Folks,

I'm in the initial stages of planning a vacation to western Europe in 2014. Here is what we know so far. This will be a family trip with my wife and I taking our girls (6 and <4 at the time). The girls have been around a bit already, but we don't want to take the little one on any real long flights just yet, so central and eastern Europe will wait for another time. Portugal is the first choice at the moment followed by the UK. France or western Germany (Belgium & Holland too) could work if something too good to miss appeared.

My wife and I both hunt so we'd like to sneak a bit of that in. Our idea is that one of us can look after the girls while the other gets in some hunting, probably just a day or so each. While my wife has shot her share of local deer and birds, this would be her first international hunting. I've hunted a total of 1 red deer hind 19 yrs ago. This simplifies things a bit. Our time is short so we won't be looking for a trophy of a life time, but anything we get a crack at will be special. We probably wouldn't be interested in an estate situation.


Timing might be a bit of an issue. We'd prefer a spring trip, say March to May. If we can't work out the hunting, late August would be Plan B and if we tripped over something really special ( i.e. good enough to take the oldest out of school and distrupt our local hunting plans) we'd look at October too. However, spring is still the first choice. As far as I can tell, spring hunting in Portugal won't be a real option, but roe and muntjac in the UK would be possible in late spring. That would be great for us, but I have a pig problem and would really like a crack at a boar.

With the above constraints, what would the locals suggest? I'll be pestering some of the outfitters that frequent the site once we firm things up some more and no Steve, I didn't forget about the Portugal section of your great site .

Thanks,
Dean

Hi Dean,

I can't suggest an outfitter for you at the moment but first thing I realize is the time you plan to come:

March and April are not ideal for hunting at least in Germany, France, Holland or Belgium.

Roe buck is open in May. August is normally the breading time which can be a unique hunting experience for roe bucks.

If you plan for bigger game like for example red dear you have to come in August or maybe even later.

I am not an expert for UK. Not sure what is open in March-May.

Which species you would be interested in?

Regards,
Hendrik

Dean

Glad you haven't forgotten the site and hope it's of help in your research.

I can't comment on the other European countries but FWIW, March in Portugal might be a bit chilly if you want to spend time swimming etc but should be warmer by May and by June or July will be very comfortable.

Beaches here are generally very good indeed and the central zone has lots of river beaches and most of them also have decent restaurants etc.

If you need an idea of prices for those, we recently had a nice 2 course seafood lunch with wine and additional ice cream for less than E10 per head.

Sweden
Beaver hunt with or without kids are possible -to may 15.
Roebuck are allowed may-june.
Night watch on boar is possible april-may.

UK - April is pretty perfect for muntjac and our Roe buck season opens the first of April.
If you did end of March/April you could do CWD as well.

Brilliant guys, thanks for the suggestions. I'll talk with my wife this weekend and see if we can decide between cooler weather and deer or warmer weather and maybe a boar from a high seat. I've been assuming the fallow deer I've seen mentioned in western Europe are all behind fences. Is that correct?

It is great to have to make tough decisions like this! Less great is that the discussion will have to wait a day or two. The females spend the summer on our farm and I spend most of it in an office. How is that fair?

Thanks,
Dean

There are un-fenced fallow deer in Germany. I assume majority is without fences.

I think in Spain and Portugal they are also available without fences but I am not an expert there. Maybe guys like Kiri can give more details.

All the hunting in Portugal that Kiri offers is unfenced.

Or more accurately there are bits of fence from time to time but they don't restrict deer or wild boar movement at all.

Maki,

There are a number of solutions to get what you are looking for either in the UK Portugal or both. Remember that the distances here are a lot shorter than back at home so with some sensible planning you would be surprise how easy it is to move about and combine hunting with holiday and sight seeing.

If you PM me a number I will give you a call and talk you through the nuances of each potential destination so you can make the most informed decision.

Even of we don't have the hunt you want available, we can generally reccomend a suitable alternative. Meeting for dinner would be a good plan either way.

Rgds,
Kiri

Kiri,

While you were typing this, I was sending a note to your Athina address below. I'll PM you shortly.

Dean