Going to attempt to keep a running hunt report here on AR with Martin Rodriguez of Adictosacazar. The plan is to hunt both Beceite and Southeastern Ibex for a few days, transition to a different area for Red Stag and finish the trip off hunting Mouflon in a third area.

The wife and I are in JFK about to board our final leg to Madrid, thanks Delta for cancelling your direct flight to Madrid out of Atlanta!

More to come over the coming days!

Looking forward to the reports! Would love to make this trip some day.

Excellent!!

Oh boy-oh boy! Looking forward to it, Brian

Day 1 Arrival to Madrid!

A little more background information. I reached out to Martin in Dec of 2020 after seeing his post here on AR for an Ibex hunt at a special rate. A quick reply back from Martin and the hunt expanded to include an Iberian Stag and Mouflon in addition to two species of Ibex I mentioned in my initial post.

The European “medal” system, pay by the inch or centimeter, was a new concept to me and decided to take a chance on representative Ibex with the chance of a medal animal if we could find one. The early December dates we chose would still have the rams rutting and hopefully some of the older rams exposing themselves.

After hunting for Ibex for a couple of days, we would transition to a large estate and hunt the Iberian Stag. This estate also contains a herd of European bison and I upgraded the day rate to include staying on the estate. Martin also threw in a boar hunt at night if I chose a Silver medal stag, done!

My wife would also be with me and she has been wanting to hunt a sheep. This “sheep” hunt was inspired by her seeing a Dall sheep “pretty white one” as she says, mounted @ the DSC convention.

A Dall sheep hunt was out of the question cost wise and the pricing on a Texas Dall hunt seemed excessive. After showing her a few pictures of a Mouflon, she was all for chasing one in Spain! We initially booked for a Bronze medal but I upgraded to Silver before we flew across the pond.

The wife snoozing on the flight.





Sunrise as we approach Madrid




We arrived in Madrid after a seven hour flight from JFK and Martin has all the paperwork in order as we set off for the small town of Salobre where we will base our Ibex hunts for the next couple of days.

Our first taste of Spanish cuisine, a welcome change from Delta’s awful food! What an awesome breakfast!



Since we cleared customs and health checks so quickly at the airport, there was enough time for Martin to arrange a few hours of Ibex hunting in the afternoon.

The small town of Salobre we are staying in and the quaint hostel.





Olive trees everywhere!



Plan A for hunting was a bust as we couldn’t access one of the areas due to snow. Martin put plan B into action and we set off around 2:30pm, allowing us around 3.5 hrs to hunt. We met up with the local guide and climbed into his 4x4 and climbed as high as we could up a dirt track until stopped by ice and snow.



We would walk up the remainder of the road to the top of the mountain where the Ibex enjoy their afternoons.



The weather was much worse once we topped out, 2+ inches of snow in the wind blown areas and much more drifted around the rocks and sparse trees.



The wind was howling as the cloud tops swirled around us, severely limiting visibility.



We walked the jagged ridge tops and steep ravines for about 2 hours, logging over 10k steps according to my phone. The weather had even driven the Ibex off the peaks!

Was a great day to stretch the legs after the flight and 3 hour drive, will be feeling it in the morning! The weather forecast is for additional high winds and snow accumulations, Martin is putting a new plan together for day 2!



On our drive out at dark, a great fallow stag walked across in front of us and as he climbed a small hill was skylined, one of those fleeting moments that is imprinted on my brain forever. Martin commented he has never seen a fallow on this road and as we come around the next corner a couple of hinds and a smaller stag were standing in the road!

Will be watching your post as we will be attending the SCI convention to discuss an Ibex hunt in Spain. My wish list is for a Gredos and Beceiti(sp) in the future. With hope perhaps 2022. Have a great hunt and enjoy the culture. MTG

x2. Will be fun to 'join you' on your hunt. Best of luck.

Day 2

I have done a horrible job of updating this post, we have hunted long and hard every day and just not enough time to keep a live hunt report.


A big storm front came through with a lot of rain overnight. The plan today is to head North East to a hunting area near Valencia to hunt Baceite Ibex. We left the Hostel by 5:30 as it was going to be close to 3 hour drive.

Breakfast and bio stop near Albacete.

Pig ear pieces, fried cheese and chicken with a cup of coffee. Awesome food!



Cured pig legs hanging on the wall.



The forecast for Valencia was much better with no rain and warmer temperatures.

This area was so very different than hunting in the snow and fog the previous day, we were hunting in orange groves! The oranges groves were in the valley and the ibex were in the surrounding hills.






We step out of the Land Rover and there is a female ibex perched up on a cliff face above us.

Old female Beceite Ibex keeping an eye on us.




We walked up the road through the orange grove glassing the hills around us, spotting a few females and a couple young males.



We climbed one of the hills to see a big valley we were unable to see from the orchard valley. Martin spotted a couple of females but no males. The wind was gusting from the storm front that had pushed through earlier. We stayed up on top waiting and glassing but nothing was moving. You could see the Mediterranean ocean from the top of hill.

First photo is of the 2 female ibex, with the picture cropped in the second picture.





Our bellies were starting to growl and we headed back down and drove into town for some lunch.

Calamari, sandwiches and mushrooms filled our hungry bellies.





Back into the orchard until dark, spotted plenty of females and young males but nothing to be excited about. Enjoying a tangerine off the tree.




A long drive back but the dinner at our hotel made up for it!

Squash soup with small pieces of bacon and a tomato mozzarella salad.



Deboned seared chicken for the main course, delicious!



As I wanted to try all the dinner options, also had a plate of chorizo, egg and mushrooms.



The food is just amazing!

