The primary occupation of the Gonds in former times was hunting and
fishing, but their opportunities in this respect have been greatly
circumscribed by the conservation of the game in Government forests,
which was essential if it was not to become extinct, when the native
shikaris had obtained firearms. Their weapons were until recently
bows and arrows, but now Gond hunters usually have an old matchlock
gun. They have several ingenious devices for trapping animals. It is
essential for them to make a stockade round their patch cultivation
fields in the forests, or the grain would be devoured by pig and
deer. At one point in this they leave a narrow opening, and in front
of it dig a deep pit and cover it with brushwood and grass; then at the
main entrance they spread some sand. Coming in the middle of the night
they see from the footprints in the sand what animals have entered
the enclosure; if these are worth catching they close the main gate,
and make as much noise as they can. The frightened animals dash round
the enclosure and, seeing the opening, run through it and fall into the
pit, where they are easily despatched with clubs and axes. They also
set traps across the forest paths frequented by animals. The method
is to take a strong raw-hide rope and secure one end of it to a stout
sapling, which is bent down like a spring. The other end is made into
a noose and laid open on the ground, often over a small hole. It is
secured by a stone or log of wood, and this is so arranged by means
of some kind of fall-trap that on pressure in the centre of the hole
it is displaced and releases the noose. The animal comes and puts his
foot in the hole, thus removing the trap which secured the noose. This
flies up and takes the animal's foot with it, being drawn tight in
mid-air by the rebound of the sapling. The animal is thus suspended
with one foot in the air, which it cannot free, and the Gonds come and
kill it. Tigers are sometimes caught in this manner. A third very cruel
kind of trap is made by putting up a hedge of thorns and grass across a
forest-path, on the farther side of which they plant a few strong and
sharply-pointed bamboo stakes. A deer coming up will jump the hedge,
and on landing will be impaled on one of the stakes. The wound is
very severe and often festers immediately, so that the victim dies
in a few hours. Or they suspend a heavy beam over a forest path held
erect by a loose prop which stands on the path. The deer comes along
and knocks aside the prop, and the beam falls on him and pins him
down. Mr. Montgomerie writes as follows on Gond methods of hunting:
[95] "The use of the bow and arrow is being forgotten owing to the
restrictions placed by Government on hunting. The Gonds can still throw
an axe fairly straight, but a running hare is a difficult mark and has
a good chance of escaping. The hare, however, falls a victim to the
fascination of fire. The Gond takes an earthen pot, knocks a large hole
in the side of it, and slings it on a pole with a counterbalancing
stone at the other end. Then at night he slings the pole over one
shoulder, with the earthen pot in front containing fire, and sallies
out hare-hunting. He is accompanied by a man who bears a bamboo. The
hare, attracted and fascinated by the light, comes close and watches
it stupidly till the bamboo descends on the animal's head, and the
Gonds have hare for supper." Sometimes a bell is rung as well, and
this is said to attract the animals. They also catch fish by holding
a lamp over the water on a dark night and spearing them with a trident.