Spearfishing and Underwater hunting

THE second step in the underwater progress of many skin and scuba divers is to take up the sport of underwater hunting. There is an almost infinite variety of game in coastal waters offering many choices of hunting for sea food or for the sheer sport of tracking and capturing sea game.

Any catalogue of underwater equipment offers a wide range of weapons from tridents and lances to rubber-powered and carbon-dioxide-propelled guns, different types of spring guns, slings and harpoons. Some have power heads which fire a cartridge on impact and shoot the barbed spear head through the prey. Some have a break-away feature with a detachable head fixed to a strong cable to absorb the force when a big fish makes his first rush. The exact type of weapon for any specific use depends on the kind of game, the underwater terrain, and the skills of the diver. Basically the underwater hunter’s weapons are analogous to those used by the gunner on land. The smaller, lighter-bored weapons for small game; the heavier equipment for the larger marine animals. Also, many kinds of underwater game can be caught by hand.

Basically, underwater hunting offers more of the thrill of stalking and landing the prey than does hunting on land. The underwater hunter must come very close to his quarry. The effective range of underwater weapons is extremely limited. Those which are not used at hand’s length seldom have an effective range of much more than 10 feet; and most underwater “shooting” is done at about 6 feet or less. But there is another difference between land and sea hunting. On land the gunner whose aim is successful has only to carry a carcass back to his camp or car. In undersea hunting, “shooting” the game is only the beginning of the hunt. After the quarry has been “shot” the diver must still hold it with a harpoon line, and may have to use ad-ditional harpoons to finish it. Very seldom will the first strike kill any large fish, and most will show surprising strength in trying to escape or even attack when they have been wounded.

Gathering Abalone

Perhaps the most widely known “hunting” activities of skin divers is the gathering of abalones, a large shellfish found only in the water off California and Mexico. Considered one of the delicacies of the sea, the abalone brings a high price in sea-food markets, and is a culinary reward to the diver who brings some up for his own table.
Unlike other common shellfish, the abalone has one shell; the other half of the creature (which is actually a member of the snail family) consists of a strong muscle which clings to its rocky home with great power. The “lore” of abalone divers has many tales of men being trapped under water when the abalone clamped down on a hand or foot, although it is hard to substantiate any of these tales. The tool for gathering abalone is a pry bar which is used to force the abalone free.

Many abalone hunters combine the search for the shellfish with hunting for more active game in the same terrain, as they are often found in kelp “forests” where game fish also congregate.

Tags: water sports

Kindly consider linking to this article by just copying and pasting the code below on your website/blog ( press Ctrl+C to copy the entire code). The text link will look on your website like this: Spearfishing and Underwater hunting

<a href="http://www.water-sports-guide.com/spearfishing-and-underwater-hunting.html">Spearfishing and Underwater hunting</a>