THEHUNTERSTORIES

The simple term of Hunt can, in its broadest sense, cover a lot of ground. In Carl Barks' vast and very diverse duck universe the characters were hunting in many different ways throughout most of the stories; Donald was chasing his nephews, Scrooge was busy finding new assets, and the same ducks hunted down all types of villains or hidden treasures on a regular basis. But occasionally animals were hunted; often in different weapon-in-hand manners, meaning that especially Donald (who stars in this page) was seen in the role of a genuine hunter trying to either catch or kill animals for various reasons.

This page aims to demonstrate some of the many very diverse types of real hunting scenarios Barks managed to dream up. The stories are all funny as they are supposed to be, but in them lie either a certain amount of cruelty to animals or actual slaughtering. But what Barks showed in his stories was nothing more than actions and events of a kind that take place in our world every day...

WEAPON: BARE FISTS

WDCS098 'Outfoxed' - 1948

Synopsis:
Scrooge convinces Donald to participate in a fox hunt but the fox is rather sly...

Comments:
Despite the hilarious events of Donald trying to catch an extremely elusive fox, the story, as such, builds on somber undertones. In the story several other hunters with their ferocious hounds pursue other foxes. Especially in the English countryside, it has for centuries been a 'fine' sport to let hounds hunt down and cruelly tear apart red foxes. Of course, Barks abstained from graphic renderings of the true way of fox hunting...
The story is, in its overall plotline, reminiscent of WDCS207 'Burro Contest' insofar that Donald is required to catch a wild animal, this time a burro (donkey). In both stories a tame animal was supplied for the purpose by the nephews, and in both cases Donald manages to bungle up the hunting...

WEAPON: NETS

MOC20 Darkest Africa - 1948

Synopsis:
Donald is a butterfly hunter and he is hired to go to Africa and collect the world's rarest butterfly. A villainous competitor follows...

Comments:
It really seems an innocent and fun leisure time occupation to catch butterflies in nets, but the cruel reality is that the colourful insects all end their lives pinned to a board!
In WDCS218 'Porpoise Hunting' the use of a net was much less menacing, as Donald set out to catch porpoises in an attempt to add to the population in Duckburg's Seaquarium. At least, the many porpoises Donald managed to catch were meant for display as living animals...

WEAPON: STICKS

WDCS108 'Frog Hunting' - 1949

Synopsis:
Donald wants to teach the nephews about fancy food but the price of frogs' legs are too steep for him. So why not catch the delicacies himself?

Comments:
So Donald and the nephews go to a bog where they try to hunt down and kill a vast number of frogs using forked sticks! That is really the essence of their actions, although they never succeed in slaughtering one single frog.
Although several of Barks' stories contain the basic wish of killing the food you want to eat, he never came near the actual showing of such an event, because this kind of cruelty to real animals has never been acceptable in the comic books. Barks was very aware that children should not be given bad ideas about mistreating animals. Exceptions are Donald's reckless pursuit - stick in hand - of a cat in the end scene of WDCS076 'Catastrophic Cat', and his veritable bloodbath on numerous defenseless Antafogasta ants using a broom in WDCS170 'The Ant Farm'.

WEAPON: BOW AND ARROWS

WDCS259 Jungle Bungle - 1962

Synopsis:
Donald is a skilled marksman with his bow and arrows and he is invited to Africa to shoot the pink-eyed rhinoceros with a tranquilizer arrow.

Comments:
Despite the obvious advantages graphically and storywise Barks only made one story with the topic of archery. He even found a secure way of displaying the sport by letting Donald shoot arrows constructed not to inflict any harm

WEAPON: FISHING GEAR

WDCS066 'The Elusive Fish' - 1946

Synopsis:
Donald claims to be an expert on ice fishing but he immediately gets into trouble with a large fish. Perhaps dynamite is the solution?

Comments:
Stories in which animals are actually killed are rare in Barks' duck universe apart from the catching - and consequent killing - of fish, which seems to be species of minor importance! Numerous times Donald has been on fishing trips (which usually developed into fishing expeditions, because he rarely knew what he was doing!!!), and in this one he tries to catch an elusive fish with expensive bait, lures, a trident, and dynamite - instead of just using a normal, old fashioned fishing rod.
In his stories Barks killed off countless numbers of fish. Just think of the many caught in WDCS076 'Catastrophic Cat', the hundreds killed in WDCS186 'The Ice Taxies', or the thousands delivered to Donald's house in FC0456 Something Fishy Here...

WEAPON: OTHER ANIMALS

WDCS153 'Trained Worms' - 1953

Synopsis:
Gyro is breeding worms that drag fish out of the water. Donald is an avid angler. Now for some serious fishing...

Comments:
Donald only catches a few small fish using his fishing rod and he quickly blames his worms. But Gyro has trained special worms that can bring in fish by themselves. As usual, Donald neglects to heed sound advice - he should not use too many worms at a time. Soon the lake is swarming with fish-catching worms...
Another way of hunting using animals has been known for hundreds of years. Falcons have been trained to fetch prey for their masters and Barks had Donald have a go at this sport in WDCS047 'Rookie Falconeer'.

WEAPON: GUNS

WDCS087 'Foul Dinner' - 1947

Synopsis:
Donald can not afford a turkey from the butcher's and he decides to hunt for one instead. And he succeeds - more or less...

Comments:
Although the presence of guns has never been encouraged in Disney's comic books, Barks made quite a few stories in which they were essential to the storylines. Some of them showed Donald hunting turkeys for dinner, and this is one of them. In the end he comes home with an eagle, though! Other stories were WDCS075 'Thanksgiving Turkey' and WDCS243 Turkey Trouble.
In WDCS183 'Custard Gun' Donald was still after turkeys (and later moose) in order to stun and kill them using a specially constructed gun shooting custard pellets...

WEAPON: WITS...

WDCS192 'The Kingfisher' - 1956

Synopsis:
Donald claims to be a fish culture expert and gets a job in a salmon hatchery. Soon he is up against a kingfisher!

Comments:
One of the most unwanted animals near a fish hatchery is the swift and always hungry kingfisher, and Donald tries several dastardly schemes to rid the hatchery of the greedy bird. Of course, he winds up being the hunted party himself...
In WDCS189 'Beautifying the Backgarden' Donald tries repeatedly to hunt down a colony of gophers who have settled in his garden. In the end he manages to drive them out by pouring truckloads of concrete into their underground tunnels (as well as his own cellar!) only to be pursued by the neighbour to whom the gophers has fled...