I wasn't sure where to post this so have also posted it in hunt reports, rest of the world.

Just had a weekend of stalking the Iberian red deer up in Castelo Branco.

We had shite weather but the rain stopped just at the right time and just for long enough for me to take this.

Rifle was a WWII Mauser in 8x57 with Timney trigger and open sights. Range was 183 metres or 200 yards on the rangefinder and the shot was what might be termed a radical raking shot and only a few degrees off of being a texas heart shot. The bullet entered on the left side and a fair bit behind the ribs and exited an inch or two below the right anter. - It was that shot or nothing as he was about to follow a female into the thick stuff so as I felt very comfortable with the shot, I took and the animal went straight down.

I've gotta say, the whole weekend was fantastic with good company and hunting.

In case anyone is interested, the agent handling the hunting there is Kiri/Fallow Buck of Athina hunting tours and you can contact him by PM or with either a Google or Farcebook search.

Waidmannsheil Steve, a fine stag.

Thanks buddy. As trophies go in the area, this one would be graded as a good representative of the species rather than a particularly good trophy but I'm not an inches man at all and was more interested in the quality of the hunt and the quality of the people I shared it with and in those regards, it would have been impossible to beat......

Mine is an 11 pointer and in these areas, 16 - 18 points are not impossible.

Steve over in Bavaria that would be graded/considered a 2b trophy depending on the age, lacking the crowns that sprout so many points. My favorite is the last one, followed closely by the next one. They are all great trophies.

I'm certainly no expert on reds or any European deer for that matter but I love the Iberian reds..... and the hunting here in Portugal is so much cheaper than most other parts of Europe....... I've no idea why but it seems to be the best kept hunting secret in the sporting world!

Nice stag Steve!! Do they have good ibex hunting in Portugal too??

Funny you should mention them Matt..... I seem to remember the subject came up this weekend & I'm told the have about a handful of tags each year but I don't know much more than that..... Kiri might know more though.

Nice stag and interesting hunt! Thanks for sharing pics with us

Macs

Not great pics but here's a couple of example of rather better animals from the same (bloody huge) area and FWIW, I'm told there are even better than these animals to be found there.

Steve, you made a hell of a fine shot with open sights. Very unusual choice of hunting rifle!

There was the choice of a scoped rifle but I've been shooting open sights for decades and am now uncomfortable shooting scoped rifles so opted for the K98........ to be honest, I don't think anyone was expecting a shot of that range with that rifle but when I looked at it, I knew I could make the shot without difficulty....... that doesn't mean I think I'm a better shot than anyone else just that I'm more accustomed to open sights than most probably are...... I also have to say I was blessed with a VERY good rifle and that although such a shot is considered unusual now, the Germans were doing all that and a whole lot more on a daily basis during WWII.

Waidmannsheil! Great shot with open sights.

Shakari,

Glad you enjoyed your hunt in Portugal, the Castelo Branco region is beautiful country, I hunt there also; there are some very fine stags and boars in that region.

I hope you had the chance to appreciate also the local food and wine.

Congratulations on your trophy’s and your choice of gun and sights.

Just out of curiosity who guided you on your hunt?

Regards,

Yes, I love it up there so much I think we'll very possibly start house hunting in that area next year..... and yes, I've got to try a lot of the local cuisine and it's very good indeed..... as are the Portuguese wines.

What I really don't understand is why we seem to see so few overseas hunters coming to Portugal to hunt...... it has everything a hunter could possibly want and at unbelievably good prices and yet hardly anyone markets it for some reason.... but maybe it's simply that Portugal itself only seems to market the coastline and not much else. From my admittedly limited experience, the Portuguese tourist board couldn't sell a shag in a brothel.

The guys who got me into hunting here are Edgar Cordeiro and Manuel Vassalo and they're both really great guys.

I live near Figueiro Dos Vinhos so maybe we could get together for a glass of vino or a beer or two either when you're in this area or maybe when we're both in the CB region?....... feel free to email me at numzaan@zoho.com or by PM here to discuss it further.

Marketing - yes it's only recently that Portugal has started to market their food and wine .No one knew the country existed even though the food and wine are excellent ! I've had wonderful wines and olive oil from there.

For red deer in general - are there certain countries or types of topography where crowns are more common ?

Mete

I'd forgotten to mention the olive oil which is something else they take very seriously here but again, the vast majority of it seems to be small/local productions and not properly marketed...... actually, often not marketed at all.

I'm no expert on red deer of any sub species but from the (relatively) little I've seen, the Iberian reds do seem to breed good crowns but of course, the better the crown, the higher the score is likely to be and therefore the higher the price.

The trophy I took would be considered a good representative of the species rather than a particularly great trophy but the big ones are most certainly there.

The terrain is also extremely suitable for good bird shooting and I'm looking forward to seeing my first example of that early next year.

Shikari,

I think you´re right about the Portuguese tourist board; they only market Algarve beach and not much else, although I feel that the best beaches, diving and spear fishing are in Alentejo coast, Vila Nova de Milfontes down to Aljezur, this is a great place for rock fishing and also spear fishing.

I knew Dr. Vassalo a few years ago, we used to meet in Amieira do Tejo and Pé da Serra near Nisa for the driven hunts in the 90´s that was a premium spot in those years. We had good hunts there. I also feel that he´s a great guy and knows a thing about hunting as well.

I now live near Porto in the North and travel to CB only to hunt, but thank you for your invitation and maybe we can arrange a glass of wine with some chouriço and "fire" cooked bread.

We have had some really good driven hunts this year in the area where I hunt, Segura after Monfortinho, on the last one 15 days ago, we were about 80 hunters and got 32 boars and 2 deer.

I think you will also love the bird hunting; especially the red partridge hunting is very addicting. But this seems to also be a good year for trusts, Tordos in Portuguese.

Cheer´s

Nsiro

I've yet to shoot a wild boar but hope to do so sometime next year. I'm also looking forward to the bird shooting and (with the help of Manuel Vassalo) plan to get myself a portuguese pointer puppy and a labrador puppy next year.

Glad to hear you had some good driven hunts this year and would love to see some pics!