Planning an international hunting trip has in the past been somewhat seamless depending on destination. Of late the this has become increasingly difficult particularly if a person wants to hunt in Spain. I am experiencing this as this is being written. I wholeheartedly suggest to anyone that plans to hunt Spain to start early and document everything.
If you want to take your own firearm you will need to submit considerable paperwork to the Spanish consulate. This I have done. Once the paperwork in its entirety is received the time stated to accomplish this is approximately 45 days. But, do NOT believe this nonsense as the Spanish consulate is nearly impossible to contact, email or any other means of communication. I am at 57 days as of today. No permit. No contact. No communication or email response. Grrrrrr.....
My trip to Spain will be this upcoming mid October. I started this preparation early January. Thus far it is nothing short of a cluster f—k with regards to the Spanish consulate. I have spend hours, days and weeks in my pursuit to get through to the Spanish consulate to no avail.
If you are comfortable using the outfitters firearm I suggest doing so. I am not! I spend considerable time, money and effort at the range to insure accuracy and ongoing muscle memory in my shooting process.
In closing I recommend starting even earlier than I did. To contact the Spanish consulate is a total bust so far. My rant. MTG

For anyone who may be considering an international hunting trip I wholeheartedly recommend contacting Mark Young of Marks Exclusive Adventures. Mark and Sadie have been so much help to solve some of my problems with our upcoming hunting trip to Spain.
Thank you Mark and Sadie for your invaluable information and help. MTG

Mark has been providing great service to hunters for many years.

That is how it should be, and I wish him a long and successful business.

I pledge to use my own rifle for all my hunts.

I'd contact the outfitter and discuss rescheduling. He may have somebody he can contact to expedite the process.

Guys,

Thanks for the kind words. Sadie and I were happy to provide Tom and Bob whatever assistance we could. I hope their hunts come off without a hitch. Martin's wife is trying very hard to make it all happen for these guys under most difficult circumstance after Martin's untimely death.

Cheers,

Mark

Good to hear that things are getting solved!

quote:

Originally posted by MTGunner:
.....
If you are comfortable using the outfitters firearm I suggest doing so. I am not! I spend considerable time, money and effort at the range to insure accuracy and ongoing muscle memory in my shooting process.
In closing I recommend starting even earlier than I did. To contact the Spanish consulate is a total bust so far. My rant. MTG

As a hunter from the US you'd have to do the same paperwork in Spain to carry the outfitters rifle.
It's an unnecessary complicated process, mainly because the embassy makes itself not available.