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Hare tracks. Hunting a hare in winter How to follow the trail of a hare

Recognizing hare tracks, which are very diverse in nature, is of great importance, since for most rifle hunters, tracking hares, mainly hare, is the main, and sometimes the only, available method of winter hunting.

Hare hunting is one of the most common types of hunting. Almost every time, when going hunting, hunters know that the typical habitat for the white hare is the forest zone, and for the brown hare, fields are preferable.

For a hunter, the white hare is of significant importance as an object of fur trade and sport hunting, but the methods of prey are not so diverse, of which the most common is hunting by the white hare, in which the hunter, having found the night trail of a hare, tries to find it while lying down, as well as one of The most exciting and incendiary is hunting with hounds.

In contrast to the white hare, the importance of the hare as a more productive hunting object is also well known. The methods of hunting it are more varied than the white hare, which is hunted with hounds or greyhounds, and by tracking: hunting by malik, that is, tracking the scent to the ground. Along with the above, it should be noted that a very interesting method of prey is with birds of prey (goshawk and golden eagle), which a mounted golden eagle hunter releases from the air when the hare is lifted from its perch or shelter. Also widely used is hunting in ambush, based on stalking hares or hunting with a moving chain of hunters - shooters and hunting in a drive.

Mountain hare - Lepus timidus

Appearance. Body length 44-74 cm. The tail is in the form of a fluffy white ball, the tips of the ears are black. The rest of the color is brownish or gray in summer (1) and pure white in winter (2). Fur “skis” grow on their paws in winter. The ears are longer than the head, the tail is white below, the fur is soft. The tail is small, but still clearly visible. The skin is fragile and weakly attached to the body, so often shreds of skin remain in the predator's teeth, like a lizard's tail.

Biology and behavior. IN winter time They arrange beds under the protection of snowdrifts, in snow holes and niches, and sometimes closed shelters in the snow, from which, in case of danger, they suddenly jump out, breaking through the ceiling. In summer, beds are arranged under bushes (4) or openly. The sweat glands of hares are concentrated between the toes, and their tracks smell strongly (a good hunting dog takes a track after 8-9 hours). Therefore, before going to bed, they usually confuse the tracks, making loops, doubles, and sweeps. Such a trail, a hare malik, as hunters say, is a tricky puzzle for both a person and a dog or fox. Although hares do not have permanent shelters, they usually live in a small area and travel less than 2.5 km per day. They usually do not dig burrows (except perhaps in the snow); they spend the day under bushes (4), in a shallow hole, and less often in rodent burrows. They are active mainly at dusk and at night.

Footprints. The tracks are wide, rounded (5), the prints of the hind paws are only slightly larger than the front ones. The hind legs are much longer than the front legs and are carried far forward when moving (6). The length of the hind paw print is 12-17 cm, width 7-12 cm.

Nutrition. In summer they feed on herbaceous plants, in winter - more often on the bark and shoots of trees and shrubs (7), sometimes on mushrooms. Hares often lack mineral salts, so they eat snow that has had urine on it.

Reproduction. The breeding season lasts 2-4 months. IN middle lane usually breeds twice during the summer, in the north - once. Pregnancy lasts 48-51 days, the young become adults only after wintering. The main rut is in the spring, accompanied by fights between males. Fighting males stand on their hind legs and “box” with their front legs. At this time, on the edges and clearings one comes across trampled spots - hare dance floors (8). Hares lose their caution and are more likely to be spotted. By the way, in many European countries the expression “March hare” means the same as our “March cat”. Baby hares (1-6, rarely up to 12) are born sighted, with thick fur and at first sit motionless in the grass so as not to leave marks, and the mother comes to feed them 1-2 times a night. At the same time, she feeds not only her own bunnies, but also strangers. In places where there are a lot of hares, all the hares sometimes become common. In late spring, little hares climb into piles of manure or rotten haystacks to protect themselves from the cold. But you shouldn’t take a bunny found in a field home: a hare usually manages to raise it, but people are unlikely to do so. After 8-10 days, the hares begin to eat grass, but feed on milk until 20-30 days.

Taxonomy.

Brown hare - Lepus europaeus

Appearance. Body length 55-70 cm. The tail on top and the tips of the ears are black. The rest of the color is reddish-gray with blackish ripples, lighter in winter, especially on the belly and sides. The ears are longer than the head, the tail is white below, the fur is soft. The tail is small, but still clearly visible. The skin is fragile and weakly attached to the body, so often shreds of skin remain in the predator’s teeth, like a lizard’s tail.

