Vyacheslav Mikhailov
Everyone has their own favorite hunts. Some people go on African safaris every year to look for trophy animals, while for others, a holiday is the opportunity to wander through abandoned fields with a gun. And if such a hunter is lucky enough to see an animal or bird at least from afar, he will remember them for a long time.
Memory will return him to this moment. He will continue to play out all the circumstances, look for reasons for failure or, conversely, for unexpected luck.
Such hunting is common in the southern regions of Russia, where snow rarely covers the ground for a short time. Therefore, for the most part, hunting hares, foxes, and raccoons is necessary. Such hunts can be successful, but always involve hard work. You have to walk for hours on arable land melted under the sun, freeze in the cold wind that penetrates everywhere, walk in wet clothes through bushes, reeds, and thick grass. And all this sometimes just to see a hare running loose in the distance.
If you nevertheless decide to engage in such a hunt for hare, study their lifestyle and habits. To do this, read hunting literature, talk with local hunters, study the places of upcoming hunts. You will have to take into account the weather and wind direction.
The hare in each area has its own habits and preferences. But there are also general points of behavior. At the beginning of the hunting season, it is often on arable land or in soft grass on the slopes of ravines and steppe rivers.
On the lower Volga, he took his first hares on arable land, where clumps of grass and tops of vegetable crops were preserved. In the Lviv region - in soft and dry fine plowing. In the Saratov steppes - in unplowed areas and from grass tongues.
Of course, to be successful, you must have the skill of identifying hares in the plowing field. To do this, you should inspect the road bordering it. Rusaks, if there are any here, will use this road several times during the night. This means that with a careful study of the road, soft areas of arable land, roadside dust and dirt, you can find their traces. The more tracks there are in the arable land, the greater the chances of a successful hunt.
It has been noticed that on arable land a hare rarely lies down near the road. Before digging a nest, the hare leaves marks in furrows or unplowed areas. Having made a small loop, the hare lies down with his head towards his mark. Often, when it sees a hunter, it hides and lets him pass.
Having determined the presence of hares in the field, 30-50 meters from the road, start moving against the wind.
It is better to go by shuttle with short stops. When you stop, make a little noise. Sometimes this is enough for a huge mermaid to suddenly appear on a field as clean as a sheet of paper and rush away from you.
In addition to arable land, the hare loves wide forest belts, gentle ravines, abandoned gardens and summer cottages.
In the lower reaches of the Volga, in the first days of the hunt, if it was not possible to raise a hare on arable land, he moved on to irrigation canals.
As a rule, hares in them lie on a sunny slope. You must walk along the sprinkler as carefully as possible, trying not to rustle through dry grass. Then you manage to get quite close to the hare. You have to shoot the rising hares at a distance of about thirty paces.
Until snow cover is established, hunting hares in forest belts is possible. For example, in wide forest belts of the Saratov region, hares often 
they fell off their beds, which were located closer to the edge and near the trunks of large trees. The hare usually let the hunter pass, jumping up behind him and trying to go to the opposite side of the forest belt.
In the unplowed fields of harvested sunflowers and corn, we had to move slowly, with frequent stops. At stops you had to listen to where the animal rustled. It is noticed that the hare also stops for the same purpose.
If there are clumps of grass, reeds or weeds near the fields, they should also be examined.
An incident that happened to my father on one of the hunts remains in my memory. Having examined the field and not picking up a single hare, he went out onto the country road. Nearby there was a nursery fence, and between it and the dirt road there was about half a hectare of weeds. Deciding to take a shortcut, the father walked through the weeds. And in this small area he raised four birds with one stone, one after another.
A hare, if he settles in the forest, is in places that are more or less clean. Always avoids thickets and strongholds. In a continuous forest, a hare can only be found near the edges, clearings, and clearings.
In the autumn, when the bushes are exposed, the hare leaves the bush, but returns with the onset of a thaw.
The hare avoids being in thick grass, reeds, on winter crops in the rain and with heavy dew.
During the first winter, hares fatten exclusively on winter crops or in fields with greenery. Hares rarely lie down in these fields, but, as a rule, they lie down near them.
When the first snow falls, the hare actively sheds its coat, putting on winter clothes. In the south, snow does not last long, and nature plays a cruel joke on it. The animal becomes more visible against the background of the dark earth. It becomes possible to hunt hare, as well as hare, “in the wild”.
