In this article, we will look at the main methods of hunting the largest representative of the deer family - the elk, list the slaughter places of this animal, tell you where to shoot better, and also share tips for cutting carcasses and removing the skin of the elk.
Moose hunting - species:
Hunt for the Gon
This type of hunting is the most popular. The period when it is possible to hunt for a roar usually lasts from September 1 to September 30, but the elk rut, depending on the region and weather conditions, may start earlier and end later. Temperatures above 20 ° C in September usually affect moose and rutting negatively - it may shift. Hearing a moose moan is also almost impossible in heavy rain and wind.
Elk rut, as a rule, is "tied" to the place where the animals come to the beginning of the rut. Some females move to the “racing areas” 8-10 km from the center of their summer-autumn habitats. Males are in a state of searching for females and mating pairs can persist from several hours to 6 days.
Elk are most active early in the morning and late in the evening and often all night, but there are times when moose roar during the day. A moose hunting and actively looking for a female is a terrible animal, its roar and movement at a great distance can resemble the work of a tractor and the roar of a bear. You will have an especially unforgettable experience if you hear the roar of a moose at 5-6 in the morning, or 22-23 in the evening at dusk, when everything calms down, and you cannot see the animal without a hanging lantern or good optics.
It can be very difficult to lure an animal into a shot, despite all the tricks and imitations. But often during the rutting season, moose themselves go out on a person, having heard the noise of breaking branches. If at the beginning of September you found a peeled tree in the forest or in a clearing - without bark, often heaped up, and the ground trampled by a moose, most likely within 2-4 days you will be able to hear, and if you are lucky em and see a moose roaring here.
Moose have an excellent sense of smell, and this must be taken into account. In Finland, there are now moose-mimicking repellents that can help you hunt for a roar.
With approach or stealth
This method of hunting is no less interesting, but more difficult than the previous one. The fewer hunters participate in it, the better. Hunting with skrad is possible in October, November, when strong winds blow, and it is good if the first snow falls, but not deep, so that it is convenient to move through the forest. Usually in strong winds with snow and rain, moose are in groups and do not move long distances. Strong winds and noise allow you to get very close to the elk, but the hunter also needs an excellent knowledge of the area. Success in such a hunt depends on the experience and accuracy of the shooter, knowledge of the area and the habits of the elk.
For the day, moose often lie down in small things - in open woodlands, not far from the edge of a large forest, blocking out gusts of wind.
If moose are moved and a shot cannot be fired at them, they will most likely jump out onto another hunter who was left on the entrance trail.
Hunting by corral
Usually, for a driven hunt, a team of at least 5 shooters and the same number of beaters are needed, but sometimes it is possible to carry out this hunt with smaller forces. Before starting the hunt, be sure to check the salary and make sure that the moose are in place.
The team, previously divided into shooters and beaters, is promoted to the salary. Arrows must occupy numbers, approaching them from the leeward side. At the time of getting to the numbers and during the hunt, the shooters must be quiet. Shooters must be clear about their responsibilities. Their main task is not to miss or miss the beast. In this case, it is imperative to observe safety measures. It is strictly forbidden to shoot at the animal if there is a person in the range with it, you cannot shoot at noise and movement. Shooting must be at a clearly visible object. It is more expedient to shoot at the shoulder blades, along their lower edge - in the heart. Beaters for safety should be dressed in something bright and conspicuous.
A well-organized and successfully completed round-up hunt will bring a lot of joy and pleasant memories to its participants.
Hunting with dogs
The success of this hunt is 80% dependent on the ability of the dogs and their ability to stop the elk before the hunter approaches. The main task of the dog is to find and hold the animal, not to give it a go. Experienced huskies keep moose, circling and barking around them. You need to approach the elk quickly so that it does not have time to leave. But at the same time, you should be very careful when approaching. If the elk hears the approach of the hunter, then it will break away from the dog, and the next time it will be much more difficult to stop it and get closer to it.
With a husky on a leash
The peculiarity of this method of hunting is that the dog works silently and on a leash. Dogs for such a hunt, usually huskies, must be very well bred, obedient and baited by an elk or other animal. The calmer and more balanced the dog is, the higher the quality of such a helper is appreciated.
To hunt with a husky on a leash, you need to prepare in advance: raise a successful dog, pick up a friendly group of three or four hunters working with huskies, find out the hunting places in advance. Taking advantage of the innate quality of the husky silently, without a voice, chasing the beast on the trail until she sees it, this quality must be intensively developed in her. It is recommended to bait huskies for hunting large game no earlier than two years, otherwise a young dog may be frightened by a moose and forever spoiled for hunting.
After baiting a killed animal, one should never miss an opportunity to give a dog lessons in pursuit of a wounded animal by the blood. And if she shows passion for this, then the school of animal hunting can be considered complete. Such a dog will soon lead the owner, showing him without a voice where the animal is.
Hunters with huskies, usually two, having come to the forest, keep their dogs on a leash all the time and look for the animal together. Only sometimes, along the black trail, in order to speed up the search, they disperse in different directions, having previously agreed on the time and place of the gathering. The owner, leading the dog on a leash, monitors its every movement. Here the husky pulled strongly to the side, smelling the tracks and the overhead smell of the recently passed herd of moose. Hurry - to the gathering place! Both hunters now lead their dogs in the indicated direction. They carefully look ahead and, without releasing the dogs from the leash, follow them until the behavior of the huskies becomes so impetuous that you can clearly feel the closeness of the animal. The hunter, whose dog was the first to pick up the scent of the animal, passes it on to his comrade, and he himself carefully begins to conceal the moose, moving in the direction along which the huskies were leading. After walking 150-200 steps, the hunter finds the moose lying or lying down. He approaches, selects the desired specimen and confidently shoots at it. If the old moose is not there, the hunter also cautiously returns.
