Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (HUNTING): Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
Whilst herding satisfied most of the needs of a nomad, hunting in the past served as a source of additional material wealth (furs) and food (meat). It was also entertainment, especially for the rich who retained special personnel including bird attendants (shovuch) and hunting-dog attendants (nokhach). Besides that, hunting was a school of military training through which horsemen honed their skills. Some Kalmyk tribes used wolf hunting as an initiation rite. Hunting with falcons and hawks was especially popular among the nobility. Other methods involved traps, nets, forks, bows and arrows, and later rifles. Small game was usually hunted by individuals in the vicinity of their nomadic camps, whereas larger animals such as saigak antelopes, wolves, wild horses, and boars required groups of hunters who travelled long distances accompanied by their dogs.
Ivan talks about wild boars and wolves. Wild boars can be found around Lake Chograi near the Caspian Sea as well as in the forests in Gorodovikovskiy rayon. People hunt wild boars with dogs. Wolves are very smart predators and only experienced hunters can hunt them down. Tracking fresh footprints in the snow or circling them are two tested methods of hunting wolves.
Sanal says that Kalmyks always treated dogs well. People do not beat dogs and keep stray ones that came to them by themselves. It is strictly forbidden to kick a pregnant dog or chase it away. If a cow had twins, one calf was donated to the temple.
Olga relays a legend. When god was dividing bread, humans got nothing. The dog howled, complaining that it did not get bread either. After getting a piece, the dog gave it to humans. Hence, monks teach people to be generous to dogs. Cats are regarded by the Kalmyks as ‘Buddha’s dogs’ i.e. sacred animals.
Dordzhi is a hunter. He, however, does not hunt close to his house. He goes far away with his dogs for the whole day. He usually kills only one animal. Dordzhi says that all animals have their own tricks and ways to hide from hunters.
In the past, the Kalmyks hunted wolves with whips and on horseback. People did not use rifles and cars, as they do today. Sanal says that he has a friend called Korta who lives in the village of Yusta and who has an interesting story about how he killed a wolf. When Korta was young, a wolf that had been hiding in his barn, attacked him. Korta grabbed the wolf by its neck and slowly strangled it. When young, Sanal hunted saiga antelopes, foxes and hares with a small rifle. Once he even hunted a boar. That is how it happened. One day Sanal was sleeping out in the field. At about 5 a.m. he was woken up by his mother-in-law who said that a black pig was strolling near their barn. Sanal quickly grabbed his rifle and cycled back to the barn where he saw a big boar. He started shooting, but in vain, for the bullets in his rifle were too small to kill the boar. Sanal with others chased the boar on bicycles and cars and shot it down in the field. The meat was divided among the neighbors. Sanal says that he also used traps to catch foxes, corsacs, ferrets and hares. Among these species, the most cunning is the fox. Wolves do not attack cattle sheds where they live. They go hunting far from their lairs.
One morning Roman and his brother Alexei went fox hunting. As soon as they left their village they saw wolf trails. It turned out that it belonged to two wolves, a male and a female, that were on their way home from a night hunting. When the brothers spotted the wolves, the male sensed danger, stopped frequently and looked around. Gradually the wolves disappeared from sight. Roman and his brother decided to follow the wolves. At noon the two brothers finally found the wolves resting in the field. In order not to give themselves away, the brothers decided to crawl towards their game which took 3 hours. It was already 4 pm. The brothers were already tired, freezing and their clothes were wet. The wolves were still lying stretched on the ground occasionally looking in different directions. Each 10 to 15 minutes the wolves stood up in turn to look around more carefully. The brothers approached their game within shooting range. As soon as the wolves calmed down, Roman decided to shoot. When Roman was fixing his rifle on a tripod, the male wolf heard a noise and stood up. Without missing the momentum, Roman’s brother shot twice. Roman also shot at the female. The wolves began to run away. After 50 meters the brothers found the dead female. The male had managed to escape. When wolves run away they jump up like horses and look back while running. The brothers brought the wolf’s corpse home and boiled it. The wolf smelled of sheep. Roman came to the conclusion that the wolf must have eaten a sheep recently. Roman says that wolves have a good sense of smell, hearing and eye sight. They usually go against the wind or across it. In order to hunt a wolf, one has to think like one.