During the years of warm autumn and winter in the Saratov steppes, it was possible to hunt hares from the approach. Such hunting on arable land is more effective. Using eight-power army binoculars, I studied the fields from a high place. Sometimes it was possible to spot the hare lying down and even approach for a confident shot.
If a hare lies on the plowed land, then its light gray fur gives it away. If the plowing is deep, then more often the hare lies in the furrow between the clods and is barely noticeable. If there are lonely trees, pillars, bushes, boulders on the field, then he tries to hide next to them.
The author managed to approach the hare while lying down to shoot. Almost until the very last moment there was no certainty that the bright spot on the dark background of the plowing was a hare. In the grass I accidentally came across a hare hiding by a stone. Moreover, the hare allowed him to approach almost closely, breaking away only at the last moment.
Sometimes, by going around the places where hares might have been fattened, it was possible to find a fresh trail. However, he got lost while plowing. In this case, a positive result was achieved using a simple technique.
Having followed the lost trail to the places where it could lie down, I seemed to cover the animal. He walked around a circle of steps 500-600 in diameter, making sure that there were possible lying areas left in the circle. If he did not find an exit trail, then the hare often found himself in a circle. Now the confrontation began. Who will notice who first: the hunter - the hare or vice versa.
You need to be especially careful when frost sets in, because... the sound of frozen grass and the creaking of snow are clearly audible, and the hare jumps off its perch far from the hunter.
But whenever and wherever you hunt a hare along the black trail, do not forget that you need to be constantly on alert, examining the entire space around you at 360°. Remember that a hare rises from a prone position with a jerk, in the wind, and in a matter of moments goes to a safe zone.
If the hare's shot did not stop, then it is necessary to continue monitoring the departing animal. More than once I witnessed that a hare, seemingly unaffected by the shot, fell dead after two or three hundred steps. Therefore, if you believe that the hare is wounded, after a while, continue chasing it. A wounded hare hiding in a ravine, lowland or clump of grass should be pursued, allowing it to lie down for 40 - 60 minutes. Then he lets you close.
Knowing some of its habits helps in chasing a wounded hare along a black trail. Thus, a hare, even when wounded, often, if not disturbed, does not go far from its place of daily residence. To move from one field to another, he uses the narrowest isthmus. A ravine, the slopes of which are covered with bushes and sparse forest, the hare crosses along the cleanest place - along a gentle, wide slope.
A hare, moved from its bed, looks for a quiet place in a ravine, lowland, or irrigation canals. Therefore, if there were many hunters in the grounds, then in the afternoon I tried to avoid such places.
A lot has been written about the equipment of hunters on foot hunts. I agree that high rubber boots are best during autumn and winter thaws. In severe frost - felt boots. You need to dress in warm but light clothing that should not restrict movement.
To hunt a hare, the gun must have a sharp and precise action. It should be brought into line with winter clothing. The gun must fit well into the shoulder, which sometimes requires shortening the stock. Sometimes it is enough to remove the summer gaskets from under the shock absorber.
On the first hunts and in the thickets, you often have to shoot short, so it is better to use shot from the second number to the zero. In the right barrel - “two”, in the left - “zero”. In the wilderness, use shot in a container.
Last winter was warm, and the same is expected this year. Maybe the proposed techniques for hunting hares will be useful here and now. I will be happy about this.
The hare, which is a representative of the genus of hare (hare - hare) is quite large. It differs from the white hare in that it does not turn completely white in winter. The tips of the ears, part of the back and muzzle remain dark. In summer, the brown hare's color is predominantly gray with an admixture of red and brown in various shades. The color on the back is brighter than on the sides, the belly is white.
The body length of hares ranges from 40 to 75 centimeters. Depending on the habitat, it reaches a weight of 3 - 5 kilograms or more; specimens weighing under 7 kilograms are found, but they are rare.
The body of hares is covered with thick fur, which changes 2 times a year. Hares moult in spring and autumn. Autumn molt begins in September. Summer fur changes to lush winter fur, which is lighter (to white) than the old one and hides the animal against the background of snow.
In the absence of snow, early molting makes the hare noticeable against a dark autumn background, especially on arable land
The hare is distributed in the European territory of Russia, Asia Minor, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan. Inhabits open spaces of forest-steppe. In forests it prefers to stay in open places - clearings, edges, where there is more light and more abundant food.
Particularly loved by hares are places where agricultural crops border on copses, ravines, and bushes. In such places you can have a good meal and lie down to rest not far from feeding.
