Stories about hunting in the taiga are a bright page of Russian literature. We can say that the writers creating such works continue the tradition of hunting prose, which became popular in the nineteenth century.
From the school bench, all the inhabitants of our country are familiar with “Notes of the Hunter” by I. Turgenev, in which the classic tells about interesting cases that happened in the forest with him.
Professionals
However, besides people who hunt in their free time, as a hobby, there are those for whom the extraction of meat of wild animals and birds, as well as fur is a constant source of income, the main occupation in life.
Such specialists are called hunter-traders. A lot of literary works have also been written about them. And sometimes they themselves act as authors.
One of these writers is Leonid Maksimov, whose storybook, published several years ago, is dedicated to forest, taiga, and hunting in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In these stories, the author, in addition to entertaining cases occurring with his heroes, gives a detailed description of the life and life of these fearless, courageous people. One of these characters is Mikhail Kirillovich, a hunter-hunter who was a little over forty at the time of the events described.
This hereditary hunter in the village where he lived, everyone called Kirilich, emphasizing respect for his father. The hero’s parent, Kirill Ilyich, was a well-known trader and died of wounds received as a result of an unexpected meeting with a bear. The story of Leonid Kiselyov “Life on the hunting wintering ground” is completely devoted to the work and the rules of life in the taiga that Kirilych developed for himself. The hero of the work fought in the Great Patriotic War, having passed it until the last day. Talking about this time, he wondered how he managed to survive. Mikhail Kirillovich invites the narrator to spend the winter in his house. The author enters the team of geologists who are engaged in the study of local deposits of substances suitable for use in the nuclear industry. In parallel with his work in the brigade, the author observes the life of Kirilych.
Year of the hunter
In one of his stories about taiga, Maximov describes the hunter's occupation, which is repeated from year to year. The most important time for Mikhail Kirillovich lasts from October to December. This is the so-called "wintering".
It goes as follows. The hunter lives in a house on the forest edge. Every day he goes to get the beast. Housing in winter is almost completely covered with snow. Therefore, one can understand that a person lives here only by smoke from a chimney that rises above the snowdrifts. The house is heated with the help of a stove, which is made from a barrel of American fuel. Its top is aligned so that you can put a kettle with water there.
Hunter clothes
This story about hunting in the taiga describes in detail the clothes that the main character wears, going on a fishing trip to the forest. Pants and shoes deserve special attention. They are made of elk skin, mainly taken from the feet of a beast. Such material is used, because elk spends a lot of time standing in cool water throughout its life.
That is why his skin gains such valuable qualities as water resistance and frost resistance. The hunter often eats wild garlic for food, as this vegetable is good for the health of the stomach.
Fur production
In the hunting stories of this author, and in particular in the story about wintering, the main difference between an amateur hunter and a professional is mentioned. The latter must fulfill the conditions of the contract signed by him, that is, hand over a certain amount of fur to the organization in which he works. Therefore, every day he has to get more than a dozen squirrel skins and one sable, and sometimes even walk on a bear and an elk.
Bear hunt
This predator is one of the most dangerous and evil animals on earth.
Therefore, the process of harvesting such an animal also consists in exploring the routes along which it usually walks a few months before the start of the hunting season. These paths are determined, as a rule, by bear marks - trees, on which the predator sticks out its claws.
Faithful friends
In order to successfully hunt in the taiga, people need helpers. Most often they are four-legged friends, that is, animals. Kirillich, the protagonist of the stories of Leonid Maximov, also had such comrades-in-arms.
According to the author of the work, the hunter treated his pets as part of himself. Each time, returning from the hunt, he first of all took care of feeding his horse and dog, and then about his food. An interesting story is the appearance of each of these pets in Mikhail Kirillovich.
Bay
Such a nickname was given to a horse that appeared in the house of the father of the protagonist before the Great Patriotic War. In those years, the Soviet Union pursued a policy of collectivization. Plots of land, pets, and much more that officials considered excess was taken from wealthy people. The family also wanted to confiscate the Gnedy.
The hunters would have been left without a horse if young Mikhail had not come up with a saving idea. He decided to take the horse to the winter, located in the remote taiga. The plan worked. Employees of special bodies could not get to the hunting lodge. Thus, the horse was preserved and served Kirilych for several decades.
Faithful dog
Stories about hunting in the taiga of Maximov contain many episodes related to pets. Of particular interest to the reader is a fragment in which it is described how the fisherman Mikhail Kirillovich got a dog.
Once in the taiga, he met hunter hunters. Their boat, along with the necessary provisions, drowned. Kirilich was returning from the field and did not feel the need for a large supply of food and gun cartridges. Therefore, he gave both of these to people in need. Representatives of this nationality are distinguished by the fact that they always gratefully remember the help provided to them. Therefore, after some time, these same hunters, passing through Kirilich’s capture, gave him a puppy of a beautiful Siberian husky. This dog, like the horse Gnedoy, became for him a friend and assistant in the difficult business of taiga crafts for many years.
The protagonist of this hunting story that year, when his younger friend, the author of the work, was with him in the winter, successfully completed his hunting period, as expected, in December. By tradition, he celebrated the New Year with close people for whom he prepared traditional gifts - pieces of bear meat. The hunter devoted early spring to another occupation. He made snow shovels. With the onset of the first warm days, he began to hunt black grouse. Kirilitch did this no longer with a gun, but with snares.
So called loops of thread intended for such a purpose. This game manages to catch not so much.
The author of the work finishes his narrative on a gloomy note. After some time, he arrived in his native village, but he was told that Mikhail Kirillovich now lives in the city. He went to see him, and this meeting was the last. Soon, the hunter died of a broken heart.