Biology and behavior. In winter, they set up beds under the protection of snowdrifts, in snow holes and niches, and sometimes closed shelters in the snow, from which, in case of danger, they suddenly jump out, breaking through the ceiling. In summer, beds are arranged under bushes or openly. In winter and summer, it tramples a network of paths from feeding areas to bedding areas (1). The sweat glands of hares are concentrated between the toes, and their tracks smell strongly (a good hunting dog takes a track after 8-9 hours). Therefore, before going to bed, they usually confuse the tracks, making loops, doubles, and sweeps. Such a trail, a hare malik, as hunters say, is a tricky puzzle for both a person and a dog or fox. Although hares do not have permanent shelters, they usually live in a small area and travel less than 2.5 km per day. They usually don’t dig holes (except in the snow); they spend the day under bushes, in a shallow hole, and less often in rodent holes. They are active mainly at dusk and at night.

Footprints. The tracks are narrow, pointed (especially in Caucasian hare). The length of the hind paw print is 14-18 cm, width 3-7 cm (2). The hind legs are much longer than the front legs and when moving they are carried far forward (3) (in the picture on the right, the location of the tracks is on slow jumps, and on the left - on fast jumps).

Nutrition. In summer they feed on herbaceous plants, in winter - more often on the bark and shoots of trees and shrubs, and sometimes on mushrooms. The brown hare continues to eat herbaceous plants in winter, for which purpose he digs snow to the ground in the feeding areas. Hares often lack mineral salts, so they eat snow that has had urine on it.

Reproduction. The breeding period lasts 7-8 months, with up to 4 broods per summer. Pregnancy lasts 38-44 days. Rabbits reach sexual maturity at 7-8 months. The main rut is in the spring, accompanied by fights between males. Fighting males stand on their hind legs and “box” with their front legs (4). At this time, on the edges and clearings you come across trampled spots - hare dance floors. Hares lose their caution and are more likely to be spotted. By the way, in many European countries the expression “March hare” means the same as in our country “March cat”. Baby hares (1-6, rarely up to 12) are born sighted, with thick fur and at first sit motionless in the grass so as not to leave marks, and the mother comes to feed them 1-2 times a night. At the same time, she feeds not only her own bunnies, but also strangers. In places where there are a lot of hares, all the hares sometimes become common. In late spring, little hares climb into piles of manure or rotten haystacks to protect themselves from the cold. But you shouldn’t take a bunny found in a field home: a hare usually manages to raise it, but people are unlikely to do so. After 8-10 days, the hares begin to eat grass, but feed on milk until 20-30 days.

Taxonomy. The order Lagomorpha in Russia includes two families: the family of Hares (Leporidae) and the family of Pikas (Lagomyidae).
The family of hares in Russia includes two genera: the genus Hares (Lepus) and the genus Bristly hares (Carpolagus).
The genus Hares (Lepus) includes three species in Russia: the white hare (Lepus timidus), the brown hare (Lepus europaeus) and the tolai hare (Lepus tolai).

First of all, it should be noted that tracking white hare is very difficult, and therefore they “trace” almost exclusively hare. White wool The white hare, which differs very little from the snow surface, the intricacy of the passages and the usually strong place for the den, are the reasons that allow the hare to almost always escape unnoticed. In addition, the descent of a white hare is always tiresome, because the hare extremely confuses its passages, clogs up trails, runs into fats and into the paths of other hares, circles, swords loops, and generally confuses its tracks so much that even the most experienced hunter spends a lot of time searching white hare

Therefore, in areas where both hare and hare are found, it is very important to be able to distinguish them by their tracks, which is achieved very quickly. The white hare living in the forest, where the snow is looser than in the field, has comparatively wider and rounder paws, or rather, has widely spreading toes, so that it leaves imprints on the snow that approximate the outline of a circle; the hare's paw is narrower and less widened, and its footprint is oval, elliptical. When the snow is not very loose, with the so-called printing powder, prints of individual fingers will appear, but the tracks of the hind paws of the hare will still be much wider than those of the hare.

The prints that are more elongated and parallel to each other and slightly ahead of each other belong to the hind legs, and the ones that approach the circle in outline and follow one after the other, in one line, belong to the front ones.

