Philosophy & Valuation

DEFINITION:

Venatory activity carried out in a biotope defined as mountainous by the physical geography, practiced with traditional ethical parameters on free, autochthonous and wild game species.

GRADES:

The CM degrees determine the hunting value that our fellows- hip gives to mountain hunting, according to 6 variables: Altitude (chemical), Level (physical), Difficulty (socioeconomic environ- ment), Prestige (exclusivity, distance, difficulty, price), Abundance (population), Quality (objective) of the trophy. With a maximum score of 29o CM

MOUNTAIN SPECIES:

Belonging to the Caprinae Subfamily and the Cervidae Family. It should be noted that for the top hunter the most important

thing is the orography, being the secondary species.

Motto of the CULMINUM MAGISTER FELLOWSHIP:

Silence, solitude and effort

MOUNTAIN GAME SPECIES

The Culminum Magister conditions to consider hunting pieces are:

1º.- Indigenous: Guarantees rusticity and adaptation to the envi- ronment and defence. Only considered for its geographical and biological uniqueness, New Zealand (tar and chamois) for the lack of indigenous native ungulates and reintroduced Mouflon in Europe and Barbary sheep in Spain and Texas (US)

2º.- Free: Here there are no nuances, the Cofrade culminum does not contemplate the artifice in its landscape. Any permeable or non-permeable fence, perimeter or partial, conditions the behaviour of the animal and therefore does not consider the wire as a hunting variable. The Culminum fellow hunts in the open.

3º.- Wild: That is, natural, the game is born, lives, grows and reproduces in the country, without human intervention. With this proposal, CM OPPOSES the captive breeding of any mountain species for hunting purposes, and does not consider prepared game as a sport alternative.

The mountain game owes all its prestige to its wild nature, which is why the hunter culminum does not consider those animals that are the result of genetic manipulation, not even the ferals, let alone the domestic ones, to be hunting targets.

ETHICS:

The hunting of mountain game is done with traditional ethical criteria and within the current legality of the place where the hunting takes place. CM presumes that the information presented to it is of good repute and reserves the right to expel the fellow or to cancel their candidacy in the event of a discrepancy.

CM is not a spectator club, it pretends to be a Fellowship of people who hunted, hunt and will hunt well in the mountains.

Altitude (A)

CRITERIA OF THE HUNTS EVALUATION

The height above sea level, intervenes in the human vital chemistry . As the atmospheric pressure rises, the partial pressure of oxygen decreases, an important factor,

since the oxygenation of hemoglobin and, therefore, of all our tissues depends on it. Hunting at height requires an added effort, from 2.500 meters the human body is exposed to conditions that facilitate the appearance of the so-called “altitude sickness”, a well-known pathology derived from the lack of oxygen.In the pulmonary alveoli, vital gas exchange occurs, whereby the red blood cells saturate their O2 hemoglobin and eliminate the CO2 resulting from the metabolic processes.

The rarefied mountain air makes it necessary to increase the respiratory rate (thirst for air), which eliminates an inadequate proportion of CO2 that combined with the lower amount of O2 causes an accumulation of fluid (edema) that causes the characteristic symptomatology (headaches), irritability, insomnia, lack of concentration....) and in the lungs a serious cardiorespiratory situation (pulmonary edema) that if not treated quickly and effectively can lead to death (irritative cough and bloody sputum are signs of seriousness).

This pathology can be partially prevented with a good acclimatization, it is recommended one day for every thousand meters of ascent, but when this is impossible, the use of a preventive pharmacology based on diuretics to eliminate liquids and corticosteroids as anti-inflammatory can be considered. Both drugs are of obligatory medical prescription, previous meticulous general clinical evaluation and cardiorespiratory in

It should be noted that the activity at extreme heights cannot be trained, except for prior acclimatization or training in hypoxia, the individual reaction being unpredictable and sometimes paradoxical.

In case of important symptoms, it is recommended to transfer the affected person to low levels or to administer O2, as a complement to the medication referred.

Physical activity at height is therefore a foreseeable risk and its practice requires prior medical assessment.

The risk in extreme mountain (more than 4000 m. above sea level) can make the experience not only un- pleasant but dangerous and even deadly.

Other risks of this discipline, are the common ones derived from an extreme climate (hypothermia risks, freezing, sunburn, snow blindness, etc) and must also be considered preventively.

Incline - Verticality (I)

Hunting on slopes implies a singular effort to overcome the conditions of the fauna of opti- mal adaptation to its biotope. The incline is not linked to the altitude, as it can be hunted as in the Peruvian high plateau at high altitude (4000 m.) and be considered plain hunting, or hunting at sea level and with a great incline (white tail of Peruvian coast).

The human species is plantigrade and adapted evolutionarily to the horizontal biotope, and although it is the most ubiquitous mammal of the planet represented in all the biotopes, in this one of rock and verticality, it is where it manifests itself more vulnerable.

Physical preparation, which is not required in other hunting disciplines, is essential here to minimize risks and try to achieve the always elusive objective. To hunt in the mountains is not necessary to be a mountaineer but it is necessary to have a “mountain spirit” and it is recommended to have basic knowledge related to this discipline.
The motto of our fellowship (silence, solitude and effort) includes the parameter of effort, thus highlighting the substance of this venatory modality.

Preparation, prudence and respect for the mountain are the indispensable triad for a safe practice with expectations of success. Although strength is in the muscle, it is character and will that are the determining factors in this discipline.

Socio-economic
environment Dificulty (D)

Every hunting action takes place in a space of “surrounding singularity” that conditions the hunt. Access to the area, type of accommodation, method of locomotion, possibility of medical assistance and evacuation, hunting season, latitude, climate, political stability, type of weapon, are those that this section assesses, the risks and difficulties related to the venation, but not related to the exercise itself. Any follower of this modality will understand the difference between practicing it in Europe or in Asia, where a medical-surgical emergency (appendicitis, fracture) can turn into a serious setback in this “socioeconomic environment”.

Prestige (P)

There are mountain species that, due to the limited availability of licenses, the difficulty linked to the habitat, the political situation of the hunting areas and even the price, enjoy a prestige that CM classifies in 5 strata.
The desirability that our Cofradia recognizes in certain animals, even though it is subjective, allows CM to propose a scale resulting from the consensus of its Executive Committee, and accepting the model as open and reviewable according to the biological drift and avatars that the species included in our list may suffer over time.

Quality (Q)

Although the Brotherhood does not seek to reward the quality of the trophy, but to value the quality of the hunt, it is true that hunting a large quality trophy should be positively valued, as it implies an added demand on the part of the hunter when considering that these animals present a greater difficulty, by virtue of their age, scarcity and experience.

To establish the quality of a trophy, the official scoring made by the most recognized and internationally used record books, such as the CIC and the SCI, will be taken as a basis for establishing the quality of a trophy.

The CM guild considers the luck factor as particularly linked to this epigraph, so for its maximum valuation (gold medal) it establishes 4 CM points, 3 CM points for silver, 2 CM points for bronze and 1 CM point for representative or minor trophies.

Game population (Gp)

Within the evaluation of the hunts, it seems opportune to include the variable of abundance or scarcity of the hunting population as a determining factor for the result and quality of the hunt.
The abundance or scarcity will determine the possibility of having more or less chances, which in turn will also influence the outcome of the hunt.

Epilogue