Wild Boar Hunting, the SCA Way

This post on Musings of a Catholic Seminarian reminded me of a story that a Hordesman told us at Harvest Day last weekend.

It seems that some guys wanted to go wild boar hunting with crossbows. He, having read a bit more about wild boars, went with a boarspear. And a big honking broadsword. His companions laughed and thought him paranoid. But sure enough, when they brought a boar to bay, the boar ignored even heavy crossbow bolts. It rushed at the hunters. He set his boarspear and caught the boar a good one, saving his fellows from getting gored. In classic fashion, it attempted to rush up the boarspear at him and struggled to get past the large quillon designed to prevent that. His friends held the boarspear with its butt set against a tree, while he unsheathed the broadsword he carried on his back. He tried to cut the boar's head off or at least sever the spine, but his sword kept hitting the neck bones and wouldn't go through. About then, the boar finally decided it was dead after blood loss caught up with it.

Granted, these boar hunters weren't experienced. But I think this "no sh*t, there I was" story should demonstrate why European boarhunts in the Middle Ages often ended with hunters dead. Boars are tough.