During this time, the inland settlers on the South Carolina frontier suffered more from violent crimes, including organized bandit raids. The disruption of the Cherokee war of 1760-1761 left many settlers without homes, and native raids sometimes resulted in abandonment of settler children. To sustain their families, the men went out hunting. In the colonial period on the western frontier, this was not seen as an honorable profession, and hunters were labeled as vagrants, bandits, and outlaws, and blamed for stealing livestock. Their method of "fire hunting" at night used fire to blind deer, and sometimes they mistook farmers' livestock for wild game. They left unused animal corpses, which drew wolves and scavengers closer to populated areas. Hunting also pushed well into the boundary of the local natives, the Creek Indians, exacerbating their already tense relationship with colonists. The bandits gathered until they numbered about 200. Eventually they were bold enough to attack magistrates. They dragged James Mayson, a regulator, from his home in the night. Originally made up of the hunting groups, the bandits also accepted free mulattos and blacks, fugitive slaves, and any outlaw available. Some members of the bandit network were well-established farmers.