Hunting has been a part of American culture for centuries, serving as a means of earning money, providing food, and offering recreation. During the early 1960s, hunting was a common activity in the South, crossing racial and socioeconomic lines. Both Black and white, rich and poor, urban and rural men (and boys) hunted for food as well as sport. Like every aspect of life in the South in the middle of the twentieth century, hunting was shaped by race and class.
African American hunters with dogs
Early Restrictions and Regulations
In fact, the first comprehensive (or complete) game and fish laws in the South were created in the early 1900s with the intent of curtailing the movement of Black men. In 1907, the first game and fish commissioner in Alabama argued that Black men who hunted did not work as hard on the tenant farms on which they lived. The Alabama commissioner thought the game and fish regulations would keep Black men in place on their farms. In this way, the game and fish laws helped to bring Jim Crow laws, which organized Black and white life in the cities, to the countryside.
Socioeconomic class affected the kinds of prey that men hunted. Elite, white men favored the kinds of hunting that often required a support staff of horse men and dog trainers. Dove, quail, and fox hunting were especially popular for elites. These men hunted for leisure and social enjoyment; they did not necessarily eat the prey they killed, though sometimes they did. Working-class and poor men, however, often hunted for sustenance, and they targeted animals like squirrel, racoon, and possum. Racoon and possum can be hunted at night, after the day’s work has ended. For working class men in the city, hunting was also a chance to leave the hustle, noise, and pollution of urban life. In the 1960s, in fact, Birmingham was known for its sooty air thanks to the booming steel and coal industry.
The Role of Hunting Dogs and Dog Trainers
Mr. Robert represents an important tradition among some Black men in the South-the raising and training of hunting dogs. In the early twentieth century, Black men often worked for wealthy white hunters as dog trainers and handlers. In South Georgia, for example, a group of Black men became famous for their training of bird dogs, so much so that they formed an association that still lives on today, the Georgia-Florida Shooting Dog Handlers Club.
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After the Civil War, the role of hunting and fishing shifted within Southern society. Rice production declined after the war, and disappeared from South Carolina almost entirely by the early twentieth century. The uncultivated rice fields evolved into wetland habitats that attracted huge numbers of migrating waterfowl, and Southern landowners, particularly those in the Lowcountry, leased portions of their property to hunters and hunt clubs. This shift increased the tension among subsistence hunters and wealthy sportsmen over competition of wild game sources.
Hunting also began to reflect racial tensions between whites - specifically the once elite slaveholding whites - and freed blacks. As thousands of hunters journeyed south seeking abundant supplies of fish and game, they also came for an “authentic” Southern experience. This “included the presence of subordinate African Americans to complete the vision of a mythical antebellum South.”
“For sportsmen, unrestricted hunting and fishing gave African Americans the ability both to capture valuable wildlife and to engage in sporting behavior that elite whites wished to retain as their exclusive purview.
Notable Figures and Their Impact
Throughout the early twentieth century, a number of prominent and wealthy northerners followed Baruch to the South, and purchased land on the Waccamaw neck. Railroad scion, Archer Huntington and his wife, sculptor Anna Hyatt, purchased four old rice plantations - Laurel Hill, Springfield, Brookgreen and The Oaks - located a few miles north of Hobcaw. The explosion of sporting tourism, and the spike in unregulated hunting, eventually impressed upon Southerners the importance of protecting fish and game.
The national conservation movement finally infiltrated the South in the mid to late nineteenth century, bringing about regulations on hunting and fishing, and wider conservation practices.
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Belle Baruch had been coming to Hobcaw Barony since she was five years old, when wild game was plenty and thousands of ducks darkened the sky. Although unregulated hunting from both subsistence and sport hunters played a large role in this deline, Belle understood that habitat loss did the most damage to local species, as wetlands were drained and forests were cleared. She realized the environmental importance of Hobcaw Barony, and in 1960 she began talking with her lawyers about preserving Hobcaw from development. In 1964, Belle established the Bernard Baruch Foundation Trust, mandating that Hobcaw be used, “for the purpose of teaching and/or research in forestry, marine biology, and the care and propagation of wildlife and flora and fauna in South Carolina.”
African American fox hunters is another of the lesser-known and undocumented sports in Kentucky. Though, fox hunting is an old sport that was brought to Kentucky by the first settlers. African American fox hunters were in Kentucky both before and after emancipation. The darker side of this history is that the hounds used in the hunts for foxes and other animals, were often the same dogs used in the hunt for escaped slaves.
In his biography Fifty Years of Slavery, author Harry Smith, born in Nelson County, KY, wrote about the fox hounds and the roles of enslaved males who accompanied the slave owners on fox hunts, and the dogs used to hunt escaped slaves.
George Gentry, an African American fox hunter in Stanford, KY, in 1895, claimed that two of his hounds held the record for chasing a fox for six days. Jim Jones was also an Africa American fox hunter in Stanford, KY.