Hares come out to feed at night. Fattening sites can be determined by the abundance of tracks and droppings. Usually, after fattening, hares do not go far to lie down (within 200 - 300 meters).
In winter, hares often come close to populated areas and bodies of water. They occur near roads and gardens, near buildings and in stacks (stored hay or straw).
In rainy weather, beds are found more often in elevated places, where on dry land, and in sunny weather - in lowlands. In winter, it lies down for the day in places protected from the wind. A hare can lie under a bush, a fallen tree, on arable land, in a hole, in thickets of bushes, in a ravine, on stubble (a mown but not plowed field).
A hare in certain places may have some special habits, so before the hunt it’s good to talk with local hunters.
They go hunting along the black trail closer to lunch, when the hare has laid down (calmed down and lies down well). It is better to have clothes that are not flashy in color, merging with the nature of this time. The rubber boots are good; they won’t get wet and your feet won’t get cold when walking.
Initially, when starting a hunt and setting foot in rough terrain, utmost attention is required. Moving slowly, you must constantly carefully examine everything around you at 360 degrees, and be ready to shoot at any moment.
There are many cases when at the very beginning of the field, while the hunter is only thinking about which direction to move, suddenly a hare jumps out from under his feet like a candle and disappears into the forest belt.
Another time, the hare may hide and let the hunter pass by, and then bolt behind his back, or not reveal himself at all.
When hunting, you need to move slowly and with frequent stops. By stopping, shouting or whistling, you can raise a nearby hare from its perch. If the animal does not appear, then carefully examine the area with binoculars, then continue moving.
At the beginning of autumn, the hare often lies down on arable land. The presence of an animal can be determined by tracks on the road near the field boundaries. In dusty areas and soft tillage there will be marks. If there is an animal, it will walk along the road several times during the night, follow, make a loop and lie down. The hare does not lie down near the road, but lies deep in the arable land, in a furrow, near a boulder or hummock, or can lie down near a solitary bush or tree.
Having determined the possible location of the animal, it is necessary to move towards it, keeping against the wind. Hunting collectively, 2-3 hunters at a distance of 50 - 100 meters from each other cover a large area of arable land, and the effectiveness of the hunt increases.
By carefully examining the area, you may find a hare lying down. In this case, quietly and carefully approaching the shot, they hit it right in the “nest”.
The hare has big ears for a reason; he has good hearing. Therefore, you must approach the hare to shoot carefully. You need to step softly, especially in frosty weather, without making squeaks.
Having picked up the hare, and not having time to shoot, you have to wait. The animal can run not far and sit down, looking at who scared it off, and then settle down on a bed next to it. You can still approach such a hare for a shot. But a twice-frightened hare will go far.
Having shot at a hare, even if you are sure that you missed, you need to wait and watch the animal. There were cases when, after a shot, a hare, as if not wounded, fell dead after 200 - 300 steps.
It is better not to immediately pursue a wounded hare. You should wait 40 - 60 minutes. Usually the hare does not go far. Scared from lying down or wounded, it lies down in lowlands, small ravines and hollows, calms down and allows it to come close.
A raised hare breaks into a run very quickly. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the shot, taking into account that the raised hare would be in an open space. You have to shoot right away. Aim at the ears of a running hare if it is moving away from the hunter or ahead of the side. The hare leaves quickly, developing a speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour over a short period.
It’s not a bad idea to take a dog (a small hound) with you when hunting. Keep her nearby on a leash and if you miss, let her follow the trail. The hare leaves a scent trail when running, from the pads of its paws. Running away from the hound, having made a circle, it returns to its lying place.
Hunting with the help of a pair of greyhounds is also interesting. Having missed a shot, all that remains is to watch how tall and slender dogs work in pairs, catching up with the trail and making a “shortcut” ahead of the fleet-footed hare.
But hunting with dogs is another story.
The hunter's equipment is not complicated. A flask of water or a thermos of tea, crackers just in case. The clothing is light, spacious and warm, but most importantly, it should not restrict the hunter’s movements, emit pungent odors and unnecessary noise. The gun is loaded with cartridges containing troika shot, when shooting in open areas, and “zero” shot, when shooting through bushes. In one barrel there is a “zero” or two zeros, in the other - a fraction of 2-3, you can do this.
To ensure good luck, you shouldn’t be distracted by other game once you go after the hare. The main thing is to believe that you will definitely meet “obliquely”, and then you will definitely come home with a trophy if you turn out to be quicker and smarter.