This was the last person in these parts who was professionally engaged in this fishery.
Subtle psychologist
Terrible stories about the taiga are also very common in domestic literature, since hunting is inextricably linked to a risk to life, unexpected encounters with predators and getting into difficult conditions for survival. One of these works will be discussed later.
The taiga stories of Gennady Gusachenko are a phenomenon in literature, the distinguished writer Viktor Astafyev spoke about the originality and originality of this story. According to him, they continue the tradition of a colorful description of the nature of the Ussuri Territory, the founder of which was Viktor Arsenyev.
However, the author of the novel “Dersu Uzala” did not consider such problems as environmental pollution, poaching in his books. These disasters in his years did not exist. Gusachenko devoted several of his stories to them. In addition to addressing pressing issues, the works of this author, according to Astafiev, are valuable in that the inner world of his heroes is revealed as skillfully as in the stories of Vasily Makarovich Shukshin. In addition, the characters of Gusachenko strongly resemble Shukshin characters with character traits.
For example, the story “The Top” is devoted to the problem of human meanness and ingratitude.
A summary of this work will be presented below.
In the taiga
The narration is in the first person. The author tells how once his old acquaintance, who served as a huntsman, came to him. He saw duck hunting accessories in the house and resentfully said that he wanted to call his friend with him to the taiga. He needs help repairing the house he lives in when he hunts in the winter. The narrator replied that he would certainly go with his comrade. During a stop in one of the villages, they saw an old hungry dog without front teeth near the store. The huntsman recognized in her a dog that once belonged to his partner. He told the story of how the Top (that was the name of this animal) once saved the life of his master.
When they were going hunting with a partner, he acquired a like. And near the house, in a booth on a chain, he had a purebred dog, whom he poorly fed and sometimes even beat.
When the men went to the taiga, this dog broke loose and caught up with them. The narrator decided to take the dog for hunting.
As a result, the thoroughbred pet showed himself poorly: its owner shot only one squirrel. The mongrel turned out to be a great helper. Thanks to her, the author of the story produced several squirrels and ermine. During that trek into the forest, an unexpected, terrible incident happened. Therefore, this work can be attributed to the category of scary stories.
The storyteller’s friend was attacked by a bear, who was sitting in the hollow of a tree and came out of his shelter when the hunter hit the trunk.
The rescue
When a terrible beast crawled out of the hollow, he attacked the hunter. And again the thoroughbred dog failed. She cowardly fled, while the mutton Volchok bravely clung to the skin of the enemy, attacking his master. The bear, fleeing from the pain caused by the dog’s teeth, ran away. The owner was saved, but the dog got a lot from the severe predator. His front teeth were knocked out.
The huntsman, who found a familiar dog, decided that he was lost, and offered to take him home, especially since his partner kept an apiary and could treat them with fresh honey. When friends arrived at the owner of the dog, contrary to expectations, he was not happy that his pet and savior had been found. He treated them to honey only after the huntsman hinted to him that he was expecting such a gift. Saying goodbye, the man said that, so be it, would leave the dog at home.
This ungrateful man now, except for beekeeping, was engaged in the manufacture of shoes. The huntsman ordered his high boots. The master promised to make them for the next visit of a friend. So they parted. After going to the winter, returning, friends again visited the beekeeper. He did not invite them to the house this time, but brought a couple of new high boots to the street. The master said that the top of the shoe went and the skin of the Top. The huntsman rebuked him, saying that the dog faithfully served him. To this, the ungrateful hunter replied that now she will also serve well as shoes. The huntsman did not take his boots and, without saying goodbye, left. On such a sad note, this hunting story ends.
Connecting rod
Listing taiga stories about the forest, taiga, it is worth mentioning another author, many of whose works are devoted to this topic. This writer is Ivan Polkovnikov. One of his stories - “The Connecting Rod” - is also devoted to a meeting with the taiga brown bear.
The narrative here is conducted in the first person. The author talks about the invitation to the hunt, which he received from a local resident - a representative of one of the indigenous peoples of the Ussuri Territory. He gladly agreed to participate in a joint adventure, because he had heard about the hunting abilities of people of this nationality.
Instead of a hunter he knew, his wife came to meet the storyteller, who did not speak Russian at all. She motioned for him to sit in the sled. So they set off on the road to the hunting ground. During this trip, several stops were made, during which the woman treated the author with traditional food of the northern peoples. When they arrived at the winter house, contrary to expectations, their acquaintance was not there either. The woman showed the guest where the supplies necessary for life and hunting were located and left. The author spent several days in doubt: would someone come after him into the wilderness or not. But he did not spend this time in vain: he hunted a lot and successfully. Finally, the owner of the land appeared.
On the way back, the author of this story about taiga hunters was also accompanied only by a woman. Once, when she briefly moved away from the parking lot, a bear attacked her. The author arrived in time and shot a predator. So this taiga story of Ivan Polkovnikov ends.
Fake beast
But not only the stories about the exciting adventures of hunters are full of stories about hunting in the taiga. They have a lot of funny episodes that cause a smile, and sometimes the reader laughs. For example, in one of the taiga stories of the classic of the genre Victor Arsenyev, a case is described when the author took a fallen tree lying on a forest glade for a tiger. For a long time he was looking for a meeting with the taiga striped predator he had heard about. And one fine day I wishful thinking. At the time of the meeting with the "beast," the narrator did not have a weapon with him. Therefore, he had to sit in the bushes for a long time, hiding from an imaginary tiger. In the end, the man saw a hunter who, passing through the clearing, easily stepped over the "predator".
In addition to the stories presented in this article, there are other noteworthy works about adventures in the taiga.