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Adjusting the bow
Speaking about the training of a single hound, it is necessary to dwell on the training of a bow, or a pair of hounds. There is no difference in the process of fitting a bow, the method of fitting is the same as for a single bow, but there are several specific issues related to fitting a bow or a pair.
More requirements are placed on the bow during the trip. The bow must absolutely obey the leader. Dogs in a bow must stand on command not only in collars, but also without collars, that is, open, they must walk at the foot and behind the leader, and also follow the hunter’s horn flawlessly.
If you are holding a bow and bowing it, do not take bow dogs alone when hunting. As soon as the dogs work alone, they acquire independence of work, each begins to work for itself, especially in the field.
The bow must be a bow, otherwise all the work will be in vain, and you may not get either a bow or a single bow.
When you finish the hunt and intend to go home, go out into a clearing, road or forest clearing, stop and call the hound with your horn and do not leave until it comes to you.
As soon as the hound approaches, you need to give it a piece of treat, take it on a leash, petting and praising it, and after that you can go home.
You should never leave a hound hanging out in the woods alone, or allow it to wander home from the woods on its own. This makes the hound undisciplined, it leaves the hunter’s obedience and turns into a rake.
Progress of the hunt with hounds
Weather conditions have a great influence on the success of the hunt. Strong winds make hunting very difficult on both black and white trails. When there is wind, the smell of a hare's track quickly disappears and the audibility of the rut deteriorates. If the dogs' voices are not strong, and the brown hare is mainly hunted in open places, in the field, then the dogs can be listened to. They will go away without hearing, and you will not be able to expose yourself to the rut, choose a hole. In winter, in addition, with strong winds, a blizzard forms, which covers up traces. In the morning in winter in such weather it is difficult to raise a hare, and even if you do, the dog after the first short chip will not be able to continue chasing, since the mark may be completely noticeable. And in open areas, the powder can be blown away to form crust and ice, worsening the conditions for rutting.
When hunting along the black trail, the optimal temperature will be from 0 to +10–18 °C. If it is still cloudy, quiet, and the trail is wet, then these are ideal conditions for hunting. In winter, you can go hunting at temperatures not lower than -15 °C. If in the morning before dawn the temperature is about -20 °C and there is no wind, the sky is clear, which means the weather will be sunny, then during the day the temperature will rise by 4–6 °C, and you can hunt. But even in sunny weather with a strong enough wind and a temperature of -15 °C, the wind will pierce right through you. In this case, you need to dress appropriately. And in winter, when there is a thaw, when the temperature is about 0 °C or slightly higher and you are already hunting on skis, the snow will stick to them and you will be very tired. Care must be taken to eliminate snow accumulation, since the trail during the thaw is considered very good for hunting.
In winter, when there is sufficient snowfall, the hare begins to use well-worn roads, car and tractor tracks, boar trails and ski tracks. If there are populated areas nearby, he can run into them, to farms. Hunting in this case is only possible with a very good, instinctive hound.
When going hunting, you should give preference to the morning hours. You need to be there before dawn. In this case, the dogs behave more enthusiastically and will quickly pick up a hare that has just gone to bed.
The path is a state soil cover while hunting. It changes during the hunting season, which lasts from late October - early November and ends in mid-February. At the beginning of the hunting season, the trail is black, that is, it is not yet covered with snow; hunters call it black trail. Blacktrope is soft when it is cloudy, the soil, rain-beaten foliage and grass are moist. And if there is still no wind, then this will be the best time for a hound hunter. At this point the dogs smell better and chase very well.
A hard trail is when it's frosty all day. Dirt roads, arable land and even virgin lands become tough. This is especially true when hunting a brown hare, which, if dogs pick up in the forest, will certainly jump out onto frozen arable land or dirt roads. In this case, the dogs chase poorly, often break off or completely lose it, while losing their legs and getting tired quickly. But sometimes it’s frosty only in the morning, and then the trail goes away and becomes soft and wet.
A dry trail is when it is cloudless and the sun is shining. Leaves and withered grass rustle underfoot as you walk. At this time the dogs drive very poorly. Successful hunting along such a trail can only happen in the morning and with a good, instinctive dog. Hunting a brown hare along the black trail is rarely successful. He, raised in the forest, often very soon jumps out - into the field, onto the arable land. If the short is not taken soon, then the rut will soon end.
The success of the hunt is no less influenced by the experience of the hunter. It lies in the ability of a hunter in unfamiliar hunting grounds to choose the correct direction of movement to the places where the hare is supposed to lie, and to choose a hole during the rut. Determining bedding areas requires knowledge of the hare’s lifestyle and habits. Of course, if you hunt in these areas all the time, then first of all you need to go through the places where the hare was previously raised.
Opening of the hunt. Blacktrope. When you have arrived or arrived at the hunting spot, the first task that faces the hunter-hunter is to raise the hare. The dog is released. If she has a good crawl, prey ability and there is enough of a hare here, then the dog herself will soon pick it up and start chasing it. But if the dog is short-haired or there are few animals in the area, the dog owner’s task is to help it. The task becomes much easier if you hunt in these places constantly and know where the hare lies down for the day. You need to walk through these places, dragging the dog along with you, and try to raise the hare by shouting and other means.
If the land is unfamiliar, then you need to go through the places where the hare is likely to lie. These are the outskirts of the forest, ravines overgrown with bushes, the edges of fields, isolated trees, shrubs, plantings along roads, etc. A hare can rise so that you won’t even see it, but a dog may stumble upon its trail. In this case, she will vocalize brightly, and the actual rut will begin. Now the hunter’s task is to choose a hole, a place where the hare is likely to move.
After getting up, in most cases, the hare necessarily passes through his bed or near it, that is, he walks in circles (Fig. 7).
Rice. 7. The path of the hare hare: 1 – double, 2 – sweep, 3 – loop, 4 – prone
Therefore, you need to decide where the hare was picked up, stand near the bed, choosing a convenient position to shoot at it. If he for a long time does not come, then you need to move to where he most often passes, also choosing a convenient position for firing the shot. You may have to select the hole site several times until the hare is shot.
And now you are lucky, the hare comes towards you, you shoot. If a hare falls after being shot in front of your eyes, you go up to it, take it in your hands and, if it is still alive, hit it with the edge of your palm or a stick on the head behind the ears to kill it, and wait for the dog. But if he leaves after the shot, then you must definitely walk some distance along the expected direction of the hare’s movement, looking at the soil to see if there are drops of blood anywhere, to make sure whether he is wounded, fell or not. Otherwise, the dog, upon reaching it, will tear it or may even eat it before you get to it. It is, of course, more difficult to do this along the black path than along the white path, but it is necessary to go through. If you don’t find it, then listen to the dog’s voice, whether it continues to chase it or not. If she fell silent not far away, then hurry to her, if you know that she is tearing up a fallen hare, or, having crushed it, will return, and you may not find it later. If the rut continues, then your task is to again adjust to the rut and choose a hole. If you have the hare in your hands, wait for the dog and when she arrives, holding the hare in your hand, let her pat it a little, stroke it, caress it, and then cut off the front paw and give it to her as a reward.
In winter, just like in autumn, the trail is different, and it is also called white. Using the snow, it is more convenient and quicker to determine the place where the hare rises, i.e., the resting place, and choose a hole due to the presence of tracks in the snow. A soft trail is when the tracks of a hare and a dog clearly remain in the snow, and the temperature is not very low, not lower than -15 ° C, and powder falls regularly. And if a thaw has yet set in, that is, the temperature remains around 0 °C or slightly higher (which most often happens at the beginning of winter), then such a trail becomes ideal for hounds to work. Hounds race very well along such a trail. Hunting at the first snowfall is also called hunting in the first powder. This is the most long-awaited time not only for the hound hunter, but for any hunter. At the same time, the hunt will be successful and enjoyable if so much snow falls that a clear imprint of the hare’s footprint will be visible everywhere: in the forest, on the road, on arable land, in the field, and on virgin soil with its grass stand. Hunting in the first days after the first powder falls is rarely successful due to the fact that the hare may not get up for a day or two. In this case, it is difficult to lift, lies tightly, and the dogs need some time to get used to the white trail.
There are several types of white trail. For example, hard is when, after a thaw, there is severe frost without snowfall and crust forms, and in some places ice. But even in this case, the path will be different, depending on the strength of the frost. If the dog does not fall through, then there is nothing to worry about, you can hunt, although it may injure the soles of its paws. True, the hunting efficiency will be low, it will be difficult to raise a hare, and even more so to chase if the dogs are unimportant, have a weak sense of smell, or are young. There are crusts so strong that they can even hold a person. But if the crust is fragile, the dogs fall through, but the hare does not, then the dogs cut their legs, the wounds bleed, quickly get tired and even often refuse to chase. In such weather it is better not to go hunting with hounds. You need to wait either until the crust becomes stronger, or until enough snow falls. If the crust is strong, snow falls in calm weather, and uniform powder is formed throughout the entire territory of the land, then the hunt will be successful.
In winter, when a large amount of snow falls at one time, the rut becomes very difficult for dogs. In this case, the racers say that the dogs drown up to their ears. But it’s also hard for the hare, despite the fact that he spreads his toes, increasing the area of support, and drowns less. With such a trail, very often dogs hunt down a hare, that is, they catch it alive. And if he jumps out in front of their noses, then they catch up with him instantly, in the first tens of meters. In calm weather, such a trail can be found both in the field and in the forest. But if the wind blows, then the snow in the field becomes harder due to the blizzard, the hare does not drown, but the dog sinks up to its belly, gets tired quickly, and it is difficult for it to chase the hare. In this case, only very viscous hounds continue to drive, and then at a walk.
If the snow fell heavily all night and the snowfall stopped in the morning, with the onset of dawn, or, even worse, continues to fall, then no traces may be found at all. This path is called dead. After such powder, a hare can lie for a day or more and not get up. It's difficult to lift it. You need to pick it up in the same way as when hunting along a black trail, that is, walk along the expected places of the hare's bedding. But if you find tracks, which in this case will be barely noticeable, and in some places may disappear altogether, you are lucky, you are on the trail of a hare going to bed. In this case, even an experienced dog is powerless; it needs help. You need to follow the trail yourself and look at the trail very carefully, try not to miss deuces and discounts. If the trail suddenly disappears (the wind could have blown it out in an open place, or there was crust in this place before the snow fell), you need to walk in circles in this place, each time with a larger and larger diameter. And as soon as you pick it up, call the dog and set it on the trail.
If you show persistence, figure it out and get the hare up from its bed in this weather, you are guaranteed a good race. This will be the only trace, the trace of your raised hare; there may be no other such traces.
In winter there is another type of trail - a multi-track trail. It turns out after a long period of several days or even weeks of no snowfall.
