10/02/2013 | Moose rut and moose hunting on wabu

In place of the preface. Prince D. Naryshkin (1900), who devoted several years to this hunt, describes it this way: “There are the same delights in hunting moose “on a groan”, as in hunting capercaillie. The same dead silence, full of uncertainty, in the forest in the twilight of the night. The same agonizing wait at dawn, finally, the soul-grabbing first sound heard, reaching from afar to the extremely intense ears. But here all the similarities with capercaillie hunting end.

At first, an unclear sound, reminiscent of the distant croaking of a frog, becomes clearer and clearer, then turns into a groan. You can hear the animal walking far away, then coming closer... The forest breaks under the powerful pressure of the enraged animal. Moans alternate with a dull restrained roar. The tops of the nearest pines and birches are swaying, the willows are moving apart, and a few fathoms away stands a huge animal, at which you need to give a sure shot... I don’t know a hunt more beautiful in its setting, nor more exciting, nor filled with great sensations... How much charm there is in this “being or not to be,” in this waiting. Nerves are sometimes so excited by half an hour of languor that trembling hands can barely cope with the weapon... I heard from one foreigner who shot many deer “at roar” and ended up in Russia hunting elk “on the waboo”, that our hunting is the highest sport "

The permission on the territory of Russia (in the mid-80s of the last century) to shoot male moose during the rut attracted a large number of people to these hunts who had not previously had the slightest idea about hunting wabu. The motives are so rapid growth popularity autumn hunting for moose are different: material, trophy, recreational. One way or another, this hunt is being carried out and has become so popular and widespread that it cannot remain without consequences of adequate scale for elk populations. The purpose of publishing this article is to develop this most exciting way of moose hunting, increase the efficiency of shooting and hunting culture, help reduce the harmful effects of hunting on the reproduction and size of natural moose populations, and create conditions for their sustainable development. "Of two evils choose the less". I believe that since hunting for elk during the rut exists, let it be carried out culturally, correctly, with minimal damage to the animals.

Physiology of elk reproduction

Elk is a monophasic animal. During the year it reproduces once - in the fall. The moose breeding season lasts about 2 months - from late August to late October. During the breeding season, called the rut, adult males are constantly ready to mate. There are cases when one male mated up to 8 moose cows in a season. Adult males reach their highest sexual potency already by the beginning of the rut, while young males (1.5-2.5 years) have maximum testes weight and sexual activity only by the middle of the rut, i.e. by the end of September.

Moose cows, like males, have one breeding season, but during this season the same female can have several sexual cycles. The fact of repeated citation was established in a half-adult female isolated from males for 5 months. This female had at least 6 sexual cycles. Personally, in my many years of practice, I have only observed moose rutting on snow only twice - in November and the first ten days of December. In the first case, 2 adult males (5.5 and 6.5 years old) raced with a half-adult female, and in the second case, a female at the age of 5.5 years mated with an adult male with well-developed horns with 3 branches. Both observations relate to areas with traditionally low population densities. The ability of moose cows to reproduce repeatedly in the same season in the event of non-fertilization or death of the zygote in the first sexual cycle is an important adaptation of animals that allows this species survive in conditions of low densities and powerful hunting pressure.

Trophy properties of bulls

Our materials collected in Kirov region for 1968-1971 (14 males) and for 1987-1989. (5 individuals), give some idea of ​​the age of the bulls that approached the waboo. At the age of 1.5-3.5 years, 2 individuals (10.5%) were caught on wabu; males from 4.5 to 10 years old were killed 12 heads (63.2%), and animals 10.5-14.5 years old - 5 individuals (26.3%). According to S.V. Buslaev ( oral communication), the age of 20 males caught on wabu in the Ivanovo region in the period from 1992 to 2003 was in the range of 4.5–9.5 years. The age of elk harvested during the rut is distinguished by a greater proportion of young males. There are probably other differences, and these are generally due to differences in the method of extraction. In our samples, all bulls were caught as a result of luring, and hunters, not mastering this method, used other methods of catching, including using dogs, pens, stalking, and also during random encounters. A comparison of the trophy qualities of the animals showed that among those caught on wabu, the number of bulls with the minimum number of shoots was 8, and with the average number of shoots - 1.25 times less, while with the maximum - 2 times more than in the winter catch. On average, a male elk killed in winter had antlers with the number of tines equal to 6.4, and those killed on a wabu had 9.2 tines.

Rutting ecology

Along with the differences caused by the state of the population and the individual developmental characteristics of the animals, the sexual activity of the rutting moose of all moose is influenced by various environmental factors. The action of these factors or their intensity and even the composition itself vary in time and space. This makes it difficult to plan the timing of shooting, since the timing of the rut and periods of peak activity of animals change in accordance with changes in key environmental factors, but some advice can still be given.

Rutting start dates

The time of the onset of the rut depends on the severity of the climate. In northern latitudes - Sweden, Norway, Central Alaska, Canada - the height of the rut occurs from late September to mid-late October (Lent, 1974). According to O.I. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1948), moose mating on the Kola Peninsula occurred until the end of the first ten days of November. On Verkhnyaya Pechora, the peak of the rut occurred in the second half of September, but in some cases, judging by the degree of fruit development, mating of elk cows occurred in November and even early December (Yazan, 1964). In the central zone of the European part of Russia and Siberia, the peak of the rut occurs in the second ten days of September, and in the south of the range - in mid-September (Kheruvimov, 1969). According to Yu. P. Yazan (1961), later breeding dates in areas with cold climates are a population adaptation of moose aimed at increasing the survival rate of young animals in the first days after birth.

Signs of the beginning of the rut are interpreted differently. A. S. Rykovsky (1964), who observed the moose race in Kaluga region, considered the appearance of combed and worn out trees to be a sign of the beginning of the rut. Similar damage to vegetation by bulls was observed in the Tambov region. There, the animals “ringed” young and middle-aged pine, aspen and birch trees at a height of 50–150 cm (Kheruvimov, 1969). O.I. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1948) and A.N. Formozov (1952) took the appearance of rutting pits, or “diggings,” as the beginning of the elk rutting. There is an opinion that the beginning of the rut coincides with autumn equinox(September 23) or with the beginning of leaf fall (Likhachev, 1958; Yurgenson, 1935). E.P. Knorre, who devoted his entire life to the study of moose and their domestication, made the following conclusion regarding the signs of the onset of the rut: sexual activity of bulls begins earlier than that of females. Bulls become mobile, leave their usual feeding places and begin to move widely around the land in search of females from the end of August. Consequently, an increase in the occurrence of moose tracks in the areas crossing clearings, forest roads, and trails is the first sign of the beginning of the rut. The completion of horn cleaning in adult bulls coincides in time with the beginning of the first estrus in the most well-fed, healthy females, and at this time the rut begins in classic form(digging rutting holes, constant escort of females by males, moaning or “grunting-croaking” of males at dawn, fights between males), with characteristic traces of rutting.

Rutting areas

There are the most conflicting ideas about the location of the elk rut. One of the extreme opinions is that there are no special rutting stations, much less permanent areas, and elk constantly change places and can be found during the rutting season in any area, including in typical winter habitats, i.e. pine young forests (Kheruvimov, 1969). A. S. Rykovsky (1964), on the contrary, believes that during the rutting period, moose adhere to the same territories from year to year and have individual plots with an area of ​​100–200 hectares. E.P. Knorre believes that before the rut, males leave their habitats and move widely around the land in search of females. The rut takes place in areas where females live in the summer. The American researcher P. Ts. Lent (Lent, 1974), who studied moose racing in Alaska, came to the same opinion. Our observations led to the same conclusion - elk rutting takes place in the individual areas of adult females. In the north of the European part and in Siberia, the areas of females are confined to the outskirts of vast moss swamps, floodplains of rivers with meadows, oxbow lakes, and willow thickets. In forests transformed by logging, areas include cutting areas in the initial stage of overgrowth, deciduous young stands, and burnt areas. In lands with a predominance of agricultural areas, the rut passes along the edges of farmland remote from populated areas, in abandoned and overgrown fields, through forest ravines, and river and stream valleys overgrown with shrubs. Most experts who have studied moose rutting note a certain conservatism of moose when choosing rutting areas. In at least two adjacent seasons, the rut often takes place in the same areas.

Daily activity of bulls during the rut

The general scheme of the daily rhythm of sexual activity of bulls during the rut is as follows: “In the evening, after a day’s rest, the moose feed, after which towards sunset they moan for about half an hour. This is followed by fattening, after which already at full twilight, especially when there is a moon, the moaning of the bulls resumes briefly, after which the bulls fall silent until midnight. At about 1-2 o'clock in the morning they moan, but not for long. Half an hour before dawn the groaning resumes and reaches its peak at dawn. With sunrise, the moaning, as a rule, stops and only in some cases lasts until 7-8 o'clock in the morning. In the daytime, bulls don’t moan.” In the Tambov region, according to V.D. Kheruvimov, at the beginning of the breeding season, moose races can only be heard in the evening dawns. As more and more pairs are formed, the activity of the males increases. At this time, the moaning of the bulls can be heard both in the morning and in the evening dawns. At the height of the rut, moose of both sexes moan at any time of the day. Towards the end of the rutting period, the activity of bulls decreases. The following was experimentally established: in a natural environment, bulls vocalize only at dawn and at night. By playing various sounds of the rut, you can provoke bulls to vocalize at other times of the day. It was possible to extend their activity in the morning until 9 o’clock, and in the evening to start vocalizing from 17.30, whereas usually in the morning the bulls were active until 7.00, and in the evening they began to vocalize no earlier than 19.00-19.25.

The influence of weather on daily activity was the same as the influence on activity during rutting periods: in inclement, windy weather, activity decreased, more noticeably (6-8 times) at dawn. In clear, frosty weather, the activity of animals was high. It was also noted that during daylight hours the activity of bulls depended on the disturbance factor. The noise created by working tractors or other equipment, barking dogs, people's voices, and other sounds of human activity led to the cessation of vocalization by the bull even at dawn and dusk. On the contrary, in areas remote from habitation, where there are few people on a regular basis, or in areas with low hunting intensity, the bulls behaved more boldly and responded to the wab in the daytime.

Hunting management of rutting areas

As in areas for winter hunting (“permanent hunting areas”), it is advisable to carry out hunting management in rutting areas. This includes the construction of salt licks, food fields, feeding areas (in the form of areas of “eternal young stands” and (or) fallen aspens), shooting towers, transects for shooting, and hunting trails. The last element needs to be explained in more detail. When conducting experimental work We have seen how important the role of preliminary identification of rutting areas and laying out a convenient, rational route is in the hunt for waboo. During a hunt, some part of the route, both in the morning and in the evening, has to be passed at dusk or in complete darkness, and in such conditions it is difficult to follow a compass without a road, path or clearing, especially for a foreigner accustomed to hunting in a cultural landscape. Therefore, a pre-laid path is required. It should be fairly clean, without rubble, branches, cleared of small undergrowth and bushes and, if possible, bypassing viscous damp places. This is required to reduce the noise produced by hunters walking along the route: rustling on branches and “squelching” of shoes in damp, swampy places. Experience has shown that moose perfectly distinguish sounds made by humans from other sounds, including those made by moose. The widespread opinion among hunters that during the race the elk is not afraid of noise or human voices, but, on the contrary, follows the noise, is incorrect. Sometimes the bull gives a voice at the sound of a twig cracking under his foot, but this happens precisely in those cases where until that moment the person walked absolutely silently. But even such a seemingly favorable opportunity cannot play a positive role in the hunt. As experience shows, a hunter in such a situation rarely manages to outwit the animal and manage to take an advantageous position in order to see it and fire a shot, since bulls, having an amazing ability to accurately determine the location of the sound source, very rarely go there right away. Usually, 100-150 m before reaching the jacker, the animal turns away and tries to clarify the situation by smell. In this case, the bull almost always accurately “makes a diagnosis” and leaves, reducing the chances of success at this dawn. Therefore, walking sounds that indicate the presence of a person should be considered undesirable.
Depending on the availability of access roads and the location of the rutting areas, the hunting route can be made in a linear or circular configuration. In the case when the route goes from the edge into the depths of the forest, where there are no stopping points and roads, a circular route is designed. In order to cover 4 rutting areas with a circular route, we had to walk from 14 to 22 km, depending on the density of individual moose areas. The advantages of the circular route are obvious: new areas are explored along its entire length, which increases the likelihood of success with minimal effort and time. In addition, the route leads to the starting point where hunters have best conditions for rest and preparation for the next hunt, and in the case of hunting an animal - for organizing its removal and processing. In hard-to-reach and sparsely populated areas, it is more convenient to lay linear routes. Even with a relatively low density of individual plots, a linear route 12–15 km long can cover 2 or even 3 sections of the rut. If there are passable roads in the areas, the linear route can be led to the road, in which case hunters can return home in a car sent to this place in advance. In promising areas where work is planned to be carried out constantly, at the end of linear routes (there may be several of them, fanning out) hunting huts should be built, equipped with everything necessary for recreation and radio communications. You can also return home from the hut during the hunt at the next dawn.

