Hunting sword

[Comrade Coffin]

I never heard of a hunting sword. How were they used?

this is a site with plenty of them to look at...
http://swordlinks.com/courtswords/intro.html[/quote]

That is a very useful link that you have posted my friend. There are a lot of great pictures and descriptions on that particular site. Thank you.

 

[Elnathan]

Another common name for a hunting sword was cuttoe, from the French couteau de chasse "hunting knife." The Germans call them hirschfanger.

A lot of hunting swords seem to have been intended as an informal dress sword, not really hunting weapons - some were probably more for decoration than anything else, while there are a few in Neumann's Swords and Blades that seem to have been made to use against men, not beasts. Blade lengths range from around 16" up to 26," though I think most fell into the 16-17" and 20-22" range, usually single edged, straight to moderately curved, with a whole variety of hilt styles.

 

[colmoultrie]

It's an interesting piece - looks nicely made, that's for sure. You have certainly made something distinctive that will suit you well.

 

[kaintuck]

Arkansas used to be called the Bear State. The black bears were so numerous harvesting them was an industry.
I have a reprint of an old article in which an old timer describes killing his bears with a knife. The dogs would get to the bear and force it to make a stand. Then the hunter would go in and kill the bear with is knife. Was not considered sporting shoot the bear. I do not fully believe the story. These were professional market hunters. "sport" was not a motivation for the hunt. Plus, a live angry bear is nothing to mess with using only a knife. True or not, it is a good story.

I have heard the stories also~~~just never SEEN it done! :hmm:
being a old time back-packer....I have been to close to Black Bears by my lonesome often on the AT~~ I'm 6' and 190lbs....and i am NO MATCH for bear with only a knife....they always reminded me of a BIG german shepard...and always ill sounding........with 4" claws..... :surrender: :youcrazy:

 

[statetrooper62]

Really nice job :thumbsup:

Hunting bear with a knife even with a big one, why not? It was done before.

A little bit hazardous.

In Europe, for big game, hunters use demountable Spears to complete animals.

A safety way.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I love yer first pic. But that bar would have been eating that guys heart before the knife stick took effect.
The knife carried in a sorta knee strap is an interesting thing I have never seen.

 

[Elnathan]

Meshach Browning used a knife to deliver the coup de grace fairly frequently, but he was a bit of a nut.

 

[juancho]

I did find something on youtube.
If it is not apropiate, sorry and please have it move/deleted . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYIivtJCxlQ&feature=player_detailpage

 

[statetrooper62]

It is a engraving from the 18th century, an artistic interpretation, particurlarly of the sheath of the knives. The action is supposed to take place in Finemarck county, in Norway.

the texte of the engraving says something like this :
"All men of these nations are brave; There are often residents of these countries standing from firm foothold of hungry bears coming to pounce on them: there is even men that having no other weapon as a knife, go hunting of these animals, at the risk their throats being cut and torn, as often happens." A romantic view.

 

[colmoultrie]

That one picture reminds me of the old joke:

Three hunters are talking. One brags, "I've hunted black bear armed only with a flintlock rifle!"

The second says, "Oh yeah? Well, I've hunted black bear with only a bow and arrows!"

The third says, "Well, I haven't done as much as y'all, but I have hunted grizzly bears with a club."

Both of the first two hunters stop and stare at him. Then one says in a hushed tone, "You've hunted grizzlies with a club? You must be nuts!"

"Not really," says the third hunter. "There are fifty members in my club."





Ok, if you actually read through that, you had to know it was going to be bad.... :wink:

 

[Julian Reynolds]

As has been said above, hunting hangers or cuttoes, were short, generally curved bladed swords carried to finish off cornered large game, from the 15thC through to the late 18thC (when you generally did the same job with a gun). They were also carried as military weapons (such as the briquet, hanger or even the cutlass), eventually becoming purely ceremonial or turning into straight-bladed dirks/daggers.

One of the best books on hunting weapons through history is 'Hunting Weapons' by Howard Blackmore, which also goes into boar/bear spears and boar swords (I'm currently making one of each). It also has a nice 17thC illustration of hunting a bear with a dagger, but whilst wearing 3/4 armour and helmet (much safer than the near-suicidal illustration above).

Anyway, here's a fancy 17thC cuttoe I made, which is typical of the type, and equally at home on the hip of a hunter or a midshipman!