Atsugewi hunters might encircle a small brush covered or wooded mountain. They set many fires, leaving non-burning gaps where bowmen hid in holes. The deer were shot as they came out of the burning area.
Mountain Maidu sometimes concealed themselves in pits near deer licks where they shot the animals in moonlight.
Another hunting method was to drive deer along fences built of brush or stone or along ropes to which bunches of tules were tied as hanging streamers. Strategically placed hunters in shallow pits shot the driven deer as they passed through openings which had been left. Dogs were frequently used in hunting out and in driving deer.
The brush deer-blind along a well traveled deer trail was used too, as well as hanging a noose in the deer trail to snare the deer. Still another means of taking deer was like that of the northern neighbors of the Atsugewi, the Pit River Tribe or Achomawi. They employed a six or seven foot deep pit about nine feet long dug with slightly undercut side walls. This opening was covered and concealed with poles, brush, and dirt. As the deer trotted along established trails over the disguised pitfalls they fell through. Or, deer might be driven to such pits, sometimes with the aid of converging walls or fences in conjunction with pitfalls. Deer trapped in these pitfalls were killed by strangling from above with ropes.
Another popular way to secure deer was to follow the animal for one or more days. The pursuing Indian carried a small amount of food which he ate to sustain himself while moving. The deer, although swifter afoot than the hunter, was persistently followed at a steady pace. The animal did not get a chance to feed properly nor to rest. At length the deer became weakened to the point where the hunter could approach and shoot it at close range.
If a hunter were fairly close to a deer and it was moving, he might shout at it, causing the deer to stop momentarily out of curiosity. This provided a better chance of bringing the quarry down with bow and arrow. Deer were sometimes lured closer by whistling with lips, blowing on a leaf or grass blade held in the hands, or by imitating the cry of a fawn. A hunter is said occasionally to have been able to sing to a group of deer, holding their attention while he cautiously approached within arrow range.
If practical, deer or other game was killed by driving the animals over cliffs. Elk, mountain sheep, antelope, and reportedly occasionally even bison were hunted by one or more of the means. Except for the case of mountain sheep, such animals were probably rare within the territories of the tribes being considered.
Meat of such large game was prepared for eating after skinning by roasting in the earth pit ovens to be described in succeeding chapters or by cutting up and boiling. Much venison and the like was also stored for winter use. In this case the meat was cut into strips and dried in the sun or on wooden frames over fires. This was not a smoking, but rather a drying process. Such jerked meat was stored in large, tightly woven baskets. Meat fresh or dried was almost invariably eaten with acorn mush.
Bear hunting was common among tribes of the Lassen area. The American Black Bear is not aggressive and by no means always black. He is of moderately large size and often is light or dark brown in color. Indians liked to hunt the Black Bear in winter, two hunters entering the hibernating den. One carried a torch and the other a bow and arrow. They rolled a large block of wood in front of them and shot the bear at point blank range, then quickly ran out. Wounded, frightened, and in a semi-stupor, the bear usually stumbled over the wooden block. If he did not die in the den, but came out, he was shot by other waiting hunters. Mountain Maidu instead of entering the den smoked the bear out with pitchy torches planted at the den entrance.
The California Grizzly was much larger, fiercer, and more aggressive. This grizzly is now extinct, but was common especially in the foothill and lower mountain slopes of California before the coming of the white man. Grizzlies were normally engaged only by a large group of hunters and after considerable ceremonial preparation. Hunters never entered the den. Two stout poles were crossed in front of the opening with one or two men holding each—a dangerous job. The bear was spoken to nicely and urged to come out which he usually soon did. As the bear started to climb over the poles at the den entrance, the Indians pushed up forcing the bear’s body against the roof so that he could most easily be shot. If this maneuver was not successful, a brave hunter enticed the bear to pursue him while the others shot arrows into the grizzly. Especially sharp and heavily poisoned arrow points were used on grizzly bear by the Atsugewi.