Choosing a place for the driver and shooter.

The jacker fails to see most of the bulls approaching the wab, not because the wrong position for the wab was chosen or mistakes were made when luring, but due to the caution of the animals, their habit of not approaching directly the location of the supposed opponent before the situation has been carefully studied. This behavioral trait of bulls has already been mentioned. It should only be added that the distance that the animals kept with enviable consistency between themselves and the lure was about 100 m. Having reached the indicated “mark,” the animal becomes silent, begins to sniff the ground, listen, and in such a situation often recognizes deception. If a person has not given himself away by the noise or incorrect voice of the waba, and the air movement is towards him or to the side, the bull goes around the place of the waba in a circle and detects the trace of the person or identifies it by smell. In this case, the bull stops making even a barely audible voice before, and his steps become completely silent. Based on such a change in behavior, one can confidently judge that you have been detected and further “game” makes no sense. Luck can be achieved by placing the shooter between the approaching bull and the lure. In this case, success no longer depends to such an extent on the behavior of the bull, but is almost entirely determined by the skill and experience of the lure, his ability to lure and choose the right place for the shooter. It is even easier and more effective to hunt in permanent areas equipped with shooting towers.

Methods and techniques of hunting.

Despite the variety of situations that arise in the process of hunting elk during the rut, there are only two fundamental different ways hunting: 1) waiting for the animal that responded to the wab and the approaching animal; 2) approaching, hiding and luring animals that respond to the call, but remain in place. The different mobility of bulls and the methods of hunting them depend on several factors, the main one of which is the presence of a female with him. Consequently, one of the jacker’s primary tasks is to determine the bull’s status—whether it is single or in a group. When luring, one should take into account the patterns in changes in the tone of the bull’s voice and the volume of the mechanical sounds it produces, associated with age, which determines the absolute rank of dominance. We have developed such tactics for identifying the situation in the rutting area. The wabu began with the protesting voice of a middle-aged or young female (and - uh - uh - uh - uh - uh; uh-oh-o-a-ah-h) first once, then after 3-5 minutes. 2-3 more times at intervals of 40-60 seconds, each time increasing the volume. If there is no response after 2 minutes. the bull's voice was given - "grunting" (oooh) - in the same sequence as the protesting voice of the female. Then they also “croaked” (o-o; o-o). Without waiting for an answer, after a one- or two-minute pause they made a cracking sound of branches, breaking them with their feet or hitting dead wood or thick dry branches with a thick stick. Failure to respond to all methods of luring occurs very rarely and can be caused by two reasons: 1) animals are stolen from the site by dogs, predators or people; 2) a group of racing moose consists of a female and a medium-sized, middle-aged male. The female is in heat, and the male, following her relentlessly, does not give a voice due to his low absolute rank of dominance. He is afraid of rivals. Further efforts to find moose in this area will not bring the desired success at this dawn. The optimal solution should be considered moving to the next section of the rut.

After the animal's response, the hunters' further actions are determined by how far the bull is from them. If he is close and the luring was done with the protesting voice of the female, one should expect a quick approach of the animal. It is necessary, without waiting for repeated answers, to choose a place for the shooter in front, in the direction of the bull, and, leaving it, return 100 m back, and then continue to hammer, speaking quietly and changing the aggressive tone to a neutral one. If the animal rarely voices and approaches slowly, it is necessary to increase the intervals of vocalization, coordinating them with the rhythm of the bull’s responses, slightly reduce the volume and give the waba, turning away from the bull, holding the pipe not up, but towards the ground. As a rule, after such a technique, the bull begins to respond more actively and quickly approach, coming into the shooter’s field of view. If the male’s response comes from afar, the wab needs to be repeated several times at the indicated intervals, and only after clarifying the direction and fact of the bull’s approach, stop the wab, place the shooter on the “number” (or on a specially constructed storage shed - tower), then take your place and continue to wab . As the bull approaches, it is advisable to increase caution and avoid even the slightest movements. You should always adhere to the rule of giving your voice less often than the bull does, and when the animal is close, knock in at the moment when the bull responded. This helps to increase the activity of males and is conducive to success.
If the bull responds but does not approach, there is no point in waiting for his approach. Having determined the direction and approximate distance to the place from where the bull is responding, you need to move in this direction, reducing the distance to about 300 m. Then clarify the situation in terms of the direction of the wind, the configuration of forest stands, specific stations where the rut is taking place (it is assumed that the jacker knows the area well hunting). The starting position for further actions should be taken on the leeward side, as silently as possible, silently moving to the voice of a bull (like a wood grouse song). Then the shooter moves forward 50-70 m in the direction of the bull responding to the wab, carefully, constantly covering himself with vegetation, avoiding open areas. Having determined by his voice that the bull is large, strong and not showing caution, the buller should beckon by “grunting” (preferably with a grunting jar, not with his voice) and with a positive reaction, strengthen his voice, “crackle”, and let out a roar (woah). Most often, the response of bulls to such actions by the jacker is favorable for hunting. The bull also responds with a “woah” voice, begins to break branches, and moves towards the jacker. The usual distance at which the bull moves away from the female is within 100 m, but he immediately returns back to the moose cow. This can be repeated several times, which allows the shooter to more easily detect the animal, remaining unnoticed, and fire a shot.

Dates and times of hunting, equipment and shooting.

Most favorable for trophy shooting initial period rut, especially the first 10 days. At this time, bulls with good trophy horns that were not damaged during fights are suitable for luring. Knowing from the experience of past years the peak time of the rut, you need to subtract 25 days from the average peak date. As a result, a date will be determined from which to begin testing the bulls' reaction to the waba. In the forest zone of the European part of Russia, the average dates of the peak of the rut fall on September 17-20. Therefore, you can start walking around the rutting areas and checking the reaction of bulls to the waboo from August 23-26. Often during the initial period of the rut, bulls approach the wab in silence. If the bull's response is not heard, this does not mean that he is not nearby and the rut has not yet begun. When re-checking, you should carefully examine the places where the waba was produced. You can often smell and find traces of a bull that came here: hoof prints in areas open ground, a fresh dig, a broken bush. This means that the rut has already begun. The bull did not come to the wad immediately, but, using his phenomenal ability to accurately determine the location of the sound source, he arrived later. The areas where bulls approach should be considered promising for luring and shooting this season.

Productive time for hunting wabu is limited to 1.5-2 hours during dawn. To check 3-4 areas of the rut, you have to save every minute of time. Waiting for a long time for a bull to approach one area will lead to the fact that subsequent areas will have to be approached after sunrise or in the evening, when it becomes completely dark. To determine the situation at each of the planned sections of the rut, we walked along the route without staying long at the site of the wreath, and during the twilight (morning) and even night (evening) time we managed to cover each section in one dawn. The goal was twofold: a) to identify the presence of bulls on the site and the state of their sexual activity and b) to attract bulls closer to the hunting route. In the morning you need to be at the first section of the rut half an hour before dawn (at 4 or 4.15), and in the evening - an hour before sunset (18.00-18.30). If the animal responded while it was still dark, but it turned out that the bull was promising both for luring and as a trophy, the wabu was stopped. The rutting area was abandoned and the route continued to the next area, where a wab and an attempt to catch the animal were also made. If the result was negative, the hunters returned to the first site and attracted the bull that had responded earlier.

Speaking about the dependence of hunting tactics on lighting, we focused on a shooter with normal vision using rifled weapon with an open sight. The presence of an optical sight increases the productive hunting time by about 15-20 minutes. This is a lot, considering that there is often a delay in the approach of the elk (at dawn) by 3-5 minutes. makes it impossible to make an aimed shot from a carbine with open sights. At dawn, situations also arise when it is necessary to fire a shot at dusk, and the front sight and especially the slot are invisible. General conclusion On this issue, it is clear: the presence of an optical sight contributes to the success of hunting. It is better if it is installed on a high bracket, giving good review and when shooting from an open sight. It should be noted the unsatisfactory performance of smooth-bore weapons and rifled caliber 5.6 mm. The 7.62 mm caliber is suitable (cartridge 7.65×51; x53, with an expansion bullet), but the best result was given by the 9×54 cartridge. Despite the fact that shooting is carried out at a slowly moving or standing animal, errors when shooting on this hunt occur more often than during winter hunting. The hunter's anxiety takes its toll, preventing him from making an accurate shot. Complicating the production is the increased strength of the bulls compared to other periods of the year, their vitality, so to speak. We noticed that the depth of the wound channel of bulls shot during the rut in some cases was significantly less than with the same wounds and the use of the same (standard) cartridge during winter fishing. Basically, these differences were noticeable when fired from the front into the chest. In two cases, 9-mm bullets weighing 15 g, when fired from a Bear carbine from a distance of 70 and 80 m, when hitting the base of the neck, got stuck, one in the muscles of the shoulder, the other in the tissues between the shoulder blade and ribs. In similar shots during winter hunts, the bullet pierced the elk carcass diagonally to the pelvis. When photographing skins from bulls hunted on wabu, two circumstances caught our attention: the thickness of the skin, almost doubled compared to normal, especially on the front part of the body, and the increased strength and even, one might say, hardness of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. The tested knife, which was used to cut an elk carcass during a winter hunt without additional sharpening, had to be sharpened more than twice when cutting a bull killed on the waboo. Apparently, one of the reasons for the reduction in the damaging effect of a bullet is the increase in the strength and hardness of the integumentary tissues of bulls during the rut.

Additional equipment required for hunting waba includes a pipe and a snorting jar, a compass, an electric flashlight, a hunting knife, and a whetstone. Clothes should be the same as those usually used by game hunters in the autumn: a jacket and trousers made of gray cloth, the same color or gray-yellow, a hat or cap. It is better to have leather shoes impregnated with a water-repellent composition, but in the absence of such, ordinary rubber boots are also suitable. Trousers should be worn untucked, over the top. This will reduce noise when walking. In a small fabric or thin tarpaulin handbag (on a shoulder strap), along with accessories, you can put plastic film to protect from the rain.

V. Glushkov

Hunting and game management

Probably, with a great deal of truth, we can say that summer-autumn hunts, at least in the first half of the season, take place under the sign of birds, while the shooting of animals at this time is limited. Until October, the list of game hunts is really not long: bear and wild boar in the blind fields, and deer and elk - that’s probably all. In this review we will look at one of the most exciting types of moose hunting - roaring during the rut. You will learn when the elk rut begins, what its timing is, how to choose a weapon and shooting position, and what are the characteristics of the behavior of old and young bulls during this period. You can also watch a video with a master class on how to attract a bull elk.

When does the elk rut begin?

