HUNTING

HUNTING, a form of economic activity based on killing and trapping wild animals and birds. It is a traditional business for Bashkirs. Bashkirs H. system derives from the natural and climatic conditions, and economic traditions. There were active (chase, drive, battue, and hitting) and passive (use of all kinds of traps) forms of H.; the techniques and tools used were typical for taiga (northern and central regions) and steppe (southern regions and Trans‑Urals) H. A chase was typically performed on horseback over early snow (in southern and south‑western steppe areas and Trans‑Urals), on skis over snow crust (for wild goats, deer and elks) or over deep snow (for foxes, wolves, lynxes). Hunting for hares, minks, badgers, martens was performed using dogs, for bears — a tree stand or bear spears. Hunting for fur animals, wolves, wild geese and ducks with the help of hunting birds (golden eagles, falcons, hawks etc) was practiced too. The simplest passive forms of H. included use of all kinds of traps: pits, traps, and automatic bows. On fox and hare runs, loop traps were placed; to hunt a bear, complex traps were installed near a wild hive tree. For birds, decoys and large‑size nets were used. The hunting equipment included up to 1.5 m long bow, arrows, chain mace, a club, a gun (flint gun, since the 2^nd half of the 19th century — percussion or a Berdan rifle), a knife, a special accessory to carry provisions or killed game on the back. Hunting areas were divided among the communities and were at the disposal of groups of families.

There are 30 species of mammals and 48 species of birds hunted now. The main game species are: elk, wild boar, roe deer, bear, wolf, badger, fox and hares; upland (great grouse, black grouse, hazel grouse, and woodcock) and water (ducks and geese) fowl. Among fur animals there are mole, squirrel, muskrat, common marten, fox, lynx, beaver, and American mink. Use of terrestrial fauna and hunting are performed on 135 hunting areas managed by different entities. The RB Hunting and Fishing Association is the largest hunting entity in the Republic. The territory assigned to the Association includes 48 hunting areas situated in 35 raions of the Republic. Open public hunting areas are located in different parts of the Republic and occupy about 30% of the total land of the region (2017).