With likes on the moose trail
In addition to the described hunting with huskies on a leash, for a long time there has been a hunt, in which a dog, following the trail or upper instinct, finds an animal and stops it with an angry bark. The negative side of such a hunt is that during a free search, the dog scares away the animals and often, failing to stop the animal, drives it too far. Therefore, it is better to have two or three friendly huskies. It is very important not to dismiss the dogs in vain, but to keep them on a leash all the time, especially if the hunter is chasing the animal on the trail left by the old bull. Having approximately determined the place where the moose should stay, the hunter releases the dogs from the leash and directs them along the trail. The dogs walk in silence until they overtake the beast. Having surrounded the moose, they should not rush at it, try to bite it, or run from behind. An experienced elk-elk, seeing the animal, approaches it quietly, enters from the front and starts barking not immediately, but after waiting until he notices it, it will take a closer look. She herself does not attack, but only spins around the elk and barks occasionally, with restraint. The hunter walks confidently, he does not need to break through the thicket, to run until a sensitive animal "breaks loose" from its place, as is often the case when hunting with one dog. Two or three likes will hardly let the beast leave. At first, the elk pays little attention to dogs. Then they pester him so that he fiercely rushes at them, and they deftly dodge. Then they again pretend to attack, as if deliberately diverting the attention of the beast. It should be noted that the upbringing of a well-coordinated "link" of three huskies is tempting, but not easy. It is feasible only for a well-organized team of hunters or a hunting farm.
Where to shoot moose?
One hunter used to say: "A big elk seems to be easy to hit, aiming at the body at the front, chest, shoulder blade is not correct, so many smear, or beat anywhere, but correctly aims at the slaughter organ, that is, to see and aim specifically at the slaughter organ , heart, part of the spine, not noticing the elk itself. "
Elk slaughterhouses
Deadly places in moose are considered: chest in the region of the heart, brain, cervical and dorsal vertebrae. Hits in the throat and torso will be less effective.
After a successful shot, when approaching the animal, you should pay attention to the ears and tongue of the elk. If the ears are flattened, he is still alive. If a moose has a fallen out, bitten tongue, this indicates that the wound was fatal.
Elk skinning and cutting
After you shoot a hoofed animal, such as a moose, it must be properly skinned and trimmed by cutting its throat to release the blood and make sure the animal is dead. Next, you need to cut the carcass as quickly as possible so that the meat does not deteriorate. To remove the skin, the carcass is placed on its back, the legs are secured with ropes, and circular incisions are made around the knee joints. Next, an incision is made from the larynx to the tip of the tail through the sternum and abdomen and connected to the incisions in the knees. Then they rip off the skin, trimming it, pushing fists under it. Skinning is removed from both sides, as long as it is convenient, then put on one side, skinning to the spine, and then from the other side and completely separated.
Elk butcher video:
In this review, you will learn about the features of hunting moose on salt licks, how to make a salt lick, what kind of salt to choose for this purpose. At the end of the material, we invite you to watch a video with an example of hunting on salt licks.
In spring and summer, moose enjoy eating salt with great pleasure. The fact is that during the winter period, the supply of minerals in the body of these animals dries up almost completely. Therefore, at this time of the year, deer visit salt licks with pleasure. Moreover, such a visit is not only an opportunity for them to diversify the menu, an adult elk can eat several kilograms of mineral salt at once. Animals visit both natural and artificial salt licks, which are organized by employees of hunting farms to feed the animals. Most often, artificial salt licks are laid in the rocks that the deer can consume for food - peat bogs and clays. Salt in these rocks can retain its properties for decades, which means that a salt lick made by man will serve animals for a very long time.
You can shoot a moose only when, having calmed down, he begins to lick the salt and becomes an excellent target for the hunter. If the moose is shot, then the hunter must first of all drag the carcass to the side and only then proceed to cutting it. This is done in order not to spoil the salt licks, because if the salt is watered with blood, not a single animal will come to this place again.
How to make a saline for a moose
Salt can be any, but best of all whole, stone. Now this is not sold, only ground or briquetted by pressing. I was engaged in the processing of agricultural products, along the way I set up a small production of compound feed. For this, I bought large quantities of salt and chalk in the Donbass. At my request, the guys also brought salt directly from the quarry, without passing through the mill. These are shapeless lumps of gray-greenish-blue color, 20-40 kg each. I pricked the large ones into several parts. From this, the best salt licks are obtained - a real lick. I laid them out randomly throughout the territory of the land. Such a lick does not need any additional structures. I put it on the ground and that's it. Unlike pressed briquettes, it does not decompose from solar radiation and atmospheric precipitation.
In addition to several salt licks at feeding grounds (ordinary coarsely ground salt), I made about 35-40 licks in overgrown and inaccessible places for a random person. To make it difficult for people to detect and there is no clean place for poaching lumbago. In this case, the animal will not depend on one or two salt licks territorially, it does not fill stable paths - it means that it will remain more intact by the season. The beast discovers such a salt lick himself, gradually. It is necessary to carry licks in the fall, and in the spring they will already be used by animals. In general, it is better to place salt licks for moose everywhere, the more hidden from a person, the better. I AM 
I noticed myself - lumps of salt are disappearing. It is people strolling through the forest who twig them home for their cows.
For a year, a lick from rainwater dripping from branches and from animals loses about 20% of its original mass. Even when the salt itself is no longer there, the beast continues to search for it there. Digs the ground with a hoof (either chews it, or also licks it) within a radius of 50 cm and a depth of 15 cm.
Methods for the construction of salt licks, in principle, very different. This should be a container (for ground salt and a briquette) 25-30 cm deep, any perimeter. Mostly wooden troughs are made. But there can be both metal and plastic (I have come across old basins adapted for these purposes). It is advisable for such salt that there is a roof over the salt lick, otherwise you will often have to fill up a new portion.
And here is an example of another type of salt lick. Not the best design in my opinion. No more than two animals can lick at the same time (usually one). There is only one advantage - low salt consumption. If there has been no rain for a long time, then such a salt lick "does not work" (brine does not flow down the trunk of the stump).
