Hunting is one of the oldest activities that humans engage in. According to James P DeVellis, this is also why it is so diverse. Humans have always had to hunt for food, but, at some point, it turned into a sport as well. Indeed, the vast majority of tools available to man have been developed to facilitate hunting, from the knife to the gun. DeVellis has recently researched the progression of hunting and the role it has played in the development of human society as a whole, which revealed some very interesting results.
James P DeVellis on the History of Hunting
The first era, also known as pre-civilization, humans were hunter-gatherers. Women looked after the home and prepared the food, which men would bring in. This type of hierarchy still exists in certain tribal communities. Hunting was solely for survival and it was only done on a local level. Any trades were done on a voluntary basis, and they were quite rare. Meanwhile, this part of history also led to the development of a range of different weapons and various social groups.
In the second era, civilization begins to grow. Allegations of misconduct are also more common as men started to look down on women, believing their work to be of lesser importance. At the same time, wealth was created and this led to hunting being no longer just a necessity, but also a sport. Specifically, animals had to be captured alive, so that they could be used in the gladiator sports.
The Middle Ages then came about, which where hunting became restricted, although it remained an essential part of life. Suddenly, news was released saying that certain areas were off limits to hunters, including the King’s Forest. For the wealthy, activities such as fox and deer hunting became real sports. Additionally, the colonists had to step back in time slightly, and return to their older hunting ways in order to survive in the New World.
Enter the industrial period, and everything changed again. Between the 18th and 20th century, machines started to rule the world. Farms became huge enterprises, so livestock was raised for food. Hunting, therefore, became a sport. Meanwhile, rifles developed as well, and they were used extensively within the sport itself.
Today, humans have truly perfected thesport of hunting. They can use a variety of weapons, including specialty guns, rifles, bows, arrows, traps, and more. Many people also continue to enjoy hunting, such as fox hunting, as a sport, which is an energetic and skilled way of hunting with horses and hounds. Others enjoy learning about weapons handling, even though they might never use it to hunt animals. And while hunting is still possible, it is now hugely restricted, with people requiring licenses and hunting for certain animals only being allowed in certain locations at certain points during the year.
Where hunting will go next is anybody’s guess, although it seems it will never completely disappear.
