Jackal hunting in Bosnia and Herzegovina is permitted throughout the year, from 1 January to 31 December.
Their spread appears unstoppable. According to hunters, the reasons include the ban on setting traps and the fact that jackals are now less frequently targeted after being classified as big game together with wolves.
Over the past twenty years, the jackal population in Bosnia and Herzegovina has grown continuously, and in recent years the number of these animals has increased dramatically. Their range is constantly expanding, and jackals are now settling in places where they were never previously present. The appearance of only a few animals in an area almost certainly means that within several years there will be dozens, and perhaps even hundreds. The precise number cannot be established. The most reliable sign that jackals are present in a hunting ground is a sudden decline first in the hare population and then in naturally bred pheasants, together with the discovery of roe deer remains, especially fawns. A pack of jackals will not hesitate to attack wild boar piglets, although it proceeds cautiously because sows defend their young aggressively. Hunters and hunting-ground managers are trying to control this problem, but despite the efforts made by individuals, the trend has not changed: jackals continue to spread and multiply at a geometric rate, while no effective solution is in sight. Large organised jackal hunts have not produced meaningful reductions in numbers. Instead, these drives have often become more of an opportunity for hunters to socialise. The jackal is too cunning and cautious to allow dozens or hundreds of hunters to surround it. Such drives usually result in only a few animals being taken, a loss that is quickly offset by new litters. Individual hunting by waiting near the dens in which the animals live, or at a carcass bait site, has proved the most effective method. This type of hunting, however, requires persistence. There are even cases in which the management of certain hunting associations, for various justified or unjustified reasons, avoids issuing permits for such hunting or issues them only very restrictively. Regulations requiring a hunter to be accompanied by a qualified guide during an individual hunt further complicate efforts to control this predator. Humans are its only real enemy; it has almost no other natural enemy apart from the wolf, which is present in only a small number of hunting grounds. In addition to lawful hunting, there have been isolated cases in which people, perhaps out of desperation, resorted to poisoning jackals. This is irresponsible and strictly prohibited. The poor situation in hunting grounds and the damage caused by jackals have reached alarming proportions, and the day may not be far off when jackals searching for food begin entering farmyards. The sound of jackals howling as they call to one another late in the evening before setting out to hunt is particularly chilling.
Hunting dates and methods are provided for information only. Final dates, permits and conditions are confirmed in accordance with the regulations in force and the rules of the relevant hunting ground.
