Organizing a hunting farm is a specific matter, requiring special knowledge, considerable capital, organizational skills, and a certain amount of altruism. Therefore, this business is suitable for those who have long been familiar with this area and see themselves only in it.

Rent of land for farming

The first thing a business plan must solve is to find land for a hunting business. The total area depends on your financial capabilities and the expected scope of your activity. It is believed that the minimum area could be an area of ​​10 thousand hectares.

Most often, forest areas are leased for this business. There are two types of lands - hunting and ordinary lands. Depending on what area you have to deal with, the documentation of your case and other nuances depend.

Hunting grounds

These include the territory that is included in the general state or regional register as land intended for the extraction of hunting resources.

To obtain the right to use this land for hunting, you must take the following steps:

• register an individual entrepreneur or legal entity;
• select the desired plot that belongs to such land, rent it;
• obtain a license for long-term use of the site’s wildlife.

This is quite enough to start a business. There is another option for organizing a hunting farm - purchasing land as your own. But registering it as private property costs much more, and it is not easy to do.

Registration of a license

But it is precisely the last point that usually causes certain concerns among entrepreneurs. To obtain this type of license, you must submit an appropriate application to the administration of the region or region. The document contains the following information:

• information about the applicant;
• type of intended use of the fauna;
• a list of animal objects that are supposed to be used;
• area and boundaries of the territory of use;
• the period for which you want to set the time of use.

Those entrepreneurs who have already used this territory under certain conditions or are the owners of forest or land lands and have personnel to service them have a greater chance of obtaining a license.

The license gives the right to hunt on the territory, for which, in fact, the business is started. Without it, you will only be able to carry out hunting activities. That is, take care of increasing the animal population, protecting them, organizing recreation on the farm territory without shooting animals. The maximum you can build a business on is selling hunting goods.

Rent of ordinary land

The organization of hunting on ordinary lands is slightly different from the design of hunting grounds. In this case, the business plan also includes three stages of registering a business.

• registration of an individual entrepreneur or legal entity;
• selection and purchase (rent) of land;
• submission of documents for the auction to conclude a hunting agreement with the State Hunting Inspectorate.

Only if you win this auction will you have the right to enter into an agreement with the specified inspection and formalize the accession of your land to the register of hunting grounds. Please note that without such an accession, hunting on your property will be regarded as poaching.

However, when planning to buy land for hunting, you need to keep in mind some of the nuances of Russian legislation. In any region, lands are divided into assigned and publicly accessible. The first ones are private hunting grounds, which are rented out to third parties for hunting. Actually, this is why you write your business plan. And the latter are under the jurisdiction of the state. They can be hunted by anyone with an appropriate license. The Law “On Hunting and Conservation of Hunting Resources and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” establishes that these public lands must be at least 20%. Auctions are announced only if there is more publicly available land than this figure, which is a rather rare case.

Permitting documentation

When opening a hunting property, you need to understand how it functions and what rules apply to hunting on its territory. First of all, you need to know that any hunter who wishes to go hunting or fishing on the territory of your hunting property must have a personal hunting and fishing license. It is issued by local executive authorities. And you must always check it.

The document is unlimited and has a standard template. Each dog with which it is planned to hunt must be included in it. In addition, each such animal must be issued a certificate of registration with the supervisory authorities.

To have the right to hunt, the hunter must have a personal license or, as it is also called, a permit. It is issued for the shooting of a specific animal or bird for a certain period of time in a specific territory. When its validity period expires, the document is returned to the authority that issued it. Marks are also placed there about how many and what animals were shot.

It is these permits that must be issued by the hunting enterprise when it is registered as a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. You must obtain the forms of these documents from local authorities, fill them out and issue them yourself. To receive the forms, you must submit an appropriate application indicating your personal data, the resources of your hunting area, what types of hunting will be carried out there, and how many forms you need. Please note that if protected species of birds or animals live on your territory, a special license is issued for them.

Another mandatory document, the receipt of which must be included in the business plan, is a permit to store and carry hunting firearms. It is issued by internal affairs bodies.

The practical side of the matter

Until now, we have talked exclusively about the formal and licensing side of the matter. But the business plan must also include the development of the concept of your enterprise. Here no one limits your imagination. Some offer highly comfortable holidays, erecting modern cottages with all amenities on the territory. Others rely on extreme sports enthusiasts and limit themselves to trailers, offering conditions that are as camp as possible. This affects both the financial plan of the enterprise and the list of services offered.

Basic services

Whatever type of vacation is included in the concept plan of your hunting property, it must have at least a standard set of services. These include:

• nutrition;
• accommodation;
• huntsman services;
• processing of trophies.

If, in addition to hunting, you also offer fishing, you must add the following “fishing” conditions to the services described above:

• rental of fishing equipment;
• rental of water transport.

Processing trophies involves the following manipulations with the carcass:

• cutting;
• gutting;
• cleaning;
• freezing/curing/smoking/salting, etc.

You can also organize cooperation with taxidermists and offer to create stuffed animals from caught or shot animals. But this already falls into the category of additional services.

