The veteran military intelligence officer, hero of the Soviet Union, the Chevalier of the order of seven times wounded in battle, was once asked: “What is the wound of the lung?” He said, “When the bullet between the fingers fly”. So I would say, by analogy with his answer, that the easiest mountain hunting is when the animal to your camp to come down.
Immediately say, that though I do not consider myself an advanced mountain hunter, but still in the mountains of Austria, Greece, Spain, Macedonia, Slovenia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tajikistan, in the canyons of Namibia, South Africa, in the mountains of New Zealand and, of course, in Russia, in Karachaevo-Cherkessia, I have been hunted. Proud that in my trophy room the most conspicuous place hanging hats OVIS clubs and club mountain hunters. My dream is to get a prize “Mountain five Rosohotrybolovsojuz”. In the meantime, based on experience, I want to share important, from my point of view, thoughts about the specifics of mountain hunting.
First: this hunt is necessary to prepare more thoroughly than to any other. Let me explain with an example. We arrived as a group of hunters in the African country and discovered that the Luggage of one of our comrade was gone. It would seem that hunting should be broken, but no. Someone shared with the victim t-shirt, someone found an extra hat — in short, gained only necessary with the world on a string and went hunting. But the mountain hunter in such a situation would have to be tight. So let’s start with equipment.
SHOES
In my opinion, shoes is of the utmost importance in all campaigns, travel, and even more so in raids in the mountains. No wonder all the questionnaires is an indication that the shoes for hills need tested, used. And all the rest is clothing, preferably interchangeable. We must always remember that sudden temperature changes that threaten the rain, snow, and loads lead to increased perspiration. So I recommend only one “brand” of clothes — the one that is checked personally by you.
EQUIPMENT
Let’s start with the backpack. The mountain hunter there should be a minimum of two: for a day of hunting and for hunting with an overnight stay in the mountains. More filling. Hunting in Karachay-Cherkessia in the Caucasus brown bear, we tried for a half hour before dark to sneak up on the beast. While concealed, it became dark. In the end, I shot the silhouette. The beast ran down and it stopped. I had to look. Accompanying me Ivan said without a lamp is dangerous. I replied that I have and powerful. In General, we found the beast with a lantern, which, fortunately, I brought with me. And this is important. Who carries around with her, that no one asks. However, the weight matters.
What else is important to me, so it’s alpenstock, and sturdy, preferably with a tip. This is the third leg. I have seen on the alluvial deposits in Azerbaijan. Deliberately do not stop on such devices like rangefinders, pipe, binoculars, determinants of wind and the like — the taste of the hunter. Like the bipod on the carbine, which I do not like neither the organizers of the hunt or the huntsmen, and therefore shoot sometimes with a backpack or stone, tucked his hat.
TRANSPORT
If we talk about transport, it is the case when we are little that depends. However, don’t be lazy and check the reliability of the engine, brakes and rubber in our power. Do not do this — we are to blame if the worst happens. Remember, in Kyrgyzstan, we went to the mountains by UAZ car, and he stood up. The result — midnight in the mountains, two hunters in the hospital with pneumonia. Another form of transport in the mountains — a horse. And here attention! Horses in front of long hard hunting necessarily prepodavat. But if you are hunting in autumn and winter, then be sure to make sure your horse is shod with winter shoes.
PHYSICAL TRAINING
Remember malopriglyadna moments when the organizers almost on myself was raised a hunter in the mountains. Here, I think everyone needs to soberly assess their capabilities and efforts: not prepared physically — not to create problems themselves or the organizers. In the end, there are other hunting, not less exciting, for whom “fizuha” not so important. For myself, I learned the Golden rule: do not compete with the local, go at your pace that is comfortable for you. Young and constantly walking in the mountains you guys still can not catch up, only worse will do yourself and them. Worn out, slips, stumbles, miss — and what is the result? What then is hunting?
ADRENALINE
I believe that there are two kinds of adrenaline and healthy. Healthy exciting. It’s not bad. The main thing — to catch my breath and calm down. But fear, when the muscles cramp up bad. Tip: trust local, trust the horse; don’t look down when climbing up. Maintainers are interested in that the client was alive and well.
FEAR
Don’t let fear get to you even if you are really scared. Once pieych the first, dumped a huge stone. We were crawling down the snake, and here we threw stones. As the dodged not know. Remember not watching where to put my foot, and frantically rushed forward. And if slipped on the wet grass? Of course, would fly into the abyss… And yet scared to stay in the dark. And scary for the horse, but she, again, you have to believe.
PARK HUNTING
To the European, or the Park, the hunts, I’ll take the hunting cultivated, with a road network. On the one hand, everything seems organized and simple: the Rangers are in advance, the positions of all radios, and one stage of hunting — stalking, you are excluded. But the climb into the mountains, scree, Imperial, distant gunfire, wind, amendment, ballistics is all yours. And most importantly — your task is to produce vysokotrave animal. In Mallorca I was hunting belaruskogo goat, so there is one trip on the serpentine was worth when first and even the second time we were not in the rotation. And then move up… And in New Zealand at the point we threw out the helicopter. That’s where the fear had suffered! Especially the night before the pilot was drunk before our eyes in “flour” and began to tell what his risky job and his friend a month ago crashed. Agree, to see the trembling hands of the pilot, his watery eyes, jump from hovering above the ground the helicopter on the rocks and the rope to get back on Board — a dubious pleasure.
And yet this pales in comparison with hunting rounds. Rockfalls, screes, landslides, rock shoes, sheer walls, snow, waterfalls. On horseback it is better to forget, they can only get to the mountains on foot. I advise you to go on a hike into the gloves and be sure to take care of shoes with a stable fixation of the foot (however, local young trappers running around the mountains in an ordinary rubber boots, but they don’t count). When periodicities streams and rivers rescue chaps that do not allow water to be poured into the boots.
First aid KIT
Don’t forget that in any hunting possible colds, disorders, bruises, cuts, so a small first aid kit in the backpack is required. This is perhaps my last Board.
SUMMARY
Light mountain hunting there. Luckiest there is. Perfectly prepared too. Tune in complexity. Get ready for the difficulties. With a triple. In Siberia: go into the forest for a day — take all week. And remember: Gore has one feature — they fascinate and beckon. To know yourself.
