Salyan

A hunter must bear all hardships steadfastly and courageously.

We were thinking about where to go. You can't shoot trophy game - it's not the season, and anyway hunting is banned in Ismayilli and Gadabay!!! Well, what can you do, only hare is open!!!

We'd agreed to go hunting in Bilasuvar, but the weather was against us. In the end only two of our hunting crew were left. Me and Rovshan. Despite 2 days of rain and our families trying to talk us out of it, on the second we hit the road.

The rough plan was to drive out to the fields around Yenikend. No sooner said than done. When we turned off the road the Niva started sliding around, but we're stubborn, right… We'll get through, said Rovshan, and switched on the transfer case. But 500 meters later a canal was waiting for us and the car stubbornly kept trying to slide into it. After a few attempts we decided to take a detour. We got there and then it turned out Rovshan had forgotten his boots. We had to turn around and drive to the village. After buying some we decided to switch to more familiar - and quite possibly drier - spots….

So here we are. Strangely enough, no rain. And the fields are practically dry. We formed a "line" 2 people long and set off. No hare. Another 5-7 km. No hare. I'm walking along and start whining to Rovshan that hares are territorial and we've already shot out all of them around here. I'm telling him about grandpa Sabaneyev, about how in the rain a hare lies up on high ground. And then Rovshan grins, points at the field and says: So, are we going to shoot some "territorial hares" or what. We'd gone just 10 meters when a hare jumped up right from under me - since we'd already clocked up a fair distance and hadn't run into anything, I wasn't expecting it. I shoot point-blank. The hare does a somersault and Rif grabs the carcass practically in midair. A big hare - 5-6 kilos!

We move on. Not writing off muallim Sabaneyev, I walk along the edge of the bank. Rovshan and Rif go along the bank. A crow flies over. How could I pass up a bit of wing-shooting practice? I shoot with number 5 shot, the crow gets a mild fright. Rovshan fires a double. And she couldn't care less. She turns around and flies right at us. I raise the gun and track her (letting her come closer). And then out of the corner of my eye I see a hare getting up right from under my feet. (I know nobody here believes in peripheral vision.) Shot. Score 2-0. That sneaky bastard sat out a series of 3 shots, the dog was circling around that bush, we were discussing how to shoot the crow, and he just sat tight till the last moment and waited. Guys, hares can count shots in a series. I know it doesn't sound believable. In the next field we flushed a hare. I fired, then Rovshan, the hare got away. We'd just broken open the barrels when practically in the same spot a second one gets up. It feels like they wait until everyone's barrels are empty. Then came the night. Cold, damp, tent. The jackals started their songs in the evening from about 5 o'clock. There are tons of them there. They come right up to the campfire. The next morning we flushed a hare in the same field. Rif, the pest, ran after the hare and wouldn't let Rovshan shoot….

The hunt was a success: 3 hares with a total weight of 12 kg. We didn't get the bag limit, but that feeling of wild delight from being out in nature with friends is worth a lot.