How to hunt a hare along the black trail. Winter methods of hunting hare: from the approach, from ambush and by tracking
To hunt on start around from mid-autumn and continue until the end. Many regions of the Russian Federation allow you to start fishing long before snow falls.
Of course, tracking is carried out with hounds, because without these four-legged helpers achieving results will not be easy. But unfortunately, not every hunter has dogs, but he still wants to get a trophy.
This article will allow you to learn some of the intricacies of the process without a four-legged friend.
Most often they hunt along the black trail with an approach, since this the method is very effective. They start before the snow falls. To maximize success, it is important to remember the following factors:
Animal habits;
Days of the big-eared;
It is important that there are a sufficient number of hares in the hunting grounds;
It is necessary that the hunter can walk up to 30 kilometers at a time.
As soon as the hare is about to go for the day, the animal chooses the conditions where it will be able to remain invisible to the hunter's eyes or various predators. That is why you need to look for it near small bushes, in a field, near thickets of grass, as well as all kinds of piles of brushwood.
You should not think that in each of these places an animal will be waiting for you. It is important to know where the future trophy rests during the day, because the success of the event depends on it.
It is best to choose calm days, because this is the time that is most effective. In such weather, hares are more willing to “get up” and move around the area.
Another important point: It has long been noted that fishing in the rain is often productive. The animal does not like it when drops fall on it, so it tries to avoid thickets and goes for a walk in the open during the day.
Habitats of hares
Uncultivated land (fields) - great area, to search for the beast. The difficulty is that the hunter does not have the most complete view, but the hare has many chances to hide and go unnoticed.
Since the fields in Russia are large, it is important to have an idea of how best to walk through it, so as not to leave unexplored territory, we recommend walking "shuttle".
The edges of fields are favorite places where hares usually lie down. After all, you can easily hide in the forest in case of danger. Less often, but you can also meet a “slanting” one in an already plowed field, lying on the ground.
Outskirts of villages and agricultural buildings
In autumn you can start your search from the outskirts of populated areas or villages. There are many abandoned or rarely used buildings there. These conditions are quiet and calm, allowing the animal to often visit them without being noticed, despite the fact that there is always something to eat there.
The main reasons for its attractiveness:
The animal is not frightened, it is difficult to rise;
There are a lot of thickets, buildings and various bushes. This complicates the view and helps the animal.
If you know the area well enough, then you have a rough idea of the number of animals nearby, because this can easily be determined using tracks.
Knowing the area is 80% of success. For example, if you decide to hunt near a pasture, then a lot of food usually accumulates there, which means rodents will come there to feed, including our desired fur-bearing animal.
With this type of mining, the first thing you need to do is analyze the surrounding area. Your task is to find possible places of presence that are able to hide the cautious hare and provide him with food.
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The first animal that I took on my own was the brown hare. Before that, I went hunting for hares with the hounds, but to no avail, since one of the experienced ones was sure to become more successful and take the scythe. Disappointed, I left the hounds and began to follow the tracks of the hare. This is an extremely interesting activity, and even more so for me: after all, this is where I finally achieved success.
In southern places where the snow is not constant, you mostly have to walk to hunt hare along the black trail. Success comes to those who know the way of life and habits of Russians.
Hunting a hare with a cauldron
Most common in the south of the country group hunt for a hare - with a cauldron, in which hunters line up in a horseshoe and comb the land, choosing a certain direction. It would seem simple, but this simplicity is only apparent: one brigade returns with the fulfilled quota, the other - light. Much here depends on the leader. How he will lead the group and how the hunting participants will follow his instructions. With an inexperienced foreman, people scatter, get lost and sometimes meet only on the next hunt; A thick hubbub hangs over the field, and the frightened hares safely leave.
Once, while hunting for a hare in a brigade that was permanent from year to year, the toastmaster was unable to go, so a well-respected shooter was chosen as the leader. On rough terrain, his chain broke in two, each half moving independently. Only the driven part arrived at the appointed place, and the second part was found with difficulty, driving around the area on a rented bus.