The plan for day 3 was to head back up to hunt the mountain that was covered in fog the first afternoon as the weather was to be clear but cold.

Additional pics of the hostel:

Great report! Keep it coming!

JCHB

Great pics and writeup. Pulling for you to tag a nice one.

quote:

Originally posted by MTGunner:
Will be watching your post as we will be attending the SCI convention to discuss an Ibex hunt in Spain. My wish list is for a Gredos and Beceiti(sp) in the future. With hope perhaps 2022. Have a great hunt and enjoy the culture. MTG

Glad to help out! i send you a PM, check out our program:

www.adictosacazar.com

and hope you like the rest of the report, we had a great time.

I just returned from a Spanish Ibex hunt right before Thanksgiving. We had a fantastic time! My wife and I both fell in love with Spain.

For anyone considering a hunting trip with your spouse, Spain should be your destination.

quote:

Originally posted by gsganzer:
I just returned from a Spanish Ibex hunt right before Thanksgiving. We had a fantastic time! My wife and I both fell in love with Spain.

For anyone considering a hunting trip with your spouse, Spain should be your destination.

Glad you like Spain! its just amazing! Food, Wine, Hunting areas, has it all!

Day 3 - Ibex hunt continues

We reach the high peaks as the sun is just breaking over the horizon, -1C so not terribly cold but the wind was a steady 20 mph with gusts that about take you off your feet! This is the same area as we hunted in the fog, wind and snow on Day 1.

The storm from the previous day must have been a frozen mixture as there was a thick icy crust on top of the snow, walking was difficult as you would break through the crust. When climbing any slope, you needed to smash your boot toe forward to break through the ice.

We head up to a high peak for a peek over the other side. The sun just hitting the crest of the ridge.



The view over the top:



We nestle in over the crest and take the full brunt of the wind and there is no sun here. You don’t want to slip as it’s a long way down! It’s miserable without the sun and with the wind and heavy gusts. Michelle bails out after a few minutes to wait over the crest where it’s less windy and the warming sun makes it bearable.

Another 5 minutes and Martin joins Michelle leaving myself and Danny, Martin’s partner and local guide to the area during the hunting season. We, check that, Danny spots some ibex 1000 meters away and I head back over the crest to don my Kuiu puffy vest and grab my tripod and spotting scope.

I hook my phone up to the spotter and grab a few pictures. The wind was buffering us terribly and had a hard time getting a clear shot but notice a decent ibex from the shadow his horns cast on the snow. The ibex were on a sunny slope feeding where there wasn’t as much snow and ice and blocked from the brutal wind.



Danny and I hang in there for another 20 minutes spotting a few ibex females closer to us but couldn’t find a male with them. We are both pretty cold at this point and decide to climb down off this miserable rock and check the high meadows over on the next ridge. The same meadows we investigated on day 1 in the fog that were clear of snow.

We collect Michelle and Martin and head back down the hill and crossing a saddle to climb the next ridge when Danny and Martin are able to glass the opposite slope in the vicinity Danny had spotted the female ibex. They find a male and I break out the spotter and tripod, as they want a closer look.



He’s a shooter! But we are over 450 meters away and the wind blowing towards us was just as brutal as it was earlier. I booked a “representative” Ibex with no guarantee of it being medal class, it was the rut and I would take my chances. The clients the previous week were able to take a silver medal in the general vicinity we were hunting.

We make a plan, Danny and I are going to reverse our course and climb back up to the crest we just descended and see if we can see the Ibex as the difference in angle was an unknown. Huffing and puffing back up, we set up on the crest but a bit more to the right to give us a better view of the face of the hill than we had earlier. Danny quickly spots some females and then locates the male. 330 meters and Danny asks if I can make the shot. Yes, as we set up the rifle on his pack and dial for elevation.



I’m watching him through the scope feeding and he finally turns somewhat broadside, angling uphill. Probably the best shot position possible, I hold for wind in front of the chest and break the trigger on the Blaser R8 and awkwardly rack the bolt as it’s on the left side and I’m right handed.

Danny yells hit as I watch the ibex stumble and tumble down the steep slope, he stops for a second and I have a solid visual and steady hold and squeeze, CLICK!!!

Rack another round and the Ibex appears to fall down a chute and I lose sight. We check the last round and the firing pin indent is light.

We watch for awhile and see no additional movement. The hit was too far back and broke the spine. I should have held further in front for the wind gusting though the mountain pass.

It wasn’t until I ejected the dud round that I even realized I hadn’t asked the rifle caliber. After seeing the RWS factory load, could see the bullet wasn’t of a high ballistic coefficient!



8x68s




The RWS Kegelspitz bullet has a ballistic coefficient of .31, and with a factory rated muzzle velocity of 3100 fps has a drift of 2 to 3 feet with 20 - 30 + mph winds. I should have held two feet in from the Ibex.

Very unlike me as a rifleman that is always running velocities, ballistic coefficients, drops and drift. Next time my own rifle and verified loads are coming with me!

Martin and Michelle stayed back and were trying to video the hunt. The buffeting wind made the video hard to watch but verified the hit was far back and broke the spine. Discussion ensued, should we press and see if we can find the ibex now or give it some time to hopefully expire. If we press too quickly we could force the Ibex off a cliff or into a deep crevasse. It would also be good to gain some altitude on the next peek to see if we can better define where the Ibex tumbled and pick a possible path to reach the area.

Right before I took the shot:



Ibex is on the side of this mountain.



We decide to press on up to the next peak but the going is steep and slippery. Even though Michelle had climbed the same path two days earlier, the fog hid the steepness and it certainly was not as icy as today.





I asked Martin to take her back to the Land Rover while Danny and I gain altitude and check out the alpine grassy areas. I still have a second Ibex tag as this area holds both the Beceite and predominantly the Sierra Nevada.

