Bányai József: A vadászat tárgyi eszközei - A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum tárgykatalógusai 2. (Budapest, 2010)
horn or metal, and were used to direct hunting dogs, particularly pointers, on the hunt. Hunter's stools, gun cases, flasks, hooks A hunters’s equipment during pack hunting also included stools. This could be either a shooting stick or a threelegged folding stool. The seat was made of wood, leather or bamboo. These stools had spread from the second half of the 19th century and are used to this day. Another important hunting accessory is the gun case, which protected firearms from injuries that could be caused by the weather or transportation. It was usually made of leather or strong water-resistant linen, padded inside and had attached carrier straps. It had three varieties: one in which guns could only be carried when fully assmbled, one in which guns could be placed only dismounted, and one in which two guns could be carried. Though not very widely used, mention should be made of various flasks and small bottles which were used for the storage of liquids. These were usually made of glass and were protected from breaking with leather or wickerwork. Game carriers were also used. A carrier was a string made of 6-12 leather or twine cords, with bone, copper or iron rings mounted on the end of the cords. Smaller birds (quail, partridge, pheasant, mallard) were hanged by their necks on these rings. These practical accessories made easier for the hunter to reload his gun while walking, his hands were freed from carrying shot game during the beat and the dead game did not impede shooting. Carriers were worn attached to a ring on the belt or the hunting satchel. Bullet moulds, handloading tools From the 17th century bullets for shotguns and pistols had been manufactured with pliers-shaped moulds. A bullet-shaped cavity was cut into the jaws of the pliers, so that both halves of the pliers contained room for one half-bullet. When the pliers were closed, the two half cavities made up a full bullet shape. There were moulds for several cavities, making it possible to manufacture more bullets in one cast. The collection includes a 19thcentury mould capable of casting 10 bullets. Cartridges were largely handloaded between the 1880s and the early 1970s. Later, as factory-made cartridges had become available at reasonable prices, it was no longer necessary to reload spent cartridge cases at home. Among such tools several types can be differentiated, such as presses, trimmers, powder scales, dies etc. Originally most of them were made of copper with high precision, sometimes with a hallmark, but after 1930 most of them were manufactured of iron or steel with wooden parts. Presses were made in single-hand or table varieties. Spent cartridge cases were loaded with smoke-black powder, since smokeless powder could easily make an older shotgun explode due to the higher pressure. Spent primer was squeezed out from the case with a priming tool, and reloaded with new primer. This was followed by carefully measuring the necessary gunpowder amount on a scale, and loading it into the case, then covering it with wad. A layer of shot followed, covered with pasteboard and crimped with the trimmer. Traps, telescopes, snowshoes, decoys Foothold traps and hooks had already been made of iron in the 14th century, but their use took centuries to become general. Until the late 18th century pests were mainly reduced with shotgun or poison. In the next few decades various trapping tools appeared, which were made in a large number of different forms. Manufacturers, craftsmen, traders and Gipsy smiths made traps industrially. The first iron snare was made in 1803 in Germany and was called Berlin snare or swan’s neck. The control of pests with traps was especially widespread in Germany and their experience resulted in the creation of special traps for almost every game species. Such trapping tools were made in Haynau (Silesia) on an industrial scale. By the late 19th century the traps made by the Weber and Pieper companies gained a Europe-wide fame.23 Gamekeepers, hunters and rangers used quite a number of different traps for the capture of pests: apart from iron snares and foothold traps, there were cage traps, pitfall traps, trapping pits, and various hooks. The latter were almost only used by poachers. Trapping in Hungary was never particularly widespread, gamekeepers preferred instead the much simpler method of poisoned baits (Strychnine). The handling of cage traps and foothold traps required a great deal of expertise, and especially the setting of foothold traps demanded great caution and skill. Foothold traps were usually set in the winter and cage traps from spring to autumn. Cage traps were used for the capture of foxes, cats, martens, ferrets, weasels and smaller dogs. By the early 20th century pitfall traps had become outdated, while snares were only used by poachers, who made them from copper wire or horse hair. The greatest danger to small game (pheasant, partridge and quail) is the harrier, against which hawk-baskets were used in shooting grounds, even as late as the 1940s and 50s. The basket was made of wire-mesh, with a wooden bottom. The foothold trap was placed on top of the basket, with a pigeon decoy. The whole contraption was mounted on a 3-4 m tall pole, and erected at crossroads or in larger clearings.24 Hungarian specialist periodicals already published articles in the 1930s by outstanding experts and hunters denouncing the use of various traps, and if not exactly due to these opinions, but within barely two decades such hunting tools had almost completely disappeared and shotguns and poisoned baits were popular again. Our collection keeps fourteen traps. When enumerating hunting equipment, mention should be made of scouting telescopes, which helped the better observation of distant landmarks and game. Galilei-type telescopes with high-power lenses had been used since the early 18th century. The first prism binoculars 23 Vadász-Lap,. 1889, p. 467. 24 Vadászat, 1925, p. 382. 17