A rabbit’s trail is called malik. Rabbits try to mix their trails up in order to confuse and keep predators away from their burrows. Rabbits are nocturnal animals. It is easy to detect a rabbit with binoculars even if it is as far away as 300 meters. Rabbits have light grey or brown skin which stand out in the snow. Therefore, it is relative easy to hunt them. Foxes are predators that hunt rabbits. Usually they go for young ones. In contrast with rabbits, foxes are more difficult to hunt. Fox hunting is also more interesting. Even when wounded, foxes try to get to their burrows in order to hide. It is best to go fox and rabbit hunting when it is snowing and the temperature is – 10C. If a fox or a rabbit crosses your road, it is a sign that one’s hunting is going to be successful.
Roman explains how to skin a fox. First, one needs to prepare the ground by trampling it. Skinning should be done with a small sharp knife. A freshly killed fox skins easily. Then one needs to treat the skin with an anti-flea spray. At home the skin should be stretched on a triangular wooden panel called in Russian pravilka and left in a dry room for up to five days. People usually go hunting when foxes are on heat and are busy fighting with each other for females. When the wind is strong, foxes could not hear well. It is the best weather to go fox hunting. The quickest way to kill a fox is to shoot it in the right shoulder, for it is where the heart and lungs are. There is a belief in Kalmykia that fox’s meat has medicinal properties. Roman, however, does not believe that fox’s meat could be good for health, for foxes are dirty, flea infested and smelly animals. Roman also says that he heard from his father that it is forbidden for the Kalmyks to wear cloth made of red fox skin. There could be two possible explanations in Roman’s view: (1) Foxes are totemic animals or (2) the yellowish-reddish color resembles the color of the robes of Buddhist monks.
Roman says that when wolves arrive the number of foxes and rabbits in that place goes down. Wolves are family oriented, territorial animals. Every family or pack is headed by an alpha male and an alpha female. Wolf cubs learn from their parents. Sometimes wolves hunt livestock, including cows and sheep, which is not good, because cubs also learn this too. It is also known that wolves attack bigger livestock. Once in Kalmykia a 6-month old foal was attacked by wolves. Wolves sleep during the day and start hunting in the evening. Roman relays two story that happened to him and his brother Alexandr. Story One. Once a wolf killed a sheep but did not have time to eat it, because it was chased away by a shepherd. Roman and his brother set off to hunt down that wolf, which turned out to be a female. They managed to kill the wolf when it came back to the sheep’s corpse after sunset. Alexandr correctly predicted where the wolf would come from. This enabled the hunters to shoot the wolf from a close position. Story Two. One day in the winter Alexandr went on a hunting trip accompanied by his three dogs. After some time in the field he saw two of his dogs run towards him, being chased by about seven wolves. When the wolves approached, he shot a female one twice that was as close to him as 10 meters. The other wolves retreated. With a third bullet Alexandr wounded a male wolf. The wolves retreated still further and ran away. Roman explains that at that time the wolves were on heat and very dangerous. Alexandr dragged the dead wolf for three hours until he reached his house.
Roman has been hunting for about 17 years. He shows and explains three of his rifles. The first one is a sport rifle, with a 50-meters range, comfortable to hold, has options to change the speed of shots. He usually uses this rifle when hunting foxes. In the winter it is good to hunt when it is snowing. First, a hunter needs to find a fox trail. Roman himself prefers hunting on foot, for it is more physically challenging and interesting. Sometimes he has to crawl hundreds of meters to approach the game unnoticed. His second rifle has a range of 150 meters. It is a SKS Simonova model produced in 1954. It is the most popular rifle in Russia. The third one is a modern rifle. It is non-automatic and suitable for hunting boars and wolves.
