On hare tracks
Long time ago, rifle salvos on duck-dawns died down, and the battered brethren moved together towards the south. Fritters have restrained their ardor and are less likely to respond to your decoy. Dusted off the forest, brightened and seen in all directions. “Autumn cold has died, – as Alexander Sergeevich wrote, – the road freezes through, murmuring, another runs along the stream mill …”
Pre-winter You can still have time to take a walk in the gray forest in search of molted little whitetails, hunt them in a narrow, before the white flies fly. The first porosity is about to fall, and the time comes for one of my favorite hunts — the hare tropping. I began to study the forest book, having read Bianchi in early childhood. Ran back to school, changed clothes and fled into the woods, since he was on the outskirts. Zaitsev at that time was enough in the Moscow region, so finding a night malik was not too difficult. Even from the school bus window, I looked out for them on the edge of the curb and, having thrown the textbooks, ran there headlong.
The first task that the young tracker set for himself was to find a bench. By the way, my father, a true horseman, every weekend took me into the woods to hunt, so I was familiar with the object of hunting from the cradle. I understood the tracks, but I wanted to learn how to read them, I wanted to be independent in this matter. What to conceal, the enthusiasm of this event bursting at me from the inside. Having unraveled all the tricks of the white hare, and finally, having reached the cooling thawed patch left by the long-eared, joyful returned home, putting some conclusions in his head. Over time, there was a natural desire to see the animal itself. For a long time it was not possible to accomplish this, there was not enough experience, but I persistently continued to follow the tracks, analyzing my mistakes.
The first self-draped white hawk securely embedded in my memory, and the picture is in front of my eyes. Having had a quick lunch and armed with a thick, heavy electrode, I dissolved in the winter forest. At a small stream, called the local Zhmuchka, caught on the sledok who drove me for a long time, confused me on country paths, circled and looped over the low forest until it broke off at the edge of the old cut of a dry fallen spruce. The needles have long crumbled, and I easily looked through the space behind the crown. No trace left. That’s where it is – hunting happiness.
Heart pounding, tearing out of my chest. Thrown up by a spring of fear, a large white hawk pulled out from under that very bald head as soon as I shook the butt with my foot. The hare, bouncing a couple of meters away, froze, crouching for a second: assess the situation and the direction of the threat. He clearly did not see me. Sits back to me, shears ears. With a whistle, cutting the air, the electrode slammed into the frozen ground some centimeters from the target. The scythe in two jumps disappeared from view. Despite the unfortunate blunder, my joy knew no bounds, because I reached the main goal, which I had been walking for so long. With a cry of Chingachguk, I saw off my fleeing white dream. About each hare, naturally, told his father, shared with him experienced emotions. My father with an autumnal Russian piebald dog named Fagot dealt with my hares at a time.
So, successful hunting by tracing, of course, requires a certain experience. In my case, the basics were given by the father, and the subtleties were perfected by regular exits. The conclusion suggests itself: you need to be more often in the fields. Well, if there is a more experienced mentor who tells, will direct, but if there is no such thing, it doesn’t matter: there would be a desire. Now there is no problem with theory, the Internet will tell you, YouTube will show, and winter walks will improve health. All the benefits than to stay at home in front of the TV. In my opinion, hare hare trail easier. He is a lover of open spaces. Open fields, indented plantings, overgrown edges of gardens and villages, garden plots are his favorite places.
I have a long tradition. On New Year’s holidays, every year I go with a friend to the Yaroslavl Region. See a long-time friend and have fun finding and trailing the hare. Places there are interesting. Scattered old villages, fields mixed with woods. In open places, the trail is visible far ahead, and if there is no ground drifting, in the direction of its course one can foresee possible places of lying. There are cases when the trail found is the beginning of the hare’s night adventures. On a frosty night, a scythe walks a lot, then you get to the lodge by the end of the light day, but sometimes it happens the other way around. You stumble upon a “dvoechku”, here it is – a discount, and a curly hare blows out, as if from the ground, breaking the snow. Lucky.
Belyak – a resident of forests. It rarely lies in open places, and it is not easy to see it, especially in our cluttered Moscow region forests. It is one thing when fresh powder fell out on the eve of the hunt, which facilitates tracking, and another thing is a hunt for multiple results. The hare fills the whole paths, and only an experienced look can distinguish the “zamylenny” trail from the fresh. On such days, increased attention and developed lateral vision is required, and a faithful friend is better, who will insure you and take an exact white-hare broken from a bed.