Forum discussion:
On our forum, hunters exchange knowledge, observations and experience. You can also participate in the discussion of different types of hunting, including salt licks hunting... You can familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of other methods of catching this animal in the article "Hunting for a moose".
Video "Hunting for moose on salt licks":
The best time for approach hunting is a windy day with a little rain, or a frosty day from -20 when the trees are cracking. When hunting with the wind, it is necessary to take into account the direction of the wind and try to approach the elk from the leeward side, since the elk's sense of smell is very good and even with complete silence, you can simply spoil the hunt by letting the elk sniff out itself, and it is almost unrealistic to catch up with a chasing elk within one days and the hunt can take several days.
We read the traces
So, you have purchased a license for an elk, the first soft snow fell, the wind outside is 5-6 m / s, you shouldn't even think about it, but get ready to hunt. It is especially good to look for the beast in the first snow. Immediately you see a fresh trail and even a shadow of doubt arises that the elk passed here just recently. First, you need to make sure that the track is not a racing track, but a calm one, because following a racing track, as I said, is useless. If we have identified the trail of a calm beast, then we stand on it, and slowly, trying not to crunch the dead wood, we carefully move along the trail, peering into the outlines of bushes and inversions. Any of the outlines can easily turn out to be a moose resting after feeding, and the main thing is to notice this before the moose notices you.
The main thing in approach hunting is silence and approach from the leeward side!
Where is the beast's camp?
Moose have one feature that should definitely be mentioned. The elk cannot digest food when moving, it, like any ruminant animal, needs rest to regurgitate gum and further digest food, which the wolves use with success, not allowing the elk to rest, and as a result, the elk simply falls without strength and the predator cuts the weakened animal. But a man is not a wolf and cannot drive a beast like that, although there have been attempts at this method of hunting. As I already mentioned, the moose definitely needs a rest, and if you come across the first bed of the animal, it means that the moose has started to feed. It can also be determined by the appearance of a fresh meal (broken off bushes and shriveled tops of vits), which may also indicate that soon you will come across resting moose.
Target selection
When we go to a moose family, we try to choose the oldest bull from them, you can determine this by the number of tines on the horns. Their number often determines the age of the animal, since it is believed that every year in a bull elk, the number of processes increases by 1. Try not to get into the cow, because at this time there are already 1 or even 2 calves in her belly , which in a year or two, will increase the moose population in this area, which is good, both for you and for other hunters: the moose population will remain the same.
When choosing a goal, it is necessary to be guided by a simple rule: a cow on land means preserving and increasing the number of elk.
Through deep snow and black trail
Hunting in deep snow is not much different. Elks become not so active, they try to stay in one place where there is a food base, and if no one drives them from their homes, they can spend almost the whole winter in such a place. At the same time, they make small and short treks of 1-2 km. The hunt comes down to finding such a parking place, and sometimes you have to unravel 2-3 days' tracks. This is where experience, knowledge of the weather and knowledge of moose stopping places help.
Moose hunting from antisafari.ru:
Blacktrope hunting is also possible from the approach. It takes a lot of experience here because it is almost impossible to determine when a moose has passed. Daily observation of this territory is required, while it is necessary to remember the location of the tracks of the animal and notice the appearance of fresh ones. But on the black trail, hunters with great experience often hunt the same animal and often very successfully.
Elk feeding in winter
Let's focus on the winter food supply for the elk. In winter, foliage falls, reservoirs freeze, brings in herbs, mushrooms and elk switches to branch feed. His favorite delicacy is fresh growth of aspen and alder, which often grows on 2-3 year old plots. He will not refuse from currants, apple trees, willows, fresh fir and even a Christmas tree and pine. For no reason will an elk feed on a birch forest, even young ones due to the presence of tar in the birch bark. There were cases that, along the route of the elk, we came across broken birches with fresh food. At first, they did not understand why the elk switched to birch when there were aspen and alder nearby. Then, in the end, looking at the traces of the elk's presence, they found chewed birch branches and spat out nearby, apparently the elk, passing at night, collecting fresh aspen branches, clinging to birch branches, and realizing that he took something tasteless - spat out, there was no other explanation.
Go ahead for the trophy!
Theory, theory, and without practice, extensive practice, constant contact with the animal, its habitat, nothing will come of it. But using this manual, you can at least in general outline this wonderful, albeit difficult, but extremely interesting hunt, and start practicing hunting from the approach, and in the end, get your first labor trophy! Or continue to stand on the room and wait for it will not come out on you and freeze further, waiting for the pick up from the room.
Introduction
Moose lifestyle and habits
Moose hunting
1 Approach or stealth hunt
2 Driving hunt
3 Hunt for a roar
4 Hunting with dogs
5 Wounded
Liability for illegal hunting
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
Elk is the oldest and largest member of the deer family. Unas in the country, there are two subspecies of these animals. The first of them is the western, or European, elk, found in the European part of Russia and in Western Siberia, the second is the eastern, or American, inhabiting the east of the Yenisei.
The western elk is a fairly large animal. So, a bull elk has a body length of 260-296 cm, a height at the shoulders of 200-216 cm and a total weight of up to 422 kg. The eastern elk inhabiting Yakutia and Kolyma is larger than the western one. The length of his body is 350 cm, the height at the shoulders is 250 cm and the total weight is up to 600 kg. The eastern elk, inhabiting the basins of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, is smaller than the western subspecies. The length of its body is 250-270 cm, the height at the shoulders is 128-193 cm, and the total weight is 260-320 kg.
The color of the moose is always in harmony with the color of the bark of the age-old trees of the mixed forest and essentially plays a protective role. Naturally, depending on the habitat of the animal, it is different. So, the color of the western elk is dark brown, light gray under the belly, gray-haired, the end of the muzzle and the lower two-thirds of the legs are whitish. The eastern moose has a rusty-brown muzzle, the sides and belly are coal-black, and the back is rusty-brown. The moose inhabiting the Ussuri region is dark in color. In winter, elk hair is lighter than in summer.