Roman demonstrates and explains some of his hunting knives, including: -A knife made of a soft metal, -a foldable knife made of a hard metal and with a wooden handle, -a small foldable knife used for skinning animals, -a Swiss-style knife with a screwdriver, etc. He also shows diamond knife sharpeners and lanyards which are useful during hunting to dry clothes or to set up a tent. Most of these items have been given to Roman by his friends and relatives as presents.
Oleg says that the Kalmyk breed of dogs disappeared following the deportation of the Kalmyk people in 1943. This breed was trained to protect people and livestock. It had very good hearing abilities and could understand the situation based on observation of what was or was not going on around it. For example, if cicadas stopped chirping in the evening, the dog would prick up its ears. It also could feel approaching horsemen by feeling seismic changes in the earth. Kalmyk dogs that had white spots on top of each eye were especially valued, for it was believed that such dogs could see even when they were asleep. Oleg himself did not see a Kalmyk dog, but read somewhere that in Mongolia they still have a variety of Kalmyk dogs. In order to revive the Kalmyk breed, dogs have been imported from Mongolia. Oleg also read a story that hell is guarded by two dogs. In this regard, he recalls a story he heard from his mother about how she saw an impersonation of death. One evening, his mother saw a black horseman galloping towards her with his face covered with a black hood. On each side of the horse the man carried a bag from where were coming horrible screams and whining. She thought that this sound could come either from people or dogs. The horseman galloped past her but she did not hear the sound of the hooves.
Gerel says that she witnessed how people killed a fox. The fox had a lot of fleas in its fur. In order not to damage the skin, one should know how to shoot a fox. Traditionally, Kalmyks do not wear fox skin. She heard from others that in Kalmykia there is a clan whose totemic animal is the fox. Similarly, in Kalmykia there is a clan called Chonos, which literally means ‘wolves’.
Gerel tried wolf’s meat before. She describes it as delicious and greasy. Since wolf’s meat has a high insulin content, it is not good to eat it too much. Gerel says that her brother was a shepherd and that he finds wolves smart and vengeful predators. Once her brother and his friends went for a walk in the steppe and found a wolf puppy. Not knowing that sometimes wolves kill their puppies if they are contaminated with human smell, the people patted the puppy and went home. Soon a wolf turned up at Gerel’s brothers place and began to kill sheep. Wolves could be very harmful for shepherds. According to Gerel’s brother, male wolves are loyal to their females. If a male wolf cheats on his partner, he avoids her for 40 days out of a fear that he may be bitten by the angry female. During this period, the male keeps providing the female with meat. Gerel also recalls than in her childhood she saw saiga antelopes. She even fed them with her friends. Gerel grew up in a village where many men were hunters. Her brother, for example, hunted rabbits. Gerel tried saiga’s meat once, but found it dry in terms of taste.
The Eurasian squirrel’s meat is used for making soup. These rodents have a thick fat layer. Their fat, however, is not used, although it is known that some Derbets used it in the past. Squirrel hunting is done as follows. Their burrows are filled with water in order to drive them out. When being killed they squeak.
Konstantin’s grandfather hunted wolves and foxes by using traps. Konstantin’s father, in contrast, hunted with a rifle. In his youth Konstantin went with his father on hunting trips. They hunted hares and steppe birds (seagulls, ducks), except for swans. Konstantin recalls that the seagull’s meat smelled of fish. Killed wolves were skinned in the same way as people skinned sheep. The Kalmyks did not use the fur of foxes or ferrets, because (ordinary) people were not supposed to use or wear what was yellow or yellowish in color.
Badma says that her father hunted foxes. He had two dogs, called Nast and Shityach. Badma’s uncle on her paternal side also hunted foxes. Her father and her uncle grazed their cattle on horses or camels and would take the two dogs with them into the pastureland. The dogs hunted foxes and hares on their own.
If a dog comes to your house, it is forbidden to chase it away or kill it. There is a belief that such dogs are the reincarnation of your ancestors. Such dogs should be fed and taken care of. The Kalmyks are superstitious about dogs.