Many hunters shoot animals that live near them “in the woods.” Typically, they shoot rabbits and deer. However, there is such a thing as “big game hunting,” and that involves searching for, and shooting, physically large, more rare animals you don’t tend to see every day.
People—mostly men—have been big game hunting for centuries. If you check out cave paintings from long, long ago, you’ll often see artistic interpretations of great hunts involving men using spears or rocks to hunt and kill large animals.
In Africa, big game hunting involves lions, elephants, leopards and rhinos. In North America, big game hunting tends to involve bison, moose and black bears.
The thrill of the hunt attracts shooters to the sport. Hunters often set up tree stands where they can wait and watch for their prey. Or they stalk the animals, looking for footprints and pathways to follow. Meanwhile, in some places, trucks are driven near and around animals to not only catch up with them, but essentially make no way out for them to escape their certain death. It’s also not that uncommon to hunt by helicopter, giving shooters quite the advantage. This method is generally employed by game management officers.
Traditionally, big game was hunted using bows and arrows. Today, powerful crossbows are sometimes used. Generally, though, big game is hunted using handguns and/or rifles.
Perhaps the most well-known big game hunter in American history was (and is) President Teddy Roosevelt. If you’ve ever held a stuffed “teddy bear,” you can thank Roosevelt for that. Toy bears got their name from him, after one of his infamous hunting trips in the early 1900s.
Watson’s Kaby Lodge is a wilderness vacation area in Ontario, Canada, where you can big game hunt for moose or bear. Bow hunting and rifle hunting are practiced in this Northern neck of the woods. Hunting packages are so popular, that it’s best to reserve your spot(s) months—or even years— in advance.