An ancient practice, it has adapted well to changes in society and is still one of the most loved and practiced disciplines not only in Italy but throughout the world. The reasons are cultural, social and economic.
An ancient passion that man has never shaken off, that of hunting has experienced different stimuli over the centuries, which have evolved hand in hand with the societal, cultural and economic advancement. The fact that even today hunting is not only loved by an ever increasing number of sportsmen, but above all practiced with surprising constancy, suggests that the link between man, hunting and territory is deep and atavistic.
What is surprising above all is the fact that today not only the inhabitants of the countryside or mountains, but especially those who breathe the city every day, with its chaos and frenzy, are involved in hunting. The weekend escape is liberating, relaxing, satisfying, to put it in a word, it allows you to turn off the plug!
However, what seems unclear is why, despite the heavy changes that society has been subjected to over the centuries, hunting is still so popular.
The reasons are many and of different nature, in principle it is possible to affirm that hunting is a cultural phenomenon, which creates not only belonging to the group and to the territory, but above all an association between lovers of the same discipline. Hunting is, after all, tradition, legends, folklore, respect for nature and animals and ceremonious rituals that still live on today in the actions and stories of hunters. Think of the wild boar hunt, an ancient hunt, made up of precise timing, organization, order and respect for the most loved and feared animal of the woods, the wild boar. The ancient peoples represented him in marvelous rock frescoes, in yesterday's Rome he was challenged with swords and spears, and today he is still hunted with the same passion. An ancient world also revolves around the practice of hunting, a lifestyle that anyone who practices it esteems and does not intend to forget: the philosophy of fatigue, of healthy living, of sacrifice, of respect, the taste of life in the open air, the constant challenge against oneself and the comforts of modernity.
If cultural motivation is one of the strongest, even the environmental one is capable of making its voice heard. Those who practice this ancient discipline have as their main desire, often unconscious, to return to live in full contact with nature, to rediscover it and get to know it if possible. Hunting is still today one of the most popular ways to rediscover nature, an excellent opportunity for physical exercise and healthy use of free time.
Understood and experienced in this sense, hunting is an activity capable of stimulating to a certain extent a renewed environmental culture and in the case of hunters that respect the rules, hunting will become an ecologically sustainable practice if not indispensable for that natural balance that it is good to be respected. Safeguarding biodiversity is one of the hunter's objectives, DOC of course, and that hunting is the oldest and most efficient way to keep the human-animal numerical ratio in perfect balance.
An important moment of socialization, it is impossible to forget that even today the hunting activity is capable of giving a positive boost to local and regional economies. The induced activity that gravitates around hunting today more than yesterday is truly remarkable: just think of the particular hunter's clothing, the necessary accessories, hunting dogs and their nutrition, hunting tourism etc.
Even today the worker, the professor, the salesman, the journalist, when they can abandon their daily activity and using their free time with hunting, they abandon the stress of everyday life, tensions, and enter a day in contact with nature, harmonious, fragrant and forgotten in perfect contact with the land that hosts us.