The Life of Hunters in the Chita Region: Effect of Organizational and Technical Problems on Fur Trade (1930s – early 1990s)

Abstract

The research featured the effect of household problems of hunters in the Chita region on the fur trade in Soviet Russia. It focused on their everyday life during the hunting season: supply chain, hunting and taiga infrastructure, shared camp property, specialized equipment and food, etc. The study was based on archival sources, reports of hunting expeditions, and memories of hunters. The author defined two stages of organizational and technical arrangement of hunting life in the conditions of the mountain taiga. The first stage lasted from 1930s to early 1950s. The woodlands were socialized, and individual form of exploitation of fishing grounds replaced the group one, which inevitably complicated the organizational and technical issues. The supply system worked intermittently, and no one was in charge of the land development. As a result, the quantitative indicators were low. During the second stage (1950s – early 1990s), the local hunting management improved radically. The hunting areas were officially distributed among collective farms and hunting teams. The newly established chain “procurement – farm – hunter” improved both the living conditions of the hunting population and increased the amount of furs and skins.

Keywords

• hunting industry
• labor organization
• taiga infrastructure
• hunting grounds
• procurement
• hunting winter hut
• camp property