105 

 The age class distribution of known hunters at X-Hazil Sur (79% were 15-39 y old) compared 

 with the age class distribution of all men (40% were 15-39 y old) suggested that the population of 

 hunters was aging and that older hunters were not being replaced by younger hunters. This may seem 

 counter-intuitive in view of the relatively young ages of the seven main hunters (see Appendix E), but 

 conversations with both older and younger hunters indicated that few young men were interested in 

 becoming serious hunters. The skills associated with hunting are acquired by young men over several 

 years when they learn how to use a gun, interpret game sign, and develop the self confidence to pursue 

 game while alone in distant parts of the ejido. Many young Maya men no longer are interested in 

 developing these skills. This follows a recent trend among young Maya in the area to attend outside 

 technical and secondary schools, and to seek employment in nearby towns, instead of remaining in the 

 village and learning traditional subsistence activities. 

 / The number of kills per hunter and the amount of game harvested per hunter indicated diat 



hunters at X-Hazil Sur did not take similar numbers of game. At X-Hazil Sur, the seven main hunters 

 (8% of hunters) took 54% of the game by number and 40% by weight. This disproportionate harvest 

 by a few hunters was similar to that reported for other indigenous groups in the Neotropics. For 

 example, Hames (1979) reported that among the Ye'kwana in southern Venezuela, 36% of the hunters 

 took 75% of the game by weight, while among the Yanomamo, 50% of the hunters took 85% of the 

 game. For the Yuqui in Bolivia, Stearman (1990) reported that 25% of the hunters took 61% of the 

 game by weight in 1983 and 32% of the hunters took 75% of the game by weight in 1988. Maya 

 hunters were different from other subsistence hunters, however, in at least one regard. At X-Hazil 

 Sur, 47 of 86 hunters took only one or two game animals during the study, while subsistence hunters 

 described in other studies regularly undertook outings and obtained game. The reason for this 

 difference probably is the number of domestic animals and opportunity to engage in wage labor 

 available to Maya hunters. Given the availability of canned meat and domestic animals, and 

 recognizing the low number of kills per hunter (ca. 7 per hunter during 17 months), subsistence hunting 

 at X-Hazil Sur was quite opportunistic. 



