HUNTING
HUNTING
During the hunting season be very careful if you are out in the countryside on Sundays and Wednesdays, dawn till dusk.
Hunters are not permitted within 500 metres of the Village. If you see anyone exceeding the hunting limit or poaching outside the designated hunting areas or times you can call the Game Department Hotline, 1414.
To complain about illegal hunting activities, including shooting near a house, contact the Game Fund, see above. Our local Limassol officer is Nikos Kassinis 99628338. He speaks excellent English and is always helpful. The problem is that there are not enough officers for the areas that need to be covered. Equally, while the Police are willing to help, there is usually only one officer on duty on a Sunday.
HUNTING - GENERAL
Hunting is a national male passion. Most hunters are country-minded and conservation-conscious. There are exceptions, unfortunately a lot of them around Pissouri. There are rules, but they are frequently broken.
The hunting season opens around the middle of August - there will be 3 or 4 days on which they can shoot - quarry species are Woodpigeon and Turtle Dove only, and not near towns and villages.
The main Hunting Season starts on either the last Sunday of October or the first Sunday of November. The first phase runs until the beginning of January.
Hunting is allowed only on Sundays and Wednesdays during the hours of daylight. During this period the hunters must wear their orange hat and jacket, but thanks to the powerful hunters’ lobby they no longer have to wear their ID number, though they are required to carry their licence. This is an open hunting season and they are allowed to hunt all legal game.
The second phase runs from early January until the end of February, and the main target is thrushes, pigeons woodcock, ducks and geese. There may be extra hunting days in this period. From mid-February until the end of February, the end of the season, hunting is permitted every day.
Hunting is not permitted within 300 m of a house or within 500 m of the village, or 300 m from a military establishment.
If you see hunters breaching any of the above rules you can telephone their central patrol number: 99 44 57 28. If you feel you must take a complaint further, you can write to the Game Department at the District Office, copying your letter to the Mukhtar. We have had problems for years, and the more the Mukhtar is made aware of them the greater the likelihood that the law will be enforced.
If you see lampers, who are as unpopular with legitimate hunters as they unsporting, telephone the Police.
The local Police have always been helpful and sympathetic, but catching a rapidly disappearing illegal hunter is not easy. Equally, when the Station is under-manned on Sundays and Wednesdays, given the scale of the problem, it is hard for them to cope. Do contact them if you need help.
Be careful. Avoid taking your dog for a walk in the countryside on Sundays and Wednesdays during the hunting season.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
November-December (Wednesdays and Sundays only, 16-18 hunting days).
Hare, chukar partridge, black francolin, thrushes, woodpigeon, woodcock.
January-February (Wednesdays and Sundays only).
Thrushes, woodpigeon, woodcock, ducks and geese.
End of August (3-4 hunting days) only in the inland of the island.
Woodpigeon, turtle dove.
September (very limited areas in the coastal regions not exceeding 40 km2, daily, 10-12 hunting days).
Woodpigeon, turtle dove, quail.
Quotas: November-December season.
2 hares, 5 partridges per hunter per hunting day or 2 hares, 4 partridges and one francolin per hunter per hunting day.