Hare hunting in winter is a very common way for hunters to spend their time. When deciding on such an event, you need to understand that this will not be an easy walk, but a rather long walk through the habitats of the scythe or sitting in ambush for many hours near the animal’s hiding place. If you are ready for this, get ready and go!
Hunting with dogs is generally more productive than hunting without dogs. But if you know the hare’s possible habitats and are patient enough, success is guaranteed. The main methods of hunting a hare are:
- approach hunting;
- hunting by tracking;
- hunting from ambush.
Choosing a place and time to hunt
You need to take a balanced approach to choosing a place to hunt, since the amount of game you harvest will depend on the correctness of your decision. Where hares are often hunted, there are few animals, and they are very careful. In such places you will be incredibly difficult to find even one representative of the family in question. Therefore, choose an area where hares are found, but they are rarely hunted - away from cities and villages, especially hunting ones.
You will be lucky if there is light frost on the day of the hunt; It will rain, after which drops will begin, or simply windless but humid weather will set in. On such days, the hare is easy-going, he cannot sit in one place, he constantly moves, looking for warmer shelter. After all, the sounds of dripping frighten him, and the cold frosty air forces him to move away from his homes.
Favorite places where hares hide can be power poles, plow holes, grass and hollows under fallen trees, a lonely growing bush, or just a pile of branches.
At the same time, remember that there may be several such places, and this complicates the search for an oblique trail. Also be prepared for the hare to jump out from under your feet when you get too close to it. Therefore, keep your weapon ready so you can make an aimed shot.
Hunting a hare from the approach
This method can be used to hunt both in the snow and when there is no snow yet. The most important thing in this case is a large number of hares in a given area, knowledge of possible places for day rest and strong legs.
If you choose a place for hunting where there are few hares, this event risks turning into many hours of wandering through fields, meadows and surrounding forests. And even when there are a lot of them, but the area is very saturated with bushes and weeds, you may simply not notice the animal silently getting up and running away. Therefore, look carefully ahead at the horizon line, do not look out for something slanting under your feet.
The hare lies down for a day's rest only where it feels protected, and approaching danger can be seen from afar. This could be the edge of a ditch overgrown with weeds in the middle of a field, areas untouched by a plow near large stones, supports of high-voltage lines or telegraph poles, a separate bush or a pile of brushwood.
But be prepared for the fact that you will have to walk several kilometers before you lift the hare from its shelter. In addition, the terrain will be difficult: arable land, hummocks, cluttered clearings, etc. And you need to be ready to shoot at any moment - the scythe, as a rule, appears unexpectedly and disappears very quickly.
They hunt both the brown hare and the white hare from the approach. You will be very lucky if winter comes late this year: the snow has not yet fallen, but the hare has already moulted and turned white. And although some of them may be hiding near a birch stump, woodpiles of birch firewood or near other white objects, they are quite easy to spot even from a great distance. Therefore, everything that turns white may turn out to be a hare.
Hunting for a hare in the snow by tracking
It is worth following the trail only in the morning, in the worst case - at night. Sometimes even experienced hunters find it difficult to figure out when traces are left, so they hunt a hare by tracking after powder or heavy drifting snow.
As a rule, at this time only the freshest hare tracks remain in the snow.
So, the powder has fallen, let's go hunting. We must remember that the hare is a cunning animal that will always try to confuse its tracks. He can walk along them in the opposite direction, he can throw himself to the side, he can lead you along a well-worn road for some time, and from there make a jump into the nearest bushes - to where it will be very difficult to find his trace.
In order not to complicate your task, you need to walk not along the trail itself, but nearby, without stepping on it. At the same time, you need to concentrate your gaze not only by looking at your feet, you also need to constantly raise your head and peer into the horizon line. The hare very often, after tangling the trail, returns back and arranges a lie near the places where it passed before. Therefore, do not get so carried away with the process of walking along the trail that you do not notice the oblique one running away from under your nose.
For a successful hunt, you need to look closely at all suitable places for shelter. At the site of the hare's fat, you should not look for any logical explanation for the huge number of tracks, just go around them in a circle and find the trail that comes out. This way you will reduce your search time.
When twos, threes or discounts start appearing along the route, stop and take a closer look at the area. Already somewhere here there may be a beast lying down that is capable of rising at any second. At the same time, he may turn out to be in a completely different direction from your search, and even running away.
As a rule, in warm and windy weather the hare allows the hunter very close to him, but in cold weather he stands far away.
