HUNTING ETHICS
This has nothing to do with the hunting implement, and is all about
the attitude, norms and values of the individual hunter, especially
when alone out there where nobody can observe them. We must
be very careful on this topic not to discredit a certain hunting tool
when we apply the definition of ethics – it should be the same for all
hunting tools and hunters. Percentage-wise maybe more animals are
annually wounded by rif le or bowhunters due to many, many dif-
ferent circumstances that have not much to do with ethics, though
some cases do.
I want to make a statement here that legal spear hunting by a
dedicated spear hunter is just as ethical as hunting with a bow or
rif le.
PREY
There are many documentaries regarding the ethical spear hunting
of South African game on YouTube and the free electronic media to
show just how difficult, dangerous but also effective this hunting
method is.
I even recall once reading Peter Capstick’s account of hunting
and killing a Cape buffalo with a thrown spear. It was in one of his
collections of short stories and articles. If memory serves he also
claimed to have caped the buff with his Swiss Army knife, maybe
some kind of a “double or nothing”!
A well-placed spear is capable of killing anything that walks on
this earth. Much video footage is available of big game like Cape
buffalo, eland, crocodile, gemsbok, roan etc. spear hunted in South
Africa.
Of the smaller game blue wildebeest and impala are regularly
spear hunted. The African animals that are probably the most hunt-
ed with a spear, are warthog and sometimes even bushpig.
HUNTING METHODS
The four most common legal spear hunting methods used are firstly,
for about 80% of the time, the drop spear method from an elevated
stand or hide up in a conveniently positioned tree.
Secondly the walk-and-stalk method in combination with dogs
is also popular with feral pig control as well as with the culling of
problem (overpopulated) hogs, usually by sticking, but sometimes
by throwing the spear as well.
Thirdly there are also some die-hard ethical ‘primitive’ spear
hunters who solo walk-and-stalk without dogs, guides etc. This suc-
cess rate of this category of spear hunters is very low, but to them,
it’s all about the challenge and the whole hunting experience and not
the kill as such that matters.
Fourthly, even spear-hunting warthogs from horseback is start-
ing to get its following in South Africa nowadays!
Many outfitters arm their trackers with especially the big-blad-
ed cold steel spears, not only for protection during the follow-up,
but also to quickly and humanely dispatch a wounded animal under
certain circumstances.
As time moves on and some hunters want a more authentic or
thrilling hunting experience other than that obtained from the back
of a bakkie or sitting next to a feeding trough, maybe it’s time that
we recognize the existence of some ‘other’ hunting tools like the
spear, apart from the current rif le or bow.
Already two other new hunting tools are finding their toe-hold
with great success in South Africa, namely the increasingly popular
big calibre ‘air’ guns and also recently even big calibre blow-pipes!These successes of these hitherto largely unknown hunting tools
on small to medium South African game (up to warthog, impala and
blesbuck) are available for all to see on the internet.
Spear hunting is an old hunting method in Africa, but now it’s in
a new jacket, performed by a very experienced and ethical breed of
hunters. As the success rate is usually not very high, it’s definitely
not a hunting method for everyone. A whole new bunch of hunting
skills has to be mastered just to get close enough to an animal in the
wild with a spear.
An exceptional rif le or bowhunter is not necessarily a good
spear hunter. It requires a totally new mindset and the ability of hav-
ing tons of ‘patience’, for one! A spear hunter will not have an ego,
take chances or especially feel disheartened by observing animals
within bow range but not getting any opportunity with the spear for
the whole day or weekend.
‘No matter how distasteful certain practices or techniques may
be to some individuals or organizations, if they achieve conser-
vation success, they cannot be shunned’ – from open letter from
PHASA President.
Let us all as true hunters embrace these different hunting
methods. Let us educate our youngsters in a responsible and open-
minded way that sustainable hunting practices and ethics lie in the
hunter’s own attitude towards his prey and hunting method, and not
in the hunting tool. •