There are different opinions Who should a shooter stick to when hunting a hare with a cauldron?- front or back neighbor in the team. Taking into account what has been said, we can answer unequivocally - only the rear one. In this case, the team will not fall apart and will behave as a single whole even in the most difficult conditions - on rough terrain or in fog. Consequently, the move of the brigade is determined by the person who is in the center of the horseshoe - locally in the “motna”.
It is ideal if the team consists of people with the same physical characteristics and relevant experience. Then where to go is decided by lot. Since the places in the horseshoe are unequal, they agree to make a shift every half hour to an hour during the hunt for a hare with a cauldron, during which the flankers go inside the cauldron, then stand in the center of the chain. If there are elderly people in the team, then usually the most experienced of them is assigned to permanent duty. He sets the speed of the brigade, maintains order and facilitates the transmission of commands along the chain.
When hunting a hare using a black trail, it happens like this: people line up wherever they like, and go without any changes throughout the hunt, and the best shooters are given more promising places, because as soon as the norm is met (one hare per gun), the hunt stops.
Complex maneuvers such as turning 90° are not performed in a large team. Usually, at places where the route changes, a gathering is carried out, for which the flanks close, forming a ring, and wait for the movement to approach, then the brigade is deployed in a new direction, and landmarks are indicated to the flanks. People are collected even if things go badly wrong and it is impossible to restore order with the help of commands.
Any participant can pick up a hare and, if the animal is not captured, they usually shout:"Hop, hop, hold on!" Having heard shots or screams repeated along the chain, you must immediately lie down, preferably behind a bush, stone, tubercle or in a furrow and wait patiently without moving. Newcomers get tired of lying in the dark, and they begin to fidget, getting up, looking around; in this case, the hare notices them earlier and turns away to others or leaves the cauldron altogether. If the hare leaves, you still have to lie down: he often turns back.
Once, at the close of the hunt, when the hares were already especially learned, an older man with poor eyesight and unquestionable self-esteem stood in front of me; if he did not see the hare, then no “Gop-hop” or “Hold!” They couldn't get him down on the ground. When everyone was lying down, he stuck out on the field like a black oak and reliably scared off the obliques from a good half of the shooters: the hunt was ruined.
It happens that a person has passed an hour and is unlucky. In this case, some begin to cheat, fall behind, making a second move, or, on the contrary, climb inside the cauldron and cut off the one coming from behind, taking away all his chances. In these cases, the leader transmits along the chain: “Return to your place.”
The cunning ones are especially unpleasant when hunting a hare with a cauldron., who try by all means to intercept the beast or direct it towards a companion. Once, in a prefabricated brigade, I found myself among such daredevils. At that time, production was not rationed, and everyone could kill as much as they could carry. So, on this day the hare came towards me unusually often, but about 100 meters away it suddenly turned left or right and got to the neighbors. Once again I began to watch not the animal, but my neighbor. It turned out that at the right moment he moved his leg, which was enough for the oblique to see and turn away.
Considering that the hare has keen eyesight, it is necessary to lie dead until it runs for the right shot. Even wounded, he pays attention to minor movements. Once a badly beaten wounded animal was coming at me from the opposite flank, I lay down poorly and, in order to get more comfortable, I fidgeted slightly - my neighbor had to finish off the hare...
The old hare quite often sits in the cauldron and “counts” the hunters; finally, having chosen the largest gap between the arrows, he walks with a “whistle”, exactly in the middle, and in most cases leaves safely. Therefore, it is necessary to keep a distance of no more than 60-70 m. It must be said that 40-45 m is a considerable distance, so in such cases they carry out a surge, which should be regarded as a sign of culture. During a surge, one hunter gets up and turns the animal on his neighbor. If both hunters rise, the hare will walk exactly in the middle, or turn back.
