Confessions of an errant bow hunter

It was a dark night, there was no moonlight; it was cold here in the hills, the dew had begun to fall, soaking us and aggravating the cold, further stiffening our muscles. Just then, preceded by the characteristic snuffling, dark moving shadows were visible over the lighter dew covered grass…This the story of my first and only bow hunt; a shameful memory of an episode many years ago brought back to me by the dastardly killing of Cecil the lion, by Dr Walter Palmer with a bow and arrow.

But first, the technology. Bows and arrows evoke visions of childhood toys, of playing at Robin Hood or battling cowboys in the Wild West. It consisted merely of bending a piece of wood, stringing it, nocking it with a homemade arrow and letting fly. Or, history buffs would know of the famous and dreaded English longbow made of yew and the ancient re-curved compound bows of the terrifying Mongol warriors, weapons with which they forged an empire from Mongolia to Europe.

The modern compound bow is fundamentally different to these ancient weapons, being a marvel of engineering in carbon fibre, metals and synthetic bowstrings. This bow uses a system of eccentric pulleys and multiple bowstrings to create leverage so as to generate a "let-off".  This let-off essentially increases the effort to draw the bow, but once at full draw makes it easy to hold and aim. A modern compound bow can have a draw pull of up to 45 kg and release an arrow at speeds up to 110 metres per sec. There are many types of hunting arrow, but a common one is the broadhead, a vicious bit of ingenuity which first pierces the prey and then two or three blades slice through sinew and flesh, creating a terrible wound. Bow hunting as a sport is gaining greater popularity in the US as being said to be more challenging and requiring greater field craft and stalking skills.

Coming back to the hunt. Wild boars had been long plaguing our golf course by digging up and ruining laboriously laid golf greens. Many means to dissuade them, like chili powder and pepper sprinkled around the periphery of the green, had failed. One day, I decided to shoot a wild boar, hoping that it would act as a deterrent. Of course using a rifle was out of the question for two reasons, I did not have one and in any case the report would have generated unwelcome interest and enquiry. So I turned to a friend who had a compound bow which he used for archery practice at home and some expensive expanding broadhead hunting arrows. It seemed an exciting idea in the recklessness of our youth so my friend came with me.  We decided to use his bow and arrows to silently dispatch a destructive boar.

We chose a Golf Green which was about 10 metres below a road, sitting at a height so that a wounded boar wouldn't be able to charge us. We had a very powerful torch, a bow and two arrows. I had a small handgun as insurance. Taking position at 9 pm in the bitter cold of a mountain night, we sat as still as possible waiting for boars. Retaining flexibility and movement in the bitter cold was a challenge. The boars came at 11 pm, snuffling and rooting in their usual destructive manner, clearly silhouetted against the lighter dew soaked grass of the Golf Green. As soon as they were in what I perceived to be within range of the bow and arrow, I whispered to my friend to switch on the torch.

A bright white beam split the darkness, my eyes took a quick moment to adjust to the sudden brightness. The boars too were blinded and confused for that moment. I had to lose an arrow before they moved as I did not have the expertise to hit a moving target with an arrow. As soon as I could, I took aim at the broadest (torso) mass of the closest boar and loosed an arrow. The result surprised me; the arrow sliced through flesh and muscle of the boar's rear torso and almost emerged from the other side, like a hot knife through butter. Wild boars have a great tenacity to life and this one was no exception, So I asked my friend for the second arrow in order to finally dispatch the boar.  He immediately said something like "no way, these arrows are two hundred dollars each!" I then had to use my small handgun to put it out of its pain.

Hunting is no longer permitted, and very rightly so. Being an ardent naturalist now I prefer "shooting" with a camera but continue to regret the blood thirsty errors of my youth.  Boar and some other animals are considered very destructive in fields, destroying as much in a night as a farmer can sow in a year.  Hence there is a debate on whether these animals should be considered vermin and be allowed to be shot in a controlled manner. I don't have an answer to this; however it has often been said that "culture and conservation come after a full stomach".