A sitting hare leaves a print of a completely different type: the prints of the front legs are almost together, and the hind legs lose some of their mutual parallelism and since the hare, while sitting, bends its hind legs to the first joint, then on the trail, in addition to the paws, the entire pasanka is imprinted. (In the figure, the prints of the hind paws with pazankas are shaded.) With the exception of this case, i.e., sitting, the prints of the hind paws always remain parallel, and if on loose snow tracks are noticed in which the larger prints of the hind legs go apart, they will clumsy, then these are not the tracks of a hare, but of a dog, cat or fox when they go in leaps. The same can be said about a track in which one hind leg is much ahead of the other.

The normal running of a hare is large jumps, and it carries out its hind legs almost or completely simultaneously, and places its front legs sequentially one after the other. Only with very large jumps does the hare put its front legs almost together.

End tracks

Ordinary hare tracks are called terminal tracks, since with such medium jumps he goes to the fats and returns from them.

Fat tracks differ from end marks in that the paw prints are very close to each other and the individual tracks almost merge. They are called fat because hares make them where they feed, slowly moving from place to place, often sitting down.

Discount traces

Discount or sweep marks are left by the largest jumps made at an angle to the original direction of the mark. The hare tries to hide with them, to cut off his trail, before he plans to lie down. The number of discount jumps is usually one, two, three, rarely four, after which ordinary, terminal tracks follow again. For the most part, before a discount, the hare doubles its footprint. Discount jumps differ from end jumps in the distance between the tracks and in the fact that the prints of the front legs are located together.

Racing tracks

Rushing or agitated tracks are made by the hare when he is frightened from his den - and he walks in big leaps. They are very similar to either discount jumps or end ones, but in the opposite direction, because the prints of the front paws are closer to the prints of the hind paws of the previous, and not the same jump.

From the den in which the hare sat until dusk, the malik begins with fatty traces, soon turning into terminal ones, sometimes leading directly to feeding, that is, to the winter, to the garden, orchards, or to a well-used road. On fats, the hare always feeds with small, very continuous movements, often stopping and sitting down. Having had a good snack, he sometimes runs and plays, and here he comes across rutting tracks. After running, he either starts eating again, or already at dawn he sets off from the fat in trailing tracks to a new lair.

This complex tangle at the feeding site is called “fat,” as hunters say, or “fat trail.” It consists of small, short jumps and is never straight.

A loop

Before choosing a reliable shelter for the day, the hare begins to make loops, that is, round off its course, again crossing its previous tracks. These loops sometimes occupy large areas, so that at point A (see figure) it is quite rare to say with confidence, without turning the loops, whether the intersecting tracks belong to the descending malik or whether another hare has passed here. More than two loops are rarely seen.

Soon after the loops, twos and threes begin to occur, that is, doubling or lining up a trace, and the traces are superimposed on one another, so skill is needed to distinguish a double trace from an ordinary one. After a two, the hare usually makes an allowance to the side, but after a three, which happens relatively rarely, for the most part does not happen and the hare continues on for a considerable distance.

Deuce

Most often, double and triple tracks of the hare are seen along roads or along the ridges of ravines, where there is almost always little snow, and at the beginning of winter - in hollows, meadows and on newly frozen streams and rivers. The length of twos, both in the same malik and in different ones, can be very variable and varies from 5 to 150 steps. They undoubtedly indicate the proximity of the lair, and if the hare goes a considerable distance after the deuce with a discount, changing discount jumps to end jumps, then this is already an exceptional case.

Threes usually do not reach a significant length and the direction after them does not change and very rarely a discount follows them. The discount is almost always made at right angles to the direction of travel; after several discount jumps, several end jumps follow and again a second deuce with discounts.

Malik is the name given to the entire path of a hare marked out in the snow overnight, starting from its lair, where it spent the day, to the lodge, i.e., the place where it fed, and back to its resting place.

Rusaks are often limited to two twos, but there are maliks with eight or even more twos. This largely depends on the quality of the powder and the weather: if the powder is fine and the weather is cold, the hare walks a lot; if it’s the other way around, it doesn’t walk much. In addition, the later the snow stops falling, the shorter the hare's tracks are, so if the snow fell heavily and stopped at dawn (which happens quite often), then where you see the snow, there lies a hare, because all its previous tracks are covered with snow; It goes without saying that maliks are rarely found then.

The hare digs a den in the snow, somewhere under a bush, at the end of the path, and, hiding, legs crossed, ears laid back, turns its nose to where the enemy can always be expected, that is, to the trail.

