Czech Hunters' Union founded eighty years ago
No matter how many centuries we have been living in a civilised society, psychologists say that deep inside we are still hunters and gatherers. And some remain that in the literal sense. In fact, the Czech Republic has a whole army of hunters - around 140,000 and almost one hundred thousand of them are registered with the Czech Hunters' Union - an organisation which celebrates its 80th birthday this week.
Usually middle-aged men in green uniforms, rifles slung over their shoulders, a feather pinned to their hats, they roam the ploughed fields with their hounds. That is a typical picture of the Czech autumn countryside. Hunting has a long tradition in this country and it is certainly not a pastime reserved exclusively for the privileged. For eighty years the Czech Hunters' Union has united falconers, hound hunters, rifle hunters and game breeders from across the country, inviting members from all walks of life. Chairman Josef Hromas says that membership in the union does not mean just shooting and feasting.
"The Czech word "myslivost" covers both hunting and forest management - something which does not exist in most other languages where they distinguish between the two. The term "myslivost" for us primarily means breeding of animals and the hunting itself is just the icing on the cake of the hard work all year round."
One of the activities of the hunters' union is education of its members. To become a member one has to go through 60 hours of theory, one year of experience and then pass different levels of exams, which on average have a 30-percent failure rate. On top of that the union has a very strict code of ethics. Despite that accidents - including fatalities - have become more common in recent years and hunters are known to break the rules such as when they shoot outside the season. The vice chairman of the Czech Hunters' Union Stepan Muller says that a) it is difficult to watch over as many as 100,000 people, and b) as membership in hunting organisations ceased to be compulsory in 1992, the offenders are sometimes not registered hunters. But Mr Muller says most hunters are proud of their history in the Czech Republic.
"This country has very old and rich hunting customs and traditions which have to be regarded as important cultural heritage and observed accordingly. We encourage the hunters to use the historical hunting terminology and to honour the killed game in a proper way. We also encourage them to observe the dress code and show good manners."