Where the hare feeds and fattens, everything will be trampled under its paws. These are fields of winter crops, edges of fields overgrown with weeds, ravines overgrown with small bushes and weeds, forest edges, plantings along roads and fields, free-standing bushes. All the roads where he runs and frolics after feeding will also be trampled by him. It is difficult not only for the dog, but also for the hunter, especially if there are a lot of hares in this place. In this case, the dog must be helped. Of course, the trace of last night will differ from the trace of 3-5 days ago, it will be fresher, that is, more clearly expressed, but it will hardly differ from yesterday’s trace.
Hunting techniques in the snow are somewhat different from hunting along the black trail. The presence of footprints in the snow makes it easier for the hare to rise and choose a hole, especially after powder.
We arrived at the hunting spot at dawn. The first thing you need to do is raise the hare, to do this you need to let the dog go and it will crawl away. Of course, if the dog is crawling, preying, experienced and skilled, then it will lift itself. All you have to do is choose a hole and take the hare with a shot. But in winter the days are short. Therefore, you need to help the dog pick up the hare as quickly as possible, especially if it doesn’t chase very well or is still young.
If you are familiar with the hunting grounds, then you have already mapped out the route in advance, knowing the bedding areas of the hares. If you are in these places for the first time, then you need to walk along the forest, ravines, plantings and fields. If there is a road along them, then you should follow the road. After feeding, hares love to run along the roads, play and frolic. Having run around, they leave here to lie down. In these places they leave a lot of traces and discounts from them. And if snow has not fallen for several days, then continuous trails form. There is no need to stand on the first trail you come across and try to follow it to the resting place and pick up the hare. You can walk like this all day and not get up. When going to such places, pay attention to discounts. As soon as you have found, according to your assumption, a fresh discount (and this only comes with many years of hare hunting practice), call the dog. And if she herself has not yet found a fresh trail and is not following it, she will immediately come running. And if it turns out to be fresh, the dog will show this with a characteristic wagging of the rut (tail) and follow the scent. If the trail is old, the dog will ignore it. You need to go look for the next discount, and you may have to do this several times until the discount turns out to be today’s and the dog, following it, picks up the hare and starts chasing it. But if she returns after some time, and you are sure of the freshness of the trail (for example, the snow stopped falling in the morning), you need to go through and see what’s going on. Maybe the hare's trail led to another hare's old mat, a boar's path, a well-trodden road, and the dog was unable to untangle it. You need to go and figure it out yourself and show her the discount again. This will have to be done, perhaps several times, until the hare is raised. After this, you just have to wait for the hare to rise, which will be expressed in the bright sound of the hound’s voice and the beginning of the rut, and choose a hole.
But this method of raising a hare is possible only after powdering, when there are still few fresh tracks and the old ones are covered, or on the second or third day after it. If the trail is hard (crust, ice or a lot of tracks), then the climbing techniques change somewhat. A skilled dog, of course, even in this case, sooner or later will raise the oblique one. But in most cases, the rise of the hare will depend on the experience of the hunter.
If you find a discount, how to determine that the trace is fresh
If you come before dawn and it’s just starting to get light, walking along a path full of hares, pay attention to the discounts, go to the footprint, take off your mitten and feel the footprint, the print itself and its edges with your hand. They should be softer than even yesterday's trail, especially if frosts are -10 °C or lower. Feel the old tracks for comparison. And if the track, in your opinion, is fresh, call the dog and show it the track.
If it is morning or first half of the day, the dog can still show that the trail is fresh and follow it for some distance, and then return due to interference: the trail was interrupted by old fat tracks, hare or boar trails, well-worn roads or crust, ice. In this case, you need to go and find the trail again, untangle it and show it to the dog. This will have to be done several times until the hare is raised.
The further success of hunting along such a trail will depend on the skill and instinct of the dog. Well, if it is impossible to follow a hare along such a path, then you need to walk through the places where the hare might lie, knock on the trees with a stick and make as much noise as possible in the hope that it will jump out from under you or the dog.
If the hound races well until slaughter, then your task is to choose the hole correctly and quickly. During the rut, the manhole sometimes has to be changed several times, since the hare from under the dog does not walk in the right circles and in the same places and does not pass through the bed several times. The task becomes more difficult if the hound is young or not racing well. She has to help, that is, show the discounts that the hare makes when escaping from enemies. After showing the dog the discount, you need to occupy the hole again. And this must be done until the hare is taken.
After the shot, if the hare did not fall before your eyes, you need to quickly follow the trail a few tens of meters before the dog arrives and make sure whether it has fallen or not, whether it is wounded. If the dog manages to walk faster than you and falls silent after a while, it means the hare has fallen and you need to hurry to it. This should be done if the dog tears them, maybe even eats them. This cannot be allowed. If the rut continues, choose the hole again.
Hunting is more successful if two or three people hunt with one hound. They will pick up the hare faster, and the hare will run into one of them faster. Hunting with two or three hounds is even more successful and enjoyable if they chase together and in unison, and not each on its own, and with different voices.
Hunting with good hounds for a brown hare along a white trail, if the trail is not hard, is always much more successful than along a black trail.
OTHER TYPES OF HARE HUNTING
Modern hunters have their own holiday - the opening of hunting for fur-bearing animals, but no one calls it that, they just say “opening”, and I want to write this word in capital letters, like the name of any other holiday. But the feather hunting season opens much earlier, but does not cause such a great public outcry. In high spirits, the hunters exchange phone calls, agreeing where they will go for the opening. The phrase is often heard: “Well, where will the hare go tomorrow?” Not just anyone, but the hare, he is the king of this holiday, the chances of finding him are discussed by fellow hunters. Dogs are the most different breeds Seeing the owner's preparations, they find no place for themselves in excitement.
The noble island cops, excellent at swamp and field game, are strictly prohibited from chasing hare, but everyone else can share the holiday with their owners. It is very good to hunt a hare with a dachshund, which is essentially a walking hound. The hare under the dachshund walks slowly in small circles, it is easy to stand at the lifting point. A major drawback is the dog's short legs, it is difficult for her to stay in the rut for a long time, many obstacles are difficult for her to overcome and quickly exhaust her little helper. Continental (German) cops, famous for their uniqueness, were, as they say, ordered by God himself to help the hunter in search of a hare. Her whole posture and the movement of her tail will tell the hunter that what he is looking for is nearby. Both husky and Jagd terrier are used for such hunting. Laika remains an excellent assistant even in very coldy, and, being a fairly playful dog, and also having an excellent sense of smell, will provide invaluable assistance in picking up wounded animals. The Jagdterrier is known for its greed for all kinds of animals and is useful in almost any hunt.
Of course, you can hunt a hare without a dog. Sometimes when hunting hare, one of the hunters plays the role of a hound. Having lifted the hare from its rest, he chases it along the trail, occasionally raising his voice and without making too much noise. Then the hare, having made a small circle, will pass near the bed, where, having camouflaged, it can be adopted by a second hunter.
A rather rare way of hunting a hare is to lie in wait in feeding areas, i.e., blind hunting. In the light, moonlit nights an ambush can be arranged in a haystack, an abandoned building or another place that hides the hunter from the eyes of the beast. You can watch for a hare wherever traces of its fur are noticeable: near gardens, vegetable gardens, haystacks, barns. You can additionally lay out bait in the form of sheaves of unthreshed oats or brooms from deciduous trees, harvested in the summer. The distance to the future object must be determined during the day to ensure the right shot; in addition, it must be taken into account that the shadow falling on the snow is much darker than the animal itself. In this way they hunt mainly hare.
Hunting for hare in the Uzerka is not without interest. It is possible during the pre-winter period, when the hare has already turned white, and the snow has not yet fallen or has melted with warming. On warm, humid days, the leaves do not rustle underfoot, and the hare is shot directly while lying down from the approach. Its white coat is clearly visible against the dark background of the forest floor. At this time, the hare lies down under some kind of cover: the paw of a spruce tree, the branches of a fallen tree or a leaning bush, near a stump. In rainy years it stays in highlands, in dry years it stays in lowlands. Aware of his vulnerability, he hides, lies firmly and quite easily allows him to be shot if he is careful. You need to approach a hare you see lying down as if from the side and slowly.
Abroad and in the south of the former USSR, hunting hare with a cauldron is very popular. In the hunting grounds, a large group of hunters lines up in a wide horseshoe and moves forward, driving hares at each other.
Everything seems simple, but there are also some peculiarities, without knowledge of which the hunt will not be successful. A leader is definitely needed - a person with organizational skills, otherwise people may scatter and even get lost. If all participants strictly follow his instructions given by voice and gestures, there will be no unnecessary hubbub that scares away the rabbits. The leader stands in the center of the horseshoe to convey instructions to the right and left wings. Each participant, when moving, is guided by the rear neighbor, then the chain does not break up, and he sees the instructions transmitted from the leader.
If the one who picked up the hare could not take it, then by shouting “hold” he notifies other participants about this. It is best to immediately lie down behind cover; perhaps the hare will run right at you until someone shouts “here you come.” Then the movement resumes. The distance between shooters is from 40 to 70 m, depending on the terrain. A seasoned hare often has the patience to sit in the cauldron and choose the largest gap in the chain in order to escape between the shooters, so it is important to keep a distance and lie down in time. Usually the hunt stops as soon as the number of hares taken is equal to the number of participants, or at dusk.
Sometimes we hunt this way too, but more often we practice hunting with a self-propelled gun. It is similar to hunting with greyhounds, but you only have to rely on yourself to lift the animal. This kind of hunting is best done by people with good marksmanship, good reactions and composure. The animal can jump up unexpectedly and be shot for only a fraction of a second, but there is no one to get the wounded animal, and there will be no traces left, since this is how they hunt along the black trail.
Much more effective and more interesting hunting on the hare by tracking, that is, looking for a hare in winter along the trail. It is more convenient to engage in such hunting at the beginning of winter, while the snow is shallow and you can walk without skis, although the main thing is not this, but the fall of fresh snow - powder. If there hasn't been snow for a long time, you end up with a lot of trails, and you can't count on success. The footprint of a hare is called malik, in the old days this was the name for the footprints of young, medium-sized hares, now they are any kind. Even the names of the powders are associated with the tracks of the hare. Powder is called long when the snow has ended even before the hares go out to feed, and all fatty traces are clearly visible. If the snow stops before dawn, the powder is called short, since only traces leading to the bed are visible.
If it snowed all night and ended in the afternoon, the powder is dead, and it is useless to go hunting. It happens that after the first snowfall, hares lie there for several days, and with long powder you won’t see a single trace. Such layovers also occur in the middle of winter, but last no more than a day. To successfully hunt, you need to be able to distinguish between the tracks of a hare and a hare. Belyak lies in dense thickets, and approaching it silently is extremely difficult, as is making a successful shot. Only a very experienced hunter can hunt down a hare in warm weather, when it lies quite firmly. It is also necessary to distinguish between running (from lying to lying), fattening (in feeding areas) and gop (frightened) tracks of a hare (Fig. 8).