For all deer living in our country, the mating season occurs in the second half of the year. The rut of roe deer begins earlier than everyone else - from the end of July to the end of August; The musk deer are the last to “chase” - from late November to mid-December. By time moose rut and red deer, including red deer and wapiti, are approximately the same, the first signs appear at the end of August, and everything ends by mid-October.

The almost two-month extension of the rut applies to populations of these animals as a whole, because animals living in the southern parts of the range begin earlier, and in regions with a harsh climate - about two weeks later. For the middle zone (in the latitudinal dimension), the most active part of the rut occurs in mid-late September.

Bulls during the rut

It must be said that literature (I don’t mean scientific) and fine art have always paid much more attention to the red deer than to the elk. And this is true: a slender, handsome man in a challenging pose, with an elongated powerful neck, a graceful head, decorated with horns of extraordinary beauty thrown back, is much more suitable for the role of a model than a powerful one with a heavy hook-nosed head, horns of not always a certain shape, clumsy at first glance elk figure. Nevertheless, hunting for elk during the rut - “to roar”, or, as they also say, “to groan” - is unlikely to be inferior in emotionality to that of deer. Moreover, an elk at this time can pose a very real danger to the hunter.

Adult, sexually mature bulls strive to find a mate even before the start of the physiological rut, and until the end of the moose cow's estrus, they are together. Then a moment comes when she rejects the “advances” of her gentleman, and he can go in search of new girlfriend. Unlike red deer, bull elk do not create “harems,” and the presence of several females with one bull is unusual, although such facts have been noted.

Purely externally, a bull’s readiness for the rut can be determined by its horns. If they have already been cleared of the skin and fur and acquired a normal “bone” appearance, then his body has already begun or is about to begin producing sex hormones. However, the bull becomes fully ready for mating only when the moose cows come into heat. The secretion secreted by their genitals falls onto the soil with urine; the bull finds this place by smell and becomes excited. He breaks branches, sometimes the tops of young trees, rakes and beats the grass to the ground with his hooves, especially where the moose cow has urinated. Such places are called “points”, and they can be up to two meters in diameter. At the same time, physiological processes are activated in the body, making it ready for mating. Not only does behavior change from the usual, but also appearance male The eyes become bloodshot, the neck becomes thicker, and it seems that the entire front part of the body is increasing in size. It emits a sharp, specific smell that is difficult to describe, but the smell of a mighty beast is unmistakably discernible in it, and a feeling of danger involuntarily appears.

Throughout the entire rut, the bull gives voice. The sound it makes is not at all like the roar of a red deer. This is something between a grunt and an exhalation of relief with a voice. This sound is most accurately characterized by the name that our ancestors gave it - “moan”. It is much weaker in strength than the roar of a deer and is rarely heard from a distance of more than a kilometer, although the ability to hear it is greatly influenced by the terrain, density of plantings, and extraneous sounds (wind, sound of water, etc.). The greatest activity in vocalization is observed at dawn and in the evening closer to sunset; Hearing a moose during the day is a rarity.

For mating games, moose choose the most various places. This is largely determined by the terrain and the nature of forest plantations. In the northern regions of the European part of Russia, they prefer to “moan” along dry manes and edges of moss swamps, in dense young growths of old clearings, along overgrown forest hayfields, as well as in the floodplains of forest streams and rivers. In the mountainous regions of Siberia and the Urals, where the permanent habitats of moose are limited to river floodplains and intermountain valleys, breeding areas gravitate towards river banks. The same can be said about the plateaus of Central Siberia and Transbaikalia. In places almost never visited by people, where there is no need to constantly hide in the thickets, elk are especially fond of the wide pebble beds of small rivers with forest islands, which in September literally exude the “rutting elk spirit,” making a person who suddenly finds himself there not for hunting reasons feel feeling very uncomfortable.

Subtleties of hunting "by roar"

By tracks, “dots”, broken branches and trees, by the voice given and the smell, you need to find the place where the animals are “chasing”, i.e. where the bull feels like the owner of both this place and the female who is with him. Raising his voice from time to time, he warns possible rivals that everything is busy here and he will not allow the presence of a stranger. The hunter’s task is to imitate the “moan” of the alien, to irritate the owner bull, make him believe in the appearance of a competitor and lure him to a clear place for a shot.

Not all bulls have girlfriends at the beginning of the mating season, and these bachelors are constantly in search, wander widely - you can meet them in different places. They also raise their voices, trying to find out where the “lucky guy” is in order to try to take away the female from him, or whether there is a free cow nearby. Such animals boldly follow the voice of a “cabber” - a hunter imitating the “moan” of a bull. Luring a bull is not limited to just giving a voice, but is accompanied from time to time by the cracking of broken branches and the tapping of a stick on a stick or tree, which should be perceived as the knocking of the horns of an excited bull on trees. In general, the “moan” is formed by the whole complex of sounds that the elk produces.

Now more and more often roar hunting is of a trophy nature. Animals in their prime have well-developed horns, i.e. at the age of 6-12 years. An experienced “cabbler” can distinguish an old animal from a young one by its voice and, based on this, build a hunt. Of course, it is best to start luring a specific elk, which is known from pre-hunting reconnaissance. If the hunt begins with a search, then when you hear a “moaning” bull, try to get an idea of ​​the age of the animal. When a mighty animal gives its voice, there is a greater chance that it will accept the challenge and go to drive away the bull, which, based on its voice, seems weaker than itself. A medium-sized elk is unlikely to rush at a potential rival if you imagine him in the voice of an old animal; rather, he will try to quietly leave and take the female away. When trying to lure a bull away from a female, you need to be patient, because he is reluctant to leave her, preferring to call roll at a distance. It can be easier to lure a wandering loner.

It happens that with one cow there are two, and sometimes three bulls. Or rather, next to her is one of the strongest, who does not let anyone in, and the rest are nearby, but at a safe distance. In this case, the hunter is often approached not by the main contender, but by one of those nearby who is clearly inferior to the owner in size and strength. Therefore, when beckoning an elk, you need to try to determine by the response voice whether the hunter is dealing with one or more males, and depending on this, decide whether to shoot at the first animal that appears or try to take the best trophy. It often happens that a large bull cannot be lured away from a female, especially if there are other males nearby, and then you have to change the hunting location and look for another suitable one.

Many people believe that during the rut the aggressiveness of bulls prevails over caution, but it seems to me that this is not so. Sometimes you hear stories about how someone walks through the forest without hiding, with a bang, and suddenly an elk flies out and, seeing a person, does not run away, but demonstrates its aggressiveness. Rather, this can be explained by the fact that a man noisily walking through the forest sets the elk up against an approaching rival, who in nature behaves noisily, showing his strength and confidence. Try not to lure, but to hide the “moaning” animal, and you will immediately feel how wary he and the female are to the slight noise made by the hunter when approaching. Moose, as a rule, react to quiet sounds that are incomprehensible to them by leaving the place. We must not forget that during the rut, moose are hunted not only by people, but also by bears, encounters with which do not bode well for them. It’s probably worth reminding that neither the “cabbler” nor the shooter should make any other noise other than the simulating action of a bull.

Weapon and shooting position

When choosing a position for luring a bull and shooting, you must remember that the animal must pass through at least a relatively clean place in order to be able to target the slaughter area. As in any other case, you cannot shoot through thickets (branches, bushes, grass, etc.).

From rifled - better than 9 mm caliber. These can be carbines chambered for 9.3x62, 9.3x64, 9.3x57 foreign-made, 9.3x64 and 9x54R domestic. A combined weapon is preferably with a rifled barrel chambered for the 9.3x74R cartridge or the above-mentioned domestic cartridges. It is better to use 12 gauge smoothbore weapons with cartridges loaded with heavy Brenneke-type bullets. All the cartridges that have been mentioned have sufficient killing and stopping power for such an animal as a bull elk during the rut, and I took the liberty of recommending them for the following reasons. Firstly, by the time of the rut, elk reach their highest fatness, and among bulls actively participating in the rut, specimens over 400 kg live weight are not uncommon; secondly, the cartridge must provide a reliable kill, because the hunt takes place during the snowless period, and it is possible to catch a wounded animal without dogs in autumn forest, and often at dusk, is not an easy task at all; thirdly, by the time of the rut, animals become especially strong against wounds, since all the body’s reserves are mobilized to continue the race. It is advisable to equip the weapon with an optical sight, because you often have to shoot in low light, although the shooting distance rarely exceeds 60-70 meters.

Alexey Sibirsky

Video: Master class “How to lure a moose correctly”

Video: Bull elk during the rut - hunting "by roar":

Elk.

Belongs to the deer family of the ruminant suborder. These are very large, somewhat clumsy animals, with a short and thick neck, a wide and short body, high legs and branched horns, the ends of which are widened in the form of shoulder blades and carved like fingers. They have small lacrimal fossae, hair tufts on the inside of the feet and interhoof glands; there are no fangs at all. In addition to forest areas, which are under strict supervision, moose are found in more northern latitudes, in all forest-rich countries of Europe and Asia. In Asia, moose are even more common than in Europe. There it lives from 50 degrees north latitude to the Amur and is found wherever there are dense forests.

Elk is a huge animal. The body length is 2.6-2.9 m, the tail length is approximately 10 cm, the height at the shoulders is 1.9 m. The weight of very old moose sometimes reaches 500 kg; the average weight should be considered 350-400 kg. The body is relatively short and thick, the chest is wide; there is something like a hump on the nape, the back is straight, and the sacrum is lowered. The legs are very high, strong, all of equal length and end in narrow, straight, deeply dissected hooves, connected to each other by an extensible membrane. The hind hooves touch the ground easily if the ground is soft. On a short, strong neck sits a large, elongated head, which is narrowed near the eyes and ends in a long, thick, bloated muzzle, as if chopped off in front. This muzzle is severely disfigured by a cartilaginous nose and a thick, strongly elongated upper lip, which is very mobile, wrinkled and covered with hair. Small, dull eyes sit deep in the eye sockets, the lacrimal pits are insignificant. Large, long, wide, but pointed ears are located on the back of the head, but are so mobile that they can be bent towards each other. The antlers of an adult moose are very large. Wide and flat, they have a triangular spade shape. These horns are directed to the sides and are supported by short, thick, rounded pipes. In the first autumn, a young male notices a hairy tubercle in place of the horns; the following spring the pipe grows; in the second spring - a second shoot about 30 cm long, which disappears only in the next winter. The horns then branch out more and more.

In the fifth year, a flat shoulder blade forms, which expands and divides at the edges into all larger number teeth, sometimes reaching up to 20. The main branches also grow together with the scapula. These horns weigh up to 20 kg.

Moose fur is long, thick and straight. It consists of wavy, fine and brittle guard hairs, between which there is a short, fine undercoat; along the top of the back of the head runs a large, very thick mane, divided in the middle, which partly continues on the neck and chest and is up to 20 cm long. The color of the coat is uniformly reddish-brown; on the mane and sides of the head it turns into a shiny dark black-brown. From October to March the coat color is lighter. The female is no smaller than the male, but has no horns, her hooves are longer, her hind hooves are shorter and less protruding. In Russia, a male elk is called “elk”.

Wild desert forests, replete with impenetrable swamps and swamps, especially those dominated by willow, birch, aspen and generally deciduous trees, serve as a habitat for moose. In calm, clear weather, elk prefer deciduous forests; in rain, snow and fog - conifers. In Russia and the Scandinavian Peninsula it migrates over long distances. The elk never makes a bed for itself, but settles down directly on the ground, not paying attention to whether it chooses a swamp or swamp, dry ground or snow-covered soil for its rest.

Elks unite into herds of various sizes, and only at the time of the birth of calves the old males separate and form new societies. In a place that is safe for itself, the elk sleeps only in the morning and afternoon, and from 4 o’clock in the afternoon until early morning it grazes. According to Wangenheim, its food consists of leaves and shoots of swamp willow, birch, ash, aspen, rowan, maple, linden, oak, pine and spruce, as well as young reeds and reeds. In the swamps it eats heather, cotton grass, and horsetails. In May and June, horsetails and dandelions constitute its main food.