Schematic plan of the hare's path to the bed (indicated by a cross):

3. smarts

Malik has long been the name given to a hare that appeared in the snow overnight, all the way from its lair to the place where it fed, and also the way back to its bed. Ability to discriminate hare tracks, very different in character, has no small value, since for more For rifle hunters, tracking hares, most often hare, is the main, and sometimes the only in an accessible way winter hunting. First of all, it should be noted that tracking white hare is a very difficult task, which is why they almost always “track” only brown hares. The white hare's fur, which is almost indistinguishable from the snow cover, the serious tangle of passages and usually a very strong place for a den are the main reasons that allow the hare to escape unnoticed in most cases. In addition, tracking the white hare is tiresome, since the hare extremely confuses its movements, runs into the paths of other hare, sometimes running in circles, making loops, and confuses the tracks so much that sometimes the most experienced hunter will spend a lot of time searching for it.

Therefore, in places where hare tracks of hare and hare are found, it is very important to be able to distinguish them, which succeeds very soon. The hare, who lives in the forest, where the snow is looser than in the field, has wider and rounder paws, or, more correctly, has widely spreading toes, so he leaves prints in the snow, very similar in outline to a circle; but the hare has a paw and it expands less and its trace turns out to be more oval or elliptical. When the snow is not too loose, you will get prints of individual toes, but the hare prints of the hind paws of a hare hare will be much wider, unlike a hare hare. More long, parallel to each other, almost not ahead of each other, the tracks belong to the hind legs, and the ones that are close in outline to a circle and which go one after the other, in one line, belong to the front legs.
A hare that sits leaves marks of a completely different type: the prints of the front paws are located almost side by side, and the hind paws lose some of their parallelism, and since when the hare sits, it bends its hind paws, then on the footprint, in addition to the legs, it leaves a trace and the entire pasanka. Except for this case, that is, when he is sitting, the print of the hind legs almost always remains parallel, and when on loose snow you notice tracks in which the larger prints of the hind legs are located apart, then these tracks do not belong to a hare, but to a dog, cat or fox , most likely when they run in leaps. The same can be said about the track, in which one of the hind legs is much ahead of the other. The natural running of a hare is large jumps, moreover, the hind legs are carried out almost, and sometimes completely simultaneously, and he also places the front legs one after the other. Only when he makes very large jumps does the hare also put his front paws together.
Usually the hare's mark is called the trailing mark., since with such medium jumps he moves to fats and returns from them. Fat marks differ from end marks in that the imprinted paws are close to each other and individual marks merge. They are called fat because hares leave them where they feed, quietly moving from one place to another, often crouching.
Bunny tracks remain from the biggest jumps, which are made at an angle to the first direction of the trace. The hare tries to hide his tracks with these tracks., before he considered lying down. The number of discount jumps is usually one, two, three, rarely four, after which ordinary tracks follow again. Most often, the hare doubles its tracks before the discount. Marking jumps differ from end jumps in the gap between the tracks and also in the fact that the tracks of the front legs are located together. Hares dig a home in the snow, somewhere under the bushes, at the end of their road, hiding, legs tucked in, ears on their backs, turns with its nose in the direction from which it is always possible to wait for the enemy, that is, towards its tracks.

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Another summer is over, opening soon new season hunting for fur-bearing animal, including a hare. A hare that has eaten well, given birth to offspring during the warm season, and changed its skin to a white one is the desired prey of any hunter. It’s impossible to keep up with him even with dogs, and in fresh snow it’s much easier to follow his tracks to his bed.

What does a hare's footprint look like?

Everyone had read books or watched films about the Indians, where experienced trackers could tell by the trampled grass and the roughness of the water where the animal was lying or the enemy was hiding. It's easy to find hare tracks in freshly fallen snow, but untangling them makes you feel like a local Chingachgook.

The hare leaves rounded imprints with its front paws, which follow each other along the line of movement. The hind prints are longer, parallel, and use these paws to push. General drawing looks like the letter T. It is worth noting the peculiarity of the prints: the hare moved in the direction where the horizontal crossbar of the letter T was directed.

Difference between hare and hare tracks

There are only four species of hares in Russia. One is very rare, found only on Far East- Manchurian. The steppe tolay hare is also difficult to meet, since it lives in the south of the Asian part of the country. The most common and famous are the hare and hare.

