"Blood on you" is still a thing for new deer hunters making their first kill in Alabama. Accounts of the practice usually involve an older hunter unexpectedly wiping the blood on the unwary junior, but I have seen a photo of a contemporary teenager ritually drenched in the blood of the animal.
This reminds me of the customs of fighter pjlots, especially in the era when all combat took place in visual range. World War I and II aces would adorn their machines with bold patterns and kill markers both to exult in their own prowess and intimidate the enemy. If you were a German pilot merging with a Mustang and saw a whole bunch of swastikas painted on the side of your enemy's machine, that was your cue to run.
"Blood on you" is still a thing for new deer hunters making their first kill in Alabama. Accounts of the practice usually involve an older hunter unexpectedly wiping the blood on the unwary junior, but I have seen a photo of a contemporary teenager ritually drenched in the blood of the animal.
This reminds me of the customs of fighter pjlots, especially in the era when all combat took place in visual range. World War I and II aces would adorn their machines with bold patterns and kill markers both to exult in their own prowess and intimidate the enemy. If you were a German pilot merging with a Mustang and saw a whole bunch of swastikas painted on the side of your enemy's machine, that was your cue to run.