In Eastern Siberia, elk mainly feed on shoots of dwarf and bush birch. Moose very deftly break off branches with the help of their long trunk-shaped lip. When stripping bark from trees, they use their teeth as a chisel, tear off a piece, grab it with their lips and teeth and tear it upward with a long strip. The moose constantly feels the need for water and must drink a lot to quench its thirst.

The movements of a moose are not nearly as graceful and easy as those of a red deer; it cannot run for a long time, but it walks quickly and for a long time. Some observers claim that moose can walk 30 miles in a day.

The elk hears perfectly, but his vision and sense of smell are not very subtle. He is not timid at all and cannot be called cautious. Each individual animal acts on its own, and only the calves follow their mother.

Old moose shed their antlers in November or not earlier than October, young moose a month later. At first, the growth of new horns is extremely slow and only in May it begins to move faster. In the European and Asian parts of Russia, estrus occurs in September or October. At this time, males are very irritable. Generally speaking, moose rarely vocalize, only in exceptional cases do old males scream like deer, and the sound they emit is much stronger, lower and louder; but during sexual arousal their voice sounds almost like that of red deer, only more abrupt and more plaintive. With this cry they challenge their rivals to single combat, with whom they then engage in a fierce struggle. Old males drive away young ones, who rarely find the opportunity to satisfy their natural urge. The female's pregnancy lasts up to 36-38 weeks; at the end of April she gives birth to one cub for the first time, and the next time - two and mostly of different sexes. The calves jump to their feet as soon as the mother licks them, but at first they stagger from side to side like drunk people, and the mother must push them to move them. But already on the third or fourth day they run after their mother; They suck her almost until the next heat, even when they become so big that they have to lie down under her to suck.

Despite its strength, the moose has many enemies besides humans, for example, the wolf, lynx, bear and wolverine. A wolf can overcome it in winter, when snow covers the ground in a thick layer; the bear watches for individual animals, but is careful not to attack the group, while the lynx and wolverine hide behind the trees and jump on the back of an elk passing by, grab the animal’s neck with their claws and bite its carotid arteries. These animals are the most dangerous enemies of a strong elk; whereas wolves and bears themselves must beware of him, because the elk, even at a time when it does not have large horns, knows how to defend itself with strong and sharp hooves of its front legs. One cleverly aimed blow is enough to kill or maim a wolf outright.

Elk are hunted either from ambush, or with beaters, or through strong nets. The benefit that a person derives from a killed animal is significant. Its meat, skin and antlers are used in the same way as deer. The meat is tougher, but the fur is denser and better than that of deer. In the Middle Ages, elk skin (moose skin) was highly valued and expensive.

Moose hunting.

Summer elk hunting does not have of great importance due to the low value of the skin and the poor quality of the meat, which, moreover, soon spoils. In the summer, the skin of the elk, the flesh itself, is covered a large number holes or pockmarks (depending on time) made by emerging gadfly larvae, and is valued much cheaper than autumn and winter ones. In the summer, moose are killed more often by accident, having found a moose cow with calves; sometimes, however, they guard the moose before the estrus, when they go out into the swamps or to the voice of the males, who at this time begin to roar, that is, to call for a female.

In extreme heat, when moose sit in the water with only their nostrils sticking out, they are hidden by going down the river in a boat covered with tall branches. During intense heat, when the gadfly and the heat itself force the moose to seek refuge in the water and when they stand in the river with only their heads and nostrils sticking out, then they are caught in the following way: a small boat is covered with tall or other branches all around and quietly descended down the river to the the place where they expect to find elk, which usually go to swim in the same tank, especially love deep bays, the so-called Kurya, where there are always a lot of aquatic plants.

At the end of August or beginning of September until November, industrialists catch them in large numbers in pits. Instead of pits, large bear traps of a pound and a half are used, placed along the trails while walking. More commonly used is catching moose with scoops.

More often, although also very rarely, moose are killed on ice, because after running several fathoms on it, they fall and get up with great difficulty; but the fact is that it is not very easy to drive them out to the lake and such a hunt is possible only with a large number of hunters. Sometimes they beat moose in the midst of the chase, when the female, especially the male, is not nearly as careful and sensitive as at any other time; in this case, they usually try to kill the female first, because very often the male, in his ardor, does not hear the shot and even if he runs away, he soon returns and, in turn, falls under a bullet; you just need to aim as accurately as possible, because during a chase the male is very dangerous and almost always rushes at the hunter who wounded him.

Elks are also killed in the evenings from huts built in the so-called salas (stagnant water with rust in a swamp), where the elk go from spring to July. Let us note, by the way, that from approximately Ilyin’s day until the start of the estrus, moose mostly stay in places where there is always a lot of fireweed and raspberries.

Moose are also hunted with the help of dogs, which catch up with the animal and, running ahead, stop and distract its attention; Meanwhile, the hunter slowly approaches him to shoot. For this hunt, very good, agile and dexterous dogs are needed that could catch up and be able to detain without sticking very close to the beast, which in every possible way intimidates them with its horns and strives to hit them with its front legs; hunters say that good dogs, sometimes alone, hold moose in this way and do not allow them to move, do not let them move not only for several hours, but even for a whole day or more.

Shooting moose from an ambush with the help of several beaters is the most common hunting in central Russia. As you know, elk always walk in logs, and therefore if some hunters sit down in the narrowest part of the log, and others begin to slowly drive the animal in the proper direction, then it will easily come within rifle shot range; To do this, you just need to know for sure where exactly the elk is staying, which needs to be taken care of in advance.

Much more often they shoot in this way, that is, from an ambush, at the end of winter. For this purpose, they notice fat in advance - the place where moose go to feed in the early mornings and in the evening; one hunter or several hide at a short distance from the path leading to the fat, and the rest scare away the herd, which, fearing the crust, certainly follows the beaten path and certainly passes by the hidden hunters. In this hunt, the nearest shooter must wait until the whole herd has passed by him and shoot at those behind; otherwise, they may turn back and avoid the shots of the following hunters. Sometimes they also ambush moose in the fattest areas.

Finally, the moose are hidden in the fall through the first soft snow, of course, also against the wind and without dogs, which will only interfere and delay the outcome of the hunt. With some skill, sneaking up on a moose is not as difficult as it seems, judging by its caution and sensitivity, but still it is much more difficult than stealing a short-sighted roe deer. For the most part, windy weather is chosen for this hunt; having found a fresh trail that is easy to recognize, they carefully follow this trail, often stopping and looking around, especially if they have to go through thickets; however, in the case when the moose stopped in a dense aspen or spruce forest, the success of the hunt is very doubtful, since it is difficult to pass without making noise. If this succeeds, then it is very difficult to look out for them and aim correctly.

The elk rarely speaks; Usually only the male moos, and then during estrus or, more accurately, before estrus. This voice or roar is similar to a short and abrupt moo and can be heard at the beginning of autumn over a very long distance. The moose screams only when she calls her calf or is frightened by something, and her voice is much weaker. A mortally wounded elk always groans.

Moose hunting by drive

Hunting by racing is carried out along the first winter path or in March on the crust, when the elk, breaking through the icy bark, gets stuck in the snow, skins its legs and soon gets tired. In the latter case, you can hunt without dogs, with one gun, on skis, but in the former, you need to have a good dog, or better yet, two or more; Often such a hunt is carried out by a whole artel, and, of course, it is then much safer, shorter and much more productive: sometimes it is possible to shoot a whole herd of 5-10 or more heads in this way, depending on the number of hunters, from which each chooses one animal for himself , since often at the first shot the herd is broken into several small parts and the moose scatter in different directions.

The success of the hunt depends a lot on the depth of the snow, and most of all on the skill of the dogs: if the snow is shallow, the race sometimes lasts two or three days in a row or more; From dogs, lightness and perseverance and at the same time composure are necessarily required, otherwise they will not soon catch up and will not soon stop the beast; the bright dog will just fall under his feet or on his horns; a dog that is too hot and at the same time evasive also causes great harm because the elk, pressed firmly by it, does not stand in one place for a long time and, after resting a little, runs again a mile or more. good dog Having stopped the elk, she must bark at him at a decent distance - ten to fifteen fathoms, and run around him, continuing to bark, but not at all making an attack. The elk usually threatens her with his horns, hits the ground with his hoof, shakes his head and, turning behind the dog, watches her and continues to threaten him with his horns; In this way, his attention is diverted from the hunter, who slowly creeps up to the animal on skis and shoots with a rifle.

If the elk is wounded and runs further, the dogs catch up with him again and stop him again, and this race continues until the elk is completely exhausted from the pursuit and wound or does not allow the hunter to take another shot. However, in most cases, a wounded elk does not allow the hunter to get close until the last exhaustion of strength: then the animal stops, and it is often stabbed to death simply with a knife tied to the end of the handle of the bunk - something like an oar that serves the hunter instead of balance and speeds up his skiing; This bed, however, is used exclusively by Solikamsk hunters, who skillfully throw it at the animal like a spear or arrow, rarely missing and often killing the elk outright. The animal hunter, however, takes some precautions in advance and, before he decides to let go of the bed, wraps his skis, so that in case of failure he can escape from the terrible hooves of the elk, which immediately rushes at the hunter to trample him with his feet or grab him by the horns. During a long race, a knife tied to a bed, and for theological hunters a spear, often just one knife, decides the success of the hunt, since industrialists, chasing an elk for a day or more, throw down their rifles and even take off their warm outer clothing. In deep snow, this hunt can be very productive, and, as already mentioned, it happens that two hunters kill up to two dozen moose in one week. Sometimes, although very rarely, moose are driven on horseback with dogs or even without dogs, but this requires a very strong and tireless horse, and therefore racing without dogs is not so reliable; in addition, the elk often deliberately walks through thickets where it would take you a long time to get through on foot and tear your entire dress; Therefore, he is driven to the top only in open forests.

Finally, occasionally it happens that an elk is driven onto the icy surface of a lake, on which it slips and falls, and where it is not difficult to finish it off with one knife; the whole task is this. to drive him out to the lake, why does this hunt require several hunters and a dog, and in general it requires a lot of skill and a lot of dexterity.

If elk are hunted down on the crust without dogs, then it is best not to chase the wounded animal and look for it after a few hours or the next day: then it rarely goes far. A wounded and very tired elk breaks his trot and begins to gallop; it serves sure sign that he would soon stop and be completely exhausted. It should also be noted that the younger the elk, the easier it is to drive it, and also that females get tired much faster than males, they stop sooner, and that both young elk and female elk are much safer than an adult bull and rarely rush at the hunter.

Moose tracking.

Hunting is carried out almost exclusively on the crust, and therefore usually at the end of February. Having found a fresh trail, one, but usually two and occasionally three hunters go hunting. Walking behind, the hunters stay close by if the crust is strong, or they go one after another, in single file, if the crust can’t stand it (since it’s easier to walk on a skier than as a whole, the front line changes from time to time). The advanced hunter vigilantly monitors all the features of the trail, and when the latter, by its features, makes one assume that the elk are close and, moreover, in a parking lot, lying down or feeding, the hunters immediately stop. Before laying down, the trail begins to double, triple if there are several moose: the moose no longer walk shoulder to shoulder, track to track, but disperse, go around the bushes, pinch the top of a bush here and there, devour the bark of a young aspen, etc.

If the tracks of several moose go hand in hand, then this a clear sign that they are rushing to a known, still distant goal and will not soon stop for feeding or lying down; Moreover, their trail goes in a known, straight direction, without any detours or zigzags. Sometimes you have to follow this trail for 10, 15, 20 or more kilometers, if the elk are driven or shot, until you get to the resting place or feeding area. If the elk walked alone (an old male, a single one, or a stray from the uterus and a wounded young one), then, of course, even before feeding, etc., the trail cannot double, but it no longer goes in a straight direction, but in zigzags, the animal walks shorter, slowly, etc.