It is necessary to learn to distinguish the pattern of tracks, since hunting animals is difficult, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Hares are predominantly nocturnal animals. You should go hunting for them early in the morning, while the print in the snow is fresh. The hare leaves more rounded marks, sometimes with clearly visible toes. His malik - the entire night journey - is more confusing, often intersecting with the paths of other hares. He arranges his bed in some windfall, where it is very difficult to get to quietly.

The hare's tracks are longer, elliptical in shape and narrower. Its skin is better visible in the snow, it does not mark its loops in the same way, which makes it easier to hunt.

Hare tracks in winter

Fresh snow like new leaf life, erases all the old paths, only the freshest ones are visible on it. Remember that you are not alone in hunting the hare. There are many fox tracks in the forests. If the print of the front paws is round and parallel, but the hind paws are elongated and there is no parallelism, then most likely a hare was sitting here.

In such cases, he sits on his hind legs, bending them to the first joint. If the track is clubbed or other irregularities in shape are observed, you have stumbled upon the prints of another animal.

Types of hare trails - maliks

To make trailing easier, you should learn to distinguish between the main types of tracks - racing, fatty and running.

Fat trace

In the fattening area, the animal feeds, moves, slowly and chaotically, and is periodically examined. The tracks are located very densely, often intersect with the tracks of other individuals and are accompanied by droppings.

Racing trail

When a hare runs away from someone or simply frolics, it leaves a trail of race. The distance between jumps reaches two meters. The hind legs no longer line up parallel and become in one line with the front legs. Such a trail either gives way to a dense fatty mark, or calms down, shortens and becomes a running one.

Running (end) trail

The most common type of mark is left when the hare moves between feeding areas or goes to a lying area. The footprint is T-shaped, the front paws are lined up, the hind paws are parallel to each other. This is where the hare begins his art. He goes on well-trodden paths, traces of other animals, especially goats. In this case, the dogs go after the goats, as they have a very strong smell. All that remains is to walk along and look for the exit trail.

Twos, threes and loops

If you encounter hare loops, threes and twos in large quantities, means the bed is close. The loop appears when the hare circles and returns to its trail, crossing it and sometimes walking back along it.

A two means that the hare turned back in its tracks. Often after this he changes direction, making a discount - a sharp big jump to the side.

If, after a two, he still turns around and moves in the same direction, then the result is a three.

Discounts (estimates)

This is what they call a big jump away from your trail. After the second or third, the hare usually lies down.

Unraveling the maliks

To track a hare in winter, you need to be able to read its tracks. In order not to end up in the old bed, you first need to determine the direction. This can be done by fingerprints or by the shape of the footprint. The hare places its hind legs in front of its front legs. We move a little to the side so as not to trample the trail, otherwise we’ll suddenly have to go back and unravel something.

There is no point in delving into the fat loops; we just go around in an arc and see where the big-eared one continued on its way. If loops, deuces, discounts begin, it means we are approaching the prone position. The loops should be pierced completely so as not to get lost. If the hare goes out onto a well-trodden path or road, then we examine it for the presence of an exit trail 300-400 m in each direction. The old mark is easy to distinguish from the new one. Under fresh snow it is still soft and compacted, while under old it is denser.

After the second discount, you need to be on your guard and ready to shoot. You must not stop under any circumstances; the hare will regard a change in your movement as a threat and may break from its perch. If you need to look around, then continue to walk in place.

The resting place can be determined by loosened mounds of snow with lumps of earth; it is worth considering that the hare sometimes makes several of these. If you have already seen him, then do not look directly and walk as if to the side. Then there is an opportunity to shoot him right while lying down.

The process of searching and tracking a hare

Until deep snow falls, hares feed on winter crops. As soon as winter comes into its own, they move to the villages, fattening up in vegetable gardens, near haystacks. They lie down on a bed so that the wind blows through the fur, and they themselves are hidden behind some tubercle or bush.

How to track a hare? When tracking, the main thing is not to abandon the found trace and clearly distinguish its image from others. When feeding, the hare moves in small jumps, but on the fat pad the picture of the tracks makes no sense at all, everything is very dense there. It’s easier to bypass the fattening and go to the exit trail, which will lead to another fattening or laying.

Don’t trample the malik, otherwise you won’t be able to figure out all the loops and discounts later. If, while following the trail, after energetic jumps he suddenly disappeared, it means the hare has made a discount and somewhere nearby, perhaps this is his bed and he can already hear you and is waiting for you, be on your guard.

