For 37 years he was a member of the hunting family from Sevnica, for 22
years a member of its administrative board and for 12 years the president
of this board and of the rifle commission. In this period he killed a great
deal of animals, but four years ago he decided to quit hunting for good.
Rudi Ameršek from Sevnica today says that he is a converted murderer –
his opinion is that killing animals is a crime. Not spending so much time
aiming his barrel at game, he has more time left for his hobby and his
family. In Slovenia he is known for unique hand-made vine sculptures.

What memories do you have of your first years as a member of a
hunting family?

To become a hunter I had to fulfill some conditions. The president at that
time said to me: If you want to become a hunter, you must have a hunting
dog! He than sold me a young of his hunting dog and I had to kill my
mongrel with poisonous gas. We used poisonous gas in ampoules in many
cases. We usually threw such an ampoule in front of the earth and when a
fox ate or bit through it, it soon died. Fox fur was very valuable at that time
and sometimes I waited in the woods for my prey the whole night. Today I
am ashamed for killing animals in the past.

What happened that made you quit murdering animals?

My children from the second marriage and my present wife Slavka kept
telling me for years that killing animals isn’t ethical. At last they even
forebode me to bring shot animals home. That was a shock for me. Every
enthusiastic hunter is proud of his prey and wants to show it. I used to do
that too. As I couldn’t bring killed animals home, my passion for hunting
slowly ceased. In time I began to understand that hunting is merely
passion for killing animals. Women in my family opened my heart to
animals and today I can call myself a converted murderer.

Many hunters claim that they are friends of the animals.

Hunters and love for animals? That is ridiculous! Hunters only love animals
when they are eating them. Hunters that go to the woods to feed the
animals without their guns are very rare. A hunters’ saying makes
everything clear: A hunter without his gun is like a man without his penis
on his wedding day!

Hunters claim that they kill animals to prevent their increase in
number.

Nature doesn’t need hunters. It is scientifically proven that there are
certain mechanisms that maintain balance in nature, therefore human
interference with nature isn’t needed. If there are to many animals at a
certain area, the number of births reduces or an illness takes care of the
least resistant members of a species. Another thing has to be stressed
concerning the number of animals: hunting families often report a greater
number of animals at their hunting ground than the actual truth, so that the
Slovenian Hunting Association can authorize a greater number of animals
to be killed. I can confirm this is happening.

What is the primary hunter’s motive?

Only passion for killing and selfishness. Do you know what hunters are
talking about most of the time? How they shot an animal, what kind of
trophies they have, which one is better, they compare each other, which
hunter has a better gun, which gun does more damage to the animal, has
better breakthrough… Some hunters throb with excitement and passion
when they see an animal or when something moves in the bushes. This
excitement can also cause accidents. Last year two accidents happened at
boar hunt, when a hunter shot another hunter. I know hunters who
neglected their families and farms because they preferred hunting and
going to a pub after. Sometimes hunters even started a fight in a pub
because someone was jealous of another one, who had shot a better
animal. Even the police had to interfere. Let me tell you a story which well
presents, how many hunters are addicted to killing. Years ago a member
of our hunting family fell ill. I suggested to visit him on Sunday instead of
going hunting. Most of the members chose hunting. Only three of us went
to visit our friend. They even resented me for wanting to deprive them of
their hunting pleasure (killing animals).

What about the trophies?

It is all about the most beautiful trophy. Just like other men love beautiful
cars and girls. Many hunters decide to kill the most beautiful deer species,
in spite of the fact that it is sometimes forbidden. They think it is worth to
kill a deer that will make such a beautiful and enviable trophy, even though
their hunting license might be revoked for two years.

I heard that some of the hunters visit schools and lecture to pupils.
What do they talk about?

Yes, that’s true. School administration invites hunters to do that. A few
years ago a hunter even visited a kindergarten in Sevnica and he clearly
didn’t tell them that hunting is passion for killing animals. He was telling
children fairytales about hunters being friends of the animals, he was
convincing them, how good they are to animals, how they take care of
them and how the animals need them.

Some farmers complain about wild animals eating their crops.

We didn’t get a lot of such complaints. People complained more about
hunters shooting their cats or loose dogs. They even shot ducks that some
farmers had in creeks. Domestic animals become victims when hunters
don’t shoot anything in the woods.

What is your advice to hunters?

I advise them to take up a more ethical hobby or sport. They should sell
their gun and buy a bike instead. Gun means killing and killing is a crime.
Fishing is a crime too. At hunting an animal usually dies right away, but at
fishing it is dying in terrible suffering for couple of minutes. The animals
want to live together with humans and nature in harmony. In my opinion
another problem is that humans interfere with nature more than they
should and they are increasingly contracting living space of the animals.

What memories does his wife Slavka has of the bitter period, when
Rudi was still a hunter?

Sometimes Rudi used to be away from home for the whole weekend,
hunting. The hunt finished at 2 p.m., but often he afterwards went with
other hunters to a pub, where they stayed till late hours. Sometimes I
would come home at 10 p.m. and he would still be out. I didn’t like him
coming home drunk. Hunters have a saying: A real hunter comes home on
Monday, if the hunt is on Sunday. In some cases alcohol led to violence at
home. 15 years ago Rudi gave me fox fur that he himself tanned and he
also killed the fox. My daughter told me that if I ever wore it and came to
school, she would pretend not to know me. I’m against wearing animal fur
too, so Rudi had to sell it. I disapprove of fishing just as much because fish
suffer even more. I don’t understand sport fishing, where fisherman
catches a fish and then throws it back. I’m sure a fish doesn’t enjoy to
have a sharp hook through its mouth. I remember a teenager in botanical
garden Mozirski gaj who fainted when she saw a severely damaged fish
that a fisherman pulled out of the pond.