Hunting: Primitive Weapons

There’s nothing I enjoy more than a slow grilled slice of venison backstrap, wrapped in bacon and glazed with sweet honey barbeque sauce. I often think about how lucky we are these days to have all of these ingredients at our finger tips, because not too far back in history figuring out which seasoning we put on our food wasn't the main concern.

On a cool evening in late October, the hoot of an owl echoed through the oak hollow I was hunting and quickly faded as a swift breeze rustled the leaves under my stand. It was as if I wasn’t alone. I started to think about an arrowhead my Dad found earlier in the day. These little treasures are hidden throughout the countryside. They have become harder to find, but occasionally when the land is tilled they can spring from the earth as if they had been planted many years ago. It was definitely evidence that this land had been hunted before. Not for sport, but for survival. I was immediately hit with a shivering chill.

This thought got me interested in hunting with more primitive weapons. My dad had an old re-curve bow that we dusted off and got in shooting condition. Although, much more advanced than what an American Indian would’ve used, it was very primitive to me. We also have an early Virginia flintlock rifle (circa 1770) that I intend to take hunting. Having handled these weapons, I’ve gained a tremendous respect for the challenges that hunters faced years ago. These days my survival might not be in question, but I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that if the clock was turned back I wouldn’t have trouble turning into the whisper of wind that sent chills up my back that day I was hunting. Today’s technology is truly impressive, but sometimes it’s fun to step back and follow in the foot-steps of hunters many years ago.

The area where these arrowheads have been found was probably a dividing line between the Cherokee and Catawba Indians, so I'm unable to say for certain the origin of the arrowheads. Also, many arrowheads were traded from other regions which makes their origin even harder to pinpoint. The ones we've found are made of quartz and chert rock and come in all shapes and sizes. Some were probably used as spear points and others true arrowheads.

The picture at the beginning of the blog shows some of the arrowheads my Dad and I have found. I also added another picture of the arrowheads below. The next picture below shows the early Virginia flintlock rifle along with a powder horn made of cowhorn, hunting pouch, tomahawk, and hunting knife. I've also added a picture of a Catawba pipe head recently purchased that is made to replicate traditional patterns from years ago. The last picture is a British Dragoon flintlock pistol next to a Glock Model 17 9mm. This gives you a visual of how times have changed.