Rice. 8. Types of hare inheritance a) chassis; b) fat; c) racing
On fats, the marks are located close to each other, there are balls of droppings and spots of urine. The undercarriage is distinguished by longer jumps, and there is also droppings and urine on it if it leads to laying, in contrast to the undercarriage for fats, where there is no excrement. If the distance between the tracks is very long, this is a rutting track and it is useless to track it; a frightened hare will not allow you to shoot. The basic rule of trailing is to walk parallel to the tracks without stepping on them. Periodically look around the area - the hare may rise before you reach it. If the running trail leads to the fats, you need to go around them and find the trail leading to the bedding area. But features– loops, twos, threes, discounts and digs. Two and three are the trail of a hare when he returns 2 or 3 times in his tracks, and unlike a loop, the tracks cover each other. A discount is a long jump to the side, which the hare tries to hide by jumping onto a hummock, into a tuft of grass or a bush, here he can lie down or begin to loop again, digging around, as if trying on whether this is a suitable place for lying down. In deep snow, he can dig a whole hole up to 1.5 m deep. Even a small hillock in an open field can indicate the presence of a bedding area. When you see a hare lying down, you should not approach it directly, but rather pass by it. When tracking, there is no need to rush, but it is advisable not to stop: your movement scares the hare less than a long stop.
The rarest and most unusual hunt for a hare today is with a bird of prey. The most famous falconer in our country, Yuri Noskov, successfully hunts with his golden eagle Altai not only hares and foxes, but even roe deer. Altai has starred in 10 films, a considerable number of programs, he is now 28 years old, and he still successfully hunts, not in the steppe, but mainly in forest lands. Nowadays falconry is on the rise. Books are being published and articles are being published on the theory of fowl hunting. A large series of practical articles for beginning falconers and golden eagles was published in the magazine “Nature and Hunting. XXI Century".
Only one thing can be said about all hare hunts - it is a lot of work, observation and luck, and by the end of the season the hare becomes so learned that a seasoned hare taken at the close of the season is more valuable than any wild boar.
And the last piece of advice, which applies in general to any other hunt: if you are with a friend or a dog, never risk shooting at an animal that is close to a person or dog. Remember: the life of a person and a four-legged friend is more valuable than a momentary trophy.
If you and a friend shot at a hare at the same time and it is unclear whose shot was the killer, and luck did not smile on you again that day, do not quarrel, but simply divide the carcass equally. Often, when three of them go and only one hare is killed, they gather at one of the participants in the hunt and pay tribute to the trophy at a common table. Friendship comes first, and communication is no less important than the hunt itself.
INTRODUCTION
HUNTING
It's time! Orange and sharp
The forest crackles in the rays,
Glass shot in the woods,
Dog barking in the background.
In gun furious replays
The hunting horn blows.
In the frosty air, like gunpowder,
The snow is falling.
Find out whose shot was aimed better?
The dogs growl, going wild.
The dry shadow of the evening dawn
It moves away from the trees in a wave.
It's time! To the lodge, to the hot stove,
The only trophy I keep,
Warm up, remember the misfires,
Clean your guns by the fire.
V. Dronnikov
After reading these lines by Viktor Dronnikov, the average person may ask: “Why is there only one trophy? Hunted all day and only got one trophy? And what are these would-be hunters happy about? And in general, what kind of animal is this that even one is considered a noble trophy? But only someone who has never been on a hunt, who has never met the dawn in a field, who has not inhaled the frosty freshness of the morning, who has not felt the excitement of the hunt can reason this way.
In our opinion, the hare became the trophy of these hunters. Yes, yes, exactly the hare! And many hunters will probably understand us. How many kilometers do you have to tramp through the fields, reading a tangle of tracks, before you pick up the scythe? And all this is freezing, and autumn, not to mention winter, days are short. And then you still need to take it...
This book is dedicated to hare hunting. In it you will find not only descriptions of hare hunting methods. Dog hunters will learn about the right ways coaching and training your pets so that hunting becomes catchy, and not just a way to pass the time. It also describes a rather rare way of hunting a hare these days - hunting with feathered predators. After reading this book, you will learn how to properly equip yourself, and the chefs' advice will help you prolong the pleasure of such a coveted trophy.
EXCURSION INTO HISTORY
With a high degree of probability we can say that primitive people They didn't hunt the hare. The communal system presupposed the need to provide food for all members of the tribe.
To do this, it was necessary to obtain the largest animals possible. Ancient man had neither dogs capable of catching a hare, nor weapons suitable for catching him. It is only possible that this animal accidentally ends up in trapping pits for larger prey.
With the development of agriculture and cattle breeding, hunting became a secondary activity for most people. Men went hunting to diversify their family's diet; in addition, people learned to weave nets and use them to catch not only fish, but also birds, as well as other small animals, including hares.
After the division of society into classes, hunting hares remained the activity of commoners, and princes amused themselves by baiting wild boars, deer and other large game. And in the East, they hunted with greyhounds mainly small ungulates, while the hare was a secondary prey. In written sources, hunting for hares was mentioned in 1270. Novgorodians reproach Prince Yaroslav for not respecting their rights: “But you keep a lot of dogs and you took away the field from us, the hare catchers.” There is more than one interpretation of this text. According to one version, the prince poisoned hares in the fields of the Novgorodians with greyhounds (of course, not Russian dogs, but eastern ones). At the same time, they had to have very great agility in order to catch a hare in not too large fields. It is objected that eastern greyhounds did not possess such abilities. Perhaps they were not eastern: back in the 2nd century. n. e. Flavius Arnan, in his treatise on hunting, mentioned frisky Gallic dogs that could catch a hare. They were poisoned, as later in Rus', from under the hounds. And perhaps among the eastern greyhounds there were breeds that worked short-term, that is, they took on the animal at a short distance.
It is possible that similar dogs were in Volga Bulgars and it was they who were the progenitors of the Russian greyhound. According to another version, dogs intended for baiting large animals were taken into the field by hounds to guide them, and they scared away the hares that the Novgorodians themselves caught with snares, but this assumption is less likely. The following passage from the Novgorod chronicle collections speaks in favor of the first version: “In the summer of 6788, the month of October, on the 29th day... And they began to call Prince Danil to go to the field for the sake of consolation, to watch the brutal catching of hares.”
There are only two animals capable of “catching” a hare (a greyhound dog and a cheetah), although with the latter they hunted gazelles more often, but they sometimes came to Rus' from Byzantium.
At that time, hunting with birds of prey - falconry - was elite. They hunted ducks, herons and other birds. At the princely courts there were many immigrants from the East and Central Asia, and hunting hares with birds of prey was traditional there. There is no doubt that the Russian princes also had large birds of prey capable of holding a hare, it’s just that duck hunting was more spectacular and therefore was more preferable.
The final introduction of hound hunting for hares into the aristocratic environment is spoken of in the “Notes on Muscovite Affairs.” F. Herberstein - an Austrian diplomat who visited Moscow in 1517 and 1526. He writes: “About a hundred people stood in a long row... All the other horsemen stood nearby, watching so that the hares did not run through this place and leave completely... The prince was the first to shout to the hunter, ordering him to begin; without wasting a minute, he gallops at full speed to the other hunters, of whom there are a large number; everyone screams in one voice and releases the large Medellian “spirit” (hounds) dogs. Then it is indeed very fun to hear the loud and varied barking of dogs, and the prince has a lot of them, and excellent ones at that. Some of them are used only for baiting hares - these are the so-called chickens, beautiful, with fluffy tails and ears, generally brave, but incapable of a long race... When a hare runs out, three, four, five or more dogs come down, which come from everywhere rush after him, and when they grab him, a cry goes up, great applause, as if he had been caught big beast. If the hares do not run out for a long time, then the prince usually calls someone he sees between the bushes with a hare in a sack, and shouts: “Whoop, whoop!” With these words he makes it known that the hare needs to be released. Thus, hares sometimes jump out, as if sleepy, jumping between the dogs. Whose dog hunted down more hares is considered the hero of the day. At the end of the hunt, everyone came together and dumped the hares in one place; Then they began to count them, and there were up to three hundred of them.”
Unusual combination real hunt with hare cages (tests or competitions of dogs for decoy animals), which came into Russian use much later and became very popular in the second half of the 19th century. This hunt itself took place in a kind of princely reserve, where it was strictly forbidden for anyone to hunt, because in these special places there were always a lot of animals and, first of all, of course, hares.
From this passage it is clear that by the beginning of the 16th century. complete hunting in Rus' has already been formed and has only been improved in the future. The time of birth of the Russian greyhound can be conventionally considered 1603, when Tsar Boris Fedorovich Godunov presented two greyhounds to the Persian Shah Abbas. It must be assumed that by this time they were no longer at all like the eastern greyhounds, of which there were already enough in Persia. During the Time of Troubles, there were no dogs left in the royal hunting order, and Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich had to send people to Yaroslavl and Kostroma with the order to take greyhounds, hounds and Medelian dogs. The latter were used to bait large animals.
Alexey Mikhailovich preferred falconry, but also appreciated canine hunting. Under him it acquired its final regular character, and at the end of the 17th century. There were so many dog hunts in the vicinity of Moscow that Peter I, in order to protect the fields of farmers from pests, had to issue a Decree banning dog hunting in places close to Moscow.
The complete hunt was managed by the hunter, his responsibilities were organizing the entire process and monitoring the strict fulfillment of their duties by his subordinates. Big man There was also a rider - the leader and educator of a pack of hounds.
An experienced rider was valued very highly, and his pack's compliance (obedience) was amazing. The hounds flowed at the feet of his horse without bows, without running away; he could leave them near the herd of livestock, and they sat, not daring to attack the animals until the call was sounded on the horn, after which they returned to their yard. They also did not approach the food trough until the signal was given. This is all the more surprising since, according to evidence from that time, by nature Russian hounds were distinguished by their gloomy bestiality and a penchant for bestialism (attacking domestic animals).
At that time, hounds were used exclusively to drive animals out of isolated forest islands in the middle of fields.
The hounds pounced on the island at the signal of the person arriving, and the hounds' servants (the servants of the hounds) made sure that they did not jump out into the field after the animal, since the hunters were already waiting there with the hounds keeping the greyhounds in the pack. The eldest of the hounds was the stirrup - the man who led the master's pack. Only the greyhound at whom the animal jumped out attacked the hare, and also the fox. And only neighboring packs were allowed to attack the wolf if necessary.
There were special people to feed the dogs - korytniks; all the adult servants were helped by boys, future hounds and dog grooms. Of course, for the complete hunt, horses, equipment and special clothing were used, which the hounds and handlers wore when going out.