If the animal is slightly frightened or not even shot, it will lie down nearby. Therefore, after letting him rest, you can continue tracking in order to approach the shot.
In late autumn and winter, you can hunt a hare from a blind or a storage shed. In this case, a prerequisite is good knowledge of hunting areas. These are, as a rule, fields of winter crops, poorly harvested farmland, and gardens. Traces of a hare can be seen here not only in winter, but also along the black trail. It is also worth hunting near stacks, haystacks or straw - where there is suitable food for the animal.
Choose a place that will be comfortable for long sitting, as well as good from the point of view of shooting, and set up a storage area there in the evening.
If you are lucky and the night is moonlit, you will be able to get a good look at the approaching prey and make an accurate shot. Although on such a hunt it is often not possible to even see the hare, which passes a few steps away from you. Plus, trees, bushes and uneven ground cast shadows on the ground that can distract your attention and lead to a missed shot.
But still, hunting from ambush is very interesting, especially at first. Most often you will first hear and only then see the approaching scythe. Especially when the leaves and grass on the ground are already frozen and creaking. But at the same time, the hunter himself must maintain absolute silence - the hare will never approach where suspicious sounds are heard.
More often than not, hares are not strong against wounds, but there are exceptions. Therefore, if you are already hunting in the snow and wounded an animal, it makes sense to follow its trail, perhaps the prey is somewhere nearby. For shooting, as a rule, they use shot No. 3, No. 2 or No. 1, less often – No. 4.
Whatever method of winter hare hunting you choose, remember that this animal fulfills its regulatory role in nature. You should not shoot a lot of game, because next year you will want to return to this activity again, and the campaign will only be successful if there are enough animals in the area.
In this article, we will deliberately not consider hare hunting with all kinds of cauldrons and crowded pens - the whole spirit of creative and educational hunting is lost in them, and it turns into a banal clearing of the area. We will talk about individual hunting - this kind of hunting, in our opinion, is one of the most exciting and sporting. In it, you not only have to give your all physically during long treks through “bad lands” and plowing, but also constantly be ready to shoot, without being distracted for a minute from studying the tracks and terrain and unraveling the hare’s tricks. And the hare is no stranger to cunning! What does it cost for them to confuse their tracks! But passion, perseverance and the desire to penetrate the secrets of nature give the hunter a chance for success.
So, the very first and main question: “Well, where to look for this hare?” To answer this, you need to know some basic data about the life of a hare, which will help you navigate in determining the locations of possible hare bedding areas.
The brown hare - it is this subspecies, as the most widespread on the territory of Ukraine, that we will talk about - a native steppe animal. Despite the fact that one of the authors happened to witness the hunting of a female hare weighing 7.5 kg in the Baryshevsky district of the Kiev region, the usual weight of an eared hare does not exceed 5 kg with a body length of up to 70 cm. The hare’s speed data is noteworthy: at a short distance it is capable of developing running speed up to 50 km/h!
If the food supply is in order and there is no disturbance factor, then the hare is a strictly territorial animal, and the border of the habitat of one individual is approximately 20-50 hectares. Scythe - an inhabitant of open areas; and although it can spend the day in dense and vast thickets and plantings, it usually goes out into open spaces to feed at night. It should also be taken into account that if there are field roads in the feeding and bedding areas, the hare almost always moves along them.
It must be taken into account that in ensuring the safety of a hare, hearing plays the main role, then vision and, finally, smell. The behavior of the hare is greatly influenced by weather conditions. He usually chooses the place for his days depending on the presence or absence of precipitation, wind and its strength, snow cover, and air temperature. And the place of lying down is taking into account the possibility of abruptly breaking away from pursuit, that is, he should always have free space for a quick escape “from a low start.”
Never underestimate a hare’s ability to lay out beds, confuse its tracks, and quietly elude a hunter following its trail. Believe me, during our hunting career, how many times have we stood by a still warm hare bed and marveled at how this little animal could plan everything so well as to leave without even being noticed by an experienced hunter.
Black trail hunting
Many consider hare hunting along the black trail to be an unpromising and tiring activity. We do not agree with this opinion. First: blacktrope usually occurs at the beginning of the season, when there are still many young, inexperienced hares. They are usually easier to find than the "professors" who survived the previous season. Second: the hare along the black trail is not so “strict” and usually more often allows the hunter to take a confident shot.
