Folks,

I'm trolling for ideas. My wife is a recovered vegetarian turned hard core hunter who wants to try something different from our local deer. One day a buffalo is in the cards for her, but for now we have to take our two little girls into account. We've been talking about a trip to western/central Europe in 2013 where we could arrange a day or two of hunting to go along with being tourists. What we imagine is one of us going hunting for a day or a morning while the other does the tourist thing with the girls. We'd then alternate. Here is our wish list is:

-Hunting location proximal to accomodation and history/horse riding or some such.
-Estate type shooting probably wouldn't be our first choice, at least not of the put and take variety.
-Decent weather so the girls can enjoy being outside and not drive the attending parent crazy.

Aside from one red deer hind I took in the mid 90's, all the game in Europe would be new to us, so we are not particular about what is on the menu. High grade trophies a bonus, not a priority, nor is a huge bag.

Where would you go?

Thanks,
Dean

Dean

How about Portugal?

It has beautiful beaches on the Algarve & Silver Coasts, beautiful scenery & river beaches in the mountains, interesting culture & good cuisine & tip top but largely undiscovered hunting in the central & northern zones...... oh & prices for pretty much everything are as cheap as chips!

Shakari,

Portugal is definitely a place we'd like to go back to. I have no idea what can be hunted there though. Or where to find that information (besides Google) which is why I turned to AR .

If you need a retirement project, maybe "ShakariConnection-Europe"?

Dean

Hunting in Portugal is superb - I've just got back this morning from a five day trip with Athina Hunting Tours (meeting up with the estimable Mr Robinson - buon dia Steve), hunting free ranging iberian Red stags in the portugese hill country. Fantastic deer, where prices are very reasonable for both representative animals and trophys - many in the CIC medal class - plus wild boar, Fallow deer and small game such as hare, partridge etc. The countryside there is truly breathtaking, particularly in the hills along the Spanish border, where the stags cross from Spain into Portugal. Amazing to be hunting red deer in the sunshine, amongst olive groves and lavender covered hills with the highly endangered iberian vultures overhead! The food's pretty damn good too...

It looks like Athina Hunting is going to be doing a lot of hunting there next year (and this, as we're going back for a small exploratory wild boar montaria in a couple of weeks). Speak to Kiri - Fallow Buck here on AR - for details of what's planned for 2013.

I can't wait to go back and I'm especially looking forward to a week of stag hunting there next September during the rut.

R'gds,

Adam.

Dean

My involvement has been and will be an advisory on how to make the hunting operation suitable for overseas hunters but as Adam quite rightly says, Kiri is the man with the agency and sales etc and is doing a tip top job...... and I'm sure he'll be along to comment as soon as he can find the time.

We have already added basic info on Portugal Hunting to www.shakariconnection.com but all enquiries will be referred to Kiri to deal with.

Main species to hunt are red and fallow deer, wild boar, rabbits, hares, partridges and duck and the entire area is simply fantastic....... I like it so much up there, we may well start house hunting again next year.

Steve

It was great to see you again and catch up in the field. Thanks for your help and remember that if you do start house hunting you will need a small annex for a a certain Greek hunter as I can see me spending quite some time out there as it is simply stunning. Adam and I are both quite taken with the whole thing as was Farz.

Dean,

I can highly recommend Portugal for a mixed hunting/family holiday. Distances are manageable for a short break away hunt. Prices are very sensible all round and the food is simply stunning and in quantities that nearly floored me,(quite an achievement I promise!!!!)

If you are looking for a summer break then you will be looking at the Iberian Red Stags. They are a separate classification with SCI and the trophy quality is exceptional. We shot a bronze medal this week and saw several more of the same quality or bigger. During the rut I would expect to see more big stags.

Timing wise the rut starts at the end of August and runs through September and early October. They stopped calling early this week. I think you will see plenty of animals just before the rut starts as they start moving to the hinds.

It is a stunning experience and one I am in a hurry to repeat.

We have started filming many of our hunts so I should have some footage to show shortly to give you a idea of what to expect.

Pm me if you have any specific questions about logistics and how we can fit it all together for you.

Rgds,
K

I'd look at austria in late summer. Lots of horse riding, old villages, culture, hiking and the hunting is normally close by. Depending on where you are you could also visit some of the cities like Vienna or even go to munich

Have never been to Portugal, but all the hunting offers i saw were very expensive! Would love to get infos.

Kiri

I rather have my eye on that either all or part of first place we saw. The house is a perfect blank canvas with all the hard graft already done and ready for us to finish to our needs...... and yes, that would include a guest wing for my Greek buddy and of course others.

The lake beside the farmhouse would also offer great fishing & duck flighting opportunities for me and of course my guests.

As for the deer and pigs etc, I'm happy for you to do that bit for me....... just as long as you're sure to leave me a young pig carcass for Christmas dinner.

Maki,
here in central Italy we ther'are a couple of places which are the best for your vacation.
Fenced and unfenced.
If you want I can send you the links

Guys we are finalising prices now, but day rates to include all hunting, accommodation, food & drink come in at £250 1x1. It is cheaper for groups or 2x1.