Near the very beds or beds, the snow is always heavily trampled; the tracks go in different directions and intersect; the willow or aspen tree has been gnawed here and there; there are piles of fresh feces, etc. You can tell by the feces whether it was a male or a female: the first has larger, much elongated, drier feces and does not lie in a heap, but is more scattered; The female's is rounder, not so dry, and the mucous always lies in a heap. It is also quite easy to distinguish a male from a female by the mark, especially at this time of year: the female's mark is smaller than the male's and rounder (her hooves on the front legs are more rounded and not as sharp as the male's). But based on these signs alone, you can still make a mistake and mistake the track of a young, two-three-year-old male for the track of an old female, and vice versa. But at this time of year (in February and later) the female’s step is shorter, her leg no longer steps so faithfully, and it is the hind leg that does not reach a little and becomes somewhat wider than the front, which is why this so-called lack of access occurs: the female walks wider with its hind legs, because it is pregnant (this is not noticeable in barn cows).

The hunters, noticing the proximity of the elk by signs, stop for a minute. They now need to go around the animals, that is, describe a circle to make sure whether the animals are here or have gone further. If there are two hunters, then they diverge from the trail and one describes an arc to the right, the other to the left; Having described this arc, they converge on the opposite side of the circle. If there are three of them, then the third remains on the path and waits for the result. The size of the circle varies and depends on the weather, etc. If the hunters, having described the circle, do not find a way out of it, then the moose are here; if the trail leaves the circle and goes further, then the hunters follow them further until they overtake and go around the moose. When the hunters managed to surround the elk, but the circle they went around is large (a mile or more in diameter), and the terrain and weather allow it to be shortened, then this circle is reduced as much as possible. In this case, the hunters act very carefully: holding their guns at the ready, they slowly move forward and vigilantly look out for the area. In calm, windless, clear and frosty weather it is more difficult to approach an elk than in windy weather. You should approach a herd more carefully than a solitary animal.

If the weather is calm, clear, and the snow rustles a little under the skis and there are three hunters, then one of the hunters, moving along the path a little inside the circle, chooses a clearer place, directly on the path or near it, and hides behind a snag or simply behind a tree trunk. The remaining two, meanwhile, go to the opposite side of the circle and very quietly and carefully, moreover, in sight of each other, begin to move towards the center of the circle or to the place where the moose are expected. They walk very carefully, trying not to make any noise, not even a rustle; they often stop, look around, peer into every bush in front and on the sides as they move forward, etc. Finally, they come across a moose and shoot. If they went directly opposite the path and, moreover, came across elk standing and, therefore, not so close, then the elk usually walk along the old path, that is, back, and stumble upon a third hunter ambushed; if they caught the moose lying down, came close and caught them by surprise (which under these conditions, i.e. in calm weather, happens very rarely), then the moose rushes in different directions, anywhere. If, under the same circumstances, a light wind blows in the direction from the elk (the path is in the wind), then they already go to the other side of the circle, that is, into the wind, only this third hunter sits in ambush; the other two walk against the wind along the path, or rather, having a path between them, walking sideways, 30-50 steps from the last, depending on the nature of the terrain. They walk along the path until they find animals; in this case, the elk usually goes against the wind. In both of these cases, the third hunter, that is, the one who remains in ambush, plays, in fact, a secondary role, and the first two have a much greater chance of killing the animal.

Under more favorable conditions, that is, when there is an inch of soft, like fluff, but not wet snow above the crust, when the weather is windy and the forest is noisy, this approach changes slightly. If the moose went to feed against the wind, that is, the trail is downwind relative to the moose, then all the hunters, no matter how many there are, approach the moose along this very trail. If there are two hunters, then they walk along the sides of the path, at a distance of 80-120 steps from each other, having a path in the middle; if there are three, then the best shooter walks along the path itself, while his comrades go to the sides, at approximately the same distance from him.

Elk wrapping.

The greater or lesser difficulty of getting around moose depends on the terrain and weather. The more extensive the forests and the more places they have for feeding, the frostier and clearer the weather, the more they wander and the less likely it is to find them the next day in the same place. On the contrary, on stormy blizzard and snowy days, moose stand quietly where the weather has caught them, so that they can be beaten from the approach. They are reluctant to wander during morning fogs, during a thaw, and especially when crust forms or the snow is very deep.

Favorite places for moose to stay are lowlands, close to water. Even in winter, elk choose a place near springs that would not freeze all winter. He is extremely fond of standing in open forests and listening, for which he chooses a place in a small area with trees, mostly coniferous, for protection from the cold and at the same time to see and hear everything around him. Most often it fattens in an aspen forest or aspen forest mixed with alder.

If the snow is shallow, then it is more convenient to go around the moose in a sleigh, specially adapted for this purpose - one horse, very narrow, on high hoofs and without bends, or go around on horseback. In deep snow, of course, getting around is only possible on skis. With two people it goes faster and is less tiring, but you should be careful not to talk loudly. Having found fresh tracks of moose, the tracker determines how many animals have passed. In deep snow, moose follow each other, females in front, young ones behind them.

For the most part, moose travel in families, three or four together, usually a female or two and two young ones - a two-year-old and a one-year-old. Old males always live alone in winter and are very cautious. When, judging by the terrain, it can be assumed that the moose have stopped, the handler makes a circle; if the trail comes out of it, then another is made, and so on, until the elk is bypassed. The circle must be made, taking into account the terrain, and, as far as possible, as much as possible, going around such places where the elk can stop. If there are no exit tracks from the circle, then the salary is reduced as much as possible to more accurately determine the parking location. We must always keep in mind that the elk stands (in winter) from ten o’clock in the morning until about four in the afternoon, and then goes off to feed, which lasts all night. Therefore, you should not go around before hunting early in the morning, since you can stumble upon an animal and drive it further, ten miles (about 10 km) or more. In general, if the trail shows that the moose left the circle at a pace and in a straight direction, often stopping, then this serves as an indication that they heard something that seemed suspicious to them and will go far. An unafraid elk often turns to the side to feed and nibble on young trees that it comes across.

A diligent and experienced hunter must certainly walk around the elk on the eve of the hunt and, if they have wandered a lot, notice their exit and entry marks into the frame, certainly counting how many came out and how many entered; for example, if two tracks come out of the circle and one goes in again, it means there is no elk in the frame; if two tracks came out, and two again entered the frame, this means that the elk came out twice and after the fourth track is on the detour. Evening tracks need to be re-marked, crossed out with a stick, so that in the morning, if there is no snow, you don’t get lost and mistake the evening track for a fresh morning one.

Moose hunting.

The handler or director of the hunt, having arrived at the place where the moose have been hunted, must certainly check in the morning whether they have left; if everything is in order, he will have to decide where to drive the elk. When choosing a direction, you should be guided by the wind and always drive the elk downwind so that they cannot smell a person; In general, you should try to drive the moose in the direction where, one might assume, they would go on their own, for example, drive them in the direction from which they came, or in the direction where the forests stretch. If it happens that the wind blows in exactly the direction where it is impossible to drive the elk, then you should drive them across the wind, but in no case against the wind. The second condition for moose hunting is that upon arrival at the place where you are supposed to camp close, leave the shout as far away as possible and prohibit all noise and conversations until the shooters take their places on the line. Hunters, in turn, must maintain dead silence - speak with signs.

The salaryman or manager goes forward. The numbers are pre-assigned in the snow, therefore there is nothing to talk about. Placing shooters close together, especially hot-tempered and inexperienced ones, is very dangerous: it is best if the number from the number is at a distance of about 100 steps and at least 50. The hunter stands behind a bush or some kind of cover; it’s good if he is dressed in a light gray dress; in a completely clean place, he must wear a white robe and a cap cover over his warm clothes. Smoking and leaving the area is strictly prohibited.

When the hunters take their places, the payers quietly start shouting. If the terrain allows, the raid is divided into two equal halves: one enters from one end, the other from the other end of the frame, and both converge in the middle. Beaters and beaters stand no more often than at a distance of 10, and no further than 50 steps, which depends on the terrain and their number. In deep snow, it is better to limit yourself to a small number of screamers who can ski. Usually, those who are especially sharp and knowledgeable are placed on the right and left wings. Their duty is to monitor silence until the signal is given, and to ensure that the beaters do not converge together, that is, do not leave their places and do not run towards the shots out of curiosity. The flanks of the raid are slightly bent in a semicircle towards both sides of the line of shooters; in a word, the bypassed animal is surrounded on all sides, as if by snares. The last two or three beaters should not shout at all, otherwise they may interfere with the first and last number of shooters. They are allowed to make noise only when the elk comes at them in order to pierce the wing.

Having placed the scream, the payers enter the pay and follow the tracks to the moose camp. Sometimes the moose are allowed to come close, and sometimes they move away, far from allowing the payers. Making sure that the elk have moved, the handlers fire blank shots, making sure that they are fired from behind the animal and that it rushes out of fear towards the line of hunters. At the signal shots, the raid suddenly begins to shout, bang with mallets, crack rattles, shoot with blank charges, not leaving the spot until the end of the hunt. The moose, puzzled by the noise and shots happening behind them, go to the line of shooters all together, as many as there were in the camp, one after another, stepping one after the other, the old ones in front. An unshot elk runs at a steady trot from the cry of a roundup, lays down its ears, raises its head and bends its neck forward with its Adam's apple.

Shooting elk requires, in addition to the ability to shoot a bullet, great endurance and composure. They usually shoot only when the animal or animals appear opposite or almost opposite the number (to avoid accidents) and rarely further than 50 steps. At first, the moose all run out at once towards one particular number, and by shooting properly, you can knock down a couple with a double-barreled rifle. In addition, in well-maintained hunting circles and societies, a more or less significant fine is paid for a killed moose cow, and it is possible to distinguish a female from a young, still hairy male only at a close distance. It is also very important not only to kill the beast, but also to prevent it from breaking through the chain of shooters. When one of the animals is shot, the rest immediately split apart, sometimes running along the line of hunters or returning to the enclosure and running out towards the beaters, trying to break through. Needless to say, the hunter should not leave his place until the signal is given to end the hunt.

You should not approach a dead elk soon after the shot, since in its death throes the animal can kick a person on the spot.

Many people think that elk are very tough to wound, but this opinion is not entirely true; it happened because a wounded elk usually begins to be pursued immediately. You can kill him outright only by hitting him in the chest, under the shoulder blade or in the neck near the withers, but an elk wounded in the stomach or backside, if not disturbed, often goes a mile or two away (about 1-2 km), lies down and bleeds , so that the next day it will not be difficult to find him by following the trail or with the dogs. If you pursue him after the end of the hunt, then in the heat of the moment he can go 5-10 versts (5-10 km). With a broken back or front leg, the elk goes much further, and then without a dog there is no hope of stopping it and finishing it. It should also be borne in mind that a wounded elk 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 hits an elk in the leg, front or back, then a lot of red blood flows; if the bullet hits the chest and touches the insides, blood comes from the wound in small quantities, clotted and dark in color. Intestinal blood comes almost black, along with feces and also in small quantities. If blood splashes on both sides of the mark, it means the wound is severe and the bullet passed through the animal; but if it drips on one side, it means it has stopped in the beast. More serious wounds are considered to be those when a bullet, having hit the animal on one side, slightly does not exit the other and stops under the skin. These wounds are much more severe than through ones, because in the latter the blood flows freely, does not get baked inside the animal and, therefore, gives it relief.

The surest sign of a serious wound is when the animal starts bleeding from the throat (blood all over the trail, in chunks, almost black), which depends on damage to the main internal organs.