As much as later, the newly-minted democrats from the nobility, and revolutionaries, and even some populist writers did not blaspheme hound hunting: the tyrant landowners forced women to breastfeed greyhound puppies, and during the hunt they exposed their forced people to danger. Of course, there were different landowners, but the basis for the first fable was apparently an anecdote often told by Pyotr Mikhailovich Machevarianov: “My Winch died, and small puppies were left behind; I called the headman and told him to distribute the puppies to the women of the village so that they could be fed. I thought it would be from a finger or from a pacifier cow's milk feed, but they foolishly began to breastfeed the puppies, and the dogs turned out to be stupid, stupid!” As for the serfs “tortured” by hunting, compared to working in the field, the duties of huntsmen and livestock handlers were a sinecure. Only one out of a thousand could reach the destination, and if something went wrong, then the master would get it from him, as it was written by L. N. Tolstoy in “War and Peace.” During the hunt, hounds and livestock hunters sometimes showed more passion than their owners.
On Semenov Day (September 1, old style) there is a holiday for canine hunters. It is obligatory to go to the outgoing field, usually to hunt foxes and brown hare. Sometimes we went to the islands closest to the estate. The hunt was carried out as follows. The presence of animals on the islands was determined in advance by the traveler; He knew the nearby islands like the back of his hand, and about the distant ones he asked local peasants about how often they saw hares, wolves and foxes. Islands where there were many hares were called hare islands. In complete silence, the hunters approached the island. The driver stopped the pack of hounds at the edge, and the hunters and greyhound hounds occupied convenient holes around the island according to the instructions of the owner of the hunt and the hunter. As soon as everyone was in place, the signal was given to attack the hounds, and they scattered across the island. Here one hound ran towards the beast and gave a voice, another came towards it, at the other end of the island another hare was raised and another, and now the island was filled with a chorus of indescribable sounds, as if someone was tearing the hounds apart. These sounds make the hunter’s heart skip a beat in anticipation of a successful hunt. The first hare rolled out into the clear, and after him the dissatisfied hound jumped out, but then, as if out of the ground, the vyzhlyatnik appears on a lathered horse and slams the disobedient woman back to the island. Here and there shouts of joy and disappointment are heard. N.P. Ermolov, in a story published in the magazine “Nature and Hunting” at the end of the 19th century, recalls an amazing incident. This happened on the island great amount there were dozens of hares running out of there; the greyhounds and hunters didn’t even have time to see all the hares running out. The best packs hunted up to 13 hares. The dogs lay exhausted, and the hunters themselves got off their horses and lay down nearby to get some rest. No one had encountered such a phenomenon before.
Before the abolition of serfdom, almost every landowner considered it his duty to keep a complete hound hunt; many families kept their family breeds of Russian greyhounds for 100 years. The family breed was the easily distinguishable type of greyhound preferred by a given landowner. Hunt owners considered their main duty to be the extermination of wolves, which caused enormous harm to peasant farms, but they enjoyed hunting white hare and fox. The brown hare was rarely hunted without hounds, i.e., without hounds.
The situation changed after 1861. There was no cheap labor, and most complete hunting dogs ceased to exist. But they remained with true connoisseurs of this hunt and greyhounds. Hunting with greyhounds became more democratic, and even people of the non-noble class began to have dogs and hunt on a side-by-side basis, that is, stretching out in a chain across the field and raising hares and foxes by trampling and clapping, driving around groups of bushes and weeds, slapping the arapnik on the boot, they raised lying tightly beast.
A greyhound that hunts without hounds was called a small-grass dog.
The brown hare became the main object of hunting; even earlier, this was due to the distribution of allotments in the steppe regions of Russia. Greyhounds of old did not satisfy the needs of steppe small-grass hunters.
The dogs were covered with thick canine fur and worked short distances under the island on the white hare. IN steppe zone they quickly overheated and got tired, they did not have enough strength for a long race after the steppe hare.
It was then that experiments began on crossing Russian dogs with Krymkas, Gorkas, and Greyhounds. Some people just stupidly spoiled their dogs, while others (like P. M. Machevarianov) developed a new wonderful type of Russian dog, which reached its perfection in the hunt of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, organized in the village of Pershino.
We still admire the appearance and work of these dogs to this day. They inherited the beautiful dog and the unique throw of the thick-dog dogs of old times, and acquired the endurance and strength of the Crimean and mountain greyhounds. This is how the Russian greyhound was created for hunting wolves, and reached perfection when it began to hunt the daring hare.
For us, the abolition of serfdom is just a chapter in the history textbook, but for those who lived at that time it was a turning point in their entire lives; For some it’s the end of everything, while for others it’s the beginning of a new life. This could not but affect hunting traditions and methods of hunting. Not only small-grass animals appeared, but also hounds, that is, those who hunt with hounds alone.
At first it looked the same as a complete hunt, only instead of greyhounds, hunters with guns stood under the island. Many nobles began to consider hound hunting a relic of the past and had guns and cops imported from abroad.
There were quite a few of these before, but the bulk were commoners, urban intelligentsia, and people of art.
Now the not-too-close ranks of gunsmiths were replenished by free peasants, previously only a very small number of whom could satisfy their passion for hunting. More often they simply poached on the sly. Expensive hunting dogs were inaccessible to them, and experienced, observant peasant trackers hunted well by self-topping, in the fall, by tracking in winter, and by hunting in the pre-winter period, when the hare had already turned white and there was no snow yet. And, despite the fact that their main weapon was old ramrods, they were not left without prey.
After the revolution, a large number of greyhounds and hounds fell into the hands of peasants. Greyhounds saved more than one family from hunger during the Civil War and devastation, providing their owners with hare meat. Greyhounds were valued, but the importance of blood was not understood, and by 1940 there were very few purebred dogs left. Pershin hunting was sold abroad.
The descendants of these greyhounds appeared with us after the war and helped restore the local population to its former noble traits. Field tests on free animals - the brown hare and the fox - began to be carried out regularly. They help you to get at least a little familiar with the favorite pastime of your ancestors - the gathering of hounds, when like-minded people gathered to hunt together and measure the dogs against a mature hare to take possession of.
Rich owners of complete hunts and small-time owners of one or two packs of greyhounds communicated and argued here as equals.
Not one thing detailed description will not help convey the atmosphere of hound hunting from the century before last. And only the story of an eyewitness, participant and owner of such a hunt can bring a modern person closer to understanding its poetry, language and the share of humor that has always been present in it, to understand what part of it has come to this day as a legacy of ancestors, a tribute to tradition and undiminished in man thirst for thrills, the oldest hunting passion.
BIOLOGY OF THE BELYAK AND THE RUSKAK
The brown hare is the largest of the hare family, its length can reach 70 cm and its weight is 7 kg. On average, an adult hare weighs 4–5 kg. Its ears are longer than those of the white hare (100–120 mm) and its tail is longer and has a pointed shape (Fig. 1).
The tips of the ears are dark, almost black. The general color of the coat is yellowish-fawn-brownish, with grayish sides and a lighter belly and neck. On the back there is a forelock belt, or saddle. In winter, the hare becomes significantly lighter (sometimes even white), but never completely white. The color of the winter outfit largely depends on the permanent habitat: whether it is open snow-covered fields or dark weeds. The undercoat has a pronounced undercoat with slightly curly guard hairs. The long hind legs are covered with dense, close-lying hair of medium hardness. The running speed of the hare is higher than that of the hare and reaches 50 km/h. The brown hare is originally a steppe animal, but is also widespread in the forest-steppe zone. With the development of agriculture and in connection with deforestation, the range of the hare has expanded significantly (Fig. 2).
Many Russians settle along the edges of forests and in bushes. Russians were artificially and quite successfully resettled in the Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Chita regions, in the Altai, Krasnoyarsk, Khabarovsk territories, although they did not reach significant numbers everywhere. In the northern parts of their range, brown hares are larger than in the southern parts. The hare leads a sedentary lifestyle, stubbornly preferring the places where it was born. The hare lies down for the night within a radius of 400 m from its previous bed, and only, repeatedly frightened by persecution, does it leave these places forever. A hare scared, for example, on stubble will not return here the next day, but will lie down in a forest belt or forest plantations, but the next day it will be on same place. In the steppe zone, during foodless winters, hares sometimes migrate en masse in search of food. As long as the height and looseness of the snow cover allow, the hare will feed on winter crops. With strong crust or very high snow cover, it becomes a pest of garden trees or fattens along the edges of forest belts and forest areas. With the onset of a thaw, he returns to his favorite food. On hard ground it lies down without making a den, but in loose ground it digs a hole about 8 cm deep and lies down with its head on its outstretched front paws and its ears flattened. His fine hearing allows him to constantly monitor his surroundings (Fig. 3).
During the summer, hares have up to four broods in the south, three in the middle zone, and to the east no more than two. The rabbits of the spring litter are called nastoviks, the summer ones are called spike litters, and the late summer and early autumn ones are called deciduous ones. The litters are small – 2–4 little hares. They are born in a small depression, natural or made by a hare, very developed, with with open eyes. The mother stays with them very briefly, feeds them with thick, rich milk and leaves them for a few days. If another nursing hare comes across the cubs, she will feed them, but in general the number of feedings before starting to feed on green food is minimal. Young hares live close to each other for a long time. They become fully adults by 15 months, although they are able to reproduce earlier. Life expectancy is 7–8 years. The rut begins in the middle of winter, the males are very excited at this time, they run around a lot in search of a female, and, having gathered around her several individuals at a time, they organize “dances” and duels: they stand on their hind legs and “box” each other with their front legs. A hare's pregnancy lasts 45–50 days. The ability to confuse tracks is innate in hares, but the ability to adapt and gain experience is also great. Seasoned russians become almost impudent: they distinguish a hunter from a pedestrian, a tied dog from one running free, while the young ones are very careful and overly timid, often even to their own detriment. This explains the large dropout of hare in the first year of life. The hare is not too susceptible to disease. Hares quickly cease to be afraid of working collective farmers, cars, tractors. While running away, they sometimes try to determine the situation: they sit down or, standing on their hind legs, look around. A hare, having been under greyhounds at least once, will never do this again. In the literature there is an example of the unusual behavior of a hare: when running away from greyhounds, he can push another hare from its bed and lie down in its place if the dogs are not very close. Both young and seasoned hares avoid approaching forest plantations during heavy leaf fall, since the noise of the leaves prevents them from hearing the approaching enemy.
They don't like the dripping from the trees and tall bushes water, so after the rain he tries to find a drier place. In very cold springs with heavy rains, the first litter of hares may die, and then in the fall the small number of hares becomes very noticeable, but still the fluctuation in the number of hare is less pronounced than that of the hare, which is very susceptible to epizootics in rainy years.
