Caribou hunting rewards randomization because prey learn to avoid previously successful hunting spots.

Evidence

When hunting caribou, Naskapi foragers in Labrador, Canada, had to decide where to go. Common sense might lead one to go where one had success before or to where friends or neighbors recently spotted caribou. However, this situation is like Matching Pennies in chapter 2 . The caribou are mismatchers and the hunters are matchers. That is, hunters want to match the locations of caribou while caribou want to mismatch the hunters, to avoid being shot and eaten. If a hunter shows any bias to return to previous spots, where he or others have seen caribou, then the caribou can benefit (survive better) by avoiding those locations (where they have previously seen humans). Thus, the best hunting strategy requires randomizing. Can cultural evolution compensate for our cognitive inadequacies? — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 344

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Human endurance hunting succeeds only by tracking, not sheer stamina — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 258; Caribou shoulder-blade divination worked as a randomizing device defeating hunter confirmation bias. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 345; Success in hunting depends on matching the animal’s timing judgment — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 206

Broader Connections

• Success in hunting depends on matching the animal’s timing judgment #expands (0.75) — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 206