Ritual

[shadowhunterz]

Hey Guys,
I have some buddies that say after you kill your first deer you have to eat the heart raw right in the field. I am guessing they are yanking my chain???

 

[BRICKBURN]

Consider your chain jerked.

 

[Mekaniks]

Yeah and don’t forget to post video on FB of you eating the heart

 

[cls]

It's actually the liver....

 

[Ryan]

Someone watched Red Dawn one too many times.

 

[shadowhunterz]

It's actually the liver....

I saw what you did there.

 

[Mort Hill]

Hey Guys,
I have some buddies that say after you kill your first deer you have to eat the heart raw right in the field. I am guessing they are yanking my chain???

Two rituals not as intense as what you mention.

1. Miss your shot, get your shirt tail cut off. Been there, done that.
2. Shoot and kill your first animal, you get your face blooded(as in blood smeared on your face)

And to show you the tradition lives on, here is my son after his first African kill. He wore it with pride the rest of the day(although there is no time limit on how long it stays on. Usually until back at camp so nobody else tries to smear your face, because they can see it was already done).

 

[shadowhunterz]

Two rituals not as intense as what you mention.

1. Miss your shot, get your shirt tail cut off. Been there, done that.
2. Shoot and kill your first animal, you get your face blooded(as in blood smeared on your face)

And to show you the tradition lives on, here is my son after his first African kill. He wore it with pride the rest of the day(although there is no time limit on how long it stays on. Usually until back at camp so nobody else tries to smear your face, because they can see it was already done).
View attachment 312441

Thanks or sharing, Nice ritual.tradition.

 

[perttime]

There might be local or regional things out there.

Here, the only major thing is that you have to have a celebration after killing a bear. The original reason was to appeace the spirit of the Bear (King of the Forest).

Often, there are similar celebrations for moose, but those are not as seripous matters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peijaiset

 

[Opposite Pole]

In Poland when a hunter kills his or hers first animal they are officially “baptised” in a semi-formal ceremony. When this occurs during an official driven hunt it goes as follows. The signallers play the “Hunting Nomination” signal to begin the hunting baptism. The hunter kneels on his/her left knee with bared head, holding the firearm in his/her left hand, with the butt plate touching the ground at his/her left knee. During the baptism, all participating hunters take a standing position and remove their headgear (except for the baptising hunter), holding it in the left hand.

The master of ceremony marks the hunter’s forehead with a blood-stained hunting knife or a finger (symbolically representing predators), and says the following words:

According to centuries’ old tradition, I hereby baptise you
with the stain of blood, and may the forest reward you!

The hunter replies: “To the glory of Polish hunting!”

The signallers play the “Game Bag” signal, corresponding to the given species of game hunted, and the “Forest Reward” signal, to end the hunting nomination ceremony and thank the hunting ground for its gifts.

The hunter is then congratulated by all present.

When the hunter kills their first large game animal which in Poland means Moose; Red, Sika, Fallow or Roe deer; Boar or Sheep a similar ceremony takes place and is referred to as accolade.

Hunting in Poland, like in most European countries is quite traditional and has been governed by set of formal regulations since early days. The first legislations concerning hunting protocols and game welfare in Poland date back to 1420.

 

[nztimb]

Lots of symbolism in places where there may be some scarcity of game. Here in NZ there is no such ritual with maybe a comment of "good shot mate" etc if there are others there but generally it is a field dressing of the animal to whatever state the distance from the truck or camp is and either back to the vehicle, camp or on to the next one.
All our hunting is for introduced species with many reaching pest status in places so with that in mind there is not the mystique associated with them that there may be elsewhere with erradication programmes having been in place for them all at one time or another.
Hunting here is what we do not some tradition that we uphold with ritual. Never understood the practice myself but that is no condemnation of those that do so.

 

[wipartimer]

In my family after every successful big game kill, a formal handshake and "congratulations" are given. This is very often followed by smiles and hugs, especially for firstimers or kids.
Personally, I always say a prayer of thanks and usually preform my version of Letzebissen.

 

[Rob404]

My girlfriend went hunting with four friends of mine and said her ritual was quite different after taking her first Deer. Told me she couldn't wait for next season

 

[MMAL]

+1 on the blood smear on the face for first kill.

 

[buckmarkhunter]

The bloods smear on the face I’ve seen a cpl times. We also take a moment and give thanks after any kill to the big guy up above.

 

[BeeMaa]

As a young hunter with my Grandfather, my face was smeared with the blood of my first deer at age 9.
I was very proud to have it there and was taught to respect the animal that had given it's life so I could sustain mine.
However if I didn't want it on my face, I'm sure my Grandfather would have been fine with that.

Now a days, I remove my headgear and pay respects to the animal as I was taught.
If I had a new hunter with me who had made their first harvest, I'd ask what they would like.
I would hope for a little blood smear as I'm a bit of a traditionalist.

I do like the Polish Hunting Ceremony posted by @Opposite Pole, pretty cool.

 

[Henman]

Hey Guys,
I have some buddies that say after you kill your first deer you have to eat the heart raw right in the field. I am guessing they are yanking my chain???

In South Africa, with your first kill, you get blood smeared on your face in the bush straight after the shot. Everyone who then sees your blooded face during the day congratulates you. Then that night everyone who had a first kill that day gathers around the fire and has to take a bite out of the raw liver cut out the buck (if it is a doe) and try (as best they can) to swallow it. If you shot a male, they cut off the testicles and you try to take a bite from them raw (extremely tough to bite into actually). If you're with a group that is little more accommodating, they might let you cook the testicles first. I had to do mine raw. All the while, everyone is standing around cheering you on and laughing at your gagging and theatrics... and then you are part of the "tribe", with your own story to tell. It is a tremendous sense of camaraderie.

 

[Hunting Sailor]

In South Africa, with your first kill, you get blood smeared on your face in the bush straight after the shot. Everyone who then sees your blooded face during the day congratulates you. Then that night everyone who had a first kill that day gathers around the fire and has to take a bite out of the raw liver cut out the buck (if it is a doe) and try (as best they can) to swallow it. If you shot a male, they cut off the testicles and you try to take a bite from them raw (extremely tough to bite into actually). If you're with a group that is little more accommodating, they might let you cook the testicles first. I had to do mine raw. All the while, everyone is standing around cheering you on and laughing at your gagging and theatrics... and then you are part of the "tribe", with your own story to tell. It is a tremendous sense of camaraderie.

Welcome to AfricaHunting @Henman. Please go to the Introduction and tell us about yourself and stories about your hunting and time in the veld.

Great to see that you’re reaching out to other “tribes”, I would also change if someone would try to persuade me to eat any part of the animal I had no appetite for.
I’ve never heard about anyone being forced or encouraged to eat testicles as an initiation rite after the first kill, but I’m in the Eastern Cape and we’re perhaps less barbaric… ;-)

 

[fish hunter]

 

[Tundra Tiger]

1) We pray before we hunt. We give thanks (prayer) for success.

2) In the field or at home... at least a small amount, typically backstrap, is cooked up as soon as the meat is dealt with. The celebration meals in the field are the ones that stick with me.