Hi guys, what would you recommend for budget minded hunters wanting to hunt in Europe?

My tip would be to try hind stalking in the Scottish highlands. Same amazing scenery as the stags and same long stalks but for about 1/3 of the price. You should also get multiple shots over your stay. All for 120-150 quid a day plus accomodation.

Good question, as a young chap I always find myself permanently broke, and I am always on the lookout for a hunt that would not break the bank. As you said hind stalking is a affordable as well as the stalking of the does/hinds of other UK deer. Same species and the same stalk for a lot less.

Hind Stalking is definately good value, but given the hard weather usually associated with it some may find it hard going. Saying that some estates are now hovering around the £100/day rate and have some largenumbers they need shot so a ggood rifle can definately make his money's worth.

On top of that I have been looking at the feral goats n the borders. About the same amount of money buys you plenty of shooting and I believe the meat too if you want it.

Abroad I think some of the stalking packages in Serbia/Croatia/Lituania for small boar are great value for those on a budget. I've not done it but know some that have and it looks like great fun for say £500/weekend.

Rgds,
K

Roe deer in the central belt of scotland seems to be cheap at the moment the price for a stalk on a buck is only £60 and does £50 Average.
Full Day stalking morning high seat evening £100 only trophys over 8 inch charged.

Not a bad price

Scotland offers good hunting for little money.
I would try it there. But the question is where are the hunters from and what do you mean with low budget?

quote:

Originally posted by Caracal:
Scotland offers good hunting for little money.
I would try it there. But the question is where are the hunters from and what do you mean with low budget?

Sorry if I was being unclear, I guess I was asking the members what they thought was a 'good value' hunt for European hunters to go hunting for big game in other European countries.

Of course you can't get much cheaper than £100 a day, but a hunt can be 'good value' at many times that price...

Hi,
here in germany we have some low budget hunting but it's for only for people with a valid hunting license.

In scotland i paid around 500€ for my redstag including the stalk. I thinks that's a very good value. You can shoot lowbudget red deer in most countries but in scotland you have to hunt it

Boar hunting trips[shooting from high seats at night] can be picked up in Europe for around 100 euros a night including board.
Anyone want to come with me in May to Hungary ?

quote:

Originally posted by SIKA98K:
Boar hunting trips[shooting from high seats at night] can be picked up in Europe for around 100 euros a night including board.
Anyone want to come with me in May to Hungary ?

Sika98K is right, hunting on the continent can be had for comparatively litte $$$. Couple of things to consider:

- if you are looking for rock-bottom prices (and who is not?), it will probably be difficult to book through Continental European booking agencies. They normally work with a fee structure, where a direct booking fee (on top of the skim they take off the hunt) is due. You can avoid such fees if you book directly with the area (private or state) offering the hunt.

- the drawback of needing to book directly with an area, is that you can't tap into the knowledge of the hunting agencies which areas are good and which not. So it requires that you know the area where you book.

- most location on Continental Europe will charge you a trophy fee based on the size and type of the animal shot. So to get the cheapest hunt for wild boar, prepare to hunt for piglets and yearlings (German: Frischling and Ueberlaeufer). The hunt will be just as good, chances as good or better although "hero pictures" may perhaps not be quite as impressive...

- the advantage of this model, is that you can normally pick up hunting (accommodation, guide, license costs) for relatively little $$$. Many countries will lend themselves to hunting like this, e.g. Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and, yes, Hungary - always a good destination.

A word of caution: figure out whether the area you book in will charge you for driving costs. On the one hand, it is reasonable that you share driving costs, but if charged a fixed (e.g. EUR 0.5) fee per km, costs can mount pretty quickly!!

Sika, when are you going in May, and where are you going??

- mike

I recently returned from Sweden, you can hunt wild boar from a post (not driven, just sitting and waiting!) for under £100 per night.

No trophy fees, no kill fees, you can kill as many as you want and if you want the meat you can just buy it per KG.

I think thats pretty good value!

Well Mike you have put it a lot better than I had.I book directly with the guide and yes in general what we are shooting is yearlings.
Occasionally someone gets lucky and gets a nice big one .But big pigs become big pigs because they are smart.Keilers tend to be pretty solitary outside the rut so a certain amount of luck is required for your paths to cross.
We are going on or around 20th of May or the 28th to Nogorad[did I spell that right?] on the Slovak border.We get an all in package so there is no grief.

quote:

Originally posted by SIKA98K:
We get an all in package so there is no grief.

That is often a good (if not the best) way to book cheapo hunting. Packages commonly include: accommodation, some (or all) meals, guide, transport etc. It is also common for a certain amount of game (e.g. 1-2-3 yearling pigs) to be included in the package price.

I personally care little about whether I can "only" shoot yearlings (as opposed to mature boars), the hunting is just as exiting and there are a lot more yearlings around than boars...

Northern Hungary is often tops for pigs, another good general area is North East of Budapest.

- mike

Eastern Europe can offer some brilliant deals for the budget conscious hunter. All in packages are def the best way to go.

Some good deals can be had in Turkey for boar, with the added bonus of combining it with a spot of R&R down on the beach with the family. So there's less grief on the domestic front for going off with the boys and spending the money she had lined up for a new kitchen.

you could always look up the local forrestry commissions. the only problem that I see is that you need to read / understand the local lingo, without German, it's going to be hard in Germany and Austria, where boar hunting can be had more or less free of charge.
For Austria try www.bundesforste.at, for baveria go to www.forst.bayern.de
There are some rather exotic hunts to be had, too: around Kassel (GER) you can hunt racoons. (www.hessen-forst.de/forstaemter/wolfhagen_275/275_index.htm)

concerning European hunting licenses: if you can prove that you have a local permit from you home country, it should not be a problem to get a 2-week visitor's permit in Germany.