By the lying position of a wounded animal, it is not difficult to recognize the place where the bullet hit, because the blood coming out of the wounds will indicate on the lying position exactly where it hit - you just have to recognize how the animal was lying, and this is not difficult even for someone with little experience, but smart hunter. But to find out where the bullet hit by the color of the blood is a different matter; it requires a lot of practice and long-term experience. If a bullet passes high through the shoulder blades, there is very little blood, and sometimes no blood at all, and the animal can go very far from such a wound. Then they look at the trail: does the animal throw any leg to the side? isn't he drawing in the snow with it? Does he run smoothly and does he not lose track? Doesn't the hooves widen? - and other signs that will show an experienced hunter how the animal is wounded. In addition, you need to look at the place where the animal was standing at the time of the shot to see if there is any fur on the ground, because the bullet, having hit the animal, cuts off the fur, which falls to the ground. Almost all of these signs can be applied to any other animal.

Moose pits.

The main pit fishing occurs in September, October and then in April and May - during the famous migrations of moose. Pits are always located in ravines, on passes and river valleys, also near well-known crossings and fords, and are located in several rows; the number of holes is always indefinite, and many hunters have several hundred of them. All of them are connected to each other by a high fence, three or four poles, so that the elk must pass through the hole in the fence where the hole is located: the elk, encountering this fence both in front and on the sides, finally decides to step into one of these holes and falls through. Without a fence, an elk will never go into a hole, but even with a fence, he sometimes manages to jump over it or go around the entire chain; This is where the side rows of holes turn out to be useful, which force him to return back and decide to go through one of the holes in the fence.

The pits for elk are made slightly differently than for goats; they are somewhat larger - a little more than two meters long and deep, and four meters wide; in order to prevent the pit from crumbling, except for the frame at the top, made of thin logs, its walls are lined with a standing sheet of smooth poles; the earth from the pit is scattered and covered with brushwood, the wood chips are taken away or burned, the hole of the pit is covered lengthwise with three or four thin poles, on which the rods are placed across the rods, then moss and finally earth are placed; all this is done as carefully as possible, without the slightest through holes, because the elk is much more careful than the roe deer. An animal, having fallen into a hole, often, especially an old one, sits quietly in it and begins to flounder only at the sight of an approaching hunter; It often happens that an elk that comes across is eaten by wolves, a bear, or that it dies in warm weather It even rots. Hunters inspect the pits every two weeks, even more often, and, having caught a living animal, go around it from behind and stab it with a knife or spear under the front shoulder blade; You should never approach an elk from the front, because he can easily grab a person by the dress with his upper, very muscular lip, pull him into a hole and trample with his feet: often an elk gets a person standing two steps from the front edge of the hole. Having slaughtered the animal, the industrialist pulls it out of the pit on a thick rope using a gate specially arranged for this purpose, and two or three people easily lift it using long and thick levers; then they skin the elk, trying, if possible, to skin it at a distance from the pit, chop the meat into pieces and take away the prey, often on horses, rarely dragging it on sleds, and then only when the snow is already very deep.

Ochep.

For this purpose, in the same way as when constructing pits, a fence is blocked in a straight line for 5-15 kilometers or more, and in places convenient for the passage of moose, or on the paths, a gate is left in which a heavy fire is established on a wooden marnyra - a pole cleared of branches, 14–18 cm thick at the root and 4 m to 6.5 m long; a wide 22-35 centimeter knife is attached almost vertically to the thin end of the scoop; the other end of the scoop should be much thicker and, for greater impact force, significantly outweigh the thin half. Very alert in the following way: he bends down, and the thin end is held by a guard, from which a thin string is stretched, the force on which the elk touches, the neck jumps off, and the knife with all its might strikes the belly or side of the animal, which rarely goes far. There are up to fifty or more such gates, and all these traps and fences are built by a whole artel of industrialists, which hires a special watchman. Sometimes deer, wolves and bears are caught in this way, but wolves and bears, despite careful supervision, often also eat the elk they come across. The latter goes into such passages much more boldly than through gates with pits, and these traps are generally more reliable; moose get into them at any time of the year, but more often at the beginning of winter; however, there are a lot of them in the summer, but in this case the meat often rots and goes to waste; in the summer, these passages are made on the paths along which moose go to water.

Hunting for moose on lakes, salt licks and solyankas.

With the appearance of the gadfly, therefore, from mid-June, the hunt for elk begins again on lakes, salt licks and solyankas. This latter is nothing more than an artificial salt lick, which local industrialists prepare in advance in places where there are elk. It is the industrialists who, since the fall, have been noticing those places where the elk hang out more, and, choosing from them the cleaner ones, as they say here, “the bad ones” - on the pads, under the manes, near springs, springs, floods and other places more familiar to the elk , - they saturate the ground as much as possible in a certain space, depending on the convenience of the place for shelling, from a specially chosen point. Salting is usually done in this way: salt is diluted in water, which is heated in a cauldron or in a birch bark chamber using hot stones, and the hot brine is poured over the ground, so that it becomes salty by a quarter (about 20 cm) or more. If you simply sprinkle salt on the ground, it can be blown away by the wind, and after rain it can only salt one surface of the chosen place. Near such an artificial salt lick, they choose the most convenient place for shelling the salt lick and make a hidden seat on it of such a size that a person with a gun can easily fit in it. To do this, they line a small hidden place with branches, twigs, even small trees, and on the front side, along with the fence, they stick two bipods and place a crossbar, some uncleaned perch, or a small felled tree on their forks. This is done so that a seated hunter can shoot more comfortably by placing the gun on this crossbar. But such sittings in remote places are not safe from visits from bears, who sometimes also come to the salt fields to lick the salty soil. Therefore, it is better to make not sittings near the hodgepodges, but the so-called storage sheds here, one and a half or two fathoms (3-4 m) high from the ground, attaching them near large trees on strong racks and the very branches of the trees. These storage sheds are made in very different shapes and sizes, depending on whether they are intended for one or two hunters, and are either closed on the sides, like benches, or simply open, having only one wooden platform. The latter are done mainly only when they are placed between the large branches of huge shaggy trees. In addition to safety, storage sheds have the advantage that the animals that come to the hodgepodge do not smell the smell of a person sitting on the storage sheds over sitting places built on the ground. With an even draft of wind or air, the smell of a person sitting on a storage shed pulls in an even stream high from the ground, therefore, through the arriving animal, which does not hear it; whereas from the nest the scent of the hunter is carried by the wind along the very ground, and therefore it sometimes attacks the animal and frightens it. Finally, from the storehouse, sitting quite high from the ground, the approach of the animal to the hodgepodge is much more audible, and it is more convenient and visible to shoot it, even at night, than from a seat. Sittings and storage sheds need to be arranged in advance, and not when it is already necessary to guard the animals, so that the entire structure is well blown by the wind, wetted by rain, then it will not have any smell, the white cuts of trees, perches, pegs and other accessories will turn yellow, even blacken and will not catch the eye of a distrustful, cautious animal. You will never kill a cunning animal from a new sidba or from a new storage shed, just made on old salt licks or solyankas, for when he comes to the salt lick, he will certainly notice the new sidba or new storage shed, which is why he will immediately rush and run away, because he may , has already been to the salt lick several times, is used to seeing it in one form, and then suddenly he notices new objects, he instinctively develops a suspicion of the secret presence of a person, and he, denying himself a tasty dish, gets scared and runs without looking back into the forest, to a safe place...

The main condition when setting up a seat or storage shed on a salt lick or solyanka is to choose a place where the air does not stop, does not spin in one place, or, even worse, does not rush in all directions, but constantly pulls one way, one way or the other. If this condition is not met, it is difficult to kill any animal from such an ambush, because the “spirit” will frighten it and it will run away before reaching the hodgepodge.

The same artificial solyankas are prepared for red deer and wild goats; similar storage sheds and shelters are built on natural salt licks near lakes and even whirlpools. In general, it must be said that the elk rarely goes to artificial salt licks, but constantly visits natural salt licks, mineral iron springs, and especially lakes where ir grows.

In such places to guard animals you need to sit down before sunset and, hiding, be ready to wait for the arrival of the beast. It is clear that two or even three hunters can sit on such seats or storage sheds (the best is for one), but not talk at all, not even whisper, not smoke, but, with alert eyes and ears, wait for the arrival of the beast. You should never come to a salt lick, salt lick or lake from the place where you expect the animal, especially during dew, and you should never trample the salt lick, salt lick or lake shore where the animals come. They usually approach the sits or storage sheds before the dew, barefoot, on wooden or birch bark soles, but not in tar boots, from the side from which the animal should not come - this is so as not to smell with their footprints near the salt lick and thus not frighten beast. Industrialists who do not fulfill these conditions rarely catch animals like the elk in hunts of this kind. It is enough to scare the elk one time so that he does not come to this place again for at least a whole year!..

If “God helps to kill” some animal on a hodgepodge, salt lick or lake, then you should not cut it up right away, but must drag it away, otherwise the blood of the animal will ruin the whole thing for the future. In order to get rid of midges and mosquitoes, which in summer haunt the hunter on guard at night, local industrialists do this: they place lighted dry horsehair or a dry birch sponge in front of them. These substances never catch fire, but only slowly smolder and produce a lot of smoke, which they use to drive away the obnoxious midges. The beast is not afraid of smoke: he has become accustomed to it youthful days on occasion forest fires and spring fires.

Artificial hodgepodges with seats or storage sheds built on them here play an important role in the world of fur traders, constituting their property, as it were, for which they stand firmly among themselves. And indeed, the hunter who has made a hodgepodge with all the amenities and fed the animals to it has the right to use it only alone. No one else, without the knowledge and permission of the owner, has the right to keep watch even for just one night on someone else’s hodgepodge. If the owner, having arrived at his hodgepodge, finds another hunter there who, without his knowledge, has decided to guard animals on it, then the legal owner has the right not only to drive out the uninvited guest, but even to take away his rifle and prey. At least, this is how it goes between local industrialists, who all know very well where, what kind of hodgepodge and who exactly owns the hodgepodge. Many industrialists make public hodgepodges and guard animals on them either one by one or indiscriminately, dividing among themselves the prey killed in the hodgepodge. Many fur hunters, constantly engaged in animal hunting and thereby supporting their own and their families’ existence, sometimes have several dozen different hodgepodges, and yet, without their knowledge, no one else can use them. Many hodgepodges, having existed for several years in a row, on which, perhaps, more than one hundred animals have already been killed, have such a price among industrialists that after the death of the owners they pass into the possession of the heirs or are bought from them by other fur-hunters, often at an expensive price; sometimes they refuse, according to a spiritual will, to one of the relatives or friends of the owners. Public such rich hodgepodges, if necessary, are divided among the owners very differently, according to the conditions or sentences.

The rule for using artificial hodgepodge, it must be said to the credit of local industrialists, is quite religiously observed by fur-hunters. This is good, because sometimes the owner, through bloody labor, will make a hodgepodge for himself in a good place, introduce animals to it, spend several pounds of salt (about 1 kg), and another will come to the finished work, and kill expensive prey with it, is this reasonable? ? No. That is why the right to use hodgepodges is so respected among fur trappers, especially in the spring, when antlers are caught on hodgepodges. Of course, there are no rules without exceptions - there are also some kinds of abuses here, which sooner or later will certainly open up among industrialists, come to the attention of the owners, and then it will be bad for those who violate the rules of other people's property. As for natural salt licks, lakes, whirlpools, mineral springs and other things, where animals are also guarded, the above rules are not followed; Here the master is nature: whoever came to the place first is right.