In recent years in Ukraine, cauldron hare hunting teams have been limited to five members. On the first hunts, when the hare is not yet frightened, this did not particularly affect the results, but then, when the lashed animals rise behind the shot, such a small team will not get anything and people, looking for a way out of the situation, stretch 150-200 m from each other . In this regard, many hares escape through the chain and, what is most unpleasant, shooting begins at huge distances, many wounded animals appear.
Considering the fact that the shooting of hares is strictly regulated, it would be justified from all sides to allow teams of 11-15 people, especially since there would certainly be fewer cases of petty poaching in the world.
Even a large team does not guarantee success hare hunting along the black trail. Much depends on the presenter, who must take into account the specific weather, wind direction and agricultural map of the area. In the morning, when there is no rutting animal, it is necessary to start the hunt from a reliable place, so before starting you should determine where the hare is lying today.
Where to hunt a hare
Most often the hare lies down on the arable land. And in the winter - often, but not always, he especially avoids it and other grasses during rain or dew. In this connection, experienced hunters, before deploying a brigade, enter the sowing and if their boots become wet, they will never start with it, because in the rarest cases the hare will lie down among the dense wet vegetation. With today's huge acreage under cultivation, two or three hours lost in the morning can have a noticeable impact on the team's results.
In addition to arable land, the hare loves vineyards, collective farm gardens, wide forest belts and forests; however, in the latter, hunting is generally prohibited.
Big vineyard It is more profitable to take it across the rows along roads laid for ease of processing and harvesting. In this case, the brigade lines up with a slight bend inward, the arrows walk slowly, tapping with a stick on the wire stretched between the posts. The hare, as a rule, goes along the rows and bumps into neighbors. If you take a vineyard along the trellises, then the hare can leave the horseshoe, and from the rise it can hide in the next row.
In unharvested corn they go with a slightly greater bend than in the vineyard, in a thick chain. They walk slowly, with frequent stops, during which you need to listen and determine where the animal is rustling. By the way, the hare also stops and determines where the hunters walking without stopping are rustling dry leaves - and moves away from them. Here you have to shoot short, so it is advisable to change the cartridges to loose ones.
Once I “pulled” the most ungrateful, windward flank of a large brigade. Approaching the vineyard, the team lined up accordingly in the hope of rich prey, but there were no hares in it, although a dozen and a half animals were scared away here on the previous hunt. Then I climbed about 200 meters onto the slope, and one after another I scared away five hare. Three of them went downwind to the left flank and were taken.
When choosing hare hunting route along the black trail The brigade must take into account one more feature of the animals: they prefer to escape from pursuit downwind. Thus, the worst path for a brigade is downwind, and the best path is against the wind. In the latter case, they often hit the hare from the rise. Well, if there is no other way than across the wind, then you first need to choose a direction, and then cast lots, which will save you from arguing with cunning people and from replaying the final destination. The following compromise can also be reached: the brigade goes in one direction for half a day, then returns on a parallel course, so that both flanks will be on the leeward side for half a day.
How to hunt a hare in a brigade
How to go in a brigade? Fast or slow, straight or zigzag? It turns out that performance largely depends on this. Immediately after the Great Patriotic War, there were so many hares that special teams killed 50-100 of them per week. A year later, the number of animals had noticeably decreased, but still I had to shoot at least a dozen hare a day. However, there were “unlucky” people who, even with such an abundance of game, shot one or two birds with one stone per day.
I began to take a closer look at the gallant reserve captain Ivan Zadorozhny and soon became friends with him, despite the large age difference. He was distinguished by his sharp mind, observation, military bearing, walked honestly in the brigade, dressed in a military jacket or padded jacket and always put on an officer’s cap. And he was an excellent shooter. When others had one or three birds with one stone, up to a dozen were dangling on him and, despite the burden, he was straight, as if he had swallowed a yard, and remained extremely attentive.
He walked in a zigzag, with variable speed and short stops, after which he began to move with a slight whine. Most often, the hare jumped up after this. The captain's head was constantly spinning like a locator; the Russians rarely went unnoticed.
