RIGA - It was drizzling rain, promising snow, the morning that I walked into the Grand Palace Hotel to meet with general manager Bernhard Loew, who also happens to be an avid hunter. It was earlier than I liked to be out of bed, but he'd set the time and hunters wake up early. I sat in the bar and awaited his arrival, swallowing hard to squelch my judgments, as I formulated my questions...
Mr. Loew, an Austrian who's made a new home with his family in Latvia, made his entrance. He was obviously more prepared for the day than I was.
After formally introducing myself, I decided to dive right into the interview: "What makes Latvia special as a hunting ground?" I ask. "How do you attract foreigners to Latvia?"
Loew's reply comes in two parts. First he explains that there's a significant interest in the Baltics because many people have never been before. Then he explains how there's game in Latvia that simply doesn't exist in Western Europe, such as moose, wolves, lynx and beaver. If they do exist, they are under protection, the Austrian adds.
"Wait a minute," I interrupt. "So species are under protection in other countries, yet you hunt them here?"
By this point in our conversation, I've been gulping back my emotions way too frequently. I should probably mention at this point that I'm vegetarian.
With calm patience, Loew explains himself: "The animals have been over-hunted in Europe but present a huge problem in Latvia," he says. "The beaver population is over 50,000 in Latvia. They flood fields and forest and cause immeasurable damage."
Even I have to admit this is a valid point.
We then discuss the final reasons that hunters are attracted to Latvia; the biological topography (or "bio-top" as Loew puts it) of the land.
"One side of [a typical country road] is pine forest, on the other side is a combination of pine and leaf trees; a little further along is a bog." he explains with a soft Austrian accent. "This diverse nature'sin such concentration'sdoesn't exist in Western Europe. These three things combined with [Latvia's] relatively low cost are great motivation for hunters to make the trip to this region."
Although it had been a somewhat interesting interview so far, most of the information Loew gave me could have been found on the Internet with a bit of searching. But I was ready to leave, with perhaps a small chink in my judgments and a bit more knowledge than I'd arrived with.
Yet as I prepared to go, I realized that something was holding me back.
"But you!" I suddenly blurt out. "What about you? How do you feel about hunting… this sport?" I cringe at the word "sport."
"I don't like to use the word 'sport,'" Loew says. I wake up.
"I don't either," I reply.
He pauses for a moment. "Hunting is an experience, a tradition… It's being in nature and hearing the silence. If I get an animal it's good. If not, it's also good. When I take men into the forest, it's just us. How much money you make or what you do outside of this time is of no interest or importance. There is only nature and us."
I settle back into my seat. I hadn't known precisely what I came to this interview for, but now it's clear. I wanted to talk to the hunter. I wanted him to make me see through his eyes, without my personal judgments.
"There is business and there is my own experience," Loew says. "My experience is my personal time in the forest. I much prefer taking an animal down alone, just me. This way I can silently honor the animal… privately."
This completely contradicts my pre-conception of hunters raucously declaring their success to anyone within earshot while an animal gasps its last breaths of life. I lean forward, eager to catch every word in my notes.
"We have a ritual in Austria and Germany," he continues quietly. "We call it 'the last bite.' After I shoot the animal, I go to the body and break off a small branch of pine tree and place it in the animal's mouth, going left to right. This is paying my last respect to the animal. Then a second branch is laid on the wound and becomes bloody. I remove my hat, place it on the ground and the bloody branch is placed on the hat."
Moved by these words, I imagine the sound of gunshot echoing through a silent forest. I see a hunter bent down performing this ritual over the lifeless body of his kill; elation and sadness inexorably woven together flooding this moment of respect and celebration.
I rise from my chair and thank Loew for his time. For a moment I am the hunter; alive with emotion; the scent of wet pine needles and dirt in my nose and gunshot ringing in my ears. But as I walk toward my tram, I come back to myself and am momentarily overjoyed that only a polyester or two sacrificed their lives for my coat.
Hunting seasons in LatviaRed DeerStags:Sept. 1 's Jan. 31
Hinds and calves:Aug. 15 's Dec. 31
Moose Sept. 1 's Dec. 15
Roe Deer Bucks:June 1 's Nov. 30 Does:Aug. 15 's Nov. 30
Wild Bear May 1 's Jan. 31
Beaver Aug. 1 's March 31
Capercaillie April 10 's May 10
Black GrouseSept. 1 - Oct. 31
Wolf July 15 's March 31
Lynx Dec.1 's March 31* for more information: www.latma.lv