It should be noted that the elk usually runs to a salt lick, lake or solyanka at a trot, so that you can hear him long before he arrives at the expected place by his knocking and crackling sound if he is running through the forest. In very rare cases, this animal, quietly sneaking up, will approach the hodgepodge and, before coming out to a clear place, will begin to listen to every rustle, look closely at every object that is suspicious to it. This only happens in the case when hunters often sit in places chosen for guard duty and scare the animals with shots. That is why good industrialists do not sit on the same hodgepodge more than ten times during the year. Usually, an elk, having come running to a salt lick or solyanka, immediately begins to eat the salty soil, makes noise, rattles its teeth, like a young horse chewing food, and rushes headlong to escape as soon as it hears the smell of a hunter. Therefore, having chosen a convenient moment, you need to shoot immediately, especially if you are sitting on the floor, and not on the storage shed, especially with a bad, uneven draft of the wind, “just look, it will just turn you on and scare the beast,” a local industrialist would say .

If an elk comes to the lake, it usually swims first, and then begins to get out and eat the mud. While the elk dives into the water, pressing its huge ears, it does not hear anything, not even a gun shot if there was a miss. The best thing is to aim at the animal when it takes its head out of the water, with a mouth full of bitter oil, because at this time the water runs from its head in streams and gurgles, like from a small cascade. At the same time, I think it is not superfluous to note that the elk chews and swallows food extremely quickly, which is why the hunter should not hesitate, but rather shoot. If you don’t scare the elk that comes to the lake, he will probably stay there all night and wait for the morning dawn. This beast is simple-minded and does not like to be cunning unless forced; He came and is thoroughly enjoying himself. Therefore, many local industrialists are too dark nights They don’t shoot the elk, but wait until dawn and then send the right bullet to the beast that has been busy. In exactly the same way, they watch for elk in the pools of mountain rivers and shoot them with rifles.

Since shooting at elk on solyankas, salt licks, lakes and whirlpools from sits or from storage sheds is carried out mostly late in the evening, even more often at night, the local industrialists tie thin white thawing sticks to the ends of the rifles, along the upper edge of the barrel, which are called beacons . Without them, it is difficult to shoot on dark autumn nights. The lighthouse is distinguished by its whiteness, it brightens it from the general darkness and serves as a good target for the hunter. Some industrialists, instead of little white sticks, tie rotten sticks onto the ends of their trunks, which serve as beacons for them; Although they are more visible than the first, there is a lot of fuss with them, and animals often get scared if they notice them by chance, so they are less used.

Hunting on salt licks, solyankas, whirlpools and lakes usually begins at the beginning of summer and ends late autumn, when severe frosts have already begun.

Moose hunting on "wabu".

In mid-September, in some places a little earlier, and in the northern regions of Siberia, from the twentieth of September, the moose race begins. The places of their “leoking grounds” are the same from year to year. While it is still dark, the bulls begin to emit muffled groans, turning into a restrained roar. It is very difficult to hear the moan of an elk even on a quiet morning at a distance of more than a kilometer. At night the moose calm down, but just before sunrise they begin their mating calls again. During the rut, moose in anger break young trees with their antlers and, without being careful, walk through the dead wood with a loud crash. However, it is not easy to approach an elk during the rut. Their hearing is well developed, and they can easily hear an inexperienced hunter approaching them. And if you disturb the moose, you won’t be able to get close to them that morning.

For a successful hunt, you need to be an hour before dawn in those places where signs of elk rutting have been found in advance: broken bushes, full “leks” and fresh tracks. Alone or together with a jacker, the hunter moves through the land, listening carefully and vigilantly peering into the forest thicket. The hunter's gait should not be creeping. You need to walk like an animal - planting your foot firmly. 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 a hunter or his companion knows how to jack - imitate the voice of a bull - then occasionally you should make sounds that a middle-aged bull could make. To the groan of such a young opponent, without fear of him, the old bulls go more boldly.

This hunt, captivating the hunter in an unusual setting, promising an unexpected meeting with an angry bull, which is formidable and dangerous, undoubtedly represents exceptional sporting interest.

When the bull, judging by the sounds, has set off on the wad and suddenly stands up somewhere behind a thicket, you need to hide for a while, as if in a capercaillie current, and then break a dry branch or, bending down to the ground, raise your voice again. And here every second you need to be ready for a quick, sure shot.

Naturally, on such a hunt you need to be collected, disciplined, cold-blooded, and precise. After all, there were cases when another hunter approached the bull’s voice and the bullet sent by the too hot hunter went to him, and not to the bull. Compliance with safety precautions is the first and most important rule on this hunt...

Calendar.

January . Young males shed their antlers. In deep snow, it leads an almost sedentary life. It sticks more to aspen trees near swamps and rivers, garnishes; in the Urals there are also pine forests and marks of large mountains. Hunting by round-up (with shouters), with beast dogs (laikas), sometimes with hounds, on horseback; hunting by stealth.

February . The young shed their antlers; the old ones show the new ones at the end. The hunt is the same.

March . During the crust it stays in the thickets (two weeks). The horns begin to show and the sides begin to shed.

April . She begins to shed and her short red fur appears. The horns reach a real size and begin to harden. In the Baltics and Southern Siberia, moose cows begin to calve at the end of the month (1-2).

May . The horns harden. Most of the females calve (in meadows or swampy areas). The bulls stay in garnishes with fireweed and near rivers and swamps. Young, last year's elk calves walk (in small forests) separately from the queens, sometimes with two-year-olds.

June . Finally fades. In the north (sometimes in the middle zone) it calves in the first half. It stays near the water, in the most remote and swampy places. Shedding. The skin on the horns dries out and the horns become ossified.

July . It lives in swampy thickets and in clearings, near rivers. Elk calves go everywhere with their mother.

August . The horns finally harden and the skin falls off. In the southwestern regions (in Volyn) and in Lithuania, a chase sometimes begins at the end of the month. In the Urals they hunt with dogs and shoot on rivers from the entrance of a boat.

September . In the first half, the males begin to roar. The chase (along the edges) near the water often begins in the middle of the month and lasts about two weeks. The young ones race first. At the end of the chase, the males go into the thickets. Elk calves walk separately from the queens, sometimes together with young ones, last year's or two-year-old ones. In the early days, hunting on salt licks and (in the Urals) shooting from the entrance on a boat ends (in Siberia). Hunting by stealth (when snow falls) and decoy.

October . In more southern areas, the chase ends in the first half. It begins to wander widely, mostly in aspen and willow forests, and in the north it gathers in small herds. Hunting by roundup and hiding (in the first snow) in windy weather.

November . It roams everywhere, mainly in deciduous small forests. At the end of the month in the Northern Urals, old males begin to shed their antlers. The best time for hunting with a roundup in the snow.

December . In the second half, it begins to shed its horns (first the old ones). In deep snow it usually stands in aspen and willow forests and walks more on severe frosts and clear days. The roundup hunt continues until the end of the month, generally until the horns are shed.

Moose meat

Elk meat has a very high consumption. It is very nutritious and healthy, but it smells of sulfur and is tasty only (except for calf meat) when it is fresh and soon expires and becomes dry and flabby; tastiest of all upper lip elk, from which jelly is made; Elk brain fried in a frying pan seasoned with eggs and wheat flour is also considered a very tasty dish. Usually the meat is cut into ten parts: 1. head, 2. neck, 3. rump, 4. hind withers, 5. back between the stags, 6. middle of the dorsal bone, 7. anterior stag, 8. legs, 9. front shoulder blades and 10. sternum; the entrails, except the liver, are thrown away, and, of course, the animal is skinned in the forest.

Elk often produces about 250 kg of meat, sometimes up to 400 and in very rare cases - up to 480 kg. The fattest meat occurs before estrus, in early August; then up to 32 kg of fat is removed from the large elk, which is used for food.

Moose antlers, reaching up to forty and in exceptional cases up to fifty pounds (about 20 kg) in weight, are sometimes thrown by hunters, but for the most part they are used for various household crafts, for example, handles for knives, etc.

Hunting terminology about elk.

There is special terminology to identify individual parts of the body of moose:

The front of the head is the lips of the elk - “snoring.”

Young horn sprouts are “knots.”

The first anterior processes on the horns are “tusks.”

The bases remaining after the horns fall off are called “plaques.”

Young shoots of a growing horn are “knots in velvet.”

An elk’s hoof is a “stand,” and the horny growths above the hooves are “supports.”

The voice - “moan”, erroneously called a roar in literature, does not at all resemble a roar, but is like a deep sigh. Moose make other sounds as well. When a moose is detained by huskies, in anger and irritation it emits deep muttering and strong farting, very similar to the sounds made by an angry bear and wild boar.

Elk droppings, which have an oval shape, are usually called “nuts” by hunters.

Main material taken from open sources information.
Prepared by Evgeniy Svitov.

Moose hunting takes place during the period when these animals begin their rutting season and are keen on mating games and procreation. At this time, moose, especially adult males, lose caution in the fight for the female and allow the hunter to discover them and come at close range.

In addition, this animal can be attracted by imitating the sounds of a rival or female. It is for this reason that this type of hunting, depending on the region, is called roar hunting, roar hunting, moaning hunting, or wabu hunting.

When do moose start to rut?

The elk rut occurs in the fall, usually when the first frosts arrive. It begins at the end of August - September and lasts about two months. Depending on the severity of the climate, the timing of the start of the rut shifts from the second half of August in the south to mid-September in the northern regions.

In Siberia and the Krasnoyarsk region. In Siberia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the elk rut begins mainly in September, although in their southern part this is possible even after the second ten days of August. The peak of the rut, depending on the latitude, usually occurs in the second ten days of September - early October. In the northern parts of this region, the rut can last until the first ten days of November.

In the Leningrad region and Karelia. In the Leningrad region and Karelia, the start of the rut usually occurs at the very end of August. Its peak occurs in the second ten days of September, when the process involves maximum quantity individuals, but it ends already in early November. This is due to the characteristics of this northern region in order to involve the maximum number of females.

In the Moscow region and in the middle zone. In central Russia and in particular in the Moscow region, the start of the rut usually occurs at the end of August. Here this period lasts on average about one to one and a half months and ends by mid-October.

In the Urals. In the Urals, the beginning of this period and its duration primarily depend on latitude. On Southern Urals- this is the end of August, and in the North - mid-September. The moose rut here lasts about two months and in the northern parts it can take place at the beginning of November.

In Belarus. In Belarus, the moose rut begins at the end of August, but more often it occurs in September - October. It lasts about a month and ends by mid-October.

In the Penza region. In the Penza region and other southern regions, the beginning of the rut occurs in the second ten days of August and lasts about one and a half months, dying out by mid-late October.

Duration

On average, the duration of the rutting period for moose is about two months. However, how long this period lasts, its beginning and end also depends on weather and climatic factors. So a sharp warming can delay its beginning, and a sharp cooling, on the contrary, push it to the beginning. Among other things, in young males the start of the rut is delayed by 15–20 days.

However, practice shows that once the rut has begun, it is not interrupted by any weather factors. Its duration primarily depends on the severity of the climate in the area. So in the northern regions it lasts for two and a half months, and some young males come to the wad at the end of November.

Important! According to the hunting rules, elk harvest is divided into three periods: for adult males from September 1 to September 30; for all sexually mature groups - from October 1 to December 31; for young animals up to one year - from January 1 to January 15.

Habits during this period

During the rutting period, the behavior of elk changes greatly, especially from the moment the females begin to become active. All this time he lets out his “moan” with enviable frequency. But when the bull catches the smell of readiness for mating left by the females, it begins to behave quite aggressively, showing its strength and “prowess.”

It breaks tree branches, tramples and rakes the grass, digging entire holes, especially in places marked by the moose cow. Its smell changes and intensifies, and its appearance becomes more massive.

Does a moose roar in rainy weather?

As stated earlier, the behavior of these animals does not depend on the weather. For example, in rainy weather the activity of their calls does not decrease. It’s just that because of the noise of the elements, their groan is heard much worse, but its intensity remains the same.

But in frosty, quiet weather, the roar of the elk becomes more active, since the sound at this time can be heard much further. Therefore, males begin to call more intensely to females and respond to the same calls from other males.

What time of day does it happen?