It’s cold and the ice has covered the favored grassy meadows and drifted the snow quite deep in places. We are able to spot a few more Ibex on the backside of the mountain but nothing quite old enough.






We head back to the Land Rover and have some lunch before heading out to search for the Ibex. Michelle stays back as the three of us begin the journey. It’s treacherous in places, especially under the pines where the ice is thick on top of the snow, using tuffs of grass and short scrub poking through as stepping points when able.

It takes over an hour to climb off the ridge, cross the saddle to the next ridge and descend down onto the side of the hill.



We continue on around the hill, crossing steep vertical spines and I finally find blood where the Ibex descended downhill, he is still alive and a final shot is required, after another dreaded “click”.

Making my way down the steep hill to the Ibex:




It’s getting darker by the minute down in the steep valley, some quick pictures and Martin and Danny tag team the caping out the ram.

My first impression was the Ibex are much smaller than I initially thought as I say thanks to him. Beautiful animal that will be honored as a shoulder mount.





They estimate the age of the Ibex at 9 years. Danny has a pack and starts uphill with the skull and cape as Martin and I slowly ascend behind him.

It’s steep, rocky, and at times had to employ human 4 wheel drive to climb back up. I swear Danny is part Ibex himself as he is constantly waiting for us to catch up and to also make sure we are ok.




We top out from the steep climb up out of the canyon and quickly cross the spine of the ridge and only have to ascend the ridge where we were spotting in the morning. It was now getting dark but easy to see with the white ice and snow as we trace Danny’s footsteps back up the slope and into the icy pines when we hear a “help” from Danny.

He has taken a spill on the ice and has stopped himself from sliding further down the hill by grabbing onto a couple of small pines. I hand the rifle over to Martin and take advantage of some scrub poking though the ice and stomp my boots through the crust. Danny pushes the pack over to me and I pass it on to Martin. Danny and I lock wrists and I pull him across an icy chute and verify he is ok. Looking up, you can see where he slid 20-30 feet down the hill before being able to latch onto the pines.

We crest the slope without further issue and can see the vehicle below, we have made it!



What an exhausting day as we are grateful we averted disaster and all made it back, extremely tired but free from harm and the ibex in the pack.

I brought Fireball with me from the States and we all had a small shot to warm the body and finish out the day!

Dinner that night was another amazing meal with hot soup, seared pork tenderloins for me and ratatouille for Martin and Michelle.







Can’t forget dessert!



Another amazing meal!!!

I’m too exhausted to write or post an update as we covered over 6 miles with a ton of vertical, over 200 floors according to my phone. Some red wine with dinner and water with electrolytes before bed as I’m sure my body is going to tell me I abused it in the morning!

Day 4 - Morning Ibex Hunt

We had only allocated a couple of days for hunting two Ibex before heading to a hunting estate 3 hours away near Andujar for Red Stag and were due to arrive there today.

It’s hunting not shooting and if we don’t succeed on the second Ibex I was good with it, it is what it is, hunting! We have had fantastic hunts every day and just enjoying Spain!

We meet for breakfast at 7am and have already packed our bags for the trip to Andujar but will give the Sierra Nevada a go through at least mid-day. Danny meets us at the hotel and we head out and talk to one of the local guides Martin and Danny employ to get the scoop on any Ibex rams they may have spotted previously. With the new intel, we head into some beautiful hills at a lower elevation, no snow or ice today!

Danny has also cleaned the rifle to hopefully prevent the light primer strikes!

We cross into the hunting area and start the climb up a gravel road out of the valley floor and Danny spots a group of Ibex. He believed he saw a mature male but it quickly disappeared into the brush at the crest of the hill. I break out the tripod and spotter again as we search for the target Ibex. It’s only 8:50am.




We watch the hillside for a few minutes waiting for him to show himself. There, he is off the crest and is working his way down the left side of the hill with a few younger males. Danny and I crab walk up the hill a few yards and I go prone with the rifle. Danny ranges the Ibex, 250 meters but I don’t have a clear shot with the smaller males milling and feeding. The mature Ibex has rounded the side of the hill, giving me glimpses of his head and horns as they descend.

We have to move further up the road as I’ll be skipping a bullet off the dirt due to the hill curvature and the descending Ibex. We scamper up a few yards and I flop prone again, waiting for a clear shot.

Waiting for a clear shot:



The target Ibex is over the other side of the hill in this picture with two young males visible:



Zoomed in on the young Ibex males:




A second seems like a minute and a minute seems like eternity! He’s finally clear of the younger males and has come around the curve of the hill and presents a slight frontal quartering angle as I send the 180 grain bullet and see the Ibex go down and catch a fleeting glimpse of the horns as he rolls out of view.

I’m positive of the shot and march up the hill and scatter females and younger males in all directions.





I ask Michelle if she would like to try for a female as Martin said we can also take one of the older ones. She declines and we continue up into the steep rocky slope and quickly locate the Sierra Nevada Ibex. Time is now ~ 9:30am.



They are so beautiful, as are all of God’s creatures. Pictures and a quick discussion with Michelle, this will be a euro mount.



Martin and Danny make quick work of the head and want to move the carcass around the hill a ways. The also age this Ibex at 9 years. The landowner has a house and buildings just a hundred yards away at the base of the hill and sometimes stay’s there, we did not want vultures hanging around so close to the lodge.

I kept asking about taking a back strap and eating Ibex but was told nobody eats them. They must be pretty awful tasting, especially with the males in rut.