The loser usually trudged along in the chain with a sour look, staring at his feet and, quite naturally, the hares let him through and jumped out in front of the lucky ones walking behind.
How to shoot a running hare?
Some people shoot while lying on their stomachs, but such a shot can only be effective in a purely “frontal” version; with a side shot, there will be no leash; huge leads will be required, which are difficult to calculate. It’s better to grab yourself under the knee, or even better - on your feet. From a distance you can see how the hare gives in, and it would seem that he is already in the distance, but he rolls after a successful hit.
Hunting a hare alone
A place for hunting alone, it is better to look for the approach in advance. You should make sure that there are hares in the field today. To do this, it is necessary to inspect the bordering road, since the hare will use it several times during the night, and thus sign on the dust or dirt in his presence. Naturally, the more traces, the greater the chances. Fields along which real trails have been compacted are especially promising. On arable land, a hare rarely lies down near the road; before digging up the bed, it will leave marks in the furrows or on unplowed blemishes. By controlling the tracks, you can start moving against the wind with a shuttle 100-200 m from the road, stopping and darting. At the same time, you need to be constantly on alert and try to look around 360° more often, because as soon as the hunter shows the back of his head, the hare is picked up, and by the time the klutz turns around again, the scythe is already out of range!
It is necessary to clearly distinguish the elongated tracks of the hind and front paws of a hare from the rounded tracks of predators. For beginners, it is better to walk through this educational program in the snow, with a complete, clear picture. You need to be especially careful in overgrown areas. The raised hare seems to sit down on them, press his ears and, half-bent, tries to go unnoticed.
By the end of the season, most of the surviving hares become so trained that they run, seeing chains of hunters, from field to field, but in the afternoon they get tired of this: some just sit on the hills, others hide in ravines, in large gardens, in vineyards , in forests, wide forest belts. It is these healds that you should pay attention to.
True, there is nothing for a single person to do in a collective farm garden: as tracking through the snow showed, the rutting hare walks in circles and does not let you get close. But there is hope in the vineyard. One evening, my friend and I approached a small vineyard. Moving along the windward road, we found the tracks of two rutting hares and, using binoculars, located them, examining every suspicious spot. It was pointless to go directly to the waking animals or make a corral: it was unknown where they would run, and by that time it was already evening. We acted unconventionally: we carefully noticed the place where the nearest hare was, entered from the side, counted the required number of cross roads and began to hide it along a certain road, hiding behind the trellises of the vine. On one of the rows, a hare looking around in a column was literally nearby and was captured cleanly. Half an hour later the second one was mined in the same way.
Hare hunting rifle
To hunt a hare, it is advisable to have a sharp and accurate gun. However, on the first hunts and in the thickets you often have to shoot short. You can get out of the situation by loading different cartridges. I had to kill hares with all numbers of shot - from snipe to buckshot, but it is more rational to use fairly large numbers. At one time I used shot No. 3 (3.5 mm) for the first shot, then No. 2 (3.75), then No. 1 (4.0 mm). At this time, given that 4.25mm shot (No. 0) is the consensus shot for a millimeter choke, I have switched to that number. The zero is also a good choice for foxes, so its use as a universal one for winter hunting is justified in all cases. My semi-automatic usually has 1-2 loose rounds, the rest are standard (heap and extra heap).
Is the hare strong against a wound?
Based on observations, we can say affirmatively - yes! Therefore, if it seemed that the animal was missed, then you still need to watch it, preferably with binoculars, until it disappears from view. I had many cases when a hare, after running up to a kilometer, fell dead, and there were many annoying episodes when others picked up my prey without shooting, and I returned empty.