The white hare can also reach 70 cm in length, but its weight does not exceed 5.5 kg ( average weight 2.5–3 kg). The ears are not too long with black tips, which remain so even with a white winter outfit.
In summer, the hare is even darker than the hare and has a dirty brown-reddish color with a light belly; there is no blackness on the tail. In countries with a pronounced maritime climate, the white hare does not turn white, since there is little snow there and it does not lie for long.
It leads a purely forest lifestyle, but does not huddle in thickets, preferring sparse deciduous forests and forests interspersed with clearings, burnt areas and clearings, although it tries not to go out into open places, except for trips to the threshing floor, orchards and vegetable gardens.
In mid-summer, it sometimes lies down on a field of unharvested cereals, but near the saving forest. He goes out to the fields of winter crops, which he loves no less than the hare. In the forest it feeds on leaves, tree shoots, herbaceous plants. Favorite tree is aspen.
Although the hare runs slower than the hare, its hind legs are larger and more powerful relative to the body, the paws of the hind legs are wider and the hair on them is coarser than that of the hare. This is explained by the fact that in the forest the snow is looser - wider “skis” are needed.
The distribution area is extremely wide, it lives almost everywhere in Russia and, except for the tundra, where hares undertake seasonal migrations, lives sedentary, changing only feeding places depending on the season (Fig. 5).
For daytime rest, it chooses strong places, except during periods of leaf fall and rainfall, when it prefers to lie down in an open place. Particularly active in the pre-dawn hours, and in the tundra it is also active during the day. The hare's hearing is exceptionally developed, but his vision and sense of smell are not very developed. He may not even detect a quietly standing person. In the spring, after a hunger strike, they accumulate in clearings with young grass, which they eat greedily, while losing their vigilance. The rut is stormy, and fights often occur between males. In the tundra, a hare has only one litter, but up to 7 hares, and in the middle zone and to the south - 2–3, but each litter has 2 times fewer hares. Rabbits are sighted and independent already at birth, covered with thick hair, grow very quickly and are able to run quite quickly. The brood stays close to the mother, and sometimes the hare, like birds, moves the predator away from the hares, imitating injury. Already at the end of the first week of life, rabbits begin to eat grass.
Habits of a hare
In autumn and early winter, while the snow is still shallow, the hare's main food source is fields of winter crops. In the lands they are the main focus. Most often, the hare lies down 80-100 m from the greenery. Its presence can be recognized by the cleared islands in winter. If the cut ends have not turned yellow, then the hare fed this night or last night. Old droppings have a grayish color, while fresh droppings are dark green and crumple in your fingers without crumbling. On wet soil, tracks are easily distinguishable. The hare likes to lie down on arable land under a moldboard or in a double furrow. It makes sense to check only old arable land adjacent to green areas. It is useless to look for a hare in a freshly plowed field and harrow; it will not lie down in too dirty arable land. Other fields adjacent to winter crops are also suitable for searching: inconvenient fields with hills and ravines, perennials (fields that have not been cultivated for a long time), stubble and weeds. For shelter, the hare uses any unevenness: holes, tall grass, haystacks, piles of straw and windrows in mown fields. In the fall, you can observe the hare’s desire to escape from pursuit precisely through winter crops, as well as to stand on the road and hide in the nearest forest belt. The hare also lies down directly on winter crops, if they are not too low, also closer to the edge on a more elevated part of the field (it is drier there). It is better to go around such a field 60 m from the edge; the part adjacent to the forest belt is especially promising. In dense, tall greenery, it can jump right out from under your feet. The bed here can be seen by the pile of earth thrown out when the bed was laid out. Often such a bump can be mistaken for a block of earth, but it’s still worth checking. In all cases, you should try to go only into the wind in order to be detected as late as possible, and always be ready to shoot. The hare has a habit of appearing as soon as you throw the gun behind your back. At the beginning of the season, you can hunt well in collective farm gardens overgrown with weeds, when the hare is not yet at all afraid of humans. The difficulty is that the animal appears only for a split second and disappears in the next row, so it is better to hunt here with three people. Later, it is useless to look for the lashed hare in the garden. It is difficult to hunt during the pre-winter period. A white hare lurks in anticipation of the snow, lying down along the edges of ravines overgrown with sparse bushes, in shelterbelts. Still gray hares prefer tall weeds that are easily passable near the ground. It is better not to look for a hare in tall, dense, tangled grass; it is unsuitable for fast running.
With the onset of winter, the hare moves to arable land, no longer making a significant difference whether it is old or fresher. It is also worth looking for it at the edge of winter crops, 100–200 m away. You need to find fat spots and a trail leading from them to the arable land. If the field is only lightly covered with snow, tracking is difficult, but you can still determine the right direction. It happens that the wind drives the top dry layer of snow and covers up the tracks, then you need to act as on an autumn hunt, just walk along the greenery no closer than 100 m from their edge and be very careful: in a motley field the hare is difficult to distinguish. On a field completely covered with a fairly even layer of snow, a bed can be seen from afar by the “cap” of snow thrown out from the bed, but sometimes the bed is just a depression. Beds are now more often located near the planting, where the hare feeds during the period of deep snow, but they can also be in the middle of the field, but only with compacted snow; the hare does not go deep into the field on loose deep snow. In the middle of winter, he prefers deep arable land, in which he digs rather deep holes for lying. They are hardly noticeable to the hunter, and sometimes the hare bursts out of the snow right under his feet or behind his back. At any time of the season, a seasoned hare shows more composure and restraint than a mature one, and tries to avoid danger. He is more afraid of the hunter stopping than of his movement. It often happens that when a hunter has stopped, contemplating his further route, a brown-haired man jumps up a little to the side behind him - his nerves could not stand it.
Hares are also very fond of the corners of the field with tufts of dry grass, as well as the inconvenient islands in the middle of winter crops. In an alfalfa field, it hides under mown windrows. In cultivated fields, the hare digs a bed along, rather than across, the rows, and in the steppe - under a protruding bunch of taller plants. It is found in beams along the edge of reeds or in weeds. When the snow is high, it feeds not only on branches along the edges of plantings, but also on seeds from the tops of tall weeds, which have now become accessible to it. On bright, sunny days it's good to have the sun shining at your back, otherwise it's difficult to get a good shot. You also need to remember that the hare lies down with its head towards its footprint.
Late autumn The hare is attracted to the gardens of summer residents and rural residents. In shallow snow it can be found directly in summer cottages, and near villages it can stay constantly. Weeds near farms and village cemeteries are very promising, along the edges of which the hare lies down quite often.
Weather is a very important factor. In damp, cloudy weather and when there is a thaw, the hare lies tightly and lets you get close; on clear, frosty days, when the snow creaks underfoot, it can be extremely difficult to get a shot. A strong wind from the animal will help you get closer; calm weather will prevent this. If after a thaw it freezes at night, going hunting is practically useless. In the fall, if you enter winter crops or thick grass and your shoes become very wet, it is very unlikely to find a hare here. But in the mown sunflowers and corn the hare can lie down and hide from his pursuers.
The hare prefers to leave with the wind. The hare is strong against a wound, after a shot, even if it seems like a sure miss, still follow the movement of the animal; in the snow there is a chance to catch the wounded animal in its tracks. But you don’t need to go right away, otherwise the hare will run all day. You need to let him find a place to lie down; after 1 hour he can be easily reached. The hare has a great affinity for holes; he loves to hide in the holes of foxes and badgers and even in pipes.
In the fall, he often escapes from his pursuers by roads, ski tracks, and his own well-trodden paths in the winter.
The barometer can give you a hint. An increase in atmospheric pressure indicates that the hare will stay in open areas and behave carefully and sensitively. When there is a sharp drop in atmospheric pressure, the hare lies tightly on stubble, arable land, along the edges, in places, in weeds or perennials.
You need to walk slowly; if you move quickly, the hare will let the hunter pass. And the rider must ride at the slowest pace. The animal is less afraid of the horse. The white hare (like the hare) can be detected by its fats, only these are gnaws on the trees, the bark and shoots there have been gnawed off. The gnaws look darkened and weathered if they were made quite a long time ago; fresh gnaws are light. It can also be found not far from the permanent feeding place; moreover, sometimes it is possible to raise two or even three white hare, possibly littermates. By going around the fat in a spiral, the hare can be lifted at a distance of 200 to 300 m. He prefers to lie under the eversion, the spruce paw, in the recess at the roots.
In dense plantations, white hare choose small clumps of young spruce trees for resting. When running across an open area, the hare tries to stick to at least some kind of shelter, for example, the trunk of a fallen tree.
If you were unable to catch the raised hare, run 50–70 m along the path of the animal and, stopping, carefully look around and listen. Usually a young hare tries to determine where the danger is coming from, and, crouching, also looks around and listens. And it happens that, after running a small circle, he bumps right into the hunter.
In winter, the hare prefers to feed in willows along the banks of rivers and lakes. At this time, the white hare (like the hare) goes out to feed on the outskirts of villages, to farms and vegetable gardens. In November-December, a well-fed hare quickly goes to bed, and by the end of January it begins to run a lot, leaving a long tangled trail. When going to bed, it throws itself 2–3 m behind a fir tree, stump, snow blowing and, having made a small loop, lies with its head on its mark.
When the snow is high, it digs a hole both under cover and in the open. The hare lies in such a hole extremely firmly: you can ski next to it, but it will not rise. The length of the trail of a hare going to bed can reach 3 km.
MODERN HARE HUNTING WITH A SIGHTHIRE. TWO OR ONE?
The greyhound is a solitary catcher, even in the old days it was a rarity, but now it is almost a phenomenon. An instant inspiration, a moment of luck happens to almost every greyhound at least once in its life, when it catches a hare alone and, sometimes, even without being chased. This is primarily about canines; this happens a little more often with Horts. In recent years, Greyhounds have begun to demonstrate excellent solo work on the hare.
And yet, real lovers of hunting with greyhounds try to keep two or even three dogs of any breed, which are called a pack (as is the belt on which they are led). Moreover, the number of dogs depends to a lesser extent on material well-being. Many dogs are kept in rural areas and in such large cities as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Large kennels have six or more greyhounds, and although this has nothing to do with hunting needs, they are often regularly present for hunting and field trials. To create the conditions for the necessary training for such a number of dogs, i.e., to constantly travel with them out of town, you need a minibus, and for hunting trips with three dogs, of course, it is better to have a car.
Walking three such large, active dogs in the city requires considerable physical strength.
Surprisingly, there are nevertheless quite a few women who keep full packs and even go with them to field trials in other regions in the usual way. by rail. So, we can say that the number of dogs depends on the degree of passion for canine hunting, firstly, secondly, on physical capabilities (the jerk of a greyhound that has seen prey can easily knock down an unprepared person), thirdly, on technical equipment and, only fourthly, on the size of the living space.