Stags range from £500 to £2500 (CIC Gold Medals). Boar are £250 IIRC or £350 for medal animals when stalked. Depending on trophy expectation but we would expect guns to be able to take at least one stag per day.

On the driven hunts there are no trophy fees and they average between 1- 1.5 animals per gun on the boar, and up to 4 hinds per gun when deer are included on the quarry list.

Photos and video will be available this week.

Rgds,
K

Folks,

Thankyou for the information and sorry about taking so long to reply. Actually, I'm not sorry, it was a case of partridge hunting or AR....

Mario, please send me the links you mentioned. I've never been to Italy and this might provide the push to get there.

Steve, I guess I shouldn't have assumed that your site hadn't changed since the last time I was on it. I actually try to avoid the site because I always seem to end up on the book pages and then my bank balance gets slapped and I have to find more shelf space. A vicious cycle .

Fallow Buck, I'll be in touch when we decide what we're up to.

Dean

quote:

Originally posted by maki:

Steve, I guess I shouldn't have assumed that your site hadn't changed since the last time I was on it. I actually try to avoid the site because I always seem to end up on the book pages and then my bank balance gets slapped and I have to find more shelf space. A vicious cycle .

Dean

I know the feeling well but keep buying because that's what pays for the site!

http://www.laconca.it/ fenced -

http://www.afvselva.it/ unfenced - great hunting. Maybe not so close to tourist places.

Thank you Mario. The second link looks like the the sort of place we are after. Though I'm certain my Italian isn't good enough for me to be sure . As for tourist spots, my wife and I go out of our way to avoid most of the ussual ones. Europe has so much history that we never seem to have trouble finding something interesting in places that rarely see a tour bus.

Dean

All destinations are great in some way but I have to mention Croatia as a special place for hunting adventures.

You might consider Sweden as well. Patrik at www.djursholmsjakt.se can probably set you up with something cool near Stockholm. Possibly at an old Manor where the whole family can enjoy themselves. Skebo Herrgard is such an option and I know Patrik arranges hunts there.

Sweden is beautiful.

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Guys we are finalising prices now, but day rates to include all hunting, accommodation, food & drink come in at £250 1x1. It is cheaper for groups or 2x1.

Stags range from £500 to £2500 (CIC Gold Medals). Boar are £250 IIRC or £350 for medal animals when stalked. Depending on trophy expectation but we would expect guns to be able to take at least one stag per day.

On the driven hunts there are no trophy fees and they average between 1- 1.5 animals per gun on the boar, and up to 4 hinds per gun when deer are included on the quarry list.

Photos and video will be available this week.

Rgds,
K

Hi:

I am hoping this is not a "hijack" of this thread. I wanted to ask you what your daily rates would be for one of these combo hunts?

What would the observer rates be if I was to bring my wife? Thanks!

Hi Jason,

You have a PM.

Rgds,
Kiri

With Sweden now on the list of places I want to hunt one day, I'm thinking about how to compare different European options. Does anyone know of a source that lists the free range animals available to be hunted in a given country and the season's for those animals?

Thanks,
Dean

Dean

It's going to take a while because we've only just started the planning process but we will be adding a European hunting section to www.shakariconnection.com.

It'll be a mini-site within the main site the same way that the bookshelf is.

Gonna take a while though.

I'll be keeping my eyes open for that addition to your site. The more I dig around, the more good hunting I find in Europe in general and western Europe in particular. I'm pleasantly surprised at some of the prices too.

Dean

Dean

We already have some Portugal hunting info, game laws & prices halfway down the right hand menu as a start..... but you're right, quality & prices are both phenomenally good.

Indeed Europe has some excellent opportunities. We've added three or four European countries to our 2013 offerings.

The only downside is the constant continental, (read scandinavian) preoccupation (read obsession) with saunas... If you listened to the pitch for the Estonian hunting trip it could have been mistaken for three days in a sauna with a couple of boar thrown in each!!

K

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
Indeed Europe has some excellent opportunities. We've added three or four European countries to our 2013 offerings.

The only downside is the constant continental, (read scandinavian) preoccupation (read obsession) with saunas... If you listened to the pitch for the Estonian hunting trip it could have been mistaken for three days in a sauna with a couple of boar thrown in each!!

K

I guess sharing a sauna with a couple of wild boar might be a bit of a novelty but I'm not sure it's my cup of tea!

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
The only downside is the constant continental, (read scandinavian) preoccupation (read obsession) with saunas... If you listened to the pitch for the Estonian hunting trip it could have been mistaken for three days in a sauna with a couple of boar thrown in each!!

K

I've got no problem with that. Maki is a (greatly simplified) Finn name. We used the sauna in the basement last night.

Cheers,
Dean

Yes indeed then there is the Finnish tradition of birch twigs...



K

My dad still does the birch twig thing, but I just never got the point.

Dean