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I'll take a shot at a translation:

"...that as a result of the improvements in our hunting weapons the search for wounded game has nowhere near as much importance as it did 40 years ago. At that time, when I was beginning my hunting experience, most deer and boar hunters still used round balls and muzzle loading rifles, even though they preferred pointed bullets for target shooting; whoever attempted to hit a red deer at more than a hundred meters, unless it was standing broadside, would be condemned as a risk taker as far as good hunting ethics was concerned.

At that time, a long time consuming search for a wounded animal was the main topic of conversation among hunters; the detailed description of such a search was listened to with excitement. Whoever showed himself lacking in tracking skills would be considered unworthy of the name of hunter, despite whatever skills in stalking or shooting he might possess.

How that has changed with the introduction of express rifles, jacketed bullets and smokeless powder! The majority of fairly well hit game animals fall in their tracks or collapse within sight of the hunter, or fall down only a short distance away, even in the case of less successful shots, so that the hunter can wait a short time for them to expire, or by using a careful approach, or even without one, a quick death can be sped up with a second shot.

In my youth it was customary that wounded red deer disappeared from the hunter's view. Then the location of the wounded animal at the moment of the shot was identified and even if a blood trail indicated a well placed shot, the hunter waited a while, perhaps ate the breakfast he had brought with him or smoked his pipe, or both, one after the other, for one or two hours. Often the hunter went home and returned with one or more fellow hunters to the location of the blood trail. Even if a tracking dog was available, he still had to wait a while, since, in order to keep the dog in top form, he would only be allowed to follow a cold trail. Animals which were shot in the afternoon, unless they were seen or heard to have collapsed, would only be searched for the next morning, by which time the meat had often already spoiled. If the shot was suspected of having been poorly placed, then even in broad daylight the search would be postponed for 5-6 hours.

This is now a thing of the past. Muzzleloaders are certainly no longer used, not even Lefaucheaux (pinfire) rifles. The effect of modern weapons and projectiles is of such a nature that the search for wounded game is the exception. Is this something to complain about? Certainly the tracking of wounded game could be very appealing and presented the hunter with an excellent opportunity to display his hunting skills---but opposed to that is the drawn out suffering of the wounded game."

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