The first thing to start hunting for a hare along a black trail is to determine the presence of an animal in a given area. Despite the lack of snow, this is quite easy to do. The fact is that the hare loves to walk along field roads. If there are no roads nearby, you should look for traces in the food fields. The hare prefers to feed on winter, plowed and disced fields with little greenery. Traces in such fields should be looked for on bald patches without vegetation, no further than a hundred meters from the edge of the field. Particular attention should be paid to small hills where the hare likes to run out to look around and listen while feeding. In the conditions of the black trail, the hunter’s talent as a tracker is fully revealed. Often, on black soil, traces of a hare can be detected only by the characteristic scratches left by its claws. The tracks of a hare are easily distinguished from fox tracks by the fact that the front claws are located not on the same transverse line, but slightly obliquely. The hare's paw pads are heavily pubescent, so the track is more blurred than that of a fox. Well, having seen the peculiar positioning of the hare’s paws when jumping, it is no longer possible to make a mistake. The presence of a hare is also indicated by the droppings it leaves - gray-green round pellets with a diameter of about eight millimeters. Fresh droppings are usually shiny and brighter in color, while old droppings are more grayish and weathered. Most often, the hare leaves droppings either directly at the feeding site, or near the places where it lies.
Once it has been determined that a hare is feeding in a given field and the tracks are fresh, we can consider that a quarter of the work is done. Look around carefully. The hare along the black trail rarely goes more than a couple of kilometers from the food field. Now you need to look for a place to lie. The weather will be a clue. In calm, dry weather, the hare chooses a daytime site in a more open area - fields overgrown with short grass, deep plowing along the outskirts of fields, forest belts. In damp, windy weather, the hare tries to hide in clumps of thick tall grass, sedge, raspberry and blackberry bushes in the copses. In this case, it rises literally from under your feet. If there are valleys in the food field overgrown with thick grass, sedge or willow, they should also be checked. When there is little hunting pressure or at the beginning of the season, the hare prefers to lie down in such valleys, without making large transitions from the feeding area. Particular attention should be paid to such valleys immediately after heavy rains. At such times, it is difficult for the hare to run through muddy fields, and he concentrates in such places.
Hunting pressure significantly influences the hare's bedding area. If at the beginning of the season the hare lies down not far from the food fields, then after a month he already goes a couple of kilometers into “bad lands” overgrown with weeds, swamps, and forest thicket. Moreover, this factor of anxiety begins to influence him so much that the hare lies in uncharacteristic and inconvenient places for him - as long as they don’t touch him.
It was mid-December. The winter turned out to be snowless, and there was no opportunity to kill the hare. Around one field with a winter field, on which there were many traces of a scythe, we combed all suitable places. And not only us - other companies also tried to raise the hare to no avail. All that remained was to check the map of the peat bog, densely overgrown with tall weeds and sedges. It was separated from the winter crops by a wide deep canal. In general, it’s hard to imagine a more unsuitable place for a hare to spend the day. But, having walked through these thickets no more than two hundred meters, we, a company of three people, raised three hare. The hare preferred to swim across the channel and lie down in solid thickets, just to avoid being in places where it had been disturbed since the beginning of the season.
As a classic example of black trail hunting, the following description can be given:
At the edge of the plowed field we saw the footprint of a hare. The trail was straight and headed towards a small copse adjacent to a heavily overgrown clearing. On the road passing under the coppice, just two scratches from the hare's claws were used to determine where the hare had entered the coppice. Given the wet and windy weather, we checked the dense raspberry bushes and the tops of broken pines in the copse. There was no hare. This means that the only option is cutting down. A hare is unlikely to lie down in the depths of the clearing, since it is all densely overgrown with raspberries and blackberries. But on the corner there was an island of tall and thick dry grass. Only one of us stepped into it when a molted hare burst out from under our feet.
It is important to talk about how to walk when hunting along the black trail. During this period, the hare lies very tightly, and very often the hunter, passing promising places straight and quickly, simply does not drive the hare out to be shot. The hunter's move should be slow and zigzag. It is useful to stop more often - at this moment the hare thinks that he has been discovered and breaks away from his bed. It should be remembered: in order to lift a hare along the black path, you need to literally step on it. Also, when “trampling”, you should listen to rustling sounds: the hare is trying to get away from the hunter when he turns his back.