Selecting the area and hunting time

Habitat of the hare - West Side Russia, except for the northern regions and to the south, up to Buryatia. The hare is widespread in the west of the country, excluding North Caucasus, Astrakhan region and Kalmykia, also lives in Siberia.

Best time to hunt - early morning when the hare, having eaten, lies down. The footprints are clearly visible in the fresh snow. If it is deep, the animal’s presence can be found near villages or in young aspen forests and bushes, where the animal eats the bark. For mild snow cover- in winter crop fields.

Weapons and equipment

When hunting a hare by tracking, you will have to walk a lot, while making a minimum of noise and smells. The supply of equipment on the market is varied, but it is worth considering specific hunting parameters. Therefore, it is necessary to select a camouflage robe for the terrain, clothing and shoes made of soft fabrics, since leather and synthetics begin to creak in the cold.

For shoes, felt boots or high boots are best. Clothes should be clean, but not just washed, without strong odors, including powder, it is best to let them hang fresh air. If the snow is deep, you will need skis or snowshoes. They should be wide, then it’s easier to walk, and the fastenings should be wrapped in fabric so they don’t rattle.

Dogs are not allowed to be tracked. When crossing the track of another animal, it may go the wrong way, and if it stumbles upon a hare, it will go out and scare it away before you are ready to shoot. He can also be scared off by foxes, who are also not averse to eating hare meat.

In weapons, the main importance is accuracy and the ability to fire several shots in a row, which is why they use smooth-bore multi-shot guns with a choke or poluchok barrel. Cartridges use No. 3 or No. 0.

No matter how much advice you read, it will be of no use without practice. The hare hunting season is opening soon, it’s time to prepare your equipment, arrange a trip and outline the first places worth visiting in the forest. We wish you good hunting and hope you find this information useful and put it to use.

Hunting is a favorite pastime for many men. But to really become good hunter, you need to know some secrets and features. This article will allow you to learn about the main secrets of hare hunting. Before you go hunting, you need to study all the habits of hares, since these animals are very shy, and catching them is not as easy as it might seem at first glance.

Hunting is a favorite pastime for many men. But to become a really good hunter, you need to know some secrets and features. This article will allow you to learn about the main secrets. Before you go hunting, you need to study all the habits of hares, since these animals are very shy, and catching them is not as easy as it might seem at first glance.

Hares are very cowardly and cautious animals, and also very fast. Thanks to the fact that they have quite big ears, they are able to hear any, even the slightest rustle in the forest.

In addition, hares can easily confuse their own tracks so that a novice hunter is unlikely to be able to track the animal the first time. Even experienced hunters cannot always quickly untangle hare loops.

The favorite habitat of hares is forests, as well as open areas with complex terrain, with thick and tall grass and small ravines. Animals like to arrange their roosts in such places, and hunters are able to find prey faster by preying on such places. As a rule, the hare hunt begins. This period is the most successful and there is a high probability of quickly finding the animal.

A little about hares

There are two breeds of hares - hare and hare. Only experienced professional hunters are able to distinguish the tracks of a hare from a hare. The hare's paw is more elongated, while the hare's, spoiled, is rounded.

Traces: on the left of a hare, on the right and below – of a hare

It is also worth considering the fact that while running, hares extend their hind legs higher than their front legs, which is why they manage to confuse the tracks and lead the hunter in a completely different direction.

You can meet brown hares mainly in fields, steppes, and meadows. They love mostly flat terrain. White hares, on the contrary, are more willing to settle in forests where there is a lot of vegetation and they can easily camouflage themselves. These two types of hares still have one general feature– they are able to completely bury themselves in the snow, so that only their nose is visible.

Hunters prefer to hunt hare, since it is much more difficult to catch hare; it confuses its tracks more thoroughly.

For a hare hunt to be successful, the hunter must be patient. This activity is suitable for hardy people who are ready to spend several hours on their feet. In case you are just a novice hunter, before heading into the forest.

It is imperative to have warm and comfortable clothes with you, which should also be functional.

If you don't manage to catch the hare the first time, don't be upset. Enjoy the hunting process itself, gain experience and skills.

Features of winter hare hunting

Winter means searching for an animal using a fresh footprint left in the snow. This hunting process is most effective when the first snow falls, on which the hare's tracks are best visible. If you find fresh tracks (clear and not crushed by snow), then with a high probability you can find where the animal has settled down. During the search, the most important thing is not to scare off the hare. If you find a nest, it is important to know how to approach it correctly. Hares usually sit with their muzzles turned towards the wind so that it does not blow against their fur.