Additional services

These mainly include those that help improve the service. Their type depends solely on the type of your farm. These include the following:

• clay pigeon shooting or shooting range;
• barbecue or picnic area;
• transfer;
• pool;
• bath or sauna;
• various games;
• babysitting services and children's playground;
• boat trips on various watercraft;
• excursions and walks around the territory;
• massage;
• laundry;
• Internet and more.

But expanding the range of services is justified if the territory is in your possession. Investing in leased land is too risky.

Staff

The staffing plan also directly depends on the scale of your enterprise. If you organize the most natural conditions for hunting, you just need to hire a manager, a cook and a huntsman. The wider the range of services, the more staff will be needed. A pool needs a cleaner, cottages need cleaners, bathhouses and saunas need bath attendants and washers, and so on.

Additional sources of income

To optimize your business, you can include in your plan the opening of a hunting and fishing goods store. But in this case, you also need to do scrupulous work. If your plan includes the sale of hunting weapons, you need permission from the department of internal affairs, local authorities, as well as the appropriate license, which costs 150 thousand rubles. In addition, the premises must be brought exactly in accordance with the requirements of the relevant legislation. This includes security, safes, alarms, etc. About 5 thousand dollars should be allocated for the purchase of various goods, and at least another 8 thousand for the purchase of inventory. In total, this idea will cost about 3 million rubles.

Main financial part

When organizing this business, you need to understand that the investments in it will be different, depending on how large-scale the enterprise you are starting. And the larger they are, the longer the return period will be. Therefore, a hunting farm can be organized for the sake of doing what you love, or with the attraction of large volumes of third-party investments with an eye to a long period of their return.

Main expense items

The spending plan consists of one-time and fixed costs. The first includes landscaping the territory, building houses and infrastructure. Later, you will regularly have to allocate funds for:

• staff salaries;
• settlement, breeding and resettlement of various animals and fish in water bodies.

When building a hunting base from scratch, the cost plan will include the following items:

1. Laying communications. If they already exist, you will save a lot on the construction of the complex. But often you have to lay them yourself.
2. Complex design. At this stage, it is important to involve specialists who will take into account the nature of the landscape, soil, groundwater flow, climatic features, etc. As a rule, a farm includes the construction of houses for clients, for staff, a common room with a kitchen, a dining room, as well as a separate building for an administrative building, a parking area or garages.
3. Construction. In this case, the volume of investment must be calculated not only from the cost of building materials and builders’ services, but also from the distance of your farm from the places where construction materials are purchased. The cost of delivery depends on the distance of the trip.
4. Advertising. Without it, no one will know about your wonderful farm and the services that are offered here. At first you will need a lot of funds. In the future, the amount of expenses can be reduced, and new clients will be brought to you by word of mouth.

Important point

It is advisable to include in the expense item about a thousand dollars intended for the elimination of unnecessary roads, equipment of the main entrance and installation of a checkpoint on it. It is advisable that only a road with a guarded entrance leads to your farm. This will reduce the risk of poaching on your territory. But it is important to dig up these roads legally.

Income items

The main sources of income for your business are payments for services and trophies obtained. Each farm sets its own prices and payment methods. As a rule, separate tariffs are established for access to the hunting territory, huntsman services, the carcass of a hunted animal or the weight of fish, as well as their processing. Another source of income is the issuance of vouchers, the cost of which ranges from 300 to 1,000 rubles.

Additional income can be received from sales of a specialized store, accommodation on the base, and the use of its additional services.

Features of your business

Many entrepreneurs are involved in this area. In order for customers to come back to you again, it is important to find some kind of feature for your business. For example, you can organize fishing competitions or offer to make stuffed animals from shot game or birds. It is important to find exactly what customers will come to you for.

Hunter74 08-06-2009 13:20

Hello everybody.
Colleagues, I have a question. What is needed is a competent opinion, advice, guidance - something like that.
There are 170 hectares of land owned. On the earth there is a forest, fields, and a river. Among the animals are wild boars, moose, foxes and wolves. There are waterfowl and field game.
Actually a question.
We want to organize a private hunting enterprise, but it’s not clear where to start.
Is it possible to simply hunt there within the permitted time frame (the land is private) or not?
If not, then where can I get a permit for this matter, what is the general legal procedure for legalizing hunting on this piece of land.
Thank you.

zdoros 08-06-2009 23:33

quote: How to organize a private hunting enterprise

Obtain a license for the right to use fauna on a competitive basis. The territory should amount to tens of thousands of hectares. The conditions for obtaining are in any hunting department and in the Law “On the Animal World”. On your land you can hunt on a general basis, the land is yours and alive. the world is not. Either this is a public hunting ground or a private hunting ground. farming.

Hunter74 09-06-2009 11:14

Thank you. I respect the laws.

Hunter74 09-06-2009 11:17

Then maybe tell me who to get and what documents to hunt on this land on a general basis. Obviously, she is not included in any hunting grounds of any society. Maybe somewhere in the district administration?
Thank you.

Pasha911 09-06-2009 13:27

Don't make people laugh. Hunting area of ​​170 hectares. Each ungulate pen we have is 2 times larger than your “hunting farm.” But it is convenient to guard; the entire property can be seen through binoculars.

Hunter74 09-06-2009 18:03

quote: Originally posted by Pasha911:

Don't make people laugh. Hunting area of ​​170 hectares. Each ungulate pen we have is 2 times larger than your “hunting farm.” But it’s convenient to guard, the whole property can be seen through binoculars

Off-topic. This has already been discussed.

zdoros 09-06-2009 21:47

[B]Then can you tell me who to get and what documents to hunt on this land on a general basis. Obviously, she is not included in any hunting grounds of any society. Maybe somewhere in the district administration?
Thank you.

It may not be included if this territory is the so-called green zone around cities. Let's say we have this territory. defined by a ring road around the regional center. This means that for hunting you need to look nearby, beyond the boundaries of this collective farm. Go to yubl or paradise. Department of Hunting, only they will give specifics. By the way, collective farm fields are someone’s shares, and therefore property, but these fields are included in the hunting grounds. You may be mistaken about your land.

hunting farm, located in the Smolensk region in the upper reaches of the great Dnieper River, will be glad to consider you as its guest. The hunting enterprise was founded in 2010 and since then has been conducting hunts in the vicinity of the village of Kholm-Zhirkovsky on an area of ​​48 thousand hectares. A comfortable hunting base has been built for guests, which can be reached by passenger transport along an asphalt road.

In addition to hunting in the wild, within the time limits specified by law, it is possible to successfully hunt wild boar in the fenced enclosure with an area of ​​120 hectares in which they are kept. In addition, the hunting farm has put into operation a deer farm and a deer park, built using English technologies, on which we are raising a population of European red deer for sale in the near future. Guests are offered a farm tour and the opportunity to feed the reindeer.

We have all the conditions for hunting: good density of animals, equipment for delivering hunters to the hunting site at any time of the year, including a caterpillar all-terrain vehicle. Half-towers are equipped for driven hunts, and comfortable all-weather towers are built for wild boar hunting.

The highest hunting authority in our country is the Main Directorate for Nature Conservation, Reserves and Hunting of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

The main hunting departments and reserves or nature conservation committees under the councils of ministers or ministries of forestry or agriculture of the Union republics manage the hunting industry and control the work of state, cooperative and public organizations. In the Russian Federation, this is the Main Directorate of Hunting and Nature Reserves under the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation (Glavokhota RF). The regional (territorial) hunting and fishing departments and state hunting inspectorates are subordinate to the Main Directorate.

Territories suitable for hunting in our country (hunting lands), are divided into open to everyone - the so-called public areas; on those assigned to state, public and cooperative organizations and on the lands of nature reserves, nature reserves, suburban and resort areas, where hunting is completely prohibited.

Territories suitable for hunting are assigned to organizations in order to organize hunting farms on them. They protect and breed animals, monitor the norm their prey. Conditions have been created here for hunters to relax.

Typically, in a hunting enterprise assigned (assigned) to a hunting society, there is a director of the enterprise, a game warden and rangers. In small hunting farms, only one or two rangers work, and the accounting of animals, their protection and feeding are mainly carried out by members of the hunting society to which the farm is assigned.

To go hunting on a farm, in the society to which it is assigned, you need to buy a ticket. The distribution of vouchers allows you to regulate the number of hunters in a particular farm.

To study the possibility of joint management of forestry and hunting farms, organizing commercial hunts and for other special purposes, several state forest hunting farms have been created in the Russian Federation (Pereyaslavskoe, North Ossetia, Nalchik and others).

In areas of commercial importance with a relatively low population density, state and cooperative fishery farms have been created. Their goal is the comprehensive development of natural resources: procurement of furs, meat game, fish, nuts, berries, mushrooms, honey. These farms employ professional hunters. Under seasonal contracts with fishing farms, they can also work hunters-amateurs.

To preserve unique natural places, preserve pristine nature, certain plant species, animals or their groups, nature reserves have been created in which not only sport and commercial hunting is prohibited, but also all types of economic use of nature. Even a simple visit to the reserves is either prohibited or is under strict control of their employees.

Nature reserves are of great importance for hunting, as they preserve game animals that naturally spread to neighboring territories. Excess animals can be caught for resettlement in hunting farms.

Nature reserves are also of particular value as natural laboratories. Zoologists, botanists, entomologists and other specialists not only study nature here, they do a lot of useful things for science and the national economy. You've probably already heard or read about such famous nature reserves as Askania-Nova, Caucasian, Lagodekhi, Badkhyz, Altai, Barguzinsky, Kronotsky, etc. Kandalaksha.

Unlike nature reserves, sanctuaries are organized temporarily to preserve and restore the numbers of certain animal species. All hunting in the reserves is prohibited. This is, for example, a reserve that protects the nesting grounds of waterfowl. birds in Kalmykia, on Lake Manych-Gudilo.

Every hunter needs to know this simple information about the organizational structure of the hunting industry.

Development of the hunting industry

The more a person invades the natural environment, the more urgently on the agenda comes the issue of the need to introduce state and public measures aimed at the expedient use of natural resources, including hunting fauna, their restoration and multiplication, maintaining a healthy living environment. The use of natural resources, economic and social aspects of environmental protection are reflected in detail in the main directions of development of the national economy.

The hunter’s attitude to the natural environment should be considered the main subject of hunting ethics, which regulates the norms of his behavior.

A man born in a village, inhaled! the smells of a village street, pastures and meadows, perceives nature completely differently than a city dweller. A city child is deprived of the opportunity to see all its diversity. Perhaps, in his lack of involvement with nature lies one of the reasons that, having come into contact with it occasionally, he immediately rushes to pick a huge bouquet of flowers, throw the first thing that comes to hand into a babbling stream, set fire to last year’s grass, pluck from tree fruits... He can leave an unextinguished fire, leftover food and empty cans at the resting place. Later, as an adult, such a person does not think about the fact that in order to have, for example, clean drinking water, one must take care of wastewater treatment.

Many achievements of modern science and technology, unfortunately, do not take into account the requirements presented to us by nature. But humanity is increasing by 200 thousand every day, and our needs are growing. We want to eat better and better. In order to meet this need, we began to build not pig farms, as before, but pig factories, where 40 thousand pigs are raised at the same time. Previously, peasants kept 4 pigs in a pen, and used manure as fertilizer. Now, saving labor, we wash off the manure at pig farms with a strong stream of water and get 10 thousand times more slurry than that peasant. It is not difficult to imagine what kind of manure “rivers” flow from large pig farms. Where? Into hollows, streams, rivers and, finally, into underground waters.

Mining has changed. Over time, the volume of excavator buckets has increased, and the excavators themselves have become much larger. The rate of mining of oil shale in the north-eastern part of Estonia and phosphate rock near Tallinn is increasing. There would be no reason for grumbling - oil shale is a valuable energy raw material, and phosphate ore is a raw material for fertilizers, if these riches were treated more prudently. Many minerals are not extracted completely, not comprehensively (by extracting one, we leave another unused). Even worse, in the area of ​​mining and ore beneficiation, the air is polluted with harmful emissions and dust, and the rivers, once rich in valuable fish, have become lifeless.

In logging, hand saws, which require enormous physical strength, have been replaced by lightweight and convenient gas-powered saws. The harvesting and removal of wood has been mechanized, it has become easier, and one could assume that in the future there will be no limit to forest cutting. However, no. Forests are the only natural wealth of our republic for which accurate records are kept, and the volume of felling is determined in accordance with the growth. But how does the roar of machinery affect forest dwellers?

The intensive use of natural resources and the ever-increasing pollution of the environment are forcing us to increasingly advocate for the protection of nature. Without understanding our own position on Earth, without understanding our participation in an ecosystem where everything is interconnected, we can even come to deny nature and consider it unnecessary. Sometimes we pretend that we are not dependent on the resources of nature, and thereby we make a grave mistake in relation to future generations, ignoring the patterns that prevail in the environment and not recognizing the possibility of an ecological crisis.

Our country has colossal natural resources. Through the efforts of several generations, we have created a powerful economic potential for using these resources both in industry and in agriculture. Now, more than ever, it is important to use all these resources economically, to put them to the maximum extent at the service of the people, and to extract the greatest benefit from them.

In the 50s humanity witnessed the victorious march of DDT, recognized as a universal means of combating harmful insects. This poisonous drug was scattered everywhere like a miracle drug. For the invention of this miracle, the Swiss chemist P. H. Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1948. But it turned out that DDT is deposited in the tissues of living beings and plants without losing its toxic effect. Along with other damage caused by it, a sharp decline in the number of birds was noted in the USA, Belgium, England and other countries: pigeons, gray partridges, pheasants, eagles, quails. The use of DDT was banned.

A serious problem was the reduction in the area of ​​agricultural land and the decline in its fertility. In the USA, for example, 10 thousand km2 of arable land is annually allocated for industry and cities. At this rate, by the end of the century, a third of agricultural land will disappear, and yet the world’s population is growing.

In 1998, the regular XIV General Assembly of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources was held in the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, which developed a World Conservation Strategy, providing for such a regulated use of the biosphere, ecosystems and individual species, in which ecosystems will bring maximum benefit current generations and at the same time maintain their potential to meet the needs of future generations.

More than once the opinion has been expressed that it’s enough to stop ringing the alarm bell and discussing the dangers that we create for nature, it’s time to finally move on to action to eliminate pollution and make better use of natural resources. We have to agree with this. Many instructions may remain empty words; criticism without an address remains unheeded. One thing is certain - our knowledge about nature is far from sufficient. We forget that the benefits that we often use not quite wisely are the result of the work of a very complex mechanism of nature. One cannot invade nature without carefully studying the processes of its development. This is the first thing. Secondly, we need to change the position of an outside observer to active actions in defense of nature.

Hunting fauna is one of the components of the riches of nature. We can only talk about good organization of hunting if it is carried out by competent people. Hunters and organizers of hunting can be people of different specialties, occupying different positions. Expanding their horizons in the field of nature conservation is an important matter.

In those distant times, when man had just settled on the territory of present-day Estonia, concern for food forced him to learn hunting, to use strength and cunning in the fight against predators. Nowadays, when there is abundant food on our table. Is prey the only purpose of hunting? In other cases, yes. This is when it comes to people who have chosen hunting as their profession. In Russia there are not many of them - these are gamekeepers of hunting farms, whose primary task is to organize the care of wild animals. Among amateur hunters, about 30% consider hunting the best recreation.

In our country, over the past 50 years, the rural population has more than halved, and this process has developed at an even faster pace. In 1999, only 34% of the population was concentrated in cities, but in 1999, city dwellers already made up 70% of the population. Hence the growing need for closer communication with nature. In addition, people have much more free time.

Naturally, a passion for nature does not oblige you to take a gun with you. You can go out into nature with a camera, for example. But it turns out that photo hunting is much more difficult than regular hunting; it requires more time, more stress, more work. Many are disappointed: it is not so easy to convey the beauty of living nature to viewers using photography. Photographers who have achieved mastery in their craft tell how much patience and effort photographing an elk or a hare, a roe deer or a marten requires. It’s easier to shoot an animal than to waylay it when it’s in the right lighting and take a photo.

It turns out that photo hunting is not as bloodless as it seems at first glance. We have not yet had serious signals about disturbing the peace of animals by photographing or recording their voices on magnetic tape, but in France, for example, back in 1976, a number of provisions regarding photo hunting were included in the law on nature conservation.

Sometimes reproaches are heard against hunters: why go into the forest to kill, destroy life, upset the balance of nature. However, we must not forget that in our age the number of wild animals in densely populated areas with developed production cannot be left unregulated, and once we begin to regulate the number and composition of animals, this should be done constantly. This entails new tasks, including the creation of favorable living conditions for animals, which, in turn, opens up the opportunity for humans to communicate more closely with nature. Nature is lifeless without wild animals and can hardly exist without them. Therefore, it is extremely important how we build our relationship with her, because we extended our hand for almost all of her wealth, while keeping in mind only our personal well-being.

Nature conservation has a long tradition. In 1957, the Law on Nature Protection was adopted - the first such law. There is a network of state and public institutions involved in nature conservation and guaranteeing compliance with current legislation, which covers the use and protection of all natural resources and natural monuments - from individual rare species to large complex areas, such as a national park. A number of legislative acts clearly define measures to protect game animals, increase their numbers and rational use.

Over the past 10-15 years, more than 4 million chemical substances have been synthesized in the world, about 1.5 million of which people use in their economic activities. Some of them cause direct harm to the natural environment, causing the death of animals or preventing their reproduction. Other substances that do not cause negative effects in small doses can accumulate in natural objects, remaining there for a long time. A chain of migration of toxic substances has arisen: soil - vegetation - animals - food products of animal origin - humans.

By 1995, the use of mineral fertilizers in the world increased 6 times compared to 1945. Later, the growth rate of the use of mineral fertilizers increased even more, and the content of toxic substances in the soil increased significantly. But these substances also have a negative effect on plants and animals. It has been established, for example, that the use of insecticides prevents the normal hatching of quails; substances released during the burning of plastic waste cause thinning of the egg shells of pelicans.

There is less and less virgin nature left. The acidity of the environment increases, which is caused by industrial emissions into the atmosphere. As a result, forests are dying over vast areas in Central Europe and Scandinavia. In Finland, a forecast has been drawn up, according to which 11% of forests are expected to die in the coming years. Everything that in our time threatens countries with developed industry also threatens us.

The efforts of hunters and constant monitoring by forest guards have become the basis for the wise use of the wild animal fund. This refutes the opinion that hunting will disappear with the progress of technology. But there is cause for concern. After all, the power of the productive forces at a person’s disposal doubles every 10 to 15 years.

Unfortunately, many industrial wastes - plastics, ceramics, stainless metals, pesticides - decompose very slowly in nature. Many toxic substances are widespread in nature.

Traces of lead contamination, for example, have been found in all corners of the world - from the waters of the Pacific Ocean to the snowy plains of Antarctica. The lead content in the body of a modern person is 50 times higher than that of his ancestors who lived 200-300 years ago. The soil and vegetation along highways are poisoned with lead. There are now more than 400 million cars in the world, which absorb as much oxygen per year as a billion people, and produce 50% of the substances that pollute the atmosphere, most of which are carcinogenic.

In such circumstances, the question arises: is hunting a reasonable use of game fauna or should it be treated differently? It is always instructive to turn to history.

In the era of gathering, only 1 person could feed himself on an area of ​​20 km2. With the transition from gathering to cattle breeding, the territory required for food decreased by 20 times, that is, to 100 hectares. Scientists from many countries around the world have calculated that one hunter needs 1000 hectares of land to exist, a villager needs 1 hectare, a city dweller needs only 800 m2 (this includes the area of ​​streets, warehouses, shops, theaters).

In primitive society, intensive hunting led to the extermination of mammoths, large deer and cave lions; they were simply eaten. Africa lost about 40% of its birds and animals, most of which were also eaten by humans. Rock paintings that have come down to us from ancient times mostly depict hunting animals, many of which have disappeared from the face of the Earth. Perhaps these drawings had a magical meaning; with their help, people tried to influence animals and preserve them. During its existence, man destroyed 2/3 of the forests and contributed to a reduction of 90% of the world's fauna. From 1600 to the present day, 359 species of mammals and birds have disappeared. The rate of extinction of species has increased noticeably, but the formation of a species takes approximately 1 million years.

It has become obvious that passive nature conservation does not give the desired results under modern conditions. Passive “non-interference” in the affairs of nature is a thing of the past. Intensive environmental management has led us to the need for active participation in the restoration of natural resources in order to compensate for the losses suffered by nature and to maintain maximum harmony between man and the environment.

Goals and objectives of modern hunting

Hunting is, first of all, a branch of activity that provides us with material values: hunting products. In addition, this is a school of knowledge of nature, its prudent use and protection. Hunting provides a good opportunity to restore mental and physical performance. Among the hunters there are people of various professions. Often, one hunting team includes the head of an institution and a worker from a state farm, the director of an enterprise and a collective farm machine operator, a rural accountant and a cultural figure from the city. They are united by the need for communication with nature and active recreation.

The hunting process itself places a number of demands on the hunter. The hunter must be hardy, persistent, able to overcome various obstacles, be well oriented in the area, know the tracks of animals and be able to track game. He must be a skilled shooter in order to quickly and accurately hit the target (during the Great Patriotic War, hunters were invaluable scouts and snipers).
In the future, the recreational importance of hunting will undoubtedly increase, because hunting combines business with pleasure and has a positive effect on the physical and spiritual health of people.

The goals of modern hunting are determined by the Regulations on Hunting. This is a document that briefly outlines the general principles of hunting, the procedure for hunting and the use of hunting products, measures for the reproduction of hunting fauna, and requirements for hunting supervision.

According to the Regulations on Hunting, wild animals (animals and birds) living in a state of natural freedom constitute the state hunting fund. The organization of the use of this fund is entrusted to the State Committee for Nature Protection and Forestry, which draws up and approves hunting instructions that complement the main provisions, and also controls the work of all institutions and organizations on the territory of the republic. -those involved in hunting.

Among the measures that contribute to increasing the hunting fund, it is worth highlighting the regulation of hunting periods for all types of wild animals. These dates are based on many years of experience and scientific research, but weather conditions, game population conditions, and economic conditions may cause these dates to be shifted one to two weeks in advance or to a later time. Depending on their numbers, shooting of certain animal species may be completely prohibited or limited in certain areas.

The requirement to increase the number of game animals does not provide for their division into so-called useful and harmful. Let's take, for example, the lynx. She is omnivorous and bloodthirsty, and until recently she was considered an evil enemy of hunting. In our republic, it feeds on hares and roe deer, but in general it hunts anyone it is superior in strength. Everywhere - not only here, but also in many European countries - it was intensively exterminated, but now all sorts of measures are being taken to restore its numbers: lynx skins are highly valued!

The organization of republican and local hunting reserves also serves the purpose of increasing the number of wild animals. The Regulations on Hunting Management stipulate that in order to ensure favorable conditions for reproduction, habitat and preservation of the number of game at the required level, at least 20% of hunting lands must be permanently allocated for reserves. This does not mean, however, that hunting is excluded in the hunting reserve. An absolute ban on hunting applies only to state reserves and national parks.

Hunting is conducted in accordance with the Law on the Protection and Use of Wildlife. The law establishes that in the protection of wildlife, environmental aspects come first: preserving the diversity of populations of living beings and ensuring the stability of ecosystems. In practice, this means that the hunting fauna must always include those species of animals that are native to our area and live on our territory in natural conditions. When relocating animals to enrich the fauna, the historical background should be strictly taken into account: the introduction of species must not be allowed to harm the local fauna. The law establishes that the introduction of animal species for the purpose of enriching the fauna and increasing the biological productivity of communities is permitted only by government agencies. Willful introduction, acclimatization and crossing of animals are unacceptable.

The law also states that users of wildlife, and they are primarily hunters, are obliged to use methods to avoid violation of the biological integrity of natural communities, ensure the safety of animals and prevent destruction of their habitat. Activities that could lead to the death of rare or endangered species, reduce their numbers or destroy their habitats are prohibited. This requirement should be taken into account not only by hunters, but also by enterprises, institutions, organizations, and citizens. Everyone who uses chemical plant protection products, fertilizers and various preparations intended for forestry, agriculture and water management must transport, store and use them without causing damage to the animal world. For violation of this, the law provides for criminal, administrative or other liability.

An essential function of the departments regulating hunting is strict supervision over the living conditions and reproduction of wild animals, as well as over the actions of hunters and all citizens involved. Supervision is entrusted to forest protection, as well as to the state and public environmental protection system.

Our society is not yet free from those who are ready to circumvent the law, deliberately violate its requirements, from those who decide to hunt without permission or, taking advantage of their official position, do not consider it shameful to appropriate most of the spoils. Sometimes calling them to order or applying administrative penalties to them are ineffective. Therefore, our task is to use educational measures to change people’s attitudes towards hunting resources, the established order and discipline of hunting. It is necessary to have a strict procedure for the use of hunting grounds, to carry out the most advanced and effective measures to increase the number of game, and to rationally use hunting products. The hunter must have knowledge about hunting and nature conservation. It is unthinkable to hunt animals and birds without knowing their way of life and behavior; knowledge of the biology and ecology of wild animals makes it possible to successfully protect them.

The first step towards organizing a hunting enterprise is obtaining information about the availability of wild animal resources. Every spring we conduct a game count, calculate how many animals can live on our lands along with their offspring by the fall, and determine within what limits it will be possible to shoot them. It’s not a big deal if, say, when counting a 150,000-strong population of hares, an error of 1000 individuals is made: with a shooting rate of 20% of the total number, such an error will not determine the state of affairs. If, instead of 12,000 moose, we take 8,000 moose into account, and determine the shooting rate based on the offspring thus underestimated, that is, in the amount of approximately a quarter of the main herd, we will allow a significant increase in the population, and the results will be far from the desired .

Counting wild animals is not an easy task. Try to count the fleet-footed roe deer in the forest, bush thickets or in a distant swamp, wolves making 100-kilometer trips for prey, or hares constantly jumping from place to place. Try to prove that there are 600 elk on your hunting property if there are 3-4 of them for every 1000 hectares. It's easy to make accounting mistakes. Unfortunately, there are still no easy and practical accounting methods that do not cause significant disturbance to animals and allow us to determine the sex and age structure of populations of large ungulates. To determine the correct structure of shooting, that is, indicators of how many males, females or juveniles can be shot in a given hunting area, accurate data is very necessary. Only selective shooting can ensure the stability of the population, and therefore the ability to constantly hunt. So far, data on the presence of wild animals is based mainly on the observations of foresters and hunters, who are helped by their practical experience. The information received from them is corrected and brought together. The number of game is determined by registration data as of April 1, and in most cases they should reflect the number after the end of the hunting season until the animals give birth. The accuracy and reliability of these indicators largely depends on the qualifications of the census takers and their attitude to work, on the species being taken into account and the density of its distribution in the land.

Data on the numbers of wolves, lynxes and bears are usually quite accurate. They come from forest guards and members of hunting sections who watch these animals not only in winter, but also in other seasons of the year. In winter, it is possible to count only migrating wolves and lynxes, and in the spring - those that have settled in a given area in anticipation of giving birth; In the spring, bears awakening from hibernation are also taken into account. Summer observations make it possible to determine the number of offspring.

The number of wild boars can be determined quite accurately in winter in places of regular feeding. In our country, winter feeding of wild boars has become mandatory, and we constantly receive accurate information about the size and age composition of their herds (how many adults, gilts, and piglets there are in them). The census is carried out in February - March; earlier data turn out to be less accurate due to the high mobility of the herds.

Roe deer, if fed, also stick to a certain place. However, the accuracy of counting these animals depends on weather conditions: if the winter is harsh, the roe deer will stay together not far from the feeding site, and if it is warm, they will live more dispersed.

Real data on the number of brown hare can be obtained by taking into account the individuals that come to feed in the fields of winter crops. Track records are less accurate.
Information on the number of foxes and badgers can be obtained by taking into account their inhabited burrows. In the spring, you should visit all the burrows and use the tracks to determine the habitat of the droppings. Knowing the average litter size, it is not difficult to calculate the average number.

A relative accounting indicator is the number of animals shot, so we attach great importance to hunting statistics (the number of animals shot by species), using any method that is simple in practice to obtain accounting data.

According to the Instructions on carrying out work on the development of hunting grounds, our republic has been counting game (ungulates, predatory animals and hares) in trial areas for several years now. Plots are selected so that they occupy up to 5% of the total area of ​​the hunting farm and have a minimum size of 500 hectares. Sample plots should be distributed evenly throughout the entire territory and characterize it as accurately as possible. The census is carried out in a run (as in a round-up hunt), and the accounting data is distributed over the entire territory of the hunting area. To facilitate comparison of accounting data, the same sites are used from year to year. To obtain additional control information, verification surveys are carried out outside the trial areas - this allows you to compare the data distributed over the entire territory with the actual state of affairs.

For greater accuracy of counting in Lahemaa National Park, for example, when counting nesting birds, the transect method is used: the number of birds is determined when passing through their nesting territory along certain routes in the early morning hours; Data on the number of wood grouse and black grouse are obtained by taking into account mating sites and determining the number of males at leks.
Aerial surveys are used to verify the data obtained. Of course, only large animals can be counted from an airplane. In addition, the accuracy of the data obtained in this case depends on the terrain conditions, weather, and this method is expensive.

The number of wild animals, sex and age composition of the population, on which the productivity of the species largely depends, changes due to the fact that the influence of factors determining fertility and mortality can vary widely. If, for example, we set a goal to increase the main herd, then the shooting rate should be set according to the smallest increase in habitats with the worst conditions. If the optimal number of any species has been achieved, then too low a shooting rate, which contributes to an increase in the main herd, will cause damage to other species or the national economy, or will increase the mortality of this species. A prerequisite for the rational use of the wild animal fund is a correctly planned optimal number of game in a specific area, in a hunting area or in the republic as a whole and a correctly established shooting rate.

The norms for the density of wild animals in hunting lands depend on the quality of the latter and the intensity of hunting, as well as on the nature and intensity of forestry and agricultural use of these lands. To establish the optimal density, we take into account the state of the food supply, the load on it, the presence of shelters for animals, interspecific competition, and damage caused to forestry and agriculture. Taking this into account, the optimal number of species for a given territory or for hunting grounds of a given quality class is determined.

