Trotting for Hares: Tracking Rabbits Without Hounds

Tracking hare (known in Russian hunting as tropleniye) means following a fresh hare trail through fresh snow on foot until the resting animal is flushed within shooting range. It is one of the most rewarding ways to hunt hare in a small party, and it works especially well when only two or three hunters set out together. Collective hare hunting is genuinely engaging, but a group of two or three cannot mount a full drive, so tracking becomes the practical, and often superior, choice.

What tracking a hare actually is

Tracking a hare is the disciplined pursuit of a single fresh trail across snow, reading the animal's movements until you locate its lay and put it up for a shot. The fresh trail itself is called a malik in Russian hunting tradition. Unlike a drive, tracking does not depend on numbers; it depends on the hunter's ability to interpret prints, doubles, and side-jumps. Whether you hunt with hounds or from cover, the individual conduct of each hunter stays the same — the small group simply behaves as any larger group would, but leans on skill rather than manpower.

Collective hunting with a small group

A party of two or three can hunt hare together effectively, provided they organise around the trail rather than around a drive line. Neither hunting hare with hounds nor still-hunting from cover changes the fundamentals for a small group: each hunter carries the same responsibility, moves with the same caution, and shoots with the same discipline as a member of a larger team. The difference is only in tactics chosen to suit the numbers.

Why tracking beats hunting alone

Tracking gives a pair a clear advantage over a lone hunter because two sets of eyes cover the trail from both sides at once. A single hunter can walk straight past a hare that has doubled back and laid up near its own running line; the animal then springs up behind him and escapes without a shot. Two hunters working the malik will almost certainly put that same hare up and spot it in time to fire.

Tracking a hare in a pair along the malik

Two hunters can build a tracking pursuit very rationally, even when hunting hare without a dog. Having found a fresh trail — the malik — they walk it on the right and the left, roughly ten to fifteen paces apart. This spacing makes it far easier to notice both the hare's side-jump (the skidka) and the animal itself, which, after making doubles and loops, often lies up not far from its running line.

How to walk a hare trail correctly

Walking a hare trail correctly means keeping steady, quiet spacing and never crowding the prints, so that whichever hunter is closest to the resting animal can react first. The two move in parallel, each scanning his own side of the line, keeping the trail between them. Slow, deliberate progress matters more than speed: a hare pushed gently does not panic, whereas rushing the line loses prints in disturbed snow and blows the approach.

Reading a hare's doubles, loops, and side-jumps

Reading the trail is the core skill, because a hare deliberately confuses its track before lying down. The animal fleaving a slowly following human is in no hurry; it has all the time it needs for its tricks and uses that time to the full. The main signs to learn are:

• Doubles — the hare runs back along its own line, laying two trails almost on top of each other.
• Loops — wide circling passes that bring the animal back near ground it has already crossed.
• Side-jumps (skidki) — a sudden leap off to one side to break the trail, usually made just before the hare settles into its lay.

An inexperienced person quickly gets lost in all these loops and side-jumps, especially where the ground carries many hare trails at once. Both hunters must read sign well, or the pursuit collapses when one of them drifts onto a different animal's line.

The drive-back method for a pair

If the hare still slips away without a shot, or if the hunt takes place in woodland — where a pair can indeed work — the two hunters can still take the animal using the drive-back method (nagon). One hunter stays at the hare's lay and takes up what amounts to a shooting stand; the other sets off along the trail to move the animal.

How the shooting stand at the lay works

The shooting stand at the lay is a fixed, concealed position where the waiting hunter covers the ground the hare is expected to circle back to. A hare fleeing a slow pursuer behaves much as it does under hounds: it runs a circle or two and comes back toward its starting point, where it passes within range of the stationary gun. The waiting hunter must stay still, quiet, and ready, because the animal often reappears from an unexpected angle.

The role of the pursuing hunter

The pursuing hunter follows the trail and, calling out occasionally, signals to his partner where the hare has gone and in which direction it is heading. He does not race the animal; he keeps the pressure gentle so the hare loops rather than bolts straight. His voice serves two purposes: it steadies the pursuit and it keeps the hunter at the stand informed of the developing circle.

Hunting the brown hare

Hunting the brown hare (russak) this way is tiring, because the animal runs very wide circles and takes a long time to return to the place where it was first put up. The stand hunter may wait a long stretch, and the pursuer may cover a great deal of ground before the loop closes. Patience and stamina matter most with this species.

Hunting the mountain hare

With the mountain hare (belyak) the job is simpler. It ranges much more tightly, usually returns to the lay on its first circle, does not keep the stand hunter waiting nearly as long, and does not force the pursuer to walk as far as the brown hare does. The narrower circles make the drive-back method markedly more efficient on this quarry.

Taking turns at the lay

The two hunters can share the right to wait at the lay by turns, alternating who stands and who pursues. This keeps effort roughly even and lets each rest while the other walks. The only firm requirement is that both read the hare trail well enough to run either role competently.

The right weather for tracking

Successful tracking with the drive-back method needs suitable hunting weather — ideally fresh overnight snow (a porosha) and, best of all, a low overall hare population. Fresh snow records only the newest movements and wipes the ground clean of older, confusing trails.

Why fresh overnight snow matters

Fresh overnight snow, the porosha, matters because it leaves a single clean layer of prints, so the trail you follow is unmistakably today's trail. On old, trampled snow the malik disappears into a maze of stale tracks, and the pursuit becomes guesswork. A light, recent fall gives the sharpest, most readable line.

How hare numbers affect the result

A modest hare population improves results, because with many hares about it becomes very hard to hold the exact trail without straying onto the fresh line of another animal. Pursuing the wrong hare, of course, brings nothing to the hunter waiting at the stand, since that animal will never circle back to his position. Fewer trails on the ground means fewer chances to make that mistake.

Common mistakes when tracking hare

Most failed pursuits come down to a handful of avoidable errors rather than bad luck. Watching for them turns an inconsistent day into a productive one:

• Walking the malik too fast, disturbing prints and losing the line in the snow.
• Crowding the trail as a group instead of flanking it in a disciplined pair.
• Switching, without noticing, onto a fresh trail left by a different hare.
• Pushing the hare too hard so it bolts in a straight line instead of circling back to the stand.
• Leaving the shooting stand too early, before the loop has had time to close.
• Attempting the method on old, trampled snow rather than waiting for a porosha.

Equipment for tracking on foot

Tracking hare on foot rewards light, quiet, weatherproof kit that lets you cover ground and read snow all day. A practical setup includes:

• A light, reliable shotgun suited to short-range shots at flushed hare.
• Warm but breathable layers that stay quiet against brush and do not overheat during long walks.
• Waterproof, well-insulated boots for wet snow and long distances.
• Gaiters or snowshoes where the porosha lies deep.
• Muted, snow-appropriate camouflage or neutral tones so the waiting hunter stays unseen at the stand.
• A whistle or an agreed set of calls to coordinate the pursuer and the stand hunter.

Reading the trail: a beginner's guide

Beginners learn to read hare sign fastest by progressing in stages, much as a rider is refined from halt to walk before asking for more. Start on a day with a clean porosha and few animals, follow one trail slowly, and stop to interpret every double, loop, and side-jump before moving on. Naming each feature aloud fixes it in memory, and working in a pair lets a less experienced tracker confirm his reading against a partner's. As confidence grows, take on busier ground and the wider circles of the brown hare, where holding the correct line demands genuine skill. The single habit that shortens the learning curve most is refusing to hurry: a hare in no rush leaves a story in the snow, and only an unhurried tracker reads it whole.