There are examples when a whole kennel is perfectly located in a two-room apartment and does not cause any complaints from neighbors, since greyhounds do not smell, rarely bark, are affectionate and clean. Only on last place the material side is worth it. Wealth and poverty are relative concepts, because the common truth is known: not the one who has a lot of money is rich, but the one who has enough of it.
The best option for a full-fledged hunt - a pair of greyhounds, consisting of a male (he is more reliable in fox work, more intelligent) and a female (she is faster, and this quality is necessary for hunting a hare). As a rule, the bitch does the first stealing; many “ladies” are incredibly greedy in their work on the hare.
But whether you take littermates or a male and female from different litters, the challenge will always be to prevent unwanted mating. You can’t breed littermates at all, dogs of different litters are, of course, possible, but a bitch can only have puppies 2-3 times in her life, otherwise she will always be in poor shape, and there’s no point in thinking about a full-fledged hare hunt.
The period of pregnancy, feeding and rehabilitation (i.e., restoration of shape) for a female dog lasts almost 8 months. Therefore, many take two females or two males. If these are puppies of the same age, the problem of compatibility does not arise. An adult dog and a puppy get along quite well.
If you take another adult dog to an already adult dog; showdowns cannot be avoided. You will always need to side with your first dog as the eldest in the house, and support its authority in every possible way, otherwise the showdown may drag on. In females, it rarely comes to the point of bloodshed, but both of them, once they have established a hierarchy, immediately calm down. As the number of joint hunts increases, the couple’s work becomes more coordinated, skill and mutual understanding come.
Nowadays, classical unarmed hunting with greyhounds is mostly done by women. Men hunt well with both guns and greyhounds. They come in handy when the animal stands in an inconvenient place for a shot or beyond the range of a sure hit.
Shooting at a hare is very difficult and often results in a wounded animal that a person cannot catch anyway. The greyhounds get it very quickly. Here it must be said that with exclusively rifle hunting, for this purpose it is enough to have only one greyhound, and better than a male: it will catch a wounded hare and stop a fox seen outside the shot.
Many people prefer females because of their flexible, non-conflict nature, although this only applies to relationships with people; they sometimes rush after cats and mongrels with more passion than males.
Males come with different personalities. Previously, there were many independent and rather vicious individuals (not to be confused with anger towards the beast). But thanks to proper breeding work, more and more calm and balanced dogs are now appearing in clubs, catching every glance of the owner, but they lack independence a little when hunting. Bitches are distinguished by both good mutual understanding with humans and sufficient independence. For successful hunting, greyhounds often unite in groups for joint trips, occasions serious conflicts this does not happen between dogs; the main thing is hunting.
Greyhound breeds
Breed No. 1 of domestic breeding, the pride of Russian cynology is the Russian greyhound. This is the decoration of the rings of the most prestigious foreign exhibitions and rich estates, invariably leading the ranking of the most beautiful, impressive and expensive dog breeds. In its homeland, it has always been and remains primarily a working hunting dog. More than once, having gone through difficult times, being on the verge of extinction, it was nevertheless reborn, preserving its beauty and unique working qualities. Left behind were the abolition of serfdom, the revolution, the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars. It would seem that now nothing threatens the oldest Russian breed.
Indeed, in Moscow and St. Petersburg the number of Russian dogs is quite large, but in many regions where hounds were traditionally hunted, greyhounds are going through hard times.
The number of not only canines, but also short greyhounds, has sharply decreased, and Tazy animals have become rare in general. And it’s not at all about the high cost of puppies. In the province, their cost is the lowest among all other breeds. The reason lies primarily in economic difficulties today. Providing for a family requires, more than ever, a lot of time and effort. Greyhounds, on the other hand, require constant exercise to maintain the required physical shape, this is especially important when hunting hare, where maximum agility is required.
I would still like to believe that the Russian greyhound will not become more rare than any African Boerboel. And this breed is truly unique and was created by our ancestors specifically for hunting in central Russia.
This is the only dog in which all parts of the body have special names.
The tail is a rule, the back is steppe, it forms a smooth arc, and this is called the top in males, and in females - spring. A dog with a straight back is said to be straight-stepped or benchy. The sharp transition from the ribs to the belly is an undercut, the muscles of the thighs are black meat, and the back sides of the thighs, where the hair is elongated and wavy, are called gacha; the hair itself is a dog's, beautifully elongated also on the back of the front legs and under the chest, on the neck it forms a muff, and on the rule - a dewlap. The ancestors especially liked the wilted dog, that is, a wavy dog with a large curl. Their love for beauty was also manifested in the beautiful head of a greyhound with ears tightly laid on the neck; in excitement, the dog raises them “horse”. Apparently, this is an inheritance from an ancestor - huskies. The narrow forehead flows without a visible transition into an elegant pincer (this is the name of the greyhound's muzzle); it often has a small hump at the nose. Despite the apparent grace of a greyhound's muzzle, its jaws have remarkable strength and are capable of holding not only a seasoned hare or a fox, but also a wolf. Sometimes the jaws of a greyhound frozen on a wolf had to be opened with a knife. It is interesting that the paws of a greyhound are called hare paws for their elongated shape, and the metatarsus, like that of a hare, is called “pazanka”. These terms are countless, and you need to study the breed and hound hunting for more than one year to learn them all.
In areas where the fields are cut up by forest belts and catching a hare requires a vigorous start and the unique quality of a dog - a rush, there is no alternative to this breed. In addition, the dog’s long coat protects it in winter and allows it to hunt at -15 °C.
It has the property of self-cleaning from dirt, which is especially valuable for dogs living in an enclosure. Unfortunately, thorns cause a lot of trouble; they must be combed out and removed from the dog’s armpits during the hunt. It must be said that thorns are often not a natural factor, but the result of human activity. Abandoned farmland is densely overgrown with them.
The dog's character is flexible; aggression towards humans is considered a serious vice. The creators of the breed valued politeness above all else in these dogs. Aggressive individuals and cattle animals, i.e. dogs that attack domestic animals, were immediately disposed of, regardless of any other advantages. True, it has not yet been possible to rid modern canines of the passion for catching cats and often yard dogs. Greyhounds lack a guard instinct, but often in the confined space of a private house yard or in summer cottage this instinct suddenly manifests itself, and strangers are not allowed to enter the territory of her “land property”. Reliable facts of guarding a person and his belongings are unknown, since this involves a direct attack on another person, which is unacceptable for a hunting dog in the area without a leash and muzzle.
The Russian Greyhound is a product of long-term factory breeding and careful breeding work. No one can guarantee the outstanding performance qualities of a particular puppy 100%. It often happens that dogs, even those who do not have an ideal exterior, display outstanding agility. No wonder they used to say in the old days: “The greyhound gallops not with its legs, but with its blood.” In that key moment– only a dog with known working ancestors can fully possess the qualities necessary for hunting. Now all bloodhounds have pedigrees that include four generations of ancestors. Russian canines, in addition, must be registered in Moscow and have a pedigree issued by the Russian Canine Federation. Only under this condition can they participate in breeding, field trials and exhibitions. Owning such a dog provides an additional advantage: baiting a month before the start of the field season to prepare the dog for testing, opening the hunt a week earlier, subject to participation in hunting exhibitions. All of the above convincingly argues in favor of purchasing a dog with a pedigree. In addition, many experiments have been carried out on greyhounds in the village, and even a dog that looks very similar to, say, a Russian hound may have among its ancestors not only greyhounds of other breeds, but also hounds and even ordinary mongrels. Among them there are quite frisky individuals, but often their desire to work is only enough for the first 2-3 fields, and, as they used to say: “The agility of a vyborzka, like personal nobility, is not inherited.”
All of the above applies to other breeds of greyhounds, but, unfortunately, with Horts and Tazy everything can be more complicated. Most of the livestock is in the hands of rural greyhound breeders, and it happens that purebred, beautiful specimens do not have a pedigree only because of the frivolous attitude of the villagers towards the registration of matings and the timely registration of all necessary documents. This is all the more offensive since each of these breeds is beautiful and necessary in its own way. The Russian Greyhound's rich body, so necessary for winter hunting, becomes a big hindrance in the warmer climate of the steppes of southern Russia. The Hortai was created specifically for these hunting conditions; its short, dense coat allows it to successfully hunt on days that are too hot for a dog, but at the same time protects well from the sharp steppe wind in cold weather.
By winter, the Hortai grows an undercoat sufficient for hunting in not too severe frosts.
Its paws and hooks (claws) are very strong. The pads do not wear off and the claws do not break on hard, dry steppe soil. Its endurance in pursuit of an animal significantly exceeds this quality of a dog; it is unpretentious in food and maintenance, which does not at all mean a free life on self-sufficiency. Hortaya is excellent at catching hares, sometimes even alone. And it will be simply impossible to wean the dog from eating prey. In other respects, the Hortai is very similar to a canine, because the basis of the livestock were hybrids of a canine and a greyhound. Another name for Horta is Russian steppe greyhound. As an independent, standardized breed, it was formed already in the Soviet period. Before the revolution, any crossbreed with a smooth coat was called a Horta (by analogy with the short-haired Polish Horta). After the Civil War, a huge number of these dogs accompanied rural hunters who knew neither seasons nor restrictions, which caused the righteous anger of the authorities. A large number of innocent Horts were simply destroyed. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and the authorities finally realized that they needed to fight the owners, not the dogs. And now anyone can have this excellent working dog.
The ancestor of the Hortoy, the Greyhound, is again gaining ground among Russian hunters, especially in the southern regions. Until recently, he was just a dog for racing and exhibitions, but today he invariably rises to the podium in all-Russian hare competitions. A first-class diploma becomes commonplace for him. But the greyhound hunting season is extremely short. As the air temperature drops, the greyhound's agility also drops exponentially. And it is truly phenomenal and reaches 60 km/h, while highest achievement dog - 55 km/h, but this is at the film theater. And in life, when the dog is more and more in working shape and feels great at sub-zero temperatures, the greyhound is forced to lie down on the sofa until next autumn. Trying to overcome this barrier, hunters in the south hybridize the Greyhound and the Horta, which poses a great danger for the latter to lose the breed's independence and many valuable qualities. The Greyhound cannot compare with the Horta in endurance and unpretentiousness; its paws are very susceptible to injury, and broken toes are a common occurrence. Greyhound supporters are willing to put up with this for the sake of brilliant, lightning-fast work on the brown hare. Still, for a practical hunter trying to make the most of the hunting season, this is not a very suitable dog.
Eastern Fold Greyhounds make up the largest group of hunting dogs in the world. Their origin is lost in the mists of time. According to legend, it was the eastern greyhound Tazy that Noah took on his ark. Respect for them is immense. A Muslim owner will not sell a good eastern greyhound for any money.