People may ask why do you shoot them if you don’t eat them. The answer is population control. All the natural predators have been wiped out by humans many many years ago and there is only so much land and food to support a population. If the population exceeds the carrying capacity, the entire population suffers and are now susceptible to sickness and disease. If left unchecked, the Ibex will eat all the vegetation increasing land erosion and destroy themselves in the process. Taking older males and females helps keep the population in check.

Michelle and I take the head back to the truck and she hatches a plan. It goes something like this: when Martin and Danny show up, she is going to tell them she wants to mount the rear of the Ibex on one side of the wall and the other side of the wall will have the head. She will tell them to go back and get the back half of the Ibex.

As Martin and Danny walk up she breaks the news to them and the look on their faces was just flat, absolutely no expression. I’m in the background pointing to my head and making a swirling motion with my finger at my head and then pointing at her likes she’s lost her marbles and has gone loco!

To set the scene a bit more, I’ve told the guys they can’t touch the animal if it’s down until she pays her respects, has a moment alone and decides on what type of mount we are going to have done in honor of the animal. We do this for all our animals and they just witnessed it with this Ibex. They know she calls the shots!

Silence as Danny looks at Martin, Martin doesn’t say a word. Seconds go by and Michelle finally confesses she is joking and her and I start laughing and we all begin to laugh! She had those guys hook line and sinker!!! Apparently they had stuffed the carcass down into a deep crevice and covered it over with brush!

We head back to the hotel and transfer our gear into Martin’s Mercedes SUV, Danny takes the head and will put it in the freezer at his house and we start the journey to Andujar three hours away.

It’s early enough we are going to arrive in time to do an afternoon hunt for Stag and sit for wild boar over bait in the late evening. I’ll save Andujar for its own report. Day 4 afternoon to be continued!

35Fan, thanks for these updates! I know it must take some time out of your vacation to write and post pics, but several of us really appreciate it. Keep them coming! Thank you!

quote:

Originally posted by mt Al:
35Fan, thanks for these updates! I know it must take some time out of your vacation to write and post pics, but several of us really appreciate it. Keep them coming! Thank you!

The hours we were putting in hunting everyday wasn’t conducive to daily updates, I needed a few hours sleep!

The wife and I are back home now, will try and finish out the report this weekend. Much more to come!

Day 4 - Afternoon: Andujar Estate Hunt

The three hour drive from Solebre is uneventful and as we pull off the highway we ascend up into some beautiful hills, the vegetation is all different in this area. I really enjoy hunting different types of terrain and vegetation.

On our way into the area:



The lodge nestled into the valley:



This area also holds a population of the endangered Iberian Lynx. The estate participates in the Iberian Lynx study and they have also imported European Bison from Poland, I believe the first herd in Spain.





This area of the country is one of the warmer areas in both Winter and Summer, what a difference from hunting the higher elevations around Salobre!

We arrive at the house and it’s very nice, situated with a great view of the valley and surrounding hills.

View from the veranda:



We meet the new owners of the estate that cater to both hunters and ecotourists, Alex and Jess. A wonderful young couple doing a wonderful job with the property. They offer us a cold beverage and show us our room and the house.









Jess is busy chatting it up with Michelle (can you blame her being stuck with a bunch of guys the last four days) while Martin, Alex and I slip away to the skinning shed and talk about the Red Stag and Fallow euro mounts on the wall as well as the different sizes and medal quality. Just hunters taking hunting!

Take a look at this Super Gold, these are his sheds from last year!



They have also prepared lunch for us, a most delicious bacon wrapped chicken roll stuffed with cheese and peppers and some other scrumptious flavors! Oh my, what a delight! A side of baked vegetable and good bread rounded out lunch.





We sat out on the veranda enjoying the spectacular views and listening to the on-going Monteria which is a driven hunt. The hounds are barking and shots being fired outside the property in the neighboring hills, wonderful!

It’s starting to get late in the afternoon and we decide it’s time to take a drive and see some of the property. They have a Hilux set up African style with a high seat as Alex and Jess originated from South Africa.




The rifle I would be using was a Steyr in 270 WSM topped with a Swarovski. At least this rifle was right handed but I took some time to figure out the tang mounted, push button 3 position roller safety as it’s so much different than the Blaser I had been using or any other rifle I have used.

We drove around for a bit seeing lots of female Red and Fallow deer with a few male youngsters in the mix.



A nice Fallow Stag:



With this area of Spain being so warm, the Stag and Fallow roar was well over, the prime time being early October. With it being 4 December, Alex explained the 20-25 medal class Red Stags on the property range from bronze to Super Gold. They have become reclusive and sticking to the thickly wooded steep and shady mountainsides. Sounded like typical post rut deer hunting! We would have to work for a good Stag. I had booked a Silver medal with Martin and hoped to find one.

A stalk was in order and we headed up the mountain from the valley floor into the dark and moist cover, slowly moving into the wind hoping to catch a good stag out feeding. It wasn’t long and Alex spots a female and then a stag, Martin and Alex quickly evaluating and discussing the size of the antlers.



They decide it’s likely no better than a Bronze medal class and think we can do better. The Red deer melt away feeding in the bush. He looked pretty good to me!

We continue on and spot another female and I can see some antler tips over a rock but we don’t get a good look and they slip away. We head down off the hillside as light is fading. The bakkie picks us up on the valley floor and Alex spots a big Stag ~500 meters away walking across the road towards the top of a hill. A plan is made and we drive around and park part way up the hill, light is fading and we push hard up the steep slope hoping to get a closer look. The initial though from Alex and Martin is the stag might be high silver or gold medal class.

He gives us the slip as we peer into all the nooks and crannies before darkness sets. I’m feeling good about our chances, two medal stags spotted in just over an hour or so. I was looking forward to the next day!

