TAX ON HUNTERS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 52, 24 November 1937, Page 7

TAX ON HUNTERS

Our Own Correspondent,)

Latvia Has Noyei Means of Obtaining Revenue ^ FROM lOd TO £20

(From

RIGA, Oct. 26. The Government of Latvia, which has thought out more ways to impoSe taxes than any other country in northern Europe, has deeided to tax hunters. A eomplicated system of taxation has been devised. It ranges frpm lOd a day for the privilege of shooting woodcocks to £20 for kiljing an-elk.- Only the crow is tax-exempt and a bohtts oi a penny is paid for eaeh pair of crow's claws turned into the Government. Hunters who shoot for meat rather •than for horns as trophies are favoured by the new decree. This is regarded as discriminrtion in favour of the.- Latvian f armers who like to hunt, but have no interest in trophies. 1 .■ . , For a red deer with a damaged set of antlers the hunter must pay only £2. Those naving six points cost £4; eight points £6; ten points, £10; and 12 points £14. Antlers with 14 and 16 points eost from £14 to £16 in taxes, according to their weight. An elk with a damaged set of antlers costs £6 in taxes, while an elk with a full set of hofns costs £20. Latvia uses hunting, to attract tourists ahd foreign hunters enjoy a large discouht for the game they shoot. An elk hunt in Latvia can hardly be called sport. The hunter visits a Latvian forester's home where he mounts a buckboard and is carried to within a few hundred yards of where the forester has spotted an elk. From this point the hunter is guided to within short range of his qUarryj GeneralIy he kills the animal. Then he sits down to rest while the forester clOans the trophy and prepares it for transport to the hunter 's home. Following the example of their German colleagues, the Latvians have adopted fancy green hunting costumes.