History

HISTORY OF SLOVAK HUNTING

Slovakia is a small country located in the heart of Europe and inside its small borders lie incredible abundance of nature, large green areas and an array of activities to relax and have fun with. Thanks to its rich fauna and accessible terrain it is a natural wonder of more than 4 million hectares. A real hunting paradise!

The hunting in Slovakia has a long tradition, until the year 1000 hunting was a major source of food and therefore hunting was something of a necessity. As time passed later Kings  established hunting reserves and it soon became a past time that could only be enjoyed by Kings and their companions.

In the 13th century a hunting road which ran though the central part of Slovakia was created. In 1729 the monarch at the time issued a hunting decree. The Slovak hunting rules once established came into force in 1883 and this began the formation of the first hunting associations, pheasantries and hunting grounds.

A long tradition boasts nearly 200 grounds dating back to 1400. Animals such as deer, wild boar, and mouflon sheep make up the larger species currently available. The largest hunting estate, encompassing an area of 10 450 hectares is situated near the town of Topoľčianky.

Some animal species had to be imported from other countries and the trophies at that stage were not of great quality. Thanks to special attention and feeding, however, the trophy quality has improved. In 1994 a mouflon with the trophy of 237 CIC points was harvested in the area of Teplý vrch in southern Slovakia.
The hunting associations have a long standing history in Slovakia. The National Association called Lovecký ochranný spolok, have been responsible for promoting forest maintenance and the prevention of illegal hunting (poaching) since 1920.

The idea of establishing Conseil International de la Chasse took place in 1928 and thanks to the passion of local people the CIC Museum was created in Palárikovo and still exists there today.
Game trophies harvested in Slovakia gain high recognition and have been awarded numerous  gold medals in hunting exhibitions since the 1930 s.

Due to the increased popularity of game hunting a magazine called Myslivost has been published since 1953 and another magazine called Poľovníctvo a rybárstvo since 1958.
The first contemporary hunting law was introduced in 1962 and as Slovakia became a popular destination for foreign hunters, hunting rules for foreign hunters came into force in 1974.

The popularity of game hunting can be seen in the increasing number of restaurants offering hunting specialities to foreign guests and the number of visitors that attend hunting exhibitions and other events in the country. Among the most popular are Saint Hubert Days in the village of Antol (Central Slovakia) and Levice Hunting Days.