We head back to the lodge and grab some warmer clothes as we are going to sit over a bait site for an hour, the pigs have been coming in regularly around 7:20pm. Michelle is on the the rifle this evening.




The suns sets, the temperature drops and the wind picks and the pigs are a no show, that’s hunting! I was thinking with all the hunting activity around the valley with all the noise of the dogs that maybe the pigs habits were interrupted.

Upon return to the lodge, Jess presents us with hot towels and some glasses of Sherry! Nice touch!

We drop our gear, shed some layers and sit and talk while having a few beverages. Dinner is ready and we enjoy a great meal of slow roasted Red Deer shank with carrots, mashed potatoes and Spanish hard bread. Michelle grabs one of the three shanks in the roaster while the rest of us share the remainders! Wonderful flavor and falling off the bone tender.

Michelle’s portion and her bottle of wine:



Guy portions:




Michelle and I stayed up chatting and telling stories and laughing with Alex and Jess until midnight, what a great young couple! Oh, they got a kick out of the Ibex rear mount joke Michelle played on Martin!

Morning was going to come awful early!

Day 5

We are up early and meet for a quick breakfast of coffee and toast at 7:30. The darkness beginning to fade with the coming dawn.




The plan for today is to drive to one corner of the property and walk to the other end! The property is over 1000 hectares proper and they also lease surrounding property totaling 2000 + hectares. The morning was bright, sunny and cold on the back of the truck. The animals seemed scarce this morning although we did see a Super Gold Medal Stag running across the ridge. This Stag is well over 200 points and is out of my price range! Interesting that he had jumped the main property fence and was on the “buffer” leased property, believe the fence was at least 2 meters tall.

Time for a walk and stalk as we made our way to the top of a large rock outcropping spotting a glimpse of one Red deer but never got a proper look. Alex had me prepped for a close encounter with a boar as the area was torn up and he had seen them rest up in the rocks, but we never saw or heard one depart as we stood at the top of the rocky hill.



We wound our way down the front side of the rocky hill, scamming the ravines and areas below us without spotting any Stags.

Looking back to where we came down the hill:



We ended up in the valley, crossed over and proceeded to sneak up and along the dark ridge where the sun doesn’t shine much. It was a beautiful walk and we ended up at the top of the opposite mountain where we finished the night before.

Sneaking along we did see a few smaller stags but just youngsters of a few years of age. We descended the hill and walked back up to the lodge. We walked close to 5 miles that morning with a lot of vertical!

Strawberry tree and fruit, there is a statue of a bear feeding from a strawberry tree in Madrid.







An excellent lunch of a Spanish Red Deer stew and chips, what a unique and wonderful taste!




Back out again around 3pm, we weren’t seeing much today and running out of time. I informed Alex and Martin if we ran into a Gold medal, not Super Gold, I would try to take it and pay the upcharge! We wouldn’t be able to hunt here the next day as Martin had arranged the Mouflon hunt for Michelle. He attempted to delay to the afternoon (Monday the 6th of Dec) and the morning of the 7th but another hunting party was using the Mouflon property on the 7th.

We tried hard all afternoon and evening, finding a nice representative stag but I passed.

Hard to see his antlers through the branches and he didn’t stick around long!



Time was running out as the sun was low in the sky when Martin spotted a stag on the opposite hillside. We bailed off the bakkie into a draw and raced up the other side and crept around the small hill, scanning the valley and opposite hillside for a few minutes.




Where has he gone? I finally spotted the Stag and pointed him out to Alex and Martin while asking for the sticks and range, 360 meters.



He didn’t stay still for long and was a nice stag but was too far for sticks and wasn’t staying still. A high representative or low bronze was our guess.

We raced back to the truck to continue our search but nothing big enough to get excited about. We brought our warm clothes with us and sat on a different bait site until 8pm, again no pigs! What bad luck but hey, it’s hunting!

Michelle’s head backed by Venus, Jupiter and Saturn:



We call for the truck and arrive back at the lodge to be greeted by Jess with hot towels and shots of tequila!



Pretty cool liquor cabinet, of Alex’s own design.



We struck out on Red Stags but I may come back to hunt here with my bow in the future during the roar. Alex has the place set-up for bow hunters in elevated blinds, lock-on and ladder stands.



We also saw some great Fallow stags on the estate but I took a really nice Fallow earlier this year free-range in South Africa and having a euro mount done.

I was hoping to have a big Red Stag euro mounted beside him but it’s not in the cards. It’s hunting!

My South African free range Fallow with Adroda Safaris:



A fabulous lasagna for dinner and we were off to bed with a 5 am departure to the Mouflon hunting grounds.





It was hard to leave these wonderful folks and great piece of hunting land. As I mentioned earlier, I may be back with my bow for a Stag rematch during the roar!

Wow! What a great adventure and a great way to see a lot of Spain. Thank you for sharing.

Awesome report. Thankyou and congrats on your Ibex.

Great report and I really like the variety of photos, not just trophy shots!

JCHB

Working on the next days hunt report, hope to have it posted the next day or so. It’s a long one but it will be worth the wait!

Day 6 - Mouflon Hunt and more!

We left the Andujar estate and I was a little sad, what a great place to stay with fantastic hosts and I wanted another chance to hunt a big Red Stag there!

We arrived at the Mouflon hunting area, an estate of 2000 hectares of some relatively flat rocky harvested fields but the majority was very steep and rugged terrain.

We met up with Danny again and he said thank you for waiting for me for the Red Stag. I was a bit confused as we were hunting Mouflon. I asked Martin what he meant and his reply was this estate also has Red Stag!

I let Martin, Danny, Jose the property manager and Francisco the game keeper know the number one priority for the day was to hunt Mouflon for Michelle.

