In hunting, beaters are assistants helpers who drive game from hiding into the open or towards the shooters by making noise and other disturbance: shouting, beating the trees and bushes with sticks, using rattles/ratchtets/clappers, shooting in the air, etc. In various countries hunting with beaters may be of special types and have special names: driven hunt/driven hunting[1] =no:Drivjakt =es:batida = battue = de:Drückjagd, de:Streifjagd ("strip hunting"), de:Kesseltreiben ("kettle driving")[2] de:Lappjagd sv:Klappjakt (""clap hunting"), pl:Naganka etc.
Beaters usually are unarmed, but may be accompanied with dogs. In Germany, high-visibility clothing is compulsory for beaters, for safety reasons.
Traditions
In Holy Roman Empire there was a beater duty during lordly hunts, and there was a special tax for the Jews, called de:Federlappengeld, paid to exempt them from the duty.[3]
The expression "wikt:beat about the bush" or "beat around the bush" comes from the method of fowling when beaters beat about the bush where the flock is roosting.[4]
Beaters can wave flags on the ends of the drive line, to make the fowl stay within the shooting range.[5]
References
- ^ Red deer responses to drive hunts are related to habitat and landscape characteristics April 9, 2024, doi:10.1002/jwmg.22583
- ^ Kesseltreiben
- ^ Israel Hildesheimer, David Hoffmann, Jubelschrift zum siebzigsten Geburtstag, 1890, p. 79
- ^ Funk, Charles Earle (1993). 2107 curious word origins, sayings and expressions from white elephants to a song and dance. p. 76. ISBN 0-88365-845-3.
- ^ The beaters' line preparing to advance, geograph.org.uk
External links
- What is a Driven Hunt?
- Wenn Durchgehschützen aktiv jagen… - discusses, among other things, the intricacies of the German hunting laws on whether and how a driver can carry a gun and shoot without hunting license
- Beating Guide – How to become a Beater
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