The two of them decided to comb a small valley, densely overgrown with reeds and willows. This valley was in the middle of a field sown with winter crops. The expectation was that the hare would lie down in this valley, since the weather was damp and there was mud on the winter soil. Having already walked around the thickets of reeds on both sides, my friend and I agreed on a small tongue of tall sedge. We stood and talked. At that moment there was no more than five meters between us. When I took two steps towards my friend, the sedge literally exploded right under the toe of my boot! The Rusak lay there until I touched him with my foot!
With snow falling
When snow falls, tactics change radically. The hare, obviously, understands perfectly well that he is leaving a trail in the snow by which he can be found, so he chooses more open places for lying down, from where he can notice someone following his trail; he also becomes much stricter and often rises as soon as he sees a hunter - especially in frosty weather. Only during thaws can an animal hide in dense vegetation and allow it to come close to itself. But snow is an obvious plus for a hunter; now it is possible to follow the scent of a hare. Tracking is a fascinating activity that allows the hunter to grow as a pathfinder and discover the most secret things in the life of nature.
Immediately after heavy snowfall, the hare prefers not to go out - he is afraid to leave his mark. Sometimes he continues to sit in one place for up to three days. At most, it can feed on a patch with a diameter of ten to twenty meters. Having found such a place, you need to immediately be prepared to raise the hare. Also at this time there is a chance to catch hares that have constantly left the hunter before - of course, if the hunter is sure that the scythe has not changed the place of his days. The fact is that in such weather the hare lies “tightly” and lets the hunter close - in the hope that the danger will go away and he will not have to get up and lay his trail in the fresh snow. In this case, the hunter simply goes straight to the familiar place where the hare left before and picks it up.
It snowed heavily all Saturday, and the same snowfall continued on Sunday morning. I no longer had the strength to stay at home, and I decided to go hunting. I finally wanted to outwit one “professor” who left me three times. The hare kept passing through the mane of reeds and laying down behind it in a large hummock; As soon as I tried to follow the trail through the reeds, the hare got up and walked away invisible. Due to the frosty weather, the approach from the side of the hummock also did not solve anything - the cunning hare, clinging to the ground between the hummocks, went beyond the shot range. This time, as soon as I approached the hummocks in the fresh snow, the hare got up from his bed. He could no longer hide behind the bumps covered with snow, and the shot put an end to our competition...
Tracking should begin from the boundaries of the feeding field. Don't waste time on tracks entering the feeding field. The trail going to the prone is different in that it is straight, the hare's jumps are short. The trail often contains pellets of droppings. When approaching the place of the day, the hare begins to sit down more often to listen to the situation around him. Then he begins to confuse the trail, doing this with the help of doubles, discounts and loops. A doubling is when the hare retraces its tracks. Discount - a hare jumps from its trail to the side (the length of the jump can sometimes reach three to five meters). He usually makes a discount from the place where he has already made a deuce. Many hares, in addition to doubles and discounts, also make loops - running around a circle, which at one of the points intersects with the doubles. Having confused the tracks in this way, the hare makes several large leaps to his favorite place and lies down for the day. The hunter must always remember that if he has reached doubles and discounts, then he is already in the range of visibility or hearing of the hare. Actually, the hare arranges this “gimmick” in order to be able to see and hear his pursuer, who is busy unraveling the intricacies of the tracks. Therefore, it is very important to learn to follow the rabbit’s tracks, noticing in advance all the rabbit’s tricks in the form of discounts and doubles. While tracking, you should carefully monitor your surroundings in order to see the rising hare in time. Figuratively speaking, at this moment the hunter’s eyes should work 360 degrees. After all, the hare is also watching you and chooses the moment when the hunter turns away, going in a false circle. It is at this moment that the cunning one usually leaves his bed - and quietly and unnoticed. He will only break down abruptly if he realizes that he has been detected. So you need to accustom yourself to walking next to the trail while tracking, under no circumstances trampling it, and constantly “scan” the area around you within a radius of fifty meters.
It is much easier to trail with two or three people. In this case, the most experienced hunter in the wisdom of the hare is the one who tropes. The second one walks nearby at this time and carefully monitors the surrounding situation. But often even the cover of a colleague does not help, and the hare leaves safely for himself. Despite the first failure, you need to continue the hunt. In our company we call this method “circle hunting.” Almost everyone knows that a hare, when escaping from being chased, tries to go in circles. He does this in order to completely confuse his pursuer by following his old tracks in a circle. This is the basis of the hunting method. After the hare is driven away from the resting place, one hunter quickly returns to the place where the hare laid the first discounts, going for the day, and the second hunter begins to follow the rutting trail. This method is good for use on rough terrain; in large open spaces it is usually ineffective.