On the first hunts in the steppes, I had to kill a hare, but he, without slowing down, rushed out of the cauldron. My neighbor on the flank shouted: “Go, get the hare!”, which I took as a mockery. Then the neighbor shouted again: “Look, look!” I turned and saw that the huge Russian, having run about 150 meters, jumped up and froze on the ground. At the rest, I asked my neighbor how he knew that I was hit. He replied that after the first shot, fountains of dust rose up around the animal, and at the same time he shivered and moved his ears. What was my surprise when it turned out that the heart was this one. The hare was pierced right through by three No. 1 pellets, not counting several hits on the sternum.
There was such a thing. In a small swamp near the village of Klimshchina, in the Smolensk region, I noticed footprints, and then a double. The hare walked tolerably well in this weather. It was necessary to shoot it with a particularly accurate cartridge (No. 0) for a clean shot. From multiple hits, the animal literally exploded into a mass of fluff, but still tried to crawl forward. “I broke it badly,” I decided. I put the semi-automatic safety on and hung it on my shoulder, and the hare crawled faster and faster... I, as luck would have it, got stuck in the powdery snow of the swamp, and by that time the hare had already reached the crust and hobbled, leaving only drops of blood on it; soon they too disappeared. I took up the gun, but it was too late... With great difficulty, only the next day, with the help of dogs, I managed to find and capture the wounded animal. There were at least 40 pellets in it, the ears were a sieve, the right buttock was a mess, and the bone was intact, and if I had not taken it, apparently this hare would have survived; At night he fed in an overgrown stream, and the next day he ran briskly! From the above it follows that you must approach a beaten hare quickly and be ready all the time.
How can hunters divide one hare?
Often a hare, shot by two hunters, runs a fair distance and falls. Both rush as fast as they can towards him and sometimes a verbal altercation and even a fight begin, in the heat of the moment they threaten each other with guns. At the same time, the one who shot closer (or very close) especially insists, which, by the way, rather indicates the opposite, not in his favor, because it is very difficult to short-circuit hit the target with one or two pellets.
So whose hare is it? According to Buturlin - the one who stopped, but who is the lucky one here? In this case, you need to calmly, without emotion, examine the sides of the animal. The fact is that shot extremely rarely pierces the animal through and through; usually it gets stuck in the carcass or on the opposite side under the skin, and a bruise forms at the entrance hole. Which side the spot is on is the hare. However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that both hit, then the decision is to hit the killer spot. All these are exceptions, but in general Buturlin is right: whoever stopped him is the beast.
By the way, about controversy. They don't lead to anything good. One loser spent the whole hunt groundlessly challenging his neighbor for his kill. In the evening at the station, he finally brought the unfortunate man to his knees, the guy with a hysterical “Choke” shook the slant out of his backpack straight onto the floor, but before he had time to roar even a fraction of what he thought about this, like a shell-shocked animal that had unexpectedly received freedom , sat down, shook himself off, jumped among the benches to the screams of women and the Zaporozhye laughter of hunters, hit the door - and there he was!
When hunting a hare with a small group or alone, a polite dog of any breed is very useful.: first of all, she gets the wounded animal, but what is important is that the hare is afraid of her, hides and more often allows her to shoot. Often the dog finds the oblique by looking at the night light and shoots. I have repeatedly had to shoot not only hares, but also foxes from under the stand of a red setter, and an acquaintance of mine successfully hunted with a female of this breed in a small team for several seasons in a row.
Lately we prefer to take a smooth fox terrier with us on hare hunts. As a result, the loss of wounded animals along the black trail has become very rare. In addition, it happens in the field to stumble upon a fox hole, and the fox has the opportunity to work on the profile.
What to do with wounded animals when they leave the brigade chain? If the hare is beaten hard and health allows, then you need to catch up with him. Otherwise, nothing can be done: shoot better and for sure.
It’s not difficult to find a hare with a broken paw in the snow: walk in an hour, and he’ll let you get close. If you go right away, then in the heat of the moment the animal will run around all day.