The main distinguishing feature of a bull moose from a cow (from April to December - half of January) are powerful horns. Horns ("spokes") appear in a calf one and a half years after birth. The size and weight of the horns are different for different species of elk. Thus, the antler span of healthy, well-fed western elk with 18 tines (9 on each horn) is 125 cm, and with 30 tines it is almost 150 cm. The antler span of the eastern moose is 175-200 cm with a weight of up to 15-20 kg. The antlers of the moose living in the basins of the Amur and Ussuri rivers differ not only in size and weight, but also in shape. They are branched (like deer), light, occasionally flattened, have 2-4 processes and weigh only 5-6 kg.
The elk has the finest hearing. Hearing some suspicious sound, he becomes alert and looks in that direction for a long time, moves his ears, listens, sniffs and, convinced of the danger, often not seeing it, hurriedly runs away. Elk's sense of smell and especially sight is weaker. Apparently, this is due to his constant stay in the forest or shrubs, where vision cannot develop.
In the old days in Russia, elks were hunted in tens of thousands. This caused heavy damage to the livestock of valuable animals. During the years of the civil war, a special decree of the Soviet government, signed by V.I.Lenin, prohibited all hunting for elk and wild goats. This has yielded tangible results. Already in the thirties, singles, pairs and herds of elk began to appear everywhere in the northern strip of the Russian Federation. Currently, moose are widespread in significant numbers throughout our country.
In order for the elk to reproduce calmly, flat tracts of swampy forests are needed. Millions of hectares of such forests can be turned into natural pastures - reserves, where elks will be carefully protected.
1. Lifestyle and habits of moose
In summer, moose live absent-mindedly, in winter they stray into groups, almost constantly feeding in the same places - stables. At this time, especially in spring, when the snow is deep, moose pass only a few hundred meters per day. But autumn transitions reach 5-6 km, and single males in search of females are able to walk several tens of kilometers.
Elks are excellent swimmers and can dive. Swim 2-3 km for a moose is a mere trifle. Elk is able to overcome such water obstacles as the Yenisei, the Gulf of Bothnia, Angara and Amur. He also jumps well over obstacles reaching heights of 1.5-3 m. The moose is unpretentious to food. It feeds on leaves and young shoots of aspen, birch, willow, mountain ash, as well as leaves and shoots of linden, maple, oak, walnut, alder, buckthorn, poplar, eats young pine branches, pine shoots, sometimes eats moss and lichens. In swamps and in water, moose feed on leaves and rhizomes of some algae and marsh plants, reeds, reeds, etc .; much less often they nibble birch, but willingly eat branches of juniper and willow. Moose are very fond of visiting salt licks. The location of the stables depends on the feeding places. In Central Russia, these are mainly young pine forests in the vicinity of mixed forests and deciduous undergrowth, in the north - burned areas and clearings, in Siberia - thickets of willows or shrub birches along river banks, in the Far East - sparse coniferous forests with abundant deciduous undergrowth.
Heat and gnaw make moose nocturnal animals, during the day they drive the animals to loaches, open spaces and glades, where the wind blows, into lakes and swamps, where you can hide up to your neck in water, or, conversely, into dense young coniferous forests, which slightly protect against insect attacks ...
In winter, especially in severe frosts, moose feed during the day, taking breaks from time to time to rest. At night, they remain lying down almost all the time.
Summer habitats of elk may be unsuitable for life in winter, and, conversely, wintering sites are unfavorable for reproduction and feeding of young. This makes moose migratory animals.
Eating 10 or more kilograms of branches and needles, moose severely damage forests in places. They pose a particularly great threat to forest plantations and coniferous crops. This predetermines the need for constant regulation of the population density of elk in the process of hunting and rejection of the predominance of coniferous monocultures in forestry.
Moose meet the rutting season in pairs. But as soon as the female begins to evade marital duties, the male looks for another, which later came into heat, so the number of males may be less than females. Males fight violently over females, if not to death (which sometimes happens), then, in any case, to serious abrasions. Gon is marked by a roar - a "groan," as it is called. This is a dull hum, audible no more than a kilometer away. Moose begin to groan before females' estrus - in the second half of August. An excited male breaks tree branches with his horns, tramples the ground, often loses his usual caution and is often aggressive - he can attack a person. Disheveled, with bloodshot eyes and a swollen neck, the male does not bode well. It is best to avoid meeting him.
Elk rut ends in late September - early October. The duration of pregnancy in moose cows is 8-8.5 months. In the south, newborns appear in April-May, in the north, in mid-May. There are 1-2 young people. The number of twins depends on the state of the elk population. During the period of population growth, more than half of the moose may have them.
A moose calf sucks mother's milk for 3.5-4 months. Already at the age of 2-3 days, he relishes the leaves, and from one and a half months, weaned from his mother, he is able to switch to vegetable feed and develop normally.
A newborn healthy moose calf weighs 9-16 kg, from a pair litter - no more than 10 kg. In six months, the weight of moose calves increases 10 times. Growth slows down only in winter. At a year and a half, males weigh 170-180 kg in the European part, females - 175-330 kg. After a year, males and females reach 220-350 kg, another year later males weigh 275-375, females - 275-360 kg, finally, at 4.5 years old, males weigh 360-620 kg, females - 350-410. After 5 years, females stop growing, males grow up to 10 years. After 12 years, the elk begins to age. In nature, there are few moose older than 10 years - no more than 3%. Elk live in captivity for 20 and even 25 years.
2. Moose hunting
It is strictly forbidden to hunt for moose on the crust, during crossings through water bodies, as well as the production of animals by driving them onto the ice. It is also forbidden to hunt moose with loops, trapping pits, install crossbows and other gear on them.
