Enel Lepik wins the Bloodless Hunt 18.11
Enel Lepik’s photograph of a gliding squirrel has been unanimously proclaimed the winner of the nature photography competition Bloodless Hunt. The best nature photographers and winning photographs were presented at the opening of the exhibition at RMK Forest House.
According to the main organiser of the Bloodless Hunt, Tiit Hunt, the competition was held twice this year, just like last year. In the spring, every photographer captured the best moments in locations of their own choice. In the second to last weekend of September, a traditional photography competition took place, where all the photographers captured species and landscapes endemic to Viljandi County in the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve and around the Lake Võrtsjärv area.There were 39 photographers taking part in the competition in total, who managed to capture small and large wild animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, bugs and spiders on film.
“There were many good pictures but this time, the jury were surprisingly unanimous in their selection of the best photo of the Bloodless Hunt,” said Tiit Hunt. “The main prize (a viking hat with horns) and the Overall Prize was given to Enel Lepik for his picture of a flying squirrel with a pinecone in its mouth and a few flies on its tail. Sure, a squirrel is not the rarest animal in our forests, but since we don’t have many of them, we don’t see them often and when we do they’re climbing up a tree or sitting on a branch. This dynamic picture with the flies and pinecone fully deserves the winning spot at the Bloodless Hunt.”
In addition to that, the jury gave special prizes to the following nature photographers:
- RMK Prize – Ingmar Muusikus. Playing bears.
- ‘Estonian Nature’ Magazine Prize. Heiko Kruusi. Great spotted woodpecker with a caterpillar.
- ‘Estonian Forest’ Magazine Prize – Jüri Etverk. Ural owl.
- ‘Horisont’ Magazine – Peeter Sink. Deer’s flight.
- ‘Estonian Hunter’ Magazine Prize – Jüri Etverk. Beaver
- Estonian Hunters Society Prize – Andres Ennok. A pair of elks, one looks like a hammerhead shark.
- Tallinn Zoo Prize – Taavi Nagel. Wolf in the field...
- Hotel Pesa Prize – Tõnu Noorits. Black woodpeckers of Kakupalu.
- Nature Omnibus Prize – Jüri Etverk. Family of ducks.
The RMK Prize was given to Ingmar Muusikus for his photograph of playing bears.
Photo gallery of prize winners can be found at RMK Flickr.
The main “prey” of this year’s Bloodless Hunt was the American mink, though no photographer managed to capture it this time.
Bloodless Hunt is a hunting activity that is similar to regular hunting but the weapon is a photo camera, the bullets are memory cards and the result is lots of nature and animal photos. No gunshots, only the quiet clicks of the camera shutter. The goal of the Bloodless Hunt is to depict the landscapes and animals of a region through pictures. Bloodless Hunt is organised by the State Forest Management Centre (RMK) and Overall Eesti AS.
Further information:
Tiit Hunt
Bloodless Hunt organiser
tiithunt@gmail.com
+372 5067 488
