Spear hunting has been around before we had even begun recording time. Evidence from archaeological excursions and digs in modern day Germany has uncovered spear usage dating back to 400,000 years ago. Spear hunting is even across species technique, and spear hunting has been observed in the western chimpanzee and orangutans. The use of spears continued from the stone age to the bronze age, iron age, and to this day spear hunting is used by primitive cultures across the world to put meat on the table. Spears proved to be so successful that one theory regarding the Quaternary extinction event is due to humans hunting megaherbivores to the point of extinction. They were hunting these animals with primitive spears.
Spear hunting crisscrossed time, nations, and cultures. Spears have been used for hunting across Europe, the pre-Colombus Americas, the Middle East, Asia, and wherever humans have settled. Spears have been used to hunt animals of all sizes, including prehistoric megafauna, buffalo, deer, hogs, alligator, rabbits, and even fish. The spear proved to be extremely versatile hunting implement that was useful for everything from war to big game.
The reasons spears have been so popular throughout history is their simplicity and their effectiveness. At the core of it, a spear is essentially a sharpened stick but is still capable of taking game and putting meat on the table. Better spears use better materials, including stone, iron, bronze, and steels of all kind. The spear has never been a complicated weapon and was easy for any culture to build and utilize. The spear was the perfect weapon logistically, it was cheap, easy to build, versatile and light enough to carry with ease.The spear was used as both a projectile weapon and a melee weapon. Often times spears could be used as both projectile weapons and melee hunting implements.
The downside of a spear is its limited range, and users must possess the skill to use the spear to effectively kill an animal. This requires accuracy, strength, and knowledge of the animal’s anatomy. Early spear hunters had to be clever as well. The Native Americans, for example, would use a method known as the buffalo pound. A hunter would dress in buffalo skins, and lure buffalo into a closed in area where other hunters would ambush the animal. As spears evolved to be more effective hunting devices the skills required to use them remained the same. To this day spear hunting requires the same skills.
Modern spear hunting originated with hunters like Gene Morris, who were interested in returning back to our primitive hunting roots. Spear hunting began to grow in popularity as Gene Morris proved you could hunt nearly any animal with a spear. Spears could easily be the second oldest hunting implement ever devised, with a heavy rock being the first. Spears have remained popular throughout the centuries and is now experiencing a revival throughout the modern world