1 Hunting with approach or concealment
This is the most accessible and widespread hunt for all types of animals. It is usually practiced in winter - with powder. In the absence of snow, approach hunting is also possible, but on the black trail it is very easy to lose a huge animal wounded. Hunting from the approach is permissible only during the period when the bulls have not yet dropped their horns, that is, with the first snowfall, until January 15th. Later, it is dangerous, since instead of a bull, a cow can be ruined.
Hunting from the approach, or skrad, is carried out mainly by two or three. If more people participate in it, it turns into a round-up hunt (corral). Hunting occurs from the approach or hiding of the elk at the places of its constant transitions and feeding. Among the numerous tracks of moose, the hunter looks for the tracks of an old bull. If they are found, the search for the beast begins. Sometimes a hunter spends a day or two on these searches, or even more, covering tens of kilometers on foot or on skis.
Tracks of frightened moose, as well as moose moving from one forest massif to another, are distinguished by their straightness. Animals go almost straight ahead, trail after trail, without stopping to feed, fearlessly overcoming open places in the forest, moving ten, and sometimes more kilometers, until they choose a new place for themselves. In a calm environment, the winter day and the overnight stay of moose occur in almost the same place. Therefore, fat traces are more often upholstered from a straight line, diverge to the sides, forming completely trampled areas, which are again replaced by not very long trail-to-track paths.
Before going to bed after the morning feeding (which happens after 9-11 am), the moose disperse, leaving bitten branches, bark weather and fresh heaps of "nuts". This means that the elk are close, somewhere at the nearest edge of the forest or a separate group of large trees among the small forest. Sometimes a hunter opens a moose camp or a resting place by climbing a tree or bypassing the place of the day in a circle.
Light snowfall with wind is the best weather for approach hunting. If the wind pulls from the moose, then you can approach them directly on the tracks. With the wind towards the animal, you will have to go to the place where the animals are supposed to lie from the opposite side. In this case, two hunters go around the moose in a circle to the right and left, and the third remains on the entrance tracks, given that disturbed moose often follow the “heel” - the opposite track.
Not finding any exit traces from the circle, the two hunters, without losing sight of each other, in concert and carefully move towards the center of the circle or the place of the supposed camp of animals. They walk in silence, trying not to touch the branches and twigs of trees, skirting around every thicket, bushes. The slightest rustle or crackle in this case can be treacherous, and the meeting with the elk is almost always so sudden that the hunter must figure out how to act in an instant.
Often moose let hunters close - then they shoot at the chosen target for sure. If the animals sensed the approach of danger and heard a suspicious rustle, they strive to leave the opposite trail and go out to the third hunter.
Suddenly alarmed animals usually rush in all directions, avoid meeting with hunters and move far away.
On such a hunt, there should be appropriate clothing: camouflage coat, white cap, white mittens.
2.2 Battleship hunting
As a rule, the main part of licenses for elk is mastered on round-up hunts. Before starting the hunt, be sure to check the salary and make sure that the moose are in place. If everything is in order, you have to decide where to drive the moose. You should be guided when choosing a direction by the wind and always drive elk in the wind so that they cannot smell a person; in general, one should try to drive the moose in the direction where one can assume they would go on their own, for example: drive in the direction they came from or in the direction where the forests stretch. If it happens that the wind is blowing in the direction where it is impossible to drive the moose, then you should drive them across the wind, but in no case against the wind.
The second condition for elk hunting is that upon arrival at a place where it is supposed to be parked nearby, leave the shouting as far as possible and prohibit all noise and conversations until the arrows take their places on the line. Hunters, in turn, must observe dead silence - speak in signs.
The depositor or manager goes forward. The rooms are pre-marked in the snow, so there is nothing to talk about. It is very dangerous to place close shooters, especially hot and inexperienced ones: it is best if the number from the number is at a distance of about 100 steps and not less than 50. The hunter gets behind a bush or some kind of cover; it is good if he is dressed in light gray clothes; in a completely clean place, he must definitely wear a white hoodie and a hat on top of warm clothes. Smoking and leaving the place is strictly prohibited.
When the hunters take their places, the handlers quietly start shouting. If the terrain permits, the round-up is divided into two equal halves: one enters from one, the other from the other end of the frame, and both converge in the middle. The beater becomes close to the beater - at a distance of 10 and no further than 50 steps, which depends on the area and the number of people. In deep snow, it is better to limit yourself to a small number of screams who know how to ski. As a rule, especially sharp-witted and knowledgeable are placed on the left and right wings. It is their duty to observe the silence until the signal is given, and to ensure that the beaters do not come together, i.e. did not leave their seats and did not run to the shots out of curiosity. The flanks of the round-up are slightly bent in a semicircle to both sides of the line of arrows; the beast bypassed by the word is surrounded on all sides. The outer two or three beaters should not shout at all, otherwise they can interfere with the first and last numbers of the shooters. They are allowed to make noise only when the elk goes to them, in order to pierce the wing.
Having placed the screams, the salaries enter the salary and follow the tracks to the moose camp. Sometimes the moose are allowed close, and sometimes they get under way, far from allowing the salaries. After making sure that the moose have started, the salvage workers make blank shots, observing that they were fired from behind the animal and that it rushed to the line of hunters out of fright. On signal shots, the round-up suddenly starts screaming, banging with beaters, rattling rattles, firing blank charges, by no means leaving the spot until the end of the hunt. The moose, puzzled by their din and shots, are going to the line of the shooters all together, how many of them were in the salary, one after another, stepping on the trail - the old ones are in front. An unshot moose, from the scream of a round-up, runs at an even trot, puts its ears on, raises its head and bends its neck forward with an Adam's apple.