Often large areas of weeds and copses do not allow the hare to be tracked. A hare in such an area almost always manages to leave quietly and unnoticed. In this case, our method also works, but one hunter stands on hare discounts or trails in advance - even before the hare rises. If you have experience in such terrain - already knowing the ways for the hare to escape from the thickets or copse - one hunter, trying not to make noise, takes a place on the “number”, and the second begins to comb the thickets. The hare, as a rule, tries to use already proven escape routes.
A very experienced hare was constantly hanging out in a small copse. We knew exactly in which bush he was lying down, but all attempts to approach him for a shot ended the same way: the hare left quietly and unnoticed. Based on the snow, we finally quickly determined which way it was leaving us, and the next time we placed a number at this place. We didn’t have time to walk twenty meters through the copse when a shot rang out at the other end of the forest. The sly man was captured.
In winter, when fresh powder does not fall for a long time, it is very difficult to understand the many tracks of hare trails, and when trying to track a hare, even an experienced tracker falls off the trail, and the hare almost always leaves. In this case, combing promising places with a “ledge” is very helpful. This method is used in dense and long tracts of weeds and wide forest belts. To do this, it is best to hunt in threes: one hunter combs the places where the hare is most likely to lie, while the second one walks quietly ahead, from the direction where the hare is most likely to exit. The third hunter can position himself on the number.
The hare has one more trick. He approaches a solid wall of reeds and enters it. If it is just a narrow mane, he will most likely lie behind it in order to escape unnoticed at the moment when you are about to follow the trail through the reeds. But if this is a continuous massif, then rest assured that the hare lies no further than twenty meters at the edge of the reeds. As soon as you go deep into the thicket, the hare will rise up behind you and go unnoticed. If the hunter is alone, you can use the following trick: go a couple of meters into the reeds and immediately quickly run back. In this way, it was possible to catch a hare more than once.
A beast that is tough to wound
It is imperative to talk about the behavior of the hare after the shot. Even if you are sure that you missed, be sure to follow its trail for at least 200-300 m. A wounded hare may not immediately bleed. Pay attention to how he runs after the shot, whether the arrow fluff remains in place. If there is even the slightest sign of injury, use every opportunity to get the hare. From many years of experience, I can say that out of every ten hares taken, at least three were captured or found far from the arrow site.
Hunting together, we picked up the hare and shot at him. There was no blood on the trail, only a few fluffs of hare fluff remained. The hare himself, without showing any signs of injury, ran across an open field for at least half a kilometer and disappeared into a field overgrown with thick grass and weeds. There was practically no chance of getting there along the black path. But we were in no hurry to leave. The fact is that several crows were circling over this field. Here one croaked and dived down. There are three more behind him. It was they who noticed the wounded hare. Watching all this through binoculars, we saw that the crows first chased the hare away a little, then began to circle and even sit down in one place. Quietly walking around this place on both sides, we were able to get the hare. He could barely move anymore and would probably have been wasted.
This episode also clearly demonstrates how multifaceted and exciting hare hunting is and how important it is to be observant.
A little about equipment
First of all, attention should be paid to high-quality shoes that are suitable for hunting conditions. Many people have their own preferences, but it is an axiom that shoes should be as comfortable as possible, light and moisture-proof. Clothing should be light, not rustling and well protected from bad weather. The best choice would be suits made of membrane fabric. Binoculars or a monocular will come in handy on such a hunt - often in open spaces it is necessary to trace where the shot hare ran. It’s better to go hunting with a small backpack in which you can carry a thermos, and if you’re lucky, a hare, having previously packed it in a plastic bag.
For such a hunt, it is better to take two types of cartridges - wide scree (for shooting up to 35 m) and heaped sharp (for shots at a distance of up to 50 m). They should be used depending on hunting conditions and terrain.
For example, in a grass stand, where a risen hare can be seen up to a maximum of 20-30, a heaped cartridge will most likely only severely break the carcass or miss you. But in frosty weather, when the hare rises no closer than 30-40 m, only long-range cartridges should be used. In any case, shot should not be used less than No. 3 and more than No. 0. Otherwise, the equipment is no different from any other hunting.
Try at least once to go after the eggs alone or together with a friend and outplay the long-eared cunning one. We are sure that such a hunt will leave an unforgettable impression!
Jun 19, 2012 O&O
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