”. We did not get the boar weighed before the butcher came, but my guide estimated 140-150 pounds. I’m curious whether or not you guys agree based on the pictures.
So, that’s the story of my first successful medieval-style hunt, and my first big game kill with a traditional bow period (I had previously only taken a squirrel and a rabbit with my modern longbow). If any of you are interested in learning more about the medieval-style hunts, or you would like to see more photos from this hunt, you can check out this link:
Medieval Hunts Paul
a.k.a- Geoffrey “Hawken” of Huntingdon
Topic: A Successful Medieval-Style hunt! (Read 931 times)