In October of 1921, the Colored Fox Hunters Association was formed in Madison County. In 1926, African American fox hunter, J. C. Turner, was killed by Albin Cornelison in Madison County. Two years later, in 1928, the African American Foxhunters Association held the four-day annual meeting in Bybee, KY.
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There is a real lack of scholarly research into the history of African-American hunters in the United States. That matters because without substantive research on a topic as multi-tiered as race in hunting, we are left with the half-truths and “that’s the way it’s always beens” of the colloquial zeitgeist. Societal memories are woefully short sighted and easily controlled by the images we repeatedly see. When we don't see images or hear stories of black hunters, we begin to assume that there are not any. Soon, that assumption becomes understood as truth. It doesn't take long for that perceived truth to become gospel and “that’s how it's always been.”
A book that serves as a bright light, shining into the void of academic interest into this topic is Scott E. Giltner’s, “Hunting and Fishing in the New South.” In this text, Giltner discusses the history of black hunters in the South before the Civil War and most specifically, in the years following that conflict. With real historical examples, he is able to show how hunting and fishing allowed newly freed blacks to live better and develop economic markets of their own, outside the control of the existing white power structure.
Giltner looks at how ideas about the gentility of “field sports” and the segregation of hunting quarry/methodologies along racial lines developed. The author further delves into the expressed fears of white society and the notion of a black population that was armed and maintained a level of independence that threatened notions of white supremacy. The implementation of laws controlling hunting and fishing and some of the motivations behind their development are examined in fascinating detail as well.
Giltner exposes how even something as central to the history of America as outdoorsmanship, has been unable to escape the peculiar institution of racism. Most heartening though is the wealth of examples of competent, even fantastic hunting exploits of blacks throughout the history of this country. After reading this book I felt exponentially better informed about African-Americans’ contribution to hunting in the United States, but also proud that I was playing a small part in the continuation of that legacy.
I’m excited to be able to pass on some of what I’ve learned. This past weekend Chris and I were able to get together in northwest Arkansas and spend a few hours hiking through some public lands close to his house and start to do some of the hands on work that is necessary to become competent at the field craft of hunting. For a concise outing I felt like we were able to cover a ton of important ground.
We worked on field identification of important mast producing plants. Plentiful examples of oaks, black walnut, hickory, dew berry, staghorn sumac, and wild plum were easy to find and we discussed the seasonality of food sources and the different species that rely on them. We also spent quite a bit of time discussing and examining the different terrain features that influence cervid travel. The woods we were investigating were replete with the rolling hills and deep draws that the Ozark Mountains are known for.
We were able to find long established game trails on the edges of the draws that serve as “highways” for the local deer population. By traversing these trails I was also able to broach the subject of what and how deer eat and very quickly we were able to find lots of greenbriar and other browse that had the tender green shoots of new growth bitten off with the distinctive 45 degree angle of a deer nibble.
Hunting is also about adjusting to the environment one finds themselves in. After our outing and talking to Chris about more of what he’s looking for out of these experiences, I told him that I think we should really be focusing our efforts on getting him comfortable with archery tackle. Here in Arkansas we are able to bow hunt deer from the end of September through the last day of February.
Chris being able to use archery tackle will give him 5 months of season to explore and hone his skills on the WMA’s and national forests close to his home. I’m on the hunt now for a serviceable crossbow that we can get him started with.
Here we were, two black men, fathers, entrepreneurs, walking in the woods of the South, talking and learning and sharing in the natural world together. We weren’t consumed with bravado, or ego or society's notions about who we were or how we are supposed to act. We were just being. As a person of color and in particular as a black man, just existing without unease is often a luxury. I was glad to experience that feeling with a person of like experiences and ambition.
Interview with Author Scott E. Giltner
I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to pose some questions to author and academic Scott E. Giltner about his book, “Hunting and Fishing in the New South: Black Labor and White Leisure After the Civil War.” Giltner provided thoughtful and thorough answers to my queries and displayed a willingness to expound on points beyond my expectations. The interview demonstrated some of the best aspects of professorial discourse.
My hope is that the interview sheds some light on this important subject and that it might serve as an impetus for a more nuanced understanding of some of the disparities we see in the hunting community today.
When I submitted the manuscript to Johns Hopkins, they didn’t ask for many alterations. I had to condense the manuscript down by combining two chapters into one and re-working the introduction and conclusion but those were the only major changes. I also worked with a copy editor to smooth out the writing a bit.
There are an estimated 11.5 million Americans who hunt in the United States and fewer than 2.3 million waterfowl hunters. It’s estimated that 11.1 percent of the white population hunts, but fewer than 2 percent of hunters are African American, Asian or Hispanic.
We spoke to an African American father and son who share a love of the outdoors and recreational hunting. Gary is an avid outdoorsman and son Javier shares that connection with his dad. We asked them a series of questions to learn about their connection to the outdoors and celebrate their stories.
How did you first get into hunting? Who introduced you into hunting?
