[Skill] Hunting

[Zach Grasswind]

Article: [Skill] Hunting
Author(s): Zach Grasswind
Additional Info: Skill Stub

Notes: Permission here to develop an old template started by Balian Martell (link).

Peer Review Thread: -
Founder Review Thread: -

Synopsis: Hunting is the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals for food or sport. Hunting can also include people. Hunting is a key part of life on Mizahar almost everywhere you go. Individuals, groups and even cities all rely on hunters to keep food coming in, and hunting can also provide other materials used in different professions.

Outline:
I. Introduction

II. Related Skills

III.Types of Hunting

i. Hunting with Weapons
ii. Hunting with Traps
iii. Hunting with Animals
iv. Non-traditional Hunting (urban for example)

IV. Process

i. Preparation
ii. The Hunt
iii. The Kill

V. Types of Game

i. Small Game
ii. Large Game

VI. Skill Progression

i. Novice
ii. Competent
iii. Expert
iv. Master

[Zach Grasswind]

Article: [Skill] Hunting
Author(s): Zach Grasswind
Additional Info: Skill Stub

Notes: Permission here to develop an old template started by Balian Martell (link).

Peer Review Thread: -
Founder Review Thread: -

Synopsis: Hunting is the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals for food or sport. Hunting can also include people. Hunting is a key part of life on Mizahar almost everywhere you go. Individuals, groups and even cities all rely on hunters to keep food coming in, and hunting can also provide other materials used in different professions.

Outline:
I. Overview
II. Related Skills

III.Types of Hunting

i. Hunting with Weapons
ii. Hunting with Traps
iii. Hunting with Animals
iv. Non-traditional Hunting (urban for example)

IV. Process

i. Preparation
-Researching the hunting area
-Researching the prey
-Knowing how the loss of prey affects the area
-Locating the prey through the use of Tracking or Stealth (or other methods).
ii. The Hunt
iii. The Kill
iv. Beyond the Hunt
- cooking (field dressing), leatherworking etc.

V. Types of Prey

i. Small Game
-rabbits
ii. Large Game
-deer, wolves, boar
iii. Other Prey
-humans

VI. Skill Progression

i. Novice
ii. Competent
iii. Expert
iv. Master

Overview:

Hunting is one of the oldest skills on Mizahar simply because without it, any sort of civilization would fade away. People need to eat, and hunters are the ones that provide the food. There are many different ways to hunt, and many different weapons to hunt with. Hunters often work with various establishments in cities, providing meat, furs and other materials in exchange for payment. Other hunters may prefer to hunt for only themselves, aiming for self-sufficiency.

Related Skills:

Tracking: Every hunter needs to be able to track their prey.

Weapon Skills: Each hunter will have a weapon of choice be it bow and arrow, spear or even daggers. They need to know how to use it their weapon order to hunt effectively.

Trapping: Some hunters may choose to add traps into their arsenal.

Wilderness Survival: A hunter spends a lot of time in the wilds and therefore needs to know how to remain safe.

Land Navigation: If a hunter cannot find his way in the wilds, he will surely become lost.

Animal Husbandry: If a hunter desires to hunt with animals, they need to know how to look after them in order to have an effective companion.

Stealth: An essential skill for urban hunters tracking human prey.

Leatherworking and Cooking: Hunters often take up leatherworking and cooking in order to produce food and usable items (eg. belts) from the remains of animals.

Weapon Crafting: Be it fletching & bowing, blacksmithing or woodworking, some hunters like to craft their own weapons.

While the above list contains the most important related skills, there are many others that a hunter may want to pick up or work on, for example medicine, endurance and mountaineering. Even some magics such as auristics or malediction may work for a hunter. As hunting is a core part of life on Mizahar, most skills will compliment it in some way.

Types of Hunting

Hunting with Weapons:
-bows, bolas, spears, any projectile, etc

Hunting with Traps:
- Brief (trapping is its own skill) Useful to set overnight etc - you can ‘always be on the hunt’

Hunting with Animals:
- Dogs. Location specific (horses, Ixam?)

Non-traditional Hunting:
- urban

The Hunting Process

Preparation:
- Researching the hunting area (woods, grassland, tundra etc)
You need to be able to read and understand your landscape if you want to successfully hunt anything. Knowing your landscape will help you find the animals by knowing where specific sites might be located, and will also aid you in your ability to survive in the wilds.
How is your landscape structured? Do you see hills, valleys or mountains? Are there stretches of flat land? Are there trees or open fields? Are there areas of water?

Once you have a general overview of your landscape type, you can then move into the smaller details. What sort of plants grow and where? Where are the sheltered areas? Where is exposed to the weather? Where does the water collect?
Knowing this information will help you pinpoint more specific locations that your prey might use.

- Researching the prey (social behavior, diet, habits)
The more you know about your intended prey, the better your chances of finding it to be able to hunt it. Find out as much as you can about the animal, either from other people or from going out and viewing the animal in its environment.
What does the animal eat and where might it find that food (use your hunting area knowledge here)? Where does it sleep? Where do they go when it’s sunny? Snowing? Do they travel solo or with others? Does the animal migrate? When do they breed?
Once you can answer these questions, you will be able to gain an understanding of your prey that will allow you to build a picture of its daily and seasonal habits, which in turn will help you in your hunting quest.

- Knowing how the loss of prey affects the area (which animal should you go for)
It is difficult for a single self sustaining hunter to greatly affect the population of a species, and so if this is you then you don’t need to worry too much.
However if you are hunting to supply a city, it is important to select appropriate targets in order not to deplete the population (this mostly applies to large game such as deer). First, figure out if the population is currently too large, small or just right. You can do this through observation of the environment and the species as a group. If you are struggling to find any prey at all in the area, it suggests the population is too small. If you notice that there are huge herds completely stripping the environment of plants then it may be too large. The condition of animals you see will also help you figure this out. Do they look well fed? Overfed? Skinny? This will tell you the amount of natural resource available, and therefore the amount of animals feeding on the resource.

Taking females controls the impact on a habitat much more than taking males. Each female taken eliminates the potential for future offspring. Each male taken will just eliminate that one male, and it’s place will likely be filled by another. If a population is balanced or slightly small taking younger females is usually the best thing to do, as the older females usually do better at producing and rearing new young.

- Equipment

The Hunt:
- Locating the prey through the use of tracking (Brief explanation of what to look for - tracking article should be more in depth)
- Being aware of your surroundings (wind, weather, etc)
- Approaching (‘The Stalk Walk’ or how not to be seen, blinds)

The Kill:
- Setting up
- The Shot

Beyond the Hunt:
- cooking (field dressing), leatherworking etc.