My wife and I just got back from a 6 day hunt in the south of France organized by Joe Jakab of Point Blank Hunts with local guide Jean Luc. Lisa bought this hunt at our local SCI auction while I was in line at the bar. I had no idea that France actually has fabulous free range mountain hunting.

The whole hunt was top notch. Joe arranged a private driver for my wife, so we could focus on hunting and not be worried that she was bored. She did trips to Andorra and the cost, as well as explored the local area. The local guide was a superb hunter and also owned the hotel we stayed in (very nice) and is a renowned wild game chef. My wife and I are really into food, so this was a huge plus.

We flew into Barcelona and then drove a couple of hours north to Saillagouse.

I used the camp rifle, a Blaser R93 in .300 Wby. Normally, I hate Blaser rifles. But this one was different. It has as Christensen stock, which completely changed how it handled. He had it scoped with a Swarovski Z6i 5-30. It was the nicest camp rifle I've ever seen, and a tack driver.

We got chamois the first day with a 380 meter shot from the top of a ridge into the bottom of a canyon.

For the stags, we would glass mountainsides, hoping to see them pop out of the very thick brush. The snow all melted the day we got there, so the stags were mostly nocturnal and stayed in thick cover. We saw 14 different stags over the six days, include three 12 pointers and one 14 pointer.

The rest of the hunt was an exercise in frustration. Four times we located a shootable stag. Every time, the stag either walked into the brush right as I was squeezing the trigger, never to be seen again, or the light would fail a minute or two before I could shoot. Normally, there is quite a bit of snow in January, so the stags are in more open areas and out feeding in the mornings and late afternoons.

It finally all came together the very last few seconds of shooting light on the last night, and I took a very nice 12 point stag.

In addition to Chamois and Red Stag, Joe can arrange hunts for Mouflon, Roe Deer, and Wild Boar in this area, and has the best pricing I've ever seen on Becite Ibex right across the border.













Raclette and Cheese Fondue. For the same meal. No wonder why I gained five pounds in 10 days.



Chamois loin en brioche



This one was my favorite, Chamois tenderloin carpaccio with foie gras!

Thanks for sharing !, which hotel (The Planes ?)

Correct, The Planes.

Looks like you had a great hunt. Great quarry, beautiful views, good food and camaraderie. What more could a guy ask for. What a neat gift from your wife.
I especially enjoy the photo of your boots in the mountain meadow.
Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Looked to be a superb European hunt! Well done on the nice trophies and taking the wife along always makes the next hunt purchase easier. Especially when she is doing the purchasing!