Therefore, you need to approach the bed against the wind so that the animal does not see you and run away.

Tracking a hare is not so easy, and when running it can reach speeds of up to sixty kilometers per hour. So, having missed the animal once, you are unlikely to be able to catch it again.

Types of hare hunting

Collective. Before you go hunting with friends, you should study the area and decide on a direction. The distance between hunters should be between fifteen and thirty meters. Thus, a hare can be detected faster, since it can get up from its prone position and give itself away. usually before dusk.

Hunting with a dog. Purpose this method hunting appears and lead him towards the hunters. This method of catching a hare is not so common, since you have to run a lot through forests and fields and it is not a fact that you will be able to make a successful shot and return home with the prey.

Hunting with tracking. We have already mentioned this method. The main thing here is to untangle the hare's tracks and discover the place of the bedding. This method, it is worth noting, is very exciting. Sometimes the hare confuses its tracks so much that it is impossible to find the animal’s location. This method of hunting is suitable for experienced hunters who, over many years of practice, have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge.

At the beginning of winter, it is best to hunt a hare with a dog. The reason for this is the low level of snow cover, which perfectly absorbs the odors of various animals. and lead you to the hare's lying area.

When hunting with a dog, be extremely careful not to accidentally shoot it.

If you decide to go hunting with your friends, then the main rule in this case is. Do not come within one meter of another person. Also be extremely careful when shooting. To lure the animal, you can use various treats in the form of carrots, cabbage leaves, clover and many other goodies.

It is important to know that at dawn hares like to go out to feed without much fear. Therefore, if you decide to spy on an animal, then it is better to do it at such an early time. Don't forget to take care of yours appearance. Try to be as invisible as possible. If you find an animal, try to be motionless, if possible, hide behind a tree, large bush or any other secluded place so as not to scare off the hare.

Sunny and calm weather is not best time when you can go hare hunting. And the most unfavorable weather for such activities is rainy weather, since it is at such times that hares become more cautious and timid, and it is almost impossible to make an accurate shot during the rain.

If you still decide to hunt a hare in rainy weather, then we recommend in this case to look for the animal in the plowing. It feels great in wet stubble.

The most good time To make a shot, this is when the hare stands on its hind legs. It is important for the hunter to have time to shoot at this moment. The main thing is not to scare off the animal, especially if you are hunting in creaky snow. Any careless movement - and all surveillance will be in vain, the hare will run away upon hearing the slightest rustle.

How to untangle hare tracks

As a rule, hares go out to feed at night, or early morning, so it is advisable to start hunting for them at this time. IN daytime Hares usually sleep, but before they climb into their bed, they carefully confuse their tracks.

To discover the location of a hare, you do not need to follow all the tracks, but look for a fork. Experienced trappers are able to quickly untangle hare tracks, despite the many loops.

Hares confuse their tracks in different ways, but the entrance to the nest is not so difficult to detect. As a rule, the tracks leading to the hare's habitat look like uniform dents, not chaotic. If you find tracks that repeat every three meters, then you are probably on the right track.

In frosty weather, catching a hare is quite difficult. During this period, the animal practically does not let anyone near it. Also, a windy day will not be very successful for hunting, since the snow may simply cover up the hare’s tracks and it will be difficult for you to discover where the animal is hiding.

If you managed to lift the hare, but accidentally scared him away and were unable to fire a shot, then next time we advise you to return to the same place. There is a high probability of finding this slant again, since hares very rarely change their roosting places.

How to target a hare

In the case of a group hunt, it is important to choose right place location. Remember that the hare always runs diagonally from the field and leaves the territory only through a corner.

That is why try to stand on the corner of the field to be able to catch the hare.

If you are in a lying position, and the hare is running straight towards you, you should not stand up suddenly and scare the animal. Let him get as close to you as possible close quarters. When the hare sees you, he will run to reverse direction, and then you can shoot after him, it’s important not to miss.

If a hare runs away from you, aim for its ears, and if the animal runs straight at you, aim for its front paws.

Before you go hunting, carefully study the area where eared animals live. Learn to recognize hare burrows - they have special edges.

If you decide to go hunting in the fall, then in this case it is better to use. Remember that during this period of the year it can be quite difficult to detect the animal, since it has a gray-brown color and blends in with the surrounding foliage. When approach hunting, you should carefully study those places that hares usually love very much - these are various areas with dense vegetation, small ravines, open areas with difficult terrain.

Use our tips and you can return. Learn the hare's habits, learn how to shoot accurately, and be patient before you go hunting.

The hare hunting season begins in November and lasts until early January. The hare is a very cunning and fast animal, so for a successful hunt you should gain experience, because this animal is capable of deceiving even experienced, professional hunters.

Video: Hunting a hare in winter

Video about Hare Hunting with hounds

Video about winter hare hunting

Hare hunting at the beginning of winter after the powder, one of the best ways test your hunting skills: endurance, attentiveness, ability to recognize and read the trail, reaction and accuracy. A hare obtained as a result of tracking is a reward obtained solely thanks to your efforts and hunting skills.

Differences between hare and hare tracks

The hare remains active in winter. It feeds at night, in the pre-dawn hours, and hides during the day, remaining on the so-called “bed”. Powder - the snow that has freshly fallen overnight, sweeps everything away, and the fresh night adventures of the hare read like an interesting, freshly written story.

In our area, there are mainly two species - the white hare and the brown hare. The white hare moves to forested areas, prefers copses, dense bushes, overgrown areas. In winter it feeds by eating twigs and tree bark. Rusak prefers open spaces, in winter it sticks to the edges, beams, small bushes, loves terrain with good review. Despite the snow, it continues to feed on withered grass and seeds, winter crops, and leftovers from gardens, digging it all out from the snow.

In many regions they live nearby. On good feeding grounds, their feeding zones often intersect, and their tracks overlap and become confused. How to distinguish the tracks of a hare and a hare from each other, since their habits, and therefore the places where they lie and the manner of confusing the tracks, are different.

The main difference between the prints of one and the other hare is that The white hare has wider paws, and the fingers are spread further apart, the hare already has a paw, fingers pressed closer. Therefore, the paw print of a hare in the snow will be almost round, while that of a hare will be elongated, oval. There are additional differences. The hare's trail is more confused, and when lying down it goes into the forest and dense thickets, including along deep snow. The hare has a discount, the trailing and racing tracks are longer. Due to its narrow paws, it cannot walk through deep snow like a white hare, so it prefers to move through more open places, including along already trodden paths and roads.

Where to look for a hare in winter.

As already written, the hare goes out to feed at night and finishes it in the morning, at dawn, after which it hides for the whole day. That's why the best time to hunt it is in the morning when he had already settled down and calmed down. You need to choose a fine, mild day with little wind. On such days, the hare easily gets up from lying down, and does not sit there until the last minute, as in bad weather or severe frost. In addition, the noise of the wind will hide your steps.

They look for the trail of a hare, especially a hare, along rural lands, fields, vegetable gardens, meadows and meadows, under stacks and stacks of straw, closer to the middle of winter in gardens. You can look for hare in the floodplains of rivers overgrown with young willow trees, in young aspen and birch forests, in gardens and on summer cottages, where he feasts on the bark of fruit trees.

The process of tracking a hare

The night adventures of the hare are quite monotonous. At the beginning of the night, he emerges from his resting place, first carefully looking around, and then in fairly quick leaps he goes to the feeding areas. In feeding areas, it moves slowly in short leaps, very chaotically (confused). Between feeding areas, its running speeds up and the length of its jumps increases. Sometimes, on bright, quiet nights, hares begin to frolic and race in the snow, then their jumps become especially long.

After having a snack at the end of the night, the hare heads to its daytime bed. In the process he begins to confuse the trail in order to confuse possible hunters. His run either speeds up or slows down, he can retrace his steps and then run on. He can go back a little and make a strong jump to the side and run further. Makes loops, runs out onto established paths and other people's paths, etc. During such a journey, the hare, depending on experience, performs each of these maneuvers from one to three times and only after all this hides in its shelter.

place of fattening

The process of unraveling all the nightly adventures of a hare, usually from the place of fattening (feeding) to the very place where it lies, is tracking. They start tracking by walking along the edge of a field or meadow, along forest paths or just along a country road, looking out for a hare's trail. Usually, hare paths lead towards fields and the like in the direction of the bedding area, and from there to thickets and bushes - to the bedding area.

The direction of movement of the hare is indicated to us by its hind paws; their prints are larger, more elongated and located in front of the prints of the front paws. If we are lucky enough to immediately find a trail leading from the feeding areas to the bedding area, go untangle it, otherwise head to the feeding area and start tracking from there.