Shooting moose requires, in addition to the ability to shoot a bullet, long exposure and composure. They usually shoot only when the animal or animals appear against or almost against the number (in order to avoid accidents) and rarely more than 50 steps. At first, the moose all immediately run out to one number - and, shooting efficiently, you can knock a couple out of the double-barreled fitting. In addition, in well-maintained hunting circles and societies, a more or less significant fine must be paid for a killed moose, and it is possible to distinguish a female from a young, still hornless male only at close range. It is also very important not only to kill the beast, but also to prevent it from breaking through the chain of shooters. From a shot at any of the animals, the rest immediately break apart, sometimes run along the lines of the hunters or return to the salary and run out to the beaters, trying to break through. Needless to say, the hunter should not leave his place until the signal for the end of the hunt is given. You should not approach a killed moose shortly after the shot, as in its death throes the animal can kick a person on the spot.
3 Hunt for a roar
The period when this hunt can be carried out usually lasts from September 1 to September 30, but the elk rut, depending on the region and weather conditions, may start earlier and end later than this period. An increase in temperature in early September to + 25 ° С, as a rule, has a negative effect on moose, and the rut may shift a little; in heavy rain and wind, it is also almost impossible to catch a moose or hear its moan.
Rutting places from year to year are usually confined to certain places where animals come to its beginning. Some females move to the "rutting areas" 8-10 km from the center of their summer-autumn habitats. Males are in a state of searching for females and mating pairs can persist from several hours to 6 days.
Elk are most active early in the morning and late in the evening and often all night, but there are times when moose roar during the day. A moose hunting and actively looking for a female is a scary animal, its roar and movement at a great distance can resemble the work of a skidder tractor and the roar of a bear.
During the rut, moose angrily break young trees with their horns and, without fear, walk over the dead wood with a loud crash. However, it is not easy to approach the elk during the rut. Their hearing is well developed, and they can easily hear an inexperienced hunter approaching them. And already if you disturb the moose, then this morning you will not get close to them. For a successful hunt, you need to be an hour before dawn in those places where signs of elk rut were found in advance: broken bushes, full of "currents" and fresh tracks.
Alone or together with a lumberjack (a person who knows how to imitate the voice of a bull), the hunter moves through the lands, listening attentively and vigilantly peering into the forest thicket.
The hunter's gait should not be sneaky. You need to walk like an animal - firmly putting your foot. It doesn't matter if a dry branch crunches under your foot; sometimes such a sound attracts a bull, enraged by the presence of a rival in the place of his current, and he may suddenly appear in front of the hunter. If the hunter or his comrade knows how to drive - to imitate the voice of a bull - then occasionally sounds should be made that could be made by a middle-aged bull. To the groan of such a young rival, without fear of him, the old bulls go bolder.
This hunt, captivating the hunter with an extraordinary setting, promising an unexpected meeting with an angry bull, which is formidable and dangerous, is undoubtedly of exclusively sporting interest. When the bull, judging by the sounds, set off on the waba and suddenly got up somewhere behind the thicket, you need to hide for a while, and then break a dry branch or, bending down to the ground, give another voice. And here every second you need to be ready for a quick, right shot.
Naturally, in such a hunt you need to be collected, disciplined, cold-blooded, accurate. After all, there were cases when another hunter came up to the voice of the fisherman and a bullet sent by a too hot hunter went to him, and not to the bull. Observance of precautions is the first and most important rule on this hunt.
2.4 Hunting with dogs
To work on a moose, you need a tall, strong, hardy dog with a good instinct, a wide search, a fast pace and a sonorous, informing voice. An amateur hunter, before teaching a husky to work on a moose, should consider whether it should be done. Since elk can be hunted only with permits issued for the region or a group of hunters. With a well-trained elk-husky, it will be almost impossible to hunt fur-bearing animals and other game in places where moose are common, since a dog, having found a trail, will definitely follow a large animal. Some huskies, starting to work on elk, generally stop looking for and barking small fur-bearing animals.
The job of the elk-husky is that it must find the animal and, having skillfully barked at it, detain it until the hunter approaches, or, as they say, set it up. If the elk started to move and began to leave, the husky silently pursues it from the side, and not from behind, trying to run ahead and stop it again.
Moose raised by the dog from the prone while resting are very frightened, go far and it is very difficult to place them even for an experienced dog. Hunters noticed that moose are not so much afraid when the husky starts barking at them during fattening, which happens in the morning and evening hours.
A good elk-husky, having found an animal, should calmly appear in front of it at 20-25 m and at first bark softly at it from a distance. From the dog rushing to the elk swiftly, and even from behind, the animal runs away in fright. With a calm manner of barking from a distance, the moose stops feeding, looks closely after the dog and from time to time rushes at it with anger, trying to trample and hit with its hooves. Laika should be nimble and circumspect in order to dodge the blow of the hooves in time. After being thrown, the elk returns to its original place. The dog, on the other hand, begins to bark more energetically, cautiously stepping closer and causing great anger in the animal. This continues until the hunter gets close enough to make a successful shot. The elk does not see well, but his sense of smell and hearing are well developed. Therefore, when approaching a moose raised by a husky, you need to be careful not to make noise and move against the wind.
Animals of different ages and sexes do not respond in the same way to barking. Young moose are the worst under the husky. They are afraid of the dog and run away when it approaches. To successfully hunt them, you need an experienced dog with the skill of staging the beast. She should calmly, not aggressively bark at animals, being at a distance of 40-50 m. Young moose are not afraid of such dog work and do not run away. Three-four-year-old animals can leave with a gambling bark, but at the same time they move slowly, with stops. Moose cows with moose calves stand well, but if the moose calf gets scared and runs, the uterus follows him. The best under the husky are old males who are not very afraid of barking, are often angry with dogs and, rushing at them, strive to knock down and trample. The husky's voice should be rude, but strong, informative. Moose run away from dogs with shrill barking more often.
A husky running on a moose must have a fast pace and be viscous. The wider the dog walks through the taiga, the better. The viscosity of huskies for elk is amazing. There are cases when huskies were in the taiga near the beast for up to three days. An experienced husky does not chase after a moose that has been moved, but tries to run around it at full swing - to whirl around. All the huskies run after the elk in silence until it stops.