Interestingly, sometimes a seriously wounded hare goes into a fox hole, if one is nearby. I have always been surprised by the fatal attraction of hares to the holes of predators. In unfamiliar places, he even used the services of scythes when looking for holes. You can see from the snow how the hare was slowly approaching the hole. Apparently, it’s scary, but he pulls - and he ends up at a dark gaping hole. Presumably, having looked a little closer and sniffed, the animal could not stand it - and rushed away with huge leaps.
It must be remembered that a healthy hare is exceptionally agile; as a rule, it rises from its bed with a jerk, and in a matter of moments goes to a safe zone. Therefore, along the black trail, constant attention and sufficient dexterity are required from the hunter, in connection with which it is necessary to shorten the butt (remove the summer gaskets from under the shock absorber) and bring the gun into line with winter clothing, which should be comfortable, light, sufficiently warm and do not discord with the surrounding background. However, you shouldn’t be particularly sophisticated in camouflage; it doesn’t bode well, especially where there are a lot of hunters. Trying to deceive the obliques, one famous shooter attached a stuffed head of a hare to his hat and soon, while walking along a hollow, was fired at by a local resident.
In conclusion, it is necessary to dwell once again on safety precautions for hare hunting. So where should you shoot a hare in a brigade - in a cauldron or by releasing it behind a chain? If you take only safety precautions, then it is better behind the chain, because the second shot often falls not only on the hare, but also on a comrade. On the other hand, if it is a wounded animal, then it could be finished off by a neighbor or turned into a cauldron.
V. Grekov, Candidate of Biological Sciences
In some areas, hunting grounds take up most of the season, since there are areas where snow is quite rare and going hare hunting in the snow is very rare.
EQUIPMENT FOR HARE HUNTING ON THE BLACK TRAIL
Since hunting a hare at such a time requires specific equipment, which differs from the equipment when hunting a hare in the snow, special attention should be paid to clothing, which should be light, warm, and not restrict the hunter’s movements.
The color of the hunter’s equipment when hunting a hare should match the surrounding natural environment, which will allow the hunter to be less noticeable and increase the chances of a positive result of the hunt. You especially need to pay attention to clothes in terms of their rustling.
It should absolutely not rustle, since the hare is very sensitive and any extraneous sound causes it to instantly change the direction of its movement, which can play a negative role for the hunter.
WHERE TO LOOK FOR A HARE?
The search for a brown hare or a white hare is slightly different, but still the general picture for both types of hares is almost the same.
Many hunters during hare hunting along the black trail They immediately head to the arable fields, since these are the brown hare’s favorite places, where they can almost always raise the “slanty one.”
Gardens, summer cottages, forest belts, fields with weeds are the places where you are most likely to meet a hare. It has been noticed that the hare lies down on the sunny side, so this point needs to be taken into account.
In frosty weather, the hunter’s movements around the hunting grounds must be very careful, because in such an environment the sounds of crunchy grass carry far and the hare hears this, and then rises from his perch at a distance that does not allow him to make a shot.
On arable land, you need to look for the brown hare around the perimeter. At night, hares fatten, so you can see their tracks on soft plowed land or a road near arable land. Often the hare is raised near poles and trees that stand alone in the field.
It often happens that a brown hare is noticed right in the plowing because of its light gray fur, but in a deep furrow it is practically invisible.
The rise of a hare from a perch while hunting along a black trail is very fast and in the direction of the wind. The hare's jumps are long and it quickly moves out of sight, so it is important to get closer to it in order to have time to make a shot before it disappears between the trees or deep weeds.
The subject of dispute between hunters is the number of shot with which to shoot a hare during hunting along the black trail. It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally, since determining the shot number for hunting largely depends on the model of the gun with which you will go hunting.
Still, there is a certain general opinion regarding the hare fraction, which states that during hare hunting along the black trail Fractions from No. 2 to No. 00 should be used.
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 hunting, if it was not possible to raise a hare on arable land, he moved 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 from thirty paces away.
Before 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 500-600 steps 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 in 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, you need to get closer to the shot, taking into account that the raised hare would be in an open space. You have to shoot right away. At a running hare, aim for the ears 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.
