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I haven’t written anything on this page for a long time. This topic is quite heavy and difficult to develop and to understand. However, I’ll share some ideas. The breeding stock is the guarantee of maintenance and growth of the number of birds and animals. There are some reasons for the decrease
in number which don’t always depend on
hunters, such as diseases like bird flu, predation pressure (including the
ever-increasing number of stray dogs, cats, and crows at the dumps), the
catastrophic decline in available
habitats because of the road construction, deforestation, the development of
lands for industrial and agricultural use, the construction of housing, and last but not least, the
significant deterioration of the environment and global climate change. The pressure of humans on animals during the
estrus and breeding time plays a major role. Any bird driven from the nest
comes back twice or even three times, and then simply abandons the laid eggs.
A cow elk chased away for kilometers simply won’t be able to find its calves hidden in the woods. Hanging around the forest in the spring and with dogs of all kinds?! No comments. These aren’t all the problems, but they are
almost a hundred per cent related to people. However, many hunters ravage the nature like
predators, alas! A complete absence of any education or guidance system for hunters, strange processes taking place in hunting oversight authorities, in hunting and fishing societies,
uncontrolled distribution of lands to private owners, and a difficult
economic situation lead to a significant decline in the breeding stock of
birds and animals. There are some species of animals where it’s quite difficult to tell a male from a female, especially in the heat and
excitement of the hunt. For example, geese, partridges, grouse, wood pigeons, raccoons, badgers, wild boars, bears. Still, it’s not only
possible, but necessary to make these distinctions for most of them. 1.
Goose. It’s impossible to tell a male from a female in a big flock in flight … they shoot into the thick with
0000 and buckshot. But if there are two geese (when they are mating), it’s the female who is the first to
take off and fly. The male stands up
on its legs, flaps its wings, waits for its mate’s take off and flies
behind. While sitting (though one mustn’t, but they do shoot)
it’s not very difficult to determine who’s who. The females feed quite
calmly, they almost never raise their heads, in May they are already with
eggs, that’s why they eat a lot, and they are generally quite a bit smaller
in size. The males are more careful, they raise their heads and look around
more often, they are bigger in size, the guards stand like monuments on all
sides. I’ve observed geese for a long time and I’ve noticed that in a good
flock there are many more males than females lately... a bad sign! It seems that the females are more vulnerable to various everyday dangers. 2.
Partridge. The white tundra and continental partridges are readily distinguishable in the winter (when they
are white). The males have thick red brows, and some black feathers in the wings and the tail. Here the hens can also
be spared, they are completely white. 3.
The females of wood
pigeons, raccoons, and badgers are quite a bit smaller than the males. While hunting from a scaffold,
it’s easy to notice that the heads of
raccoon and badger females are small relative to the body size. If raccoons
and badgers go to a feeding field in single
file, it’s the eldest male who is ahead. Such a trek is a special topic, I’ll write
about it if I have time. 4.
Wild boar. I’m generally against shooting a sounder or gilts. The males who can be
noticed in the sounder are rare, because they usually don’t travel with the
sounder, and then there isn’t much time for looking. Sadly, there are 3-4 females per 5 gilts who are shot. There is a rule that when a sounder is
passing by, one should shoot the third or fourth animal. The first is the dam, the second and third are mature females and then there are
those who are out of luck. I don’t shoot, there are 3-4 females per 5
animals. In this case it’s better to hunt with experienced dogs (mostly studs or dams in pair with studs), once they
catch a hold of a stinky male wild
boar... dams and gilts are left alone. |
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