Gary: I was introduced to hunting by a co-worker of mine while in college, Danny. This attraction was instilled within me from my time growing up as a former Cub Scout and Webelo (We Be Loyal Scouts). This connection, and introduction to hunting, forged a very strong friendship for us, so much so that Danny is now the godfather to my son. We are still close friends to this day.
Javier: I first got into hunting at a young age with my father. I was 12 years old on my first hunt, and I couldn’t stop asking my dad when we would go again.
What do you love most about hunting?
Gary: Hunting allows me the opportunity to relax from everyday stress. I enjoy the scenery - watching wildlife undisturbed, plants and the natural patterns of nature. For me it’s not the harvest that is most important, but the calm and peace that I have. It’s almost like meditation, in my solitary moments, sitting still and quiet while in the woods.
Javier: I think what I love most about hunting is just to see the animals in relationship to each other, and their ecosystem. It beats watching Animal Planet by 10! You see the coolest things in the woods, and the more time you spend out there, the more Mother Nature shows you how awesome she is.
Do you know a lot of African Americans who like to hunt?
Gary: I’ve met quite a few over the years, and I’ve personally introduced even more to hunting. When I became a Maryland state hunter and gun safety instructor, I was able to reach a few other African Americans with interests in hunting and conservation in general.
Javier: Outside of my family, I have met some good friends who also hunt and share a love for the outdoors the same as me.
Why do you think that is?
Gary: I think that it’s mostly because of exposure. Most Black Americans reside within or near inner city limits: urban populated areas. You see limited wildlife growing up in the city, and the wildlife you do see, most don’t associate with consumption. Most city dwellers have a healthy fear of wild animals and a lack of respect for their habitat at the same time.
Javier: I think the most common introduction to hunting or fishing is through a relative or a parent. When you have generations of family coming from places like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, as a product of your environment in urban areas, I believe that odds are low of a person getting into these activities. However, I do not believe they are incapable of falling in love with it the same way I did.
What advice do you have for African Americans today to explore hunting as a recreational activity?
Gary: I would advise anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to explore nature and wildlife to first start by taking a free hunter safety course. Ask lots of questions about any and everything involving the sport. Go out to supporting regional and federal parks and learn to scout and find wildlife signs. Bring a friend, family members or friends with you when you go.
Javier: The best advice I can give, is to just go out and try it! And tell a friend!
People of color have always been a part of the building of this great country. We had many frontiersmen and women, cowboys, mountain men, trappers, traders, scouts and soldiers who were the trailblazers in the beginning of this nation. For instance, many of the free blacks or escaped slaves became premiere fur trappers in Canada and the Northwest Territory.
One of the most famous black moutainman, fur trapper, and adventurer extraordinaire was James P. Beckwourth. In his lifetime he was a mountainman, fur trapper, War chief for the Crow Indians, and he had discovered a pass in the Sierra Nevada Range which was named after him, Beckwourth Pass.
One out of three cowboys was black but you would never know from watching Hollywood westerns. Neither man nor beast could stop Mary Fields also known as Stagecoach Mary. She was six feet tall, smoked cigars, carried her firearms and could hold her own with any man.
Outdoors has always been a part of American History and particular Black History. Currently, there are free classes for Hunter Safety Ed through the Conservation Department. These are one day classes which cover a lot of information concerning the outdoors. This is needed before a person or youth could go hunting.
This form of self-determination for Black folks isn’t as widely celebrated as it is in white communities.
“I tell people there’s a huge tradition of Black people hunting. I’m saying like their fathers or their grandfathers did it - and so on and so forth. When I tell people of color who are not hunters, there’s a lot of apprehension. They would say: ‘ Aren’t you afraid of being the victim of a hate crime?
“Just the typical stereotypes. ‘Oh, African Americans aren’t really big in the hunting community,”’ said Waynes. “I mean there’s some out there, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not as prevalent, so a lot of people aren’t really used to seeing that.
Due to anxiety exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, police brutality, gun violence, carjackings, violence toward Black women, and non-melanated people historically taking umbrage at the mere existence of Black folks, many Black people have taken up arms in the spirit of journalist and activist Ida B. The Instagram account, “The Great Outchea,” encourages people of color to explore wide-open spaces. Platinum-selling rapper Twista runs a concealed carry class in Chicago. The National African American Guns Association aims to normalize Black gun ownership, and Durrell Smith hosts “The Gun Dog Notebook,” a podcast dedicated to gun dogs and upland hunting.
“I don’t want to get too deep into it but I mean, it’s different,” said Waynes. “I think that’s like an interesting subject to touch on just because there are so many different views on it, and it’s just really political opinions.
“There are people who say it’s not a racial thing, it’s just a lifestyle,” said Waynes, the owner of Home Grown Outfitters. “It’s good to see people are more open and are into different things.
“Before the game at the batting practice, they would go in and practice shooting their bows in the hitting tunnel. They had targets set up and all that. So when they would go out, I would watch them.