Studies have shown that elk roars have a fairly consistent daily frequency. During the day, moose usually rest. After the evening feeding, at sunset they begin to moan for about half an hour. Feeding then continues, after which, towards the end of twilight, a period of short roaring again follows. After midnight, the elk's moaning may resume briefly. The main time of roaring comes at dawn. It begins half an hour before dawn and can last, with breaks, until daylight. During the day, as a rule, moose do not moan.

How to find a moose

According to the testimony of both zoologists and game managers, the elk race mainly takes place in the habitats of females. These are meadow floodplains of rivers with oxbow lakes, thickets of willow trees, and the outskirts of moss swamps. Forest clearings and clearings in the initial stages of overgrowth, young deciduous plantings and young forests that have begun to overgrow burnt areas.

In populated areas, these can be edges remote from people, overgrown, abandoned fields and meadows, willows and shrubs in river and stream valleys. Rutting areas usually do not change from year to year. These rutting areas can be identified by broken branches, traces of horns on the bark of trees, trampled and plowed ground with dug holes.

Is it dangerous

The main danger during the rutting period comes from mature, mature males. Although the behavior of the young becomes much more aggressive, they are not so recklessly rushing to any suspicious movement. Adult males, driving away competitors from their territory, rush to any suspicious rustling of branches, especially in their rutting areas. Having met a friend, the elk protects her from others, and again rushes into any danger without hesitation.

Even the cracking of a twig under your foot, the noise of footsteps or the rustling of branches is perceived as aggressive. If the hunter accidentally reveals himself and does not react in time to such a throw from the animal, and this happens very quickly and unexpectedly, then he may well suffer under the hooves of an angry male. In fact, during this period, seasoned moose rush at anyone who comes into their field of vision and is even in the slightest degree perceived as a competitor.

Listen to the roar of an elk during the rut

The roar of an elk differs sharply from the roar of a red deer or deer. It is not for nothing that it is called a groan, since it is weaker and looks like something between a moo and a sad sigh. This sound is difficult to hear at a distance of more than a kilometer.

Sound: Decoy for elk during the rut

How the elk roars

Sound of a moose

How to lure a moose correctly

Once a moose's breeding area has been discovered, the easiest way to get it to shoot is to lure it there by making sounds of an opponent or a female. In addition to the voice, it is advisable to rustle branches and bushes, stomp, tap and scratch the bark of a tree, imitating the sounds of an elk breaking through the forest.

Voice and hands

If you want to call a moose, it is best to imitate the call of a young male. Other bulls respond to such a groan much more boldly. By the beginning of the rut, some males do not have a mate, so they more actively follow this sound, wanting to find a free female or fight her off from another.

The sound itself resembles a muffled groan, turning into a restrained roar. It is quite possible to learn to imitate it with your mouth; the secrets here are not so much in the technique of execution, but in the presence of hearing and some abilities. At the same time, they help themselves by pinching their nose with their index fingers, folding their palms into a mouthpiece and changing their position to change the volume and tone of the sound.

Video: How to lure moose during the rut

How to learn to roar like a moose

If you listen carefully to the roar of a rutting elk, you will notice that during this period the groan of adult bulls is similar to the sound of “oo-a” or “oo-o”; it is a dull roar. But the moo of young males sounds like “oh-uh”, its timbre is vibrating and rattling. During the rutting season, you can also hear the cry of a moose cow. This sharp sound, similar to a neigh, is often a response to the bold actions of a bull.

On the waboo

It is much easier to call a moose using vaby - special semolina. You can either purchase them or make them yourself.

How to make a moose waboo with your own hands

The simplest waba is made from a tin can. To do this, it is advisable to use not an ordinary tin can, but a coffee can with a removable tin lid, baby food etc. The main thing is that the diameter of the upper hole, due to the rims, is slightly smaller than the diameter of the can itself. In addition to it, we will need a lace or nylon rope, 50–60 cm long, electrical tape or a piece of leather.

The waba is done simply:

How to attract you:

1. The rope is wetted;
2. The jar is taken by the base with one hand;
3. With the other hand, pass along the rope from top to bottom, holding it tightly with two fingers.

In this case, the rope serves as a resonator, and the can serves as a speaker. You can find the desired timbre by filling a jar with moss. The smaller the diameter of the can, the higher the sound produced.

Video: How to lure an elk to a waboo

Elektromankom

Another convenient way to lure elk is an electronic decoy. This is an industrial device powered by batteries, in which a music library of various sounds made by moose is recorded: adult and young males, females in search of a male and during mating, sounds of a fight, roar of a rival male, etc.

However, when purchasing such a decoy, you must definitely listen to how the moose roar in this music library to make sure that the sounds are naturally similar. Often devices made for hunters in other countries are not very suitable for ours, since the sounds made, for example, by Canadian moose, are different from domestic ones.

Moose hunting on the roar with dogs

During the elk rut, you can also hunt it with dogs. For this purpose, specially trained huskies are used. Such a dog must have a number of certain qualities, be strong and resilient in order to search for elk over a large area, and especially to chase it for a long time over long distances at a decent speed.

Having found the animal, she must bark at it, as if reluctantly at first, but under no circumstances rush at it, otherwise it will run away very quickly and over a great distance. The dog must be able to dodge the attacks of the beast, since it can kill it with one blow of its hoof.

The hunt itself takes place in the following order. The hunter goes to the elk's racing or feeding areas, after which he releases the dog. She is looking for the animal, and having found it, without rushing, she begins to bark at it gradually, but with increasing pressure. The dog's task is to keep the elk in one place until the hunter approaches, and to distract him until the shot is fired. In case of escape, the dog chases the animal until it stops in a new place, where everything starts anew.

Visiting salt licks

One of the places where there is a high probability of tracking an elk is a salt lick. Salt is an excellent bait. With its help, these animals make up for the lack of minerals in the body, especially in the spring, and accumulate in the fall in preparation for winter nutrition. The easiest way is to create such a place yourself. To do this, make a large feeder into which rock or iodized salt is poured.

Gradually the moose get used to visiting this place. This is evidenced by their tracks on the ground and surrounding bushes and trees. Moose and salt licks usually come at sunset. First, he listens for about 15 minutes, standing in the thickets, and then goes to lick the salt.

Hunting in salt licks is carried out from a blind spot or storage shed. Place it higher on thick trees. This is due not only to the danger of the elk itself, but also to the possibility of other animals, such as a bear, visiting the salt lick.

Moose meat during this period

Elk meat obtained during the rutting period, in terms of its taste, is not much different from that obtained in any other month. Theories about its unsuitability are related to the fact that racing elk, when butchered, has a rather specific smell, but this does not affect the taste of the meat in any way. Another thing is that the meat of old bulls is quite tough and fibrous. Therefore, preference is given to young bulls up to three years old and females.

Elk hunting during the rutting season is also called wabu hunting. It has become quite popular over the past decades and has already become widespread. Hunting a racing elk requires great patience, resourcefulness and skill from the hunter. This hunt is incredibly exciting, exciting, but also quite dangerous. The thrill of hunting for wabu is comparable only to hunting, for example, capercaillie.

What is the elk rut?

About a week before the start of the rut, the bulls begin to moan and call for the cow. They often go out into open areas - river banks, the outskirts of raised swamps. By the beginning of the rut, elk already have fully formed antlers, and the anterior eye processes (these are “tusks”) appear. Males become more mobile and active. By the time the females begin their first heat, the bulls have completely completed cleaning their horns from the velvety skin that covers them. The male chases the cow by sound, by “snoring” or snorting, and also by tracks.

During the rutting season, bulls become simply crazy: they break trees, uproot bushes and engage in rather brutal fights with other males. The winner, as a rule, remains with the female, and the weaker ones follow the pair nearby. The victorious bull from time to time drives away the rejected males that come close enough. The male follows the female, moaning periodically. One male can cover up to four cows during the rut, but elk are usually more prone to monogamy.

Rutting time for elk

As a rule, the timing of the start of the rut depends on the climate. In the European part of Russia, in its central zone, in Siberia, as well as in the south, the height of the rut occurs in mid-September, and in the northern latitudes a more intense rut is observed from the end of September to the end of October.

Usually the rut begins with the first frost or when there is a significant difference between night and day temperatures.

Signs of the start of the rut

Signs of the onset of the rut may include the following circumstances.

• Traces of bulls on roads and clearings are much more common.
• The appearance of “digs” or “ureters” - rutting pits that bulls create by digging in those places where the female left a “mark” of urine. Usually the location of these pits does not change from year to year.
• The appearance of “knots” and creases in the trees - animals scratch their antlers on them, tearing off their antlers. Bulls grind and comb the bark of trees, often along the entire circumference and at a height of up to 1-1.5 meters.

How to choose a hunting object?

It is extremely important in hunting to maintain the correct age composition of the moose population. Old males scare away breeding bulls from cows, thereby preventing normal reproduction. These males should be shot first during the hunt, but it is better to leave a mature sire with good and beautiful horns.

Old bulls differ from young ones in that they have gigantic growth, as well as ugly or degraded horns with fewer processes; their moan is lower and rougher.

The best time to hunt elk on the wabu is a relatively short period of time (about 10 days) before the start of the rut, as well as its beginning. During this period, the old moose are the first to respond: their rut begins earlier, and they are bolder and more aggressive. An experienced hunter always chooses first
object, luring different bulls for 5-7 days. And only after this, having chosen the most suitable specimen for culling, can the hunt begin.

How to choose a place?

The best places for such hunting are places where there are racing pits. Moose always stay close to these holes. Broken branches, bent trees, trampled earth, uprooted bushes, etc. are also considered signs of a moose concentration area. You should choose a place with a convenient view, but one in which the shooter would be covered and nothing would interfere with shooting. Most often, hunters mark several promising places, and if in any area the animal does not respond to the wab, then they change their location. Most best option, when two hunters take part in such a hunt - one is a jacker, and the other is a shooter.

When and how to hit?

The best time for a hunter to arrive at the first place: in the evening, about an hour before sunset; in the morning, about 30 minutes before dawn.

This hunt can be productive only with sufficient lighting, and with the onset of darkness, luring is stopped. And if at dawn an elk, suitable for shooting, responded to the waboo while it was still dark, then it’s worth leaving this area and trying your luck in another area. If hunting in the new area does not bring results, then you should return to your previous place. It is worth noting that the presence of an optical sight extends the time suitable for good hunting.

To lure moose, various devices are used, as well as electronic decoys; Many hunters quite skillfully imitate an elk with their voice.

Hunters use the following sounds to lure animals. This is the voice of a bull, which sounds like an “oooh” grunt; the sound of protest from a young or middle-aged female; the voice of a bull, which sounds like a croaking “oo-o” or “oo-o”; the crackle and crunch of breaking branches.

There should be some pauses between signals during the waba. First, you need to make one sound, then wait about 5 minutes and beat it a few more times at intervals of about a minute, increasing the volume and also changing the direction. And if the elk does not respond, then you can try to lure him with another sound.

If the elk responds from afar, then you need to continue the chase until the jacker determines that the bull is approaching and heading towards him, and only then can the shooter be deployed. If the elk is close, then you need to immediately set the arrow at a distance of about 100 meters from the jacker and then continue to lure rarely and quietly. You need to make beckoning sounds less frequently than the bull does, and when the male comes close enough, synchronously with him.

It must be remembered that during the hunting period for wabu, the hunter must always be ready. A racing elk is aggressive and can come out at any moment. Also, the hunter should always have a gun at hand. And if the elk doesn’t come out, you can try to take it from the approach. However, you should approach only from the leeward side, and you should move along to the “song”. You need to aim at the head or the area of ​​the shoulder blades; You can only approach a wounded elk from the side.

You should never shoot at noise or rustling, only at a clearly visible target. There are cases when another hunter came out in response to the voice of the jacker and was shot. On such a hunt it is very important to be disciplined, precise and have great endurance.