Males stand best under the husky during the rutting season. The Prongs at this time are quite fierce and often not only do not run away, but angrily chase the dogs barking at them. It is very rare to find huskies that can "dead" any running elk. Usually they are rather large, strong, jumping dogs with a powerful grip. Chasing the departing moose from the side, they jump from time to time and make a strong painful grip on the face. After several such grips, the moose stops and only defends itself. The beast is afraid to get under way, realizing that it will instantly undergo a brutal attack.
Moose and huskies are hunted on black-trope and fine snow. This method of hunting stops when the deeper snow cover begins to restrict the movement and maneuver of the dog. In such conditions, the elk can trample and kill it with their hooves.
5 Wounded
Having considered the most common methods of hunting moose, let us briefly touch on the issue of wounded animals. Many people think that moose is very tough on a wound, but this opinion is not entirely true; It developed from the fact that a wounded moose usually begins to immediately pursue. You can kill him on the spot only by hitting the chest, under the shoulder blade or in the neck near the withers, but an elk wounded in the stomach or back, if not disturbed, mostly leaves for 2-4 kilometers, lies down and bleeds, so the next day it will not be difficult to find it on the trail or with the dogs. If he is pursued at the end of the hunt, then in the heat of the moment he can go 8-20 kilometers. With a broken hind or front leg, the moose goes much further and then, without a dog, one cannot hope to stop and shoot it. For these purposes, it is necessary to keep in hunting farms animal dogs, mainly huskies, specially trained for the pursuit and detention of animals that are wounded. Cultural sport hunting for large animals is unthinkable in the future without such dogs. It should also be borne in mind that a wounded moose often rushes at the hunter and can trample him.
An experienced hunter will always be able to determine whether the animal is wounded and where exactly. If a bullet strikes an elk in the leg, front or back, then there is a lot of red blood; if the bullet hits the chest and touches the insides, blood comes from the wound in an insignificant amount, caked and dark in color. Intestinal blood is almost black, along with feces, and also in small quantities. If blood splashes on both sides of the track, then the wound is heavy and the bullet went right through the beast; but if it drops to one side, it means that it has stopped in the beast. More serious wounds are those when a bullet, striking an animal in one side, does not come out a little on the other and stops under the skin. These wounds are much heavier than through wounds, because in the latter the blood flows out freely, does not bake inside the beast, and, therefore, makes it easier for him.
The surest sign of a severe wound is when the beast bleeds from the throat (blood on the entire track, in pieces, almost black), which depends on the damage to the main internal organs. By the lying position of the wounded animal, it is not difficult to find out the place where the bullet hit, because the blood that came out of the wounds will mean the place where it was wounded in the lying position - you just have to recognize how the animal was lying, and this is not difficult even for the less experienced, but intelligent hunter. But in order to find out where the bullet hit by the color of the blood, you need to have a lot of practice and have good experience.
6 Precautions when hunting moose
The general rule for any type of elk hunting is not to shoot at an obscurely visible target, at rustling and at extreme distances, make sure that no dirt or snow gets into the barrel of the gun. Before loading the gun, check the bores of the barrels, after a defective shot, make sure that there is no wad left in the barrel. Remove the jammed cartridge carefully so that an accidental shot does not occur when the gun is not covered. Never point a gun at people or pets, even when unloaded, whether open or retracted. Do not try to drive an uncalibrated cartridge into the chamber by closing the gun forcibly, a calibration ring will help here. Do not use cartridges in semi-automatic machines with a tubular magazine if the bullet head extends beyond the dimensions of the rolling. Carry the assembled gun on your shoulder with the barrel up. At a halt, do not leave cartridges in the gun when the company is going to, keep the guns not only unloaded, but better open or with retracted bolts.
On round-up moose hunts, the gun must be loaded only on the license plate. Designate your place to your neighbor on the left and right. Determine in advance the sector of fire and landmarks of the limit shot. Shooting half a line of shooters is a gross violation bordering on a crime. If the animal came out on the hunter in such a way that it will have to shoot at an angle less than 40 degrees in relation to the line of numbers, then let the animal go beyond the line of shooters and make a shot at the hijacking. As soon as the beaters come close to the numbers or the command "retreat" sounds, the gun must be unloaded.
Individual moose hunts, especially when you hide a moose on the trail and you need to be ready to shoot all the time, you have to keep the gun loaded all the time, and here you need to be especially careful not to make an accidental shot. Overcoming obstacles or thickets, cover the trigger guard and descents with your palm, even if the triggers are on the safety, and you unload the gun and, as luck would have it, the moose rises. If the gun is loaded, hold it in your hands. In winter, use special frost-resistant lubricants or wipe the mechanism dry, and for "semi-automatic" machines, make sure that the snow does not get into the shutter. Do not bring the gun from the cold into the warmth without a cover, and if the visit to the premises is short-lived, it is better to leave the gun in the hallway in the cold. A sweat in the heat, the gun becomes covered with moisture, a crust of ice appears in the cold, which can cause the barrel to burst, more often this happens with combined guns that have rather thin-walled rifled barrels.
3. Liability for illegal hunting
Poaching - illegal hunting or illegal extraction of animals and plants, is a mercenary crime in the field of nature protection. A crime committed against wildlife is characterized as a socially dangerous culpable impact on a natural resource, expressed in its seizure, seizure, destruction, destruction, damage or damage.
