Our Foundation has launched a call for applications for the summer internship or voluntary internship for the academic year 2021/2022 for any student of higher education in wildlife management, regardless of the field of study. Five students from the University of Sopron applied for the three-week summer internship from 4 to 24 July 2022, which took place on a hunting area of more than 10,000 hectares in Transylvania, which is a hunting concession.

During these three weeks, the students had many opportunities to develop their professional skills, and the trainees gained a lot of experiences.

Our first week experiences

The students arrived in Kommando late on Monday evening, where they

"with a delicious dinner and lots of love" (Récsei Kata)

they were welcomed by the locals. After a short introduction and briefing, they were ready to start the next day, as there was a lot to do on Tuesday.

"After a hearty breakfast, we headed out to the field to feed, clean the stalking path and paint one of the lest with tired oil, as it will be able to withstand the weather much longer." (György Daniel Pálfy)

"In the afternoon, we helped to place and unload the planks for the construction of the les in the yard of the hunting lodge, and the bags of salt were loaded into the garage." (Anna Illés)

Of course, the students were not left without a task on Wednesday...

"On Wednesday morning, we loaded the wood for the ambush onto the wagons and then visited the Fireworks again to buy nails and other parts. Then we went to a difficult part of the forest, where we managed to reach with some difficulty and a lot of lugging. Once we had successfully unloaded all the parts needed to build the les, the team split into two again. We stayed at the starting point and first built a wooden bridge across a swampier, wetter area, making it easier to pack up later. Once the bridge was completed, we moved the timber to the specific spot where we built the les, and then carried cleaned pine logs to form the base of the les. We also helped to assemble the base and nail the side rails. After that we painted the sides of the stake with wood oil. By the end of the day, all that was missing was the ladder of the lodge, a few unpainted parts and tarring the roof." (Anna Illés)

Thursday also brought some excitement for students.

"On Thursday, we continued the construction of the hut, completed the ladder for the high jump, painted what was left from the day before and tarred the roof. We then visited a nearby spreader and filled it with corn. In the evening, we went to Medveles with Botond Demes, where we were lucky enough to see two small rabbits on the spreader." (Sára Vágó)

In Pétek, students were already preparing for the weekend hunting camp.

"Attila asked us all to put together a presentation for the children. Jani came up with hunting terms, Anna chose edible and poisonous plants, Sári chose deer age estimation. Dani and I stuck to playful plant identification, because they loved it last year and we were curious to see how much they could remember." (Récsei Kata)

On Saturday the camp started, where the participants could expand their knowledge about solitary hunting, taxidermy and also participate in a hunting horn demonstration.  

"On Saturday morning I presented to the children what I had prepared; my topic was the age estimation of the red deer before and after the kill. There was also a short quiz in between, which the children answered with great skill and enthusiasm. Attila also brought me a trophy, which they could feel with their own hands, looking at the signs of the animal's age." (Sára Vágó)

"It was my turn in the afternoon to give a presentation to the children about edible, poisonous and medicinal plants. I structured the lecture so that after the general concepts, there were species, for which I gave a short description and the children guessed which one was next. They were very clever, enthusiastic and knew a lot about the topic. I tried to involve them as much as possible to make it as interesting as possible for them." (Anna Illés)

Sunday was another exciting day for the participants.

"We woke up a little late, but as soon as our eyes opened we were very excited because today was our performance. First they were asked which plants they recognised, then Dani and I told each of them the stamps that would allow them to recognise the plant anywhere. We then prepared a plant knowledge quiz for them, which they had to do in teams. They were very clever. This was followed by a little free activity. The final event of the day was a presentation by Jani, accompanied by delicious and cold melons, and the children did a great job there too." (Récsei Kata)

And what was the most interesting part of the week:

"For me, it was building the les, because I've never been involved in something like that before. It was interesting to see the workflow and to experience how much time and effort it takes to build a les like this." (Anna Illés)

"Overall, we had a very good first week here in Kommando, we can't complain about the accommodation and our hosts were very kind and attentive to us." (Sára Vágó)

Cover photo by Kata Récsei