ST. HUBERT'S RANGERS

Who We Are

St. Hubert's Rangers is an international, online brotherhood of individuals who are interested in the anachronism of medieval hunters. Rangers research all aspects of the daily lives of medieval hunters, and recreate their clothing, accoutrements and hunting equipment. A ranger's persona could be that of anyone who may have hunted for sport or necessity in the Middle Ages, such as: a nobleman, forester, huntsman, poacher, or outlaw. For our purposes, a hunter is defined as anyone who participates in the chase of a small game or large game animal, with the means of personally dispatching the hunted animal. Trapping and angling are beyond the scope of St. Hubert's Rangers.

Many Rangers also participate in medieval-style, live hunts, wearing period clothing and accoutrements, and using period techniques and weapons (within the limits of modern law), in an attempt to experience hunting the way it was done hundreds of years ago. Rangers can earn hunt rankings, which begin with Apprentice Huntsman / Huntress and culminate with Royal Huntsman / Huntress, based on their success in taking game during these hunts.

This website, along with our private discussion group site, provides the brotherhood with venues for sharing their research, and the development of their personas and hunter kits with like-minded individuals. Rangers encourage and help each other achieve their anachronism and medieval-style hunting goals.

Coat-of-Arms

St. Hubert's Rangers' coat-of-arms includes elements that represent the brotherhood. The embattled chief symbolizes the Middle Ages, as it represents an architectural element associated with the castles of that time period. The crucifix between the antlers represents St. Hubert, and the stag's skull (a deviation from the typical stag's head that represents St. Hubert) represents a successful hunt.

Rangers may incorporate our symbol into their medieval hunter portrayals, as well as the or (gold) and vert (green) livery colors, if they so choose.

Rangers receive a pewter badge which may be worn as a medallion or sewn onto a garment or accoutrement.

In the later middle ages, badges made of different materials, and livery colors, were common ways to distinguish individuals as members of particular households. Small, pewter pilgrim badges, and secular badges, were also commonly displayed on a person's clothing and/or accoutrements.

St. Hubert

Although we are NOT a religious organization, St. Hubert was chosen as our theme because he has strong associations with hunting and culture in the Middle Ages. St. Hubert was an avid hunter, and his conversion took place while hunting a stag. Religion was a very important part of medieval western-Euorpean culture, and St. Hubert was highly venerated. Many medieval military orders were named after him.

St. Hubert born around 656 in Holland and died May 30, 727 in Belgium.

His feast day is November 3rd.

St Hubert's patronage includes: archers, furriers, hunters, foresters, and hunting dogs, among others.

His representations include a Bishop with a hound and hunting horn, and a stag with a crucifix between its antlers, among others.

For more information click here: Hubert of Liege

History of St. Hubert's Rangers

The founder, Paul Wilburn, has been fascinated with medieval hunters since he was a child, and Robin Hood has always been one of his favorite characters. As a young adult he was recruited into the Order of St. Sebastian, a reenactment group which portrayed 14th Century English longbowmen, and he was introduced to traditional archery. Shooting longbows became a passion for him, which eventually led him to traditional bowhunting. Years later he had the notion to combine his two favorite hobbies, and hunt while wearing authentic medieval-style garb and using period equipment. He felt that hunting in this way was about as close as one could get to traveling back in time to experience what it may have been like to be a medieval hunter.

The idea really took off when Paul met Lance Paulson (Ranger #2) on TradGang, a traditional archery forum. Lance had similar interests as Paul, and they quickly learned that within their traditional archery and medieval reenactment circles, there were others who were also interested in experiencing medieval-style hunting, but they were few in number and scattered across the land. That's when the idea for the brotherhood was born. Paul wanted to host a site where those who portray medieval hunters, whether or not they were interested in participating in live hunts, could share their experiences. He also wanted to create a site that would serve as an excellent source of information for anyone who wanted to learn about medieval hunters and/or join our ranks. St. Hubert's Rangers is the ever evolving result of that vision.

On March 17, 2007, Donna Mitchell had the honor of becoming our first Ranger to have a successful medieval-style hunt. She took a grey squirrel with her red-tailed hawk, Clarice, making medieval-style hunting a reality. Since then, many of our Rangers have had successful medieval-style hunts, and we eagerly look forward to future hunts.

As the Forester of St. Hubert's Rangers, Paul is the custodian of the brotherhood, and he cordially invites you to explore our site. For more information, please click on the links below or contact us at:

rangers@sthubertsrangers.org