Buffalo hunting: Wyatt Earp - Essay Example

Buffalo hunting: Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp was a legend in buffalo hunting. He not only earned great business from his hunting techniques but also gathered quite fame. At the age of the 15 he became a successful buffalo hunter and at the age of twenty the hunters in the locality started recognizing him. He made most of his success by his new and fresh techniques. The traditional hunting methods were quite a different from the Wyatt Earp’s hunting method. The methods he used were solely designed by him in the field of Buffalo hunting.

The traditional hunters of 1800 used the Indian techniques to hunt the animals. They usually carry four wagons when they leave for hunting. It also includes a driver, cook and hunters. They were given the meat and hide share which was divided in the hunters and the other participants. They used old rifles to shoot. The biggest disadvantage of this rifle is the probability of inaccuracy increases as the number of constant shots increases. They use lead type material in their guns and this materials heats the barrel so hot that they continuously had to use cool water rag to make it cool.

But it was considered as the best shooting weapon for long distance shooting. Also the style and the angles they used to hunt buffalo were not at all effective. In comparison to that the methods used by the Wyatt Earp are now regarded as the methods for modern buffalo hunting. Wyatt Earp ways of hunting can easily be differentiated from the old and the traditional hunting methods by taking few things into the account. Wyatt Earp believed in hunting the animal on foot from a nearby location of the herd while the traditional hunters preferred using rifle from the distant locations.

Also he used the shotgun as his weapon which is less expensive than the Sharps fifty rifle used by the old hunters. Wyatt Earp chose those animals whose hide and meat could better price in the market. The traditional hunters hunt buffalos from the horse’s back while following a stamped. In this way of hunting buffalos the inaccuracy chances are much higher than the hunting on static condition on foot. This also saved the hunter’s time by just grabbing the animal by running on foot. While the hunter on the horse back had to go closer to the wounded animal after dismounting from the horse back.

Wyatt Earp’s methods were superior in an operator’s prospective. He emphasized on saving money for which he used only one experienced skinner who drove and cooked as well. He used only one wagon and four animals to harness the ride. He himself participated in the hunting with the skinner. He preferred the weapon which was less heavy and less costly than the weapons used by the traditional hunters. Wyatt Earp in this way marked a difference in the new, modern and old, traditional hunting methods.

The success of these methods was proved by the growth of the business that Wyatt Earp experienced. Work CitedF. Robert Jacobs. Wyatt Earp-the Buffalo Hunter. Indiana University