The Persistence Hunt

Amazing! I'm glad I'm not a kudu. Those San would make astonishing endurance runners.

Isn't this more cruel than dispatching it quickly?

How does he get the carcass back to his tribe?

This is my dating philosophy.

That's how I get my Taco Bell.

This gives perspective on the easy availability of food in developed nations.
That hunter earned his food and respected the animal he killed.
Gabriel, It really must be hard work bringing back such a large animal. I don't know how they would do it.
As far as it being more cruel, I agree that the animal experienced more fear because of the duration of the chase, but it is more heartless to shoot a creature for pleasure.

The other two guys trail the runner and together they retrieve the prey

No gnus is bad gnus.

To "JustFriends",

Awesome comment, you must teach me more of this dating philosophy.

I don't see how to romanticize that. Fighting for survival is understandable, but not developing a more cost-beneficial hunting method over the years isn't.

I loathe hunting, but if you have to do it to feed youself etc be practical and grant the animal a swift death. Dying of exhaustion sounds awful and it's also a waste of time and energy resources for the hunter.

I'm sorry, the guy only has a 5 foot spear to hunt with, how else is he going to get his food? He respected his kill and did what he had to do to survive. I find it more disgusting seeing men put corn down at the bottom of a tree, sit there until something walks up then dispatch it with a large rifle. American hunters would not last in an area like this because they are too lazy.

Doesn't it kinda defeat the purpose.. at least for the guy that has to run it down. Wouldn't running 8hrs after the thing burn up more calories than his share of the meat he'd get o_O

You burn about 700 calories per hour running 6 mi/hr. Im guessing you would get at least about 80 lbs. of meat off of that animal. Just for comparison a 16 oz. steak has about 1200 calories.

You would come out way ahead even if that animal only has about 800 calories per pound.

This is essentially how my wife convinced me to marry her.

She had the benefit of cookies.

..."he respected his kill"

Do you guys get this stuff from watching "Pocahontas" or what? Before the La-Z-Boy was invented, nobody spouted this philosophical claptrap about what you ate and how you got it.

Chow down!

There was an article a few days ago speculating that the reason we have relatively short toes is that "persistence hunting" was our primary technique of hunting in our evolutionary past. Interesting that the practice still exists!

The practice of having short toes?

Why don't they just surround their preys and beat the undergrowth?

Is this from The Life of Mammals?

Where's your PETA now, Bitches??

Yes, this is how humans hunted for about 2 million years up until the late paleolithic period. Yes, we are animals that evolved to run. The only animals who can match us are dogs and horses (our best friends!), and we can still beat them over several days.

"You don't stop running because you get old and die, you get old and die because you stop running."

great vid. Also love the troll character with the "do not feed the trolls" sign in the comment box.