In our country, the most common and suitable for hunting is the Tazy greyhound (mostly its Kazakh variety: it is larger and more powerful than the sophisticated, elegant Turkmen Tazy, which is the pride of its people along with the legendary Akhal-Teke horse). Tazy cannot boast of the agility of European greyhounds, but her tenacity in pursuing the beast and her ideal adaptability to the conditions of the hot semi-desert are amazing. Hair grows between the toes of the tazy, which protects the paws well from sharp pebbles and hot soil. The ears in burkas with long wool make them especially attractive in appearance. It may seem strange that a Tazy breeding nest of excellent quality is available in St. Petersburg. Moreover, almost all dogs from St. Petersburg have field diplomas. Their owners regularly go for field trials in other regions of the country, but what is much more surprising is that there are many cases of catching Tazy hare directly on rough terrain Leningrad region, which even canines rarely succeed. This indicates the ability of the cans to maintain working qualities even in the most unusual conditions.
Other breeds of eastern greyhounds are also cultivated in Russia. A small population of Kyrgyz taigan and bakhmul greyhounds are used for hunting. Both of these breeds are designed for hunting in mountainous area due to their origin. Bakhmul is a type of Afghan hound, it has good working qualities, but its legs are covered with elongated hair - pants. In sticky mud and wet snow, he becomes completely helpless. The thorns are capable of turning his beautiful robe literally into a shell. Taigan is highly valued in its homeland, and its export is almost completely prohibited. In Russia, they are still trying to maintain the existing population at the proper breed level; recently they even held a special breed exhibition of Taigans. Among them there are holders of field diplomas, and the Bakhmuls also have them. There are other varieties of the Afghan Aboriginal Hound that are more reminiscent of the Tazy in appearance, but not with such a lean build and a lot of hair. There is a section dedicated to these dogs in the Moscow Elite club. The remaining breeds of eastern greyhounds are still available only in single copies and appear only at certified exhibitions. Because of its luxurious coat, the Afghan is a purely decorative greyhound; the phlegmatic, good-natured Irish wolfhound has also become decorative. A Scottish greyhound, the Deerhound, was present at the All-Russian hunting dog exhibition in Tambov. In its homeland it was used for hunting deer, and whether it is capable of catching a hare is difficult to say. There are already quite a few babies - Whippets, small English greyhounds, who have diplomas in hare without being caught. It is difficult for them to keep our seasoned hare, and field tests are more fun for whippets and their owners than a test of working qualities.
Thanks to the enthusiasm of Varlam Tarielovich Gabidzashvili, a famous trainer of wild animals for filming in films and a breeder of greyhounds of various breeds, an indigenous breed of the south of Russia, which is called the South Russian greyhound, is now being revived. In appearance, it combines the features of a canine and a tazy, but does not repeat any of them exactly. The owners of dogs of this breed are satisfied with the field leisure time of their pets. Probably, in their hunting techniques they happily combine the qualities of eastern and hound hounds.
All greyhounds are good in their own way, if they are purebred and have fully inherited the working qualities of their ancestors, and each greyhound is fanatically devoted to the chosen breed, although sometimes this does not happen right away. When this finally happens, the chosen breed becomes the best for life.
Preparing a greyhound for a hunt
Usually the preparation of any hunting dog for work is called baiting a greyhound and a mink, training a hound, training a pointer or training a husky, but this is not entirely true. Preparing a dog for hunting begins with the arrival of a puppy in the house. A rickety, thin, apathetic puppy will never become a useful hunting assistant. This means it all starts with feeding. Every normal person Having brought a puppy into your home, you have already consulted with the breeder, purchased a book, listened to the advice of fellow dog lovers, and are determined to do everything right. But not everyone, when faced with reality, stubbornly follows the recommendations of experts. Some people don’t have enough money for this, others don’t have enough time, others quickly lose the desire to engage in this fuss, and they simply start buying some cheap dry food, ultimately ending up with a dog with a damaged stomach, intestines, kidneys and liver. The former, for lack of sufficient funds, limit themselves to cooking porridge flavored with vegetable oil. A skinny creature with rickets-damaged legs is unlikely to become a source of pride for its owner at an exhibition or trial. I don’t want to say the banal phrase: “If you can’t feed a dog, don’t get one.” Feeding an adult dog is not at all difficult, but a puppy is another matter; he needs quite a lot of not too cheap products: cottage cheese, milk, meat, rolled oats, good expensive vitamins. These few months determine the health and performance of the dog for life. It makes sense to think about how to reshape the family budget, save on something, as they say, tighten your belt, because this won’t last long. Now there are many people who like to feed puppies with unwashed tripe (tripe). This is an excellent food with a very high protein content, but moderation is needed in everything: an excess of protein causes a painful condition in the dog, overloading the liver. It is much easier for wealthy people to solve this problem. Now there are series of professional food for dogs of any age, size, degree of mobility. They are very expensive, but they are the only ones you can feed your dog on a regular basis.
In the same case, if the dog receives natural food, dry food can serve as a treat to reward obedience. For active dogs, it is advisable to take food with a sufficient content of fat and protein, since during field trials you have to feed the dog once a day for several days in a row, and in order not to give too much food at one time (porridge), this is the best choice. dry food in the quantity specified by the manufacturer. It is better to fill it with warm water and let it swell, so it will be absorbed faster and the dog will be less thirsty at night.
The importance of adequate feeding of puppies was emphasized by Pyotr Mikhailovich Machevarianov.
He advised giving hounds and greyhound puppies ground oatmeal, steamed with meat broth, adding finely chopped boiled meat, mashed boiled carrots, crushed gray bread crackers and a cutlet of fresh raw meat weighing 1 pound (400 g) 3 times a week. And so on until the age of 1 year.
The more you can invest in a puppy, the more bang for your buck you'll get out of your dog. After all, even just a healthy dog will save a lot of money on the veterinarian and medications, and will always be ready to go hunting with you.
An adult dog can be fed any well-cooked meat products, except lard, any vegetables and fruits that she wishes to eat, both boiled and raw. The most suitable cereals are rolled oats, rice, and wheat, but barley is not suitable. The most useful vegetables are beets, carrots, cabbage, and pumpkin, but you need to get used to them from childhood.
The next stage of preparation is training; it should not be a hassle, it is a constant, gradual process. It's worth saying in Once again: Don't let your puppy do things you don't think an adult dog should do. The greyhound's biggest problem is its love of sofas. In a small apartment this is even convenient, very large dog doesn't get in the way. Any dog wants to be with people, and not lie alone in a dark corridor or closed room. It’s interesting that even a greyhound living in an enclosure, once in a room, tries to lounge on the sofa. If this is not acceptable to you, be firm and consistent from the beginning.
Accurate execution of all commands general course No training is required from a hunting dog. But there are absolutely necessary commands. One of them is “place!” Moreover, “place” is not at all the bedding in the house. For shepherd dogs and other service dogs, the “place” is indicated by any object, for example, a leash, muzzle, etc. This is how you need to work with a hunting dog. Moreover, the place for it should be where the owner simply points his finger. This is important, since when going on overnight hunting trips and during field trials, the dog is in an unfamiliar environment, where it must sleep peacefully in order to go out into the field fresh and alert in the morning. Another important command is prohibiting. For a greyhound, this is the command “discover.” Previously, it was used only when the greyhound got under the horse’s feet, now it is used instead of “no” and “ugh” and, of course, when the greyhound tries to tear or eat prey. This problem certainly exists. Dogs of different owners pull each other's prey and can tear it, but this is generally natural, because each considers the prey to be its own. A young dog may run away with a caught hare and eat it. As a rule, this is an omission of the owner, and you can try to avoid it. The first thing is to try to get close to the dog while still a puppy, but this does not mean petting and coddling. You need to play with the puppy, he needs to be taught to play useful game. First, tie his favorite toy to a string and drag it across the floor so that he catches it and catches it. Never pull a caught toy out of your teeth. Hold out your hand with a small piece of treat and say “give!” To take a piece, the puppy will release the toy. Immediately take it in your hand and praise your pet.
The puppy grows, and after changing teeth the toy changes. This is a dense material twisted into a ring, tied with twine, the long end of which is tied to a 1.5-2 meter rod (not a thick, but strong stick). The movements of the “prey” become as fast and varied as possible. The puppy gives away the toy without a treat. The next stage: the rag is dressed in a hare skin, and attempts to tear it are stopped with the command “unearth”. Obedience is rewarded and praised. Such exercises develop dexterity and obedience. It is good, even before the first baiting, to let the young greyhound drag the carcass of a real hare, and then gently but decisively take it away, showing that the prey belongs only to you. Having felt hot blood for the first time, the movement of still living prey in the mouth, the dog can lose its head and compete with the prey. There is nothing wrong with this, let him calm down and put him on the ground.
If you can calmly approach and pick up the loot, then everything was done correctly and there is something to be proud of. There are often cases when greyhounds bring prey directly to the owner - this is a manifestation of the highest trust, understanding and friendship. But when dogs simply lie near the carcass waiting for the owner, this is absolutely correct and good. A caught hare is often eaten by dogs with an independent, obstinate character, for whom the owner is neither a friend nor an authority, or are simply always underfed. Before the hunt, the greyhound is not fed, nor for 2 hours after, in order to avoid torsion, as people say, that is, volvulus. But in the evening she should be well fed. During the hunting season, the dog always needs to be fed to its fullest, because it spends a huge amount of energy. It is advisable to increase the mass fraction of protein foods. Boiled bones are excluded at any time of the year, and raw bones should be given only very large ones so that splinters do not get into the stomach.
End of free trial.
The friendly family of hares living in Russia includes the hare, hare and tolai. This also includes wild rabbit, but now he is a foreigner, lives in the neighboring countries - in the south of Ukraine. Sometimes there is a cross between a hare and a hare - a hare-cuff. This hybrid is hated by hunters with hounds; they say that he inherited the worst traits from his parents. He lives like a hare in the forest, where he feeds and settles down for the day, but, driven by dogs, like a hare, he makes circles of ten miles. Therefore, hunting for him becomes extremely difficult, the dogs simply lose their hearing, and sometimes even get lost. In all my hunting practice, I only managed to catch a cuff once, in the Pskov region, and even then by accident, while hunting ungulates.
Many people consider meeting a hare a bad omen. It is difficult to say how fair this is; there is some truth in any popular belief. And if it has survived to this day, then it’s worth thinking about. I had to watch how a whole column harvesters took a different route when the hare crossed their path at the wrong time. What can we say about mere mortals, if A.S. Pushkin did not dare to continue his journey to the capital after a hare crossed his path... For this, grateful descendants are going to erect a monument to the scythe on Pskov land, near the estate of the great poet. Who knows, perhaps it was the hare that extended the life of the Russian classic.
