Bringing Home the Bacon. Literally.

Ever found yourself running at break-neck speed through a tropical jungle, dodging vines, jumping fallen logs, and trying not to impale yourself on massive thorns? I’m guessing that doesn’t fit the job descriptions of many men in North America, but it does for the guys in Wabuku!

Hunting trips with the Wabuku men are always an adventure. And they happen quite often. Our people rely heavily on meat from the wild animals found around the village to sustain their families. They will shoot anything that moves, but their main target is wild pig. They also hunt deer, large birds called cassowaries, a small kangaroo-like animal that they call “boi”, and large rodents that live in the jungle. 

The large bird is a cassowary that one of the guys shot

 Clint has been on numerous daytime hunting trips as well as several overnight excursions. Each one is a unique experience! 

Our guys typically hunt with handmade bows and arrows. They fashion the bows out of a specific kind of wood. The string is a strong kind of vine.

This guy, Jebri, is one of Clint's good friends and helped him make his bow

The bows are really hard to shoot! The arrow doesn't have a nock, so you have to hold it to the string

The arrows are made from a long, strong type of reed or grass. Traditionally, their arrow tips would have been sharpened wood, but now, they make them out of any kind of scrap metal they can find and hammer flat.

They have a variety of arrow tips. The large ones are for pigs.

When they go out to hunt, often a group of guys will go together, especially if they take their dogs with them to chase the pigs. If they hear or spot a pig, it’s a mad chase through the jungle to find it and get a shot before it gets away.

(Let me make a little advertisement here for Chaco sandals… those things are AMAZING for running through the jungle while chasing wild pigs! Probably the strangest positive review they will ever have, but there you have it)

Hunting pigs is pretty dangerous, though. Our guys always say they look around them for a tree to climb after they shoot, just in case. :) Many of them have stories of getting bitten by pigs.

This guy, Boni, got bit by a pig in a recent hunt

 They will sometimes butcher the pigs on the spot, but other times, they bring it to the village to cut and divide between all of the families. 

Sometimes they will tie the dead pig to a log and carry it. This guy is carrying it on his back.

So far, Clint has shot one wild pig (though another guy had the killing shot). He has also shot a large rodent called a “miyaeri” (mee-yaree) and a bird. 

After hunting, the guys enjoy retelling the event. They get really animated! Clint got a fun video of some of the guys talking about the pig they just shot. At the end, they remember that one of the guys had gotten attacked by the pig during the hunt, and they hadn’t seen him for a while, so they run off to check on him. Haha!