It was cold here, 1 degree C with a breeze! We drove into the estate and started seeing Red Deer out feeding in the harvested grain fields. We began a walk along the edge of the fields through some thick short brush watching the opposite brushy hillside and there’s a stag! Danny and Martin say he’s too small and we can do better. Where have I heard that before?

We are winding our way through the brush along a ridge line when another Stag is spotted, this one is bigger and is medal class.



He’s over 400 meters away, I tell Danny we need to get closer as I wasn’t shooting off sticks that far as well as shooting the low ballistic coefficient bullets. He leads me down the hill into an open area where I can get prone, 350 meters. I’ll take that shot, the Stag has spotted us and has moved since we closed the distance and I dropped prone behind the Blaser.



Danny talked me to his location and I centered up the crosshairs straight up the front leg, let out a deep breath as I squeezed the trigger and watch the stag turn!



We didn’t hear a bullet hit and the Stag didn’t act hit, just wanted out of there!



He didn’t go far and is standing still broadside once again. I squeeze the trigger and he bolts again!

Jose and the gamekeeper were also watching from up above us along the field edge and everyone agreed the stag moved at the shot both times and were clean misses. I asked them to go and check for sure, if I had been just 1 second faster in locating the Stag prior to the first shot I’m sure the stag would have been mine. I was bummed.

We continued along the ridge and came to a ravine in front of us that led up to the fields where we could see a big Mouflon ram out in the field. Way way out in the middle of the field on a ridge giving him a wide field of view.



The question was, how do we approach him without being spotted by him or his flock that were nearby as well as Red and Fallow deer out feeding.

Needless to say, we chased those Mouflon around all morning, never getting closer than 500 meters before they exited stage left! They made us look silly for hours and many miles on foot.

Michelle following the guides trying to outsmart the Mouflon and way too many eyes!



The property manager suggested we try the wooded section of the property and no sooner than we drive into the wooded pines a group of Mouflon is spotted and there is a dark colored animal visible, a ram!



Danny and Michelle bailed out of the car and got set up, but before she could get a clear shot at the ram they took off. Oh, not this again!

We got back in and drove for awhile seeing Fallow and Red Deer bolt at the sight of the vehicle. This property was again so different than any of the previous areas we hunted, open fields, pine forests and deep canyons.

We were coming down a steep hill when on the opposite slope a flock of Mouflon are initially standing and start running to the left around the side of the hill, Michelle takes a picture of the flock as Danny is already heading down the hill to get an angle on them, I tell her to put down the camera and go!!!

She shot the ram with her camera through the windshield before going after Danny, would that cost her a shot opportunity?



Cropped image of the Ram from above photo:




She follows after Danny and he stops at a bend in the road under a tree as I step out of the car and lose sight of the Mouflon as they continue left and my view is blocked by the tree Danny and Michelle are under. She’s prone on the ground behind the rifle when I hear her take a shot and the thump of a hit! I’m a bit surprised since the animals were moving when I last saw them and were pretty far away. I quickly take a few more steps to get a clear view and see the Ram is stumbling down the hill through the brush and falls over on the side of the road! You have got to be kidding me!

I walk down to Danny and he turns to me with a big smile and says 250 meters on 5. He was surprised she hadn’t cranked up the power of the scope off its lowest setting. I tried to explain lower power gives a bigger field of view and 250 meters is easily doable on 5 power.

That’s my girl! I have taken her to the range and she has shot prone before, so this wasn’t exactly new. She’s a fine shot with rifle, revolver and pistols. She has also taken a Blue Wildebeest and giant dog baboon in Africa.

We leave her alone a few moments with her Ram as she gives her thanks as we gather around and congratulate her.






What a fine Ram but we will have to wait for an official measure and score but the consensus was a Sliver Medal 8 or 9 years old with a ton of character.



Bashed up bridge of the nose from fighting:



She wants a shoulder mount for her Mouflon, and rightfully so!



We load up the Mouflon and continue on looking for a Red Stag for me. We drive and glass across the canyons and hillsides looking for a medal class Red stag, seeing quite a few stags and some nice fallow stags, even at noon. I always hear “too small” or “we can do better” from Danny.

Stag hiding in the thick brush:




We have a beauty of a Mouflon ram step out of the brush on our left, trot up the road in front of us before diving back into the thick brush on the right. A very nice looking ram with wide long curls but a tad thin, another year or two and he will be a gold medal.

Picture through the windshield:



Cropped:



We enter into a deep valley with a river running through it and begin glassing the surrounding hills, what a gorgeous location.



Jose spots a medal class Red stag at the top of hill we had just come around but he doesn’t stick around long and disappears into the brush. We decide to go take a look and see if we can spot him. We drive back up the road and walk a firebreak to the top and front of the hill, circling around without seeing him.


Danny receives a call from his lovely wife Paula, she is on her way with lunch. We are all hungry as we burned a ton of calories chasing the Mouflon in circles for over 3 hours in the morning.

On our way back out to the front of the property we spot 3 Red stags and some females on a long open ridge line. They were over 400 meters away with a good breeze, too far shooting the 8x68. I tell Danny we must get closer. Danny and Jose decide to just continue driving up the road , which is not directly towards them but does slightly angle in that direction. We close gap to a bit less than 300 yards as Danny and I slip out of vehicle, circle around the the back and then forward in a crouch along the road, using the car as a bit of cover and the hillside behind us. We have now closed the distance to 250 meters and Danny flips out the bipod and I get snugged up behind the rifle, prone position on the road, with two trees giving us some cover.



Danny tells me the biggest one is the middle stag of the three who are now intently watching us.

