Hunting Economics (Re: Odaylans amongst the Orlanthi)

Donald Oddy

> Most preservation techniques require facilities that a hunter isn't
> likely to take into the wild. A smoke house is a small building and
> drying racks need supervision to prevent other animals making off with
> the meat. There's also the problem of carrying a large kill back to
> their home stead when it's a week or mores journey. Could be done
> if really needed but doesn't usually make sense. I can imagine
> during the Fimblewinter clans sending parties out to meet up with
> Odalyan hunters to bring food back but not in normal times. Of
> course during the Fimblewinter meat preservation isn't going to be
> a problem.

A clan with a high proportion of hunters roaming distant hunting grounds is likely to have a "trader" carrying sedentary provisions (spear shafts, blades, arrow shafts, textiles, gathering and agricultural products) to the hunters und taking their kills back to the clan - wandering from hunting camp to hunting camp.

Just as likely, those distant parties will have permanently assigned carriers and preservers staying in the hunting camp, offering additional services like healing, repair...

Looking at Dragon Pass, we find hunting cultures just about everywhere. Sartar and Tarsh have their portion of hunters, the Tarsh Exiles even more so, and the Grazers have an entire age group styled "hunters". Not to mention the Beastfolk, Tusk Riders, Uz and Dragonewts...

This pretty much leads to the question which kind of prey is hunted by whom in which season.

Migratory birds probably have two hunting seasons (passing through). Praxian herd beasts (possibly including tribal beasts) will be hunted whenever climate draws the herds or individuals to the western edge of  the chaparral. The annual Stinkwood Boar migration appears to be a historical hunting event of the Bush Range, now down to too few beasts to excite a major hunting season.

Mountain hunting (ibex?) would be seasonal - either the hunters being able to get to the higher ground, or the prey forced down into the valleys.

What other roaming herds remain in the Pass region?

We know about dinosaurs, as well as them being sacred to Exiles and claimed by dragonewts.

We know that the aurochs has been extinct for quite a while. Forest bison (like the European Wisent) would be scarce, too. Tusk Boars don't have mass migrations any more.

How common are bears, moose and other (solitary) large mammals in the area?

How important is the hunt for predators (both for pelts and for security of herds and people), pests (e.g. Rubble Runners) and rivalling grazing herds?

Balazar and the Elder Wilds give various herd beasts that might migrate through the Pass region as well. Probably avoiding the densely settled lands of Grazelands, Tarsh and Sartar. If there are any such, there has to be a reason why they haven't been over-hunted like the Tusker Boars.

Non-roaming beasts would be the standard prey of Dragon Pass hunters - deer, lesser boars, beavers, hares, rabbits, probably a variety of antelope or two (similar to the Balazaring Eubuck), and all kind of fowl. Add to this beasts hunted for their skins (or other benefits) rather than for their meat.

A lot of successful hunting is done with traps (of all kinds - snares, pits, chasms), which would be situated around a hunting lodge or a permanent settlement where the preservation can be handled (and defended against predators and carrion-eaters). Such a hunting lodge would be little different from a transhumant herders' lodge, with facilities for meat preservation, restocking of necessities, and a transport link to the main settlements. The presence of a semi-annually occupied stead-like area probably makes an area part of the clan tula, too (possibly one not directly connected to the rest).

The greater opportunity hunt events won't be left to the professional hunters alone, but would include several times their number from the normally non-hunting population. This is similar to hay-making or grain harvest, or forming a warband for a raid.

In case of migratory herds, there will probably be reusable hurdles that help entrap parts of a herd, or even entire herds. Chasing herds over a cliffside, into traps or into a dead end valley is one of the most effective mass hunting methods (though not necessarily a sustainable method). Possibly along the Praxian border?             Received on Mon 10 Sep 2007 - 04:55:50 EEST