The Xan Bushman is an absolutly awsome tracker and hunter and they are by nature a gentle people, the only problem is keeping them sober. They were taught to drive and were used to track people in the Mozambique wars and it sure did foul a lot of them...but a good Xan bushman tracker is an asset to any PH.....

The Kalahari Bushman are the most remarkable trackers in the world. They can distinguish a single track out of a thousand, tell you the sex, size, time lapsed, and attitude. They can run (really full bore run) on track in the sand for hours at a time and the most unbelieveable thing about it, smoke pot all day. They would be criss-crossing following tracks of the group and as they passed each other, they passed the doubie!!

No way I could run and smoke.

The Bushman were the most remarkable part of my African experience. Totally different from RSA or Zim. I have the upmost respect for the Bushman.

Ann,
Possibly.....actually it was the Boer Republic where Bushmen were hated so fiercely that it was considered justifiable homicide to kill a man simply because he called you a "Bushman". Probably had some nasty barroom fights there as well!!!

I'm further told that as late as 1935 one could actually buy a license to hunt them at the US state department in Washington DC.

The pygmies in the Congos are still often "owned" by bantu landowners. I had some contact a few years back with a group (Afrique Profonde) that worked with pygmies in Congo Brazza but their work was suspended do to massacres of the pygmies. Wonderful musicians.

I asked because I was understanding that at one time at least one african nation had on it's big game license "two Bushmen" along with several other species of "game".....yes...Two humans was allowed on the license and was occasionally actually hunted.

I've often wondered if a "successful" hunter took his two Bushmen to the local taxidermist, and if the taxidermist asked the hunter if he wished for them to be mounted.....might he say "No,just shaking hands, they was only friends"!

No, the Xan, the !Kung and a few other small peoples are the "bushmen". They are yellow-brown in color and are the original (and I do mean original per DNA analysis) inhabitants of Southern Africa. Go to your local rentaflick and check out "The Gods Must Be Crazy".

The Iwi and related tribes called "pygmies" are forest hunters in the Congo Basin. They're even smaller.

Along with Kalahari Xan, the Iwi pygmies and their various tribal cousins remain to this day the most incredibly skilled hunters left on the planet. If they didn't live is such a hell-hole of a climate, I'd be interested in a hunt with them, too.

I have hunted with them for 60+ days in the rainforest of Cameroon. The full blooded pygmies are all under 5 feet and wonderful to hunt with.

Mike

Are these folks the same as "bushmen" that I've read about?

No not interested in hunting them unless I am allowed...

Seriously have any of you African wayfarers or natives run into these guys(not literally) on your travels.

I imagine the real short version would be pretty much bred out or displaced these days.



Karl.

Thanks for the info guys. I lost this thread after the forum change.


Karl.

Just hope they don't find any bees while tracking your game. They eat honey just like a bear, grubs first then honey. Then more dope smoking and dancing. Almost looks like they are having more fun than the hunter and cheaper daily rates too!

Jeez guys, not for nothing but a lot of this thread reads like something out of a Joseph Goebbels playbook....

Saw a report awhile ago, from the UN, where its being reported that in the old Congo, the invading armies consider them fine table fare, and no one seems to be able to understand why the rise in cannabilism

quote:

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Originally posted by carmelolisciotto:
Jeez guys, not for nothing but a lot of this thread reads like something out of a Joseph Goebbels playbook....

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I'm not sure that I agree. Yeah, a generation or so ago, the bushmen and the pygmies may have been considered in the same game catagory as baboons but near as I can tell, today our attitude is one of wonder and respect for their abilities . . . as well as plain amazement at the cultural differences. But then, y'gotta wonder what they might be thinking of us!