I line up the crosshairs on the big stag and squeeze the trigger…”CLICK” as the firing pin falls. I have to pull my left arm from under the buttstock that was providing my vertical adjustment to cycle the left handed bolt. I curse as I cycle the bolt and try to acquire the middle stag again as my sight picture has been broken. On a right handed rifle I would have been able to keep my head on the stock as I cycled the bolt never breaking the sight picture through the scope.

There he is, broadside still standing there. I can see one stag to the right which gives me confidence this is the middle stag. All the deer begin to move to the right including the stag as I calculate wind and walking hold, place the crosshairs on air in front of the walking stag and break the trigger and see the stag fold though the scope! I’m stoked I made a great shot while there was silence from Danny and all the others in the car as they step out. I go from prone to kneeling and pronounce he’s down, I smoked him!

Martin walks up and says “I think you shot the wrong stag”. I said, I shot the 2nd one! What I didn’t know was as I was cycling a new round in the Blaser with my left hand and cursing, the stags had moved from left to right and had stopped again when I acquired the sight picture again. The last stag in line was now in the same general area as the big stag and the first stag was out of view. Without the stags antlers being silhouetted on the skyline, it was hard to make out any details except this one looked good to me!

The three stags:



We get back in and drive the road around which came out on the ridge where the deer were feeding. We got out and walked over the crest of the hill and I’m impressed with my first Red Stag!



Everyone was rooting for me to get a nice medal stag but this will only be a “representative” animal and the mood was a bit drab except for me, I was all smiles!

We have lunch waiting and head to the estate entrance to meet up with Paula. As we are munching down on sandwiches and chips I’m doing a little math in my head. I’ve brought some additional euro with me in case either Michelle or I bagged a Gold medal animal. I ask if I can take another stag on the estate and given the affirmative tell everyone to finish up, let’s go find a bigger stag!

We head back out and the animals are still active as we spy a couple of young Mouflon rams and as we come to an intersection of roads, see a nice stag bolt across and up the hill.






Danny and I bail out and we quickly climb and circle around the hill waiting for the big stag to show himself. I’m up on the shooting sticks…where did he disappear to as we spot some of the smaller stags and females he was following.



We wait a few minutes but he has given us the slip!

We continue looking and glassing the hillsides and valleys but can’t find a medal class stag. The sun is quickly racing towards the horizon as we are passing through an area of pines and thick brush when Jose stops the car, a nice heavy representative stag is just 40 meters or so off the road. He gets nervous and walks away into the brush as Jose pulls forward just a few meters and all of our eyes get big, another stag! This stag is heavy and has nice crowns. It appears he was bedded and is now standing staring at us as Danny turns and says we should try for him.

My wife is in the 2nd vehicle behind us and is able to grab a photo:




I’m in full agreement with Danny but for sure he’s going to bolt and we will lose sight of him in just a few bounds. As Danny opens his door, I do the same as he’s telling me there won’t be time for shooting sticks as I’m telling him just hand me the gun! We take a step forward as he hands me the rifle I push the odd (to me) Blaser tang safely forward as I’m mounting the rifle to my shoulder, acquire the now walking stag and place my shot low into his shoulder through the heart. He’s hit hard and goes down within 50 meters.

Sometimes you just get lucky as the last rays of the sun stream through the forest.



The mood has definitely changed and back slapping and handshakes abound! Both stags are beautiful and the memories will be with me forever. I will have euro mounts done on both stags, where I’m going to put them in the house is the other question!

Danny believes the “click” on the first stag was due to the bolt not being fully locked into place and wasn’t the dirty bolt/firing pin issue we had with the Beceite Ibex. I didn’t inspect the primer on the ejected shell but goes to show that you need to know the correct operation of the firearm. I’ve never used a Blaser R8 before and a left handed rifle at that! I will bring my rifle in the future if at all possible.

I did provide Martin the feedback they should look into a right handed rifle and he told me you can purchase a right handed bolt and it will fit the current Blaser R8 rifle. Since the majority of us are right handed, that should be a simple solution.

The Wife and I bagged all of our target animals, some came with much more difficulty than others but that’s hunting! Never give up, work hard and keep a positive outlook!

Another great dinner, a couple bottles of wine and a bit of dancing (my wife not me) at the Salobre Hotel capped off the day!

Fried chicken!



Slow roasted pork shank, fantastic!!!



Spanish Red



Wife celebrating with the local gentleman!



Learning some new dance moves!



We are enjoying Spain to its fullest!

What a great trip! Thanks for sharing it with us and congratulations to you both on some really nice animals.

Great report, thanks for sharing!

Day 7 & 8

I’m up early and check my email, Delta has sent me a flight cancellation notice for the return to the States!

I access the Delta App but don’t see any flight changes in the itinerary. Hmmm, I jump in the shower to clear some of the cobwebs and try calling and sending messages to Delta, absolutely no response!

Well, the app still shows flights on-time and checking Air France, the primary carrier, all is well. Will need to fill out the new absolutely useless Attestation Form now required by the US but that can wait.

We pack our bags back up and begin the drive back to Madrid for sightseeing the next couple of days. The small town of Villanueva de la Fuente has a couple of nice statues, I had the feeling this was the gateway to Ibex and Stag country:





We try and reach Benedito Taxidermy to finalize our mounts and pay the bill but they were out on holiday. Being tomorrow was a National Holiday they took the week off, good for them! I had prowled their website and had a good idea of what we wanted for the shoulder and euro mounts as well as the pricing. Martin and I sat down and figured out the approximate bill and I left the euro’s with him to pay the taxidermist. Yes, I trusted Martin 100 percent!

