I carefully followed the publications, which address the theme of hunting traditions and features traditional and non-traditional hunting. I myself repeatedly in their speeches touched upon this topic and would like to continue the conversation.
No doubt, it is necessary to preserve and maintain those kinds of hunting, which has become a tradition and became the property of our national hunting culture. However, as rightly observes Evgeniy Ershov (“HORN”, № 23, 2015), it would be extreme to treat them as “untouchable sacred cows”. Because the succession process of hunting preferences and as natural as the process of succession, what’s more, this process, if you like, historical.
It is known that the father of Peter I, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich confessed only hunt game birds on horseback with hunting birds. Now such hunting is real and is mostly available except for super-rich Arab sheikhs in specially reserved areas.
Matera Russian master Alexey Nekrasov — the father of the great poet Nikolay Nekrasov preferred just hunting hounds, hares, foxes and wolves, and the hunting rifle his son on game birds with a hunting considered servile and low (see M. Bulgakov. Russian writers-hunters. — “Hunting and hunting”, No. 8, 2008). Now rifle hunting, especially with dogs, reason is recognized as one of the most meaningful, rich, and attractive. But when I read the statement by Nikolay Biryukov (“HORN” № 1-2, 2015), that whether his will, he would ban the hunting of the pen without pointing dogs, involuntarily in front of me loomed the very marked Ershov Ghost “untouchable sacred cow”. Why the author didn’t think that a ban, which he said, would infringe upon the right to hunt thousands of hunters that do not have, for various reasons, the ability to contain dogs and to what extent it would motivate poaching (as it is known, “unjust law moral obligations does not have”).
Remember how in the old hunting literature devoted to duck hunting, detailing all of the possible ways of duck hunting with decoy (krakovich drakes in the spring), stuffed animals, gun dog, porch on the boat, from the hidden places for the day, on morning and evening flights except for one, but most mass and available (except perhaps shooting at zarevich flights) — day of hunting from the approach without a dog. Not affected in an echo of former conservative hunting with a taste of aristocratic habits: say, “beat the feet”, even with the questionable hope of success — it’s not a real hunter.
Another example. In one of the short stories by Yuri Nagibin (to treat his work with reverence) a group of hunters die of boredom waiting for the arrival to the hunting base hunters with pointer, which should ensure them a “classic” hunting for grouse. First time reading this story, I was left wondering: why would these people, if they are indeed avid hunters, not to take guns at the ready and do not comb chain the habitat of black grouse (as is clear from the context, such hunting in the farm is not forbidden).
Of course, running hunting at random in the most part less effective than trained specialized hunting, especially with dogs. It is clear that such hunts are not well suited to people old and with poor health, but all other categories of hunters they are able to give, in addition to the opportunity to take the game, the feeling of fullness of life from encounters with nature and a healthy physical fatigue, and such deficient especially for knowledge workers.
I remember in my youth (50 years) at the August hunts I and two of my classmate, stood in the swamp (Saransk) dawn, then wandered up to noon on the banks of the river Insar in search of the shifted marshes with ducks. And so almost every day.
Since September, when school started in the school, we could take hunting only weekends. Autumn and winter hunting is remembered for a long period (morning until evening) hunting for rabbits is a hare. Thanks to these trips I tangibly strengthen their physical health (in childhood lay once in the hospital with the diagnosis “rheumatic heart disease”). In may 1956, our PE teacher put me in the team of the school for the upcoming city championship in athletics. At these competitions, I was second in the 1,500 m.
However, due to hunting and thanks to her, I entered the sport, which has become for me the same desire of the soul, like hunting, and which is partially substituted me during military service and further studies. Taking occasion, will present his views on the connection between hunting and sport.
Together with hunter Alexander Pushkin and other authors, I will say that I strongly do not accept the concept of “sport hunting”. However this question requires some comment. If hunting a man meets with external nature in the sport, requiring, as a rule, greater physical effort, with its inner biological nature. Last fact on the surface is not as obscured by the obvious desire of healthy people to the competition. The functions of interfacing with “external” and “internal” nature can be crossed and the same (physical exertion on the hunt, particularly running, often comparable to sports). However, for all that the sport remains a sport and hunting is hunting.
In the last 30-35 years all my summer-autumn-winter hunting and hunting my two companions — Professor-philologist and lecturer-physics — were exclusively running. On each of them, depending on the circumstances and weather and health had to overcome daily from 10-12 to 18-20 km I have already informed the readers of the “HORN” that in the year of its 75th anniversary (2013) walked about 200 kilometers. And the record in this regard was the summer-autumn season of 2000 — at least 350 kilometers.
Assume that somebody, after reading this article, with a grin say, “Well, the author sings a toast “stagger” hunters. My answer is this: “Give them at least “hustling”, but agree that these people satisfy their hunting passion in the most simple, widespread and in this sense, the most traditional way. And I really especially want to wish good hunting to those hunters who like wolves, the foot feed.
