11 June 2014, 03:44
AtticusRoe Deer and Boar in Romania
Company: Hunt RomaniaPH: Marius Merutiu
Area: Transylvania, near Bistrita, Romania
Dates: May 31, 2014 – June 4, 2014
Terrain: rolling hills, pastures, fields and forest edge.
Guns: Borrowed Blaser rifle in 30-06. I can’t recall exactly, but I believe it was topped with a Swarovski scope with an illuminated Reticle.
Weather: light showers 3 of the days with spectacular clear weather the other.
Accommodations: hotel accommodations very close to hunting areas.
Game taken: 3 Roe bucks and 1 Wild Boar
Game seen: Roe deer, Wild Boar, pheasants, rabbits, fox, various European birds, many of which I had never seen before.
First of all, let me apologize for my photography. It doesn’t do justice to the beauty of the area or the animals.
Earlier this year I got a call from my main office and was assigned a work trip to Romania. Shortly after, I was emailing Marius Merutiu at HuntRomania to discuss a Roe deer/boar hunt. I have seen Marius’ posts here on AR as well as some good reports on his operation. I have never hunted in Europe before and Marius and I quickly came to an agreement on a trip. The communication with Marius was terrific—answering my many questions in planning the trip to Transylvania.
Marius met my coworker and I at the airport in Cluj and drove up to the hunting area outside Bistrita. Now I know what you are thinking, the mere mention of Transylvania and Bistrita—the second word in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, stirs up visions of a dark, foggy, sinister and foreboding place; nothing could be further from the truth!
For me, Transylvania seemed like stepping into the 19th century. It is bucolic, pastoral and unbelievably beautiful. The tended gardens abutting hay-fields dotted with plumb shaped hayricks, wattle fences and pastures filled with sheep and cattle still tended by shepherds and their dogs. Farms were being worked by horse drawn plows, hay being cut with scythes and farmers bringing crops, hay and wood into town by horse drawn carts. Many of the houses had wells in the yards still getting water via a lever or hand crank. Add the storks nesting on the buildings and power poles and you have what I always thought Europe was from reading fairy tales when I was a child. I was blown away.
Shortly after we checked into the hotel which was near the hunting area and meeting up with the area rangers we headed out. It was raining as we began my first stalk on a Roe buck feeding on a hillside with a doe. This was my first look at a Roe Deer and I was taken by their beauty and grace. The red coat stood out starkly against the dark green foliage. The stalk was perfect as there was plenty of vegetation to hide our approach and the wind was with us while the rain muffled our footsteps.
I set up from about 200 meters in a very good shooting position, rifle resting on my knee as I had been practicing for several months prior to the trip……and promptly missed, twice. The deer never really moved and I was able to knock the buck over on the third shot but my poor shooting had really rattled me. I take pride in shooting well and had no excuse. I just plain missed and I vowed to shoot better next time.
Still, I was only a couple hours into my first European hunt and I had my first Roe. A beautiful deer taken after a great stalk and in keeping with European traditions a sprig was provided to the deer and me along with a celebratory glass of Tuica.
Marius and a Ranger whose name I forget.
The following day found us stalking in a beautiful valley with pheasants crowing in the fields. The rain had stopped but the fields were still wet, again muffling our approach. As we crested a hill there was a Roe along the tree line about 150 meters away. I got a nice steady rest and was able to drop him with a nice clean shot. Dimetru the Ranger was able to age him at about 12 years by looking at his teeth.
While I was waiting for Dimetru to bring the truck over, I stood in the valley and could hear a Roe Deer “barking” at me. I took this video to capture the sound.
http://s5.photobucket.com/user...zps36e67cf8.mp4.html
The next day turned out to be a spectacular late spring day and that evening found Marius and I sitting on a ridge in a high stand waiting for a large boar that lived in the area. We never saw him but we did see a bunch of sows and piglets. Looking over the fields and watching a shepherd in the distance bring his sheep into a lower valley, the cuckoos calling, every now and again a pheasant would crow and in the distance, the clank of a cow's bell. I was enthralled by the views and it was awesome just being there.
The next morning we got out very early to see if we could find some boar raiding a local farm field. We found 3 of them and, picking out what looked like the biggest in the early morning light, I hit him with two shots. He needed another to anchor him and avoid bringing in the dogs, but I had my boar at about 5am. I was told he weighed about 150 pounds.
Later that day we moved to an area closer to the town of Dej to hunt for one more Roe. We were met at the ranger’s cottage by Gabby and Suzie who provided us with snack of local cheese, onions, strawberries, pork and the ever present homemade tuica.
Marius and I were in a high stand until it started pouring, after which we drove around looking at fields until was saw another Roe. A stalk over a brook and through a hedge finally had me in position to see him. He was feeding in a pasture next to a hayrick on the other side of a tilled cornfield about 125 meters; I took a nice rest and squeezed of a shot. I had my third buck in as picturesque a spot as I had seen.
A word about the food in Romania; it was awesome!
Marius runs a first rate operation and made sure we had a great time. During the middle of the day took us to do some sightseeing and to show us around Transylvania. There is a tremendous amount of Roe deer and boar in Marius’ area not to mention wolves in the winter and bear in the forests.
Upon departure, Marius gave me the completed skulls and tusks to take home with the third one being sent when it is done. We had no issue with either security outbound or Customs inbound with having these in our carry on.
I had an absolutely great time hunting with Marius and I am looking forward to doing again in the future.
