Hunting Practices

Activity: Observing

Have you ever wondered how a hunter can find a deer in the forest? Next time you are in the forest look carefully for clues that an animal has been there. You can look for paw tracks or maybe bits of fur or droppings.

Important Information to Remember:

• There were summer and winter camps which allowed the Secwepemc people to gather different resources at the different times of the year.
• Hunters used different techniques while hunting. Sometimes they used a deer call.
• Sometimes they waited at the animals favourite drinking hole or at the salt licks.
• Arrow shafts were fashioned from rosewood or saskatoon wood.
• Daggers were common hunting tools, most of which were made from bone or antler.
• Knives were fashioned from jade and fastened to handles carved from bone or wood with sinew or hemp string. 
  Hunting:

  The Secwepemc hunted and snared game throughout the fall. For meat, they depended on deer, moose, elk and caribou. Porcupine and squirrel were also eaten.

  Hunters used deer calls and prepared themselves for several days before a hunt.

  Sometimes the hunters waited at the animals favourite drinking places.

  Sometimes they waited at salt licks- places where the animals came to lick the salty ground.

  Secwepemc hunters could imitate animal and bird calls, as well as mimic the sound of bucks rutting by rubbing antlers against branches.

Source : http://secwepemc.sd73.bc.ca/sec_village/sec_hunt.html