We arrive back in Madrid around noon and have been talking food the 3 hours on the drive back, at least I did! We decided on paella as we haven’t had any this trip and it was highly recommended by everyone when we mentioned Spain!

Martin was able to book us into one of his favorite small family owned restaurants.



Appetizers of cheese and blood sausage, love it! I haven’t had blood sausage in many many years, Polish Kiszka. This was one of my my Mother’s favorites and brought back some fond memories.



Can’t go to Spain without seafood and chicken paella! Wonderful!





After eating our fill, Martin dropped us off at the hotel I had booked for 2 nights, VP Jardín de Recoletos. The location was just over a block away from the triumph arch Puerta de Alcala, Independence fountain and park. Highly recommend staying at this hotel:



With a balcony and sitting area, I knew Michelle would like this room! Happy Wife, Happy Life!



We told Martin we were fine for the evening and to get home to see his Wife, who was 39 weeks pregnant, as well as his daughter! Michelle was really worried we would be out hunting and Martin would “get the call”, everything worked out and the beautiful baby was delivered this week, congratulations Martin!

We bundled up and took a stroll that evening to the Arch and Park, all lit up with Christmas lights!









We did stop at a few stores as Michelle was eyeing up some Persian rugs!



I did my best to keep her out of the Prada, Gucci and other high end stores to protect my credit report!

Martin met us in the morning to give us a personal tour of Madrid! We had a great time and sampled many different foods, saw the sights and finished up with another great restaurant!

Since POTUS changed the COVID testing rules mid-trip to 24 hours prior to departure, we also fit that into the days activities.



Our return was via Air France from Madrid through Charles de Gaulle direct to Atlanta. CDG was a mess with long lines for Passport checks and a short 1 hr 25min layover made it a bit stressful but we made it with a few minutes to spare. Air France did hold our departure until all passengers were aboard.

The wife enjoyed Air France Premium Economy, a significant upgrade over Delta Comfort +. I told her to enjoy it but don’t get used to it!

Upon arrival in Atlanta, we had a 2.5 hour layover before catching our final leg home to Pensacola and needed every minute. If I had brought rifles I doubt we would have made the connection.

Passport checks for US citizens was taking well over an hour, followed by collecting and rechecking our bags and getting held up in security as they pulled everything out of our carry-ons even though we were TSA pre-check. We had already gone through security checks in Madrid, again @ CDG so we followed the same directions once again and pulled out our electronics as instructed.

They pulled our bags aside and wanted my binoculars, spotting scope, extra lens from my wife’s camera pulled out, as well as her camera. Whatever!

Note to those non-US citizens coming for DSC/SCI, or allowed to come, don’t book a connecting flight within 4 hours! The non-US citizen queue was full and based upon our wait, I would guess the wait time was 4 hours.




I’ll make one additional post with our final thoughts!

Sounds like a wonderful trip. Congratulations on your trophies. Spain is a beautiful country.


Arjun Reddy
Hunters Networks LLC
30 Ivy Hill Road
Brewster, NY 10509
Tel: +1 845 259 3628

DSC Booth 1212 (Dallas 6th to 9th January, 2022)
SCI Booth 1751 (Las Vegas 19th to 22nd January, 2022)
Western Hunting and Conservation Expo Booth 444 (Utah 10th to 13th February)

Final Thoughts

I highly recommend Martin Rodriguez of Adictosacazar. Being his first American clients to hunt in Spain, I expected this may be a learning experience for both parties but Martin’s attention to detail as well as being there as a guide and interpreter made for a fantastic trip!

- Communication was excellent from the time we first started developing the hunting/tourist itinerary to our arrival in Madrid. Martin’s english is quite good and Danny’s was ok. The hosts of the Andjaur estate, Alex and Jess, spoke perfect English. The local land managers/wardens and folks in the small towns didn’t speak much English, if any. Martin was there to bridge the gap. Next time I’ll practice up on my Spanish!

- I really enjoyed hunting all the different areas from the top of the snowy peaks to citrus orchards and everything in between. What a great experience and looking forward to hunting in Spain again!

- I had only a limited time window for the hunt and came up with a long list of desired species which entailed a bit of road travel at times. The vehicles (Mercedes and Land Rover) used were all very nice, no complaints, and made the road time very comfortable.

- Accommodations were nice in Salobre, rooms were relatively small, but very clean and perfectly adequate. The food at the Hostel was simply outstanding! The Andujar estate we stayed for two nights was 5 star with outstanding hosts. I’m looking forward to returning in the future to bow hunt during the roar.

Things I would do differently:

- Allow more time for hunting each species or reduce the number of animals targeted. We booked for 2 “representative” Ibex, Stag and Mouflon in effectively 5 1/2 days. Recommend at least 2.5 full days for each species as the weather, animal behavior and travel times can impact the success. I was perfectly happy with the hunting and if we didn’t bag one of the targeted animals, well, it’s hunting and I was just thrilled with the experience.

- Bring my own rifle. Using 3 different rifles over the 6 days wasn’t optimum, especially with models of which I was not familiar and/or with the bolt on the wrong side. I can understand the issues a lefty can have with a right handed rifle! As to the Blaser R8, between being left handed and it needing a little maintenance caused a bit of frustration. The shots can be long and I’m very comfortable with my own kit as I regularly shoot over 800 yards at my local range.

Highest compliments to Martin and his team for making this adventure a success! I am planning on hunting with Martin again in the future, just need to figure out some future dates around other hunts already booked.

Martin’s website is:

www.adictosacazar.com

and his email address:

adictosacazar@gmail

If anyone wants more information or has questions, please reach out to me through the boards messaging feature.

It was just great having you guys! we had so much fun! worked very hard for the hunts. Cant ask for better clients that have become friends, glad you enