Opening of the hare hunting season in Salyan.

Oh, the roads, the dust and fog, the cold, the alarms, and the steppe weeds. Whether snow or wind, let's remember, friends, we can never forget these roads.

Getting ready :

We'd been planning to go chase hares in Salyan. The whole of Saturday went on chores around the house. I'm already heading home, it's around 10 in the evening, and I get a call from Rovshan – Sash, call me back. Right away the idea pops into my head that he's going to suggest heading out overnight. But a gift of fate was waiting for us: Yashar muallim had agreed to come with us and show us how this very hare is supposed to be hunted.

Briefly about the drive :

It didn't click with us that the Niva is Rif's car, and I put Lucky in the back seat with Rif. For which Lucky was promptly punished by the owner. And when he got moved back to the front seat, the pooch got embarrassed. :-( Yashar m., once again I apologise for the pooch's behaviour.

The hunt :

We got to the spot where the team that had gone out on Saturday was supposed to meet us at around 10 in the morning. The guys came up to the car and said hello. Seeing our stern faces and the two dogs, they uttered a phrase that later became a catchphrase – well, that's it, the hares are f****d. We drove out to the camp in the field, and after a quick bite we stopped some local hunters, and they volunteered to be our guides. Honestly, I didn't like the idea in principle. Far too many times I've seen locals send people off to "VERY" good spots. Which, basically, is exactly what happened…But more on that later. We loaded into the cars, with 2 local guides along. We drove around the fields for ages. We passed what seemed to me like a lot of promising fields. Oh well…We unloaded. Yashar m. lined us up in a chain (12 people) and we set off across the field (it really was endless). We'd gone about 200 metres from the car when Yashar m. opened the score. Took the first hare. The second hare was taken practically in the same spot, by Tolik I think. And that was it. The wildlife ran out, and we clocked kilometre after kilometre without seeing a single hare. After an hour, maybe more, Yashar m. gave the order to wrap up. After a short and forceful talking-to, the locals finally gave up the spots where there actually are hares. We came to a field 100x40 metres. And from that field we put up 5 and took 2 fluffballs. Yashar m. spotted a sleeping hare about 5 metres from him, and so as not to wreck the carcass with the shot, he decided to swap the 0 for finer shot. The click of the gun instantly put the hare up. And off it went across the field at full speed. I'm standing there watching a hare go past me about 20 metres away (very pretty). I don't shoot (the hare didn't get up from under me, after all. And it's kind of far. Sorry, it's a spearfishing habit to only take a sure shot, point-blank). What snapped me out of my stupor was Tolik's swearing. Let me try to put it politely: You, bad person. This bad hare is going right past you, why are you dawdling with the shot. Long story short, even the crows were blushing at the hunter's emotional speech. We went another 20 metres or so and a hare got up behind me. And the bastard had let both me and the dogs walk past (either the dogs are dumb or the hare's crafty). Well, here it is – what I came for. I gracefully shoulder the gun… Yeah, and right in my sights are Lucky, Rif and co. bounding along. The hare's faster, of course. It gets away from the dogs, I shoot after it. Either a miss or it was already too far and should've been a wounded one. After the shot the hare picked up speed noticeably. But its headlong run was stopped by Rovshan with a double from 70 metres if not more, and before the hunt he'd been playing modest (like, he doesn't know how to shoot). My pooch sniffed the hare, got a taste of the blood, bolted off into the field and went 150-200 metres out. Found all the hare's forms (empty, obviously). I spent 15-20 minutes calling him back. And that's basically where we wrapped up the hunt.

The halt :

Well, what trip out into nature goes without lunch and hanging out? The crew, under Yashar m.'s guidance (and I'm not just saying that. People really did ask his advice). The hare was cooked, salo sliced, pickles and onions, and of course where would we be without our dear vodka. It came out tasty. Hare with onions and pomegranates. All I remember of the recipe is that you cut the hare into pieces and soak it in water for 4 hours. So there we are, sitting and chewing. The leisurely conversation is broken up by toasts. And suddenly a pack of 5-7 wolfhounds comes charging at us from over the hill. The wolfhounds weren't expecting this turn of events. People grabbed bottles, chairs, rocks and went on the attack. The smartest one turned out to be Rovshan. He was the only one who grabbed his gun and loaded it. After his shots the dogs backed off.

Epilogue.

We had a great time! Despite the pleasant tiredness all over. Even though we didn't take the bag limit, hunting isn't about meat or shots. Hunting is about time with your mates, tracking the game, and the shot is exactly what marks the end of this pleasant pastime.

Congrats on the hunt! Thanks for a wonderful hunt.

P.S. All participants had licences. Yashar m. personally checked that everyone had their papers. Guys, 5 manat is no money, and it's probably not worth the headache over it.