Hunting without proper permission or in prohibited places, at prohibited times, using prohibited tools or methods, entails criminal liability. Responsibility for these actions is provided for in Article 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Illegal hunting". Part 1 of this article states that if an illegal hunt was committed:
a) causing major damage;
b) using a power-driven vehicle or aircraft, explosives, gases or other methods of mass destruction of birds and animals;
c) in relation to birds and animals, hunting for which is completely prohibited;
d) on the territory of a nature reserve, wildlife sanctuary or in an ecological disaster zone or in an ecological emergency zone, then in this case illegal hunting is punishable by a fine in the amount of 200 to 500 times the minimum wage or in the amount of the wage or other income of the convicted person for the period from two to five months. The punishment can be in the form of correctional labor for up to 2 years, or arrest for 4 to 5 months.
Part 2 says that illegal hunting committed by a person using his official position, or by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, or by an organized group, is punishable by a fine from 500 to 700 times the minimum wage or in the amount of the wage or other income of the convicted person for the period from 5 to 7 months. In these cases, illegal hunting may also be punished with imprisonment for up to 2 years without the right to hold certain positions for up to 3 years (after serving the term) or without such limitation.
When hunting animals and birds, hunting which is completely prohibited, hunting that caused major damage, hunting on the territory of the reserve and hunting with the use of motor vehicles, criminal liability arises regardless of whether the perpetrator was previously brought to administrative responsibility for violating the rules of hunting.
The list of animals and birds, which are completely forbidden to hunt, is given in the Regulation on hunting and hunting management. This prohibition applies to all CIS countries, and, in accordance with the characteristics of the fauna of each of the countries, it is supplemented by a list of protected animals living in the territory where the prohibition is in effect.
The issue of recognizing the damage as large is decided taking into account the number of animals and birds hunted, their value at established rates and other circumstances. Large damage caused by illegal hunting is understood as a large number of killed animals or birds, as well as the destruction of valuable or large animals: bison, elk, deer, river beaver. Hunting for any animals on the territory of the reserve also entails increased responsibility, which is considered as an aggravating circumstance.
Hunting with the use of motor vehicles (car, tractor, motor boat, boat, etc.) can cause great harm to the animal world. When using these means to track, chase and prey wild animals, poachers can destroy animals in large areas in huge numbers. Often cars or boats are equipped by poachers with special headlights to dazzle animals at night. Responsibility for the use of vehicles in illegal hunting occurs if they are used not just for movement, but for tracking, pursuing and preying animals (striking, hitting animals, shooting on the move, etc.).
Hunting violations that entail criminal liability are committed intentionally. The poacher is aware that he is hunting in violation of the established rules and deliberately goes to it. Illegal hunting, admitted by negligence, entails administrative responsibility (for example, a hunter with a permit for the right to hunt in a certain farm unintentionally hunted an animal in another farm or exceeded the hunting norm by killing several birds with one shot).
Usually illegal hunting is carried out in order to take possession of prey and use it for their own benefit. There are, however, cases of poaching, when the killing of an animal is committed in a state of hunting "excitement" - just for the sake of thrill. In such cases, the perpetrator is also prosecuted under the article for illegal hunting. If the senseless destruction of animals is committed with hooligan motives, then the criminals are already prosecuted under the article for hooliganism. Group poaching is especially dangerous. In such cases, poachers distribute roles among themselves, agree on the tools and methods of illegal hunting, and ways to conceal the consequences. In such cases, not only those who directly hunted wild animals or provided assistance are brought to justice, but also those who promised in advance to hide the traces of the crime. Those who have agreed in advance on the acquisition of prey or part of it (meat, skins, etc.), knowing that it will be poached, are brought to responsibility.
An administrative penalty is correctional labor or a fine. These penalties are imposed by the court if poaching is sporadic and has not caused significant damage. At the same time, it happens that these types of punishment are unreasonably applied to malicious poachers. In Russia, criminals are also often subject to only administrative penalties. There is an unlawful substitution of administrative responsibility for criminal liability.
The share of violations of fishing rules (part 1 of Article 256 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is high in all regions and averages 46 percent. The share of violations committed in collusion by a group or through the use of an official position (see part 3 of Article 256 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation indicated below) is less and amounts to 26 percent. There are more criminally punishable cases of illegal hunting (part 1 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is primarily due to the better protection of hunting grounds. Crimes under Part 3 of Article 256 of the Criminal Code and Part 2 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code, which are similar in terms of aggravating factors, constitute approximately equal shares of all administratively punished violations.
By applying punishment for illegal hunting, the courts also sentenced to confiscation of criminal prey, guns and other hunting equipment. These are also vehicles, if they were used for hunting - for tracking or pursuing with the aim of catching (slaughtering) wild animals.
Conclusion
Moose are animals with unique hearing. They are not only able to hear the hunter a kilometer away, but also unmistakably determine whether it is a person or another forest dweller.
It should be noted that in many places elk hunting was prohibited for many years. For this reason, moose still do not experience much fear in front of a person and it is not difficult to shoot this animal. But with the beginning of intensive shooting, the habits of moose immediately change, they completely change their model of behavior and during this period it is difficult even to see them. Therefore, when hunting for moose, driven hunting is often organized.
When shooting at a moose, you should know its killing places: you should shoot in the neck, head and front of the body. When hunting moose, rifled carbines of 9 mm caliber are used or, if shooting is carried out at close range (no more than 50 meters), smooth-bore weapons with factory-made bullets.
It should never be forgotten that the elk is an extremely tough animal. There were cases when hunters, believing that the moose was mortally wounded, approached the wounded animal and, bending down, received a powerful kick. And one more thing: if a moose presses its ears, it is dangerous to approach it. He is either scared or angry. It is best to hunt moose after the snow has fallen. During this period, they are easiest to track down and easier to spot a wounded animal. But on the black trail, it is best to have dogs that help chase the elk and find the wounded animal.
Literature
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation. Order No. 512 "On approval of hunting rules." - November 16, 2010
Konstantinov Y. Moose hunting. - M., 2005: //www.hunt-dogs.ru: //www.hunter33.ru/page/ohota_na_losya.htm: //ohotatv.ru/ohota: //fowling.ru /los://www.ebftour.ru/articles.htm?id=2207&print=true
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