Hunting for a hare in winter usually lasts until mid-February, and sometimes a little longer.
On the territory of our country, two species are most widespread: this is the brown man and the white hare, which are excellent long-awaited prey for both the experienced hunter and the beginner.
Hunting hares in winter is especially fascinating with hounds, however, since the livestock of these animals has recently declined sharply, few people today contain these four-legged animals. Such fishing involves long dashes and transitions when you need to cheer the dogs so that they wake the hare.
Hunters with many years of experience recommend to prey on this animal in powder. It's about tracing. This is a simple hunt for a hare in winter, the essence of which is as follows: prey is found in the snow in fresh tracks, and the rest is already a successful and well-aimed shot. But even this seemingly simple fishing scheme needs an attentive and balanced approach.
The best time for tracking is mild and fairly warm winter weather when the hare is relatively calm. At this time, it is much easier to get as close to him as possible.
Hunting in winter, in crackling frosts, is much more difficult. In such weather, long-eared ears are always wary and do not allow a person to get close to himself for a shot.
Damp ground, not yet saturated with rains, together with complete silence, is an ideal condition for rutting, while frost, which turned the soil into stone, dulls the sensibility of a hare footprint by a dog.
A strong wind makes it impossible to choose the right hole, even at very close distances the hounds find it difficult to track the direction of the rut.
Hunting a hare in winter by the tracing method assumes the presence of freshly fallen snow, and if the snowfall has ended the day before, then these are simply ideal conditions. The animal at night, as a rule, gets out of the hole and goes in search of some food, leaving clear traces.
And if it snowed at night and continues to crumble at the time of hunting, then experienced hunters refuse to trail, since hares can simply not leave the bed, and if they go out, they leave fuzzy tracks.
Windy weather is also not suitable for fishing by powder: snow rises upward, falling asleep with its tracks.
In addition, hunting for a hare in winter largely depends on the fact how well the hunter knows the habitats of his prey.
At the very beginning of the season, when the cold had just come and the first snow had fallen, long-eared animals kept mostly in the winter, hunting on those agricultural lands on which they had recently harvested.
And as the snow cover increases, when it becomes more difficult to break the snow and get to the ground, the hare goes into the depths of the forest. At the same time, their other species, the grouse, settles next to the dwelling, where they get food on the hillocks, from which the wind blows snow.
Hunting a hare with hounds has the main task: to find and arouse prey as quickly as possible by any means, and the rest with a good hound dog is a shooter's business.
As soon as the booty is raised, all sorts of noise and cries cease. It is only necessary sometimes to run across in order to be able to make a successful shot, but at the same time it is impossible to make noise and knock, in order to accidentally “not sink” the animal.
Hunting for hare in winter is very successful in those places where streams ran in the spring, as well as along the edges of swamps, ravines and dry rivers.
Everyone who is engaged in this type of fishing has its own secrets: this is both a method of approach, and selected weather conditions, and finding habitats of a hare. And only thanks to these tricks can the result be successful.
You need to dress warm enough, although everyone chooses what is more convenient for him. This can be army underwear, cotton pants and felt boots, a mask, a fur suit with high fur boots, etc. The main thing is not to freeze, and luck will not keep you waiting, and for lunch you can bring home a delicious hare.