The largest representative in the hare family is undoubtedly the hare. Its weight can reach six kilograms, and according to the stories of the most truthful people - hunters, much more. For the successful habitat of this “giant”, vast open spaces and a relatively mild climate are simply vital.
In the summer, the brown hare usually does not need food. In winter, when the ground is covered with snow, he is forced to eat whatever he can: dry blades of grass sticking out from under the snow, digging up winter crops, gnawing the bark of deciduous trees, going out to haystacks, barns, and gardens. When deep snow falls, the hare wanders, changing habitats, depending on the abundance and availability of food.
Apply various ways hunting for the brown hare, which can vary significantly by region. Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Rostov region, where after the death of my grandmother there was an ownerless house. Having arrived at the place, my brother and I settled in an orphaned house. Having learned that we were the grandchildren of Lydia Yakovlevna, they treated us very cordially. Remembering that these places should be rich in hare, one day during an evening feast I started a conversation on this topic:
Tell me, Petro, do you have any hares?
Having wiped his lips with the sleeve of his shirt, after another faceted glass, the neighbor began to concentrate on snacking on smoked lard. We bought a large piece of this toasted, delicious product at the village market. Slowly, as crests know how to do, he answered with the feigned indifference of an expert, as if they were talking about rabbits in his yard:
But there are plenty of hares, where can they go for an encore?
It was already mid-November; according to my understanding, hare hunting should be open even in the southern regions. After waiting a little for the sake of decency, I asked him again:
Petro, when do they start hare hunting?
Our guest named a number that fell on a Saturday in early November. This day has long passed.
And until what time will it be open?
After my question, the neighbor looked at me in surprise.
How long has it been? Well, it closed on the same day, because all the norms that were brought down from the virkha were immediately shot...
It turns out that early in the morning, on the appointed day, all the hunters of the village gathered near the board. We loaded ourselves into the cart of the Belarus tractor and drove out to the hunting ground - to the collective farm gardens, stretching for several kilometers. The riflemen lined up in a long chain, as Petro figuratively said: “Well, just like the SS men,” and combed the garden, shooting at the noise mercenaries who had risen. The killed hares were placed in a cart of a tractor following the chain of hunters. I did not specify what shooting quota was given to the team, but, according to a neighbor, there were so many hares that the cart was topped. The hunt was over. Everyone again gathered at the board, skinned the hares, divided the spoils, bought vodka... Well, the rest was like in any hunting company after a successful hunt.
There is no doubt that one of the most interesting and exciting hunts for hare without the use of dogs is tracking in winter. I became addicted to this hunt when I worked as a distribution worker in the very south of the Perm region. Those places are characterized by vast open spaces, interspersed with overgrown coniferous forests, ravines and copses.
Unlike the white hare, which settles down for a day in the forest, where due to poor visibility it is impossible to take a shot at it, the brown hare most often lies down in an open or clearly visible place: in the weeds along the edges of the field, in rare, clearly visible, in copses or under isolated trees, or even next to telegraph poles. A warning for a hunter who is tracking a hare is a long, sometimes up to thirty meters, double pass, followed by a powerful discount (a jump to the side of the trail), only then the hare, as a rule, lies down. With the acquisition of some experience in tracking hare, the hunter can easily distinguish the track of a hare going to feed from the track of a hare returning to its bed. This saves a lot of time, since the hare's feeding trail can be very long and confusing. The hare rarely lets a hunter get close. He tries to leave the bed when the pursuer's back is turned to him. It picks up speed almost from a standstill, and very quickly finds itself out of range.
Therefore, you must hold the gun in your hands, constantly inspect the area around you and be ready to fire at any moment. As mentioned above, many superstitious people, which are almost all hunters, treat the hare as a harbinger of trouble, especially when it appears at the wrong time. There was also a case in my life when, carried away by chasing a hare, I found myself in a rather unpleasant situation. Of course, the hare, in this case, may not be to blame; most likely, I myself am to blame, recklessly succumbing to the excitement of the chase, but the fact remains: there was still a hare... While working in the Perm region, I met my future wife. As usually happens, our meetings became longer and longer every day and differed significantly from friendly relations. In rural areas, nothing can be hidden from human eyes. Soon her parents expressed a fair desire to meet and talk with me. This meeting did not burden me, my intentions were completely honest, and I had long wanted to cut this Gordian knot. The conversation took place, the bride's parents insisted that the wedding should be played quickly and we should live with them.
In the morning, the bride's house was preparing for the evening feast. Everyone was busy with work, only I was wandering around the house and, as it seemed to me, was disturbing everyone. Taking aside the bride, radiant with happiness, I bent down to my very ear and whispered the familiar magic words, after which I was never denied anything. You really can’t start family life with contradictions and disagreements. Ten minutes later he was already skiing downhill, throwing the gun behind his back, firmly promising to return in a couple of hours. I left the house unnoticed.
I came across a fresh trail of the hare just outside the outskirts. The well-fed hare walked in short leaps - obviously to lie down. After another quarter of an hour, I saw a long double ahead, and when I turned my head, it was about forty meters before the hare picked up speed. The doublet clicked dryly, without a forest echo, twice. Kosoy stumbled, shuffling his feet like a careless soldier in formation, but quickly straightened out his run and, out of sight, rolled into a ravine.
The shot left long streaks in the snow around the footprint. Throwing away the spent cartridges, I noticed beads of blood around the trail, increased my speed and, following the scythe, jumped into the ravine.
An unfreezing stream flowed along the bottom. Trying to jump over it, the hare pushed off from the openwork edge, broke it and fell into the water. He got out to the opposite bank wet, which was clearly visible from the damp, muddy trail. “What, brother, I don’t have enough strength, apparently I grabbed you tightly,” I thought maliciously, and the skis carried me even faster. Judging by the tracks, the hare ran at half strength.
The oblique appeared to my eyes, rising from its bed from the dense bushes. The distance was extreme, but I shot from the left barrel for good measure, after which the hare quickly disappeared again. It is difficult to say how long the chase lasted. I came to my senses when, having climbed the mountain, I saw a village in the lowland. Looking at the sky, I realized that it was starting to get dark. Looking at the village, I could not understand where I was. Oh my God! Yes, this is the village of Toikino! Even if you fly straight, like a crow, avoiding ravines, the distance to home is no less than nine kilometers...
When I approached the house in the dark, I heard a shot. It was clear to the fool that it was me who was signaling. Having answered with a doublet, he tried to quicken his pace, although what did that matter now? The people were supposed to gather by six o'clock, I was hopelessly late...
In my opinion, the ones who were most worried about my life were my fiancée and my grandfather. The first one smeared mascara on her cheeks, and my grandfather chattered incessantly about predatory wolves that were sure to devour me. He had never been a hunter; he was shell-shocked in the war and became almost completely deaf. And I brought a hearing aid from Moscow, and, having acquired hearing, he could talk with me for a long time about the books he had read. To translate the expression on the face of the mother-in-law, who stood with everyone else, her lips tightly pressed together, you didn’t have to be a physiognomist. - Well, son-in-law, you are starting family life with my only daughter, but what will happen next?
Ten minutes later I was already washing the laughing bride, washing off the smeared mascara from her cheeks, and she was pouring on my back warm water to wash off the sweat after a long chase after a hare. Probably only fellow hunters invited to the celebration understood how it was possible to be late for your own wedding because of a hare...
Igor Masherov
MasterRuge, No. 56 2001
HARE HUNT
We were getting ready to hit the road before dawn and expected to get to the hunting spot in good time. Petya had to be locked up at home as punishment for the fact that the day before he jumped out onto the lake without asking and, assuming that it was frozen, went skating on the ice that had not yet hardened, but since he is a bad swimmer, he had difficulty getting to the floating bridge, where his comrades, dying of fear, were waiting for him.
Instead of the guilty Petya, Rostislav went with us, who had recently arrived in our region from Rostov and dreamed of creating something extraordinary. When he learned that we were going to hunt, he immediately galloped to us from a neighboring village.
With a sinking heart, we made our way in our waterproof clothes through the shallow growth of the birch forest, remembering that hares prefer deciduous forests only early autumn, and now they should lie in juniper thickets or spruce forests.
A real hunter does not go into the thicket, but chooses clearings, paths or clearings. And when the forest is located on mountainous slopes, the exit holes of the hare usually extend
along the spurs of the main ravine. Like all forest creatures, the little hare loves to walk along the sled, well-trodden road, so the surest calculation is to waylay the slant at the intersection of roads.
The late dawn was breaking, the day was windless, the branches of the trees shone with frost. The snow illuminated by pink rays in combination with the watercolor blue sky seemed like a fabulous decoration of winter nature. It is not for nothing that the impressions of hunting always excite writers. I myself experienced the great joy of being introduced to this incomparable beauty.
Finally the dogs managed to lift the hare. The beaters hastily caught up and drove the hare in our direction. I was eager to distinguish myself and dreamed that the hare would jump out at me. And suddenly I really saw an old hare, who was galloping with his ears tightly pressed back. After my shot, the hare somersaulted twice and, jumping again to the level of the bush, fell dead.
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- we were getting ready for the road before dawn
– dictation hare hunting
– hare hunting dictation
- we were getting ready for the road before dawn and were counting
- essay about a hare
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We were getting ready to hit the road before dawn and expected to get to the hunting spot in good time. Petya had to be locked up at home as punishment for the fact that the day before he jumped out onto the lake without asking and, assuming that it was frozen, went skating on the ice that had not yet hardened, but since he is a bad swimmer, he had difficulty getting to the floating bridge, where his comrades, dying of fear, were waiting for him.
Instead of the guilty Petya, Rostislav went with us, who had recently arrived in our region from Rostov and dreamed of creating something extraordinary. When he learned that we were going to hunt, he immediately galloped to us from a neighboring village.
With a sinking heart, we made our way in our waterproof clothes through the shallow growth of the birch forest, remembering that hares prefer deciduous forests only in early autumn, and now they must lie in juniper thickets or spruce forests.
A real hunter does not go into the thicket, but chooses clearings, paths or clearings. And when the forest is located on mountainous slopes, the exit holes of the hare usually extend along the spurs of the main ravine. Like all forest creatures, the hare loves to walk along the sled, well-trodden road, so the surest calculation is to waylay the slant at the intersection of roads.
The late dawn was breaking, the day was windless, the branches of the trees shone with frost. The snow illuminated by pink rays in combination with the watercolor blue sky seemed like a fabulous decoration of winter nature. It is not for nothing that the impressions of hunting always excite writers. I myself experienced the great joy of being introduced to this incomparable beauty.
Finally the dogs managed to lift the hare. The beaters hastily caught up and drove the hare in our direction. I was eager to distinguish myself and dreamed that the hare would jump out at me. And suddenly I really saw an old hare, who was galloping with his ears tightly pressed back. After my shot, the hare somersaulted twice and, jumping again to the level of the bush, fell dead.
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