In many cases, it turns out to be more correct to plan not the optimal density of game population, but to proceed from the so-called permissible one, determined by the goals of hunting management and hunting. The basis for designing the annual rate of shooting wild animals is the optimal or permitted number of game and the actual result of the count, population growth in a given year and the amount of damage caused by wild animals to forestry and agriculture.

Forestry enterprises keep fairly accurate records of damage caused to forestry. Taking into account this damage, and, in addition, also the damage caused by wild animals to potato fields, as well as the damage they cause to other fields, the shooting standards are determined. The optimal shooting rate should not only bring the number of game to the optimal or permitted level, but also provide the prerequisites for obtaining large viable offspring and full-fledged hunting trophies. That is why we carry out selective shooting of wild animals, issuing licenses for shooting males and females, young and old animals. In a word, we apply the principle of selective shooting and control the sex and age composition of the population, changing it in the direction we need.

We consider one of the important tasks of the development of a systematic hunting economy to be the assessment of the quality (grading) of hunting lands and the planning of economic activities on its basis. The design of hunting grounds, in fact, should be considered one of the components of environmental planning. The organizers of hunting grounds are tasked with taking into account the needs of nature as an integral system, so as not to cause damage to any of the natural resources. At the same time, rare, protected species of animals deserve special attention: the conditions and places of their habitat must be preserved during construction work!

The assessment, or grading, of hunting lands, which is the most important part of development work, is carried out on the basis of their food supply. It is especially important to correctly assess the winter food supply, taking into account the interests of forestry and agriculture (summer food for mammals living in our climatic conditions is available in almost unlimited quantities).

To correctly assess hunting grounds, it is necessary to know what the food needs of game animals are. Finding out this is not easy, since the determining factor is not the quantity, but the quality of the feed, its calorie content, and availability. It is necessary to find out which food plants are preferred by ungulates, whether animals consume them in any habitats, and whether these plants are eaten equally by animals of both sexes and all ages.

The assessment is given to hunting areas for a long period of time, and the number of wild animals can change dramatically even within a year. Without knowing the number and distribution density of game in the lands, as well as the circumstances that give rise to changes in these indicators, we cannot conduct systematic hunting.

For the development of modern hunting, the expansion and deepening of scientific research is extremely important. A more detailed study of the biology of wild animals is necessary, in particular issues related to the stability of populations in extreme weather conditions, the influence of various factors on population growth, and the relationship of species. It is necessary to study in more detail the possibilities of choice and digestibility of food items by wild animals, the impact of a changing environment on the number of individuals and their resistance, as well as many other problems. All this will contribute to achieving the main goal of the hunting industry - the preservation and increase of hunting resources.

The ethical theme is heard more and more strongly in our hunting affairs, since we have realized that by ignoring these, it is impossible to create and effectively develop a cultural hunting industry. You can have a lot of game on your land and receive a large amount of hunting products - and we strive for this - and still not be completely satisfied, acutely feel the lack of much-needed harmony in our hunting relationships with living nature. And this harmony is created, first of all, by following ethical principles in any business.

The ethical topic includes two interrelated aspects: the ethics of the hunter and the ethics of hunting. The first seems to be obvious: the hunter must be disciplined, honest, strictly observe the rules of hunting, maintain good relations with fellow hunters, not try to intercept their prey (there are such cases), not be greedy, trying to kill as much as possible game. The appearance of a hunter, his clothing, equipment, and manners must satisfy certain aesthetic requirements and hunting traditions. Time introduces new elements into the hunter's ethics - humanistic tendencies are intensifying. The active participation of the hunter in the protection and reproduction of hunting resources and biotechnical activities becomes especially important. It is no coincidence that the motto of a modern hunter can be considered an ethical maxim: whoever does not care about the game has no right to hunt it!

The ethical foundations of hunting are less known and less well understood by the mass hunter. They consist, first of all, in presenting this industry as an integral part of the entire system of integrated environmental management and conducting it in accordance with the requirements and needs of the entire society, the entire state. We rightly demand that, for example, agriculture and forestry constantly take into account hunting matters, take into account the need to preserve and improve the habitat of wild animals: preserving the mosaic of landscapes, limiting technologies dangerous to wildlife, strict control over the use mineral fertilizers and toxic chemicals, gradual replacement of the latter with biomethods. However, we ourselves must constantly remember the interests of our neighbors, and not allow over-reproducing game to destroy forest crops or grazing vast areas of agricultural crops. A delicate and dynamic balance must be sought and maintained through joint efforts in the hunting grounds.

The hunting industry cannot now be indifferent to what species and subspecies of game inhabit the hunting grounds, and strive to create in its possessions a mixture of alien (or even overseas!) forms of hunting animals and birds. The subject of his pride should be the purity of the genetic material, the prosperity of local forms of game, and the development of traditional, national types of hunting. Violations of hunting ethics include overhunting, littering of lands with hunting waste, deterioration of the epizootic situation due to mistakes by specialists and hunters, and much more.

A conscientious hunter knows: getting the game is not the main thing. It is important that hunting is cultural and contributes to the improvement of a person’s personality and the deepening of his contacts with nature.