No abstract

Every year during the past 45 years (1967–2011), hunting organizations have been sending eye lenses (lens cristallina) to the Laboratory for hunting of the hunting association of Vojvodina for testing and analysis of the percentage of young hares in a micro population to establish the real growth rate. Th ese two parameters combined with the number of hares in spring and cull rate from last year were suffi cient to provide hunting organizations with precise information about hunting dynamics and rate of hunting in current hunting season. At the beginning, (in 1967), only 20%of hunting organizations submitted the samples, but ten years aft er the first sample had been collected, the percentage has gradually increased to 30% in 1977 Since then, the percentage of hunting organizations that were sending samples increased to 45% in 1987, 60% in 1997, and 70 % in 2007 with a maximum of 77% percentage in 2008. Th roughout the research period of 45 years, the total number of examined and processed eye lenses was 363,380. Out of 8,727 samples approximately 8,075 eye lenses were processed yearly. A small number of hunting organizations which didn’t send any samples haven’t been hunting brown hare in their hunting grounds during these years. During this research, several conclusions were made: the percentage of young hares in populations varies from 38% in 2010 to 70.3% in 1994. Th e average percentage for period of 45 years was 58.4% of young hares in a population. According to the research, the coeffi cient of real growth was 1.58 young hare per female hare. The minimum was 1.13 in 2010, and the maximum was 2.33 in 1994. Th ese analyses provided the actual information about stability and health of hare populations and enable a sustainable longterm planning of these game species.

In the territory of Vojvodina, there are numerous hunting grounds that are in the ranks of the most elite hunting grounds in Serbia and the wider region. One of them is the hunting ground "Karađorđevo". The aim of the study was to determine what are the characteristics of the hunting destination and elements of the hunting tourism product that are important to hunting tourist when going on a journey. The goal was to determine how much the hunting tourists are satisfied with their hunting experience in this hunting area. The results showed that the most important was the quality of the hunting organization, and the least significant were additional contents of tourist animation. The natural resources of the area are the elements that hunters were most satisfied with. Respondents are less satisfied with the quality of accommodation and are least satisfied with the complementary tourist offer.

Successful development of hunting tourism requires the support of a local community and positive attitudes of residents. This research aims to explore the population in the Vojvodina region (Serbia) which was well known hunting tourism destination in Europe during the '70s and '80s. The survey included a final sample of 206 respondents. This study showed that residents mostly approve of and support hunting tourism revitalization. However, they find that it needs to be implemented sustainably, according to the law, without threatening the habitat and game funds. This study also explored different predictors that shape attitudes towards hunting tourism. Results show that being a hunter, having a higher level of education, frequently having outdoor activities in nature, being interested in the topic of hunting and hunting tourism, and having a dominant meat diet lead to a more positive attitude towards hunting tourism.

Canine events, as a very specific kind of events, attract a large number of visitors, among which competitors represent the majority, and on whom the attraction of the event itself mostly depends. Canine events can contribute both to the development and to higher income from tourism and catering in the destination itself, but organizers should, first of all, understand the competitor's motivation for the participation in certain/specific events of such type. The purpose of this study was to find out the level of interest of the competition participants in the tourist activities, which are the basic factors of motivation when choosing the event at which they will take part. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) method distinguished four factors of motivation of participants at the canine events. The results of this research show that tourist dimension of canine events is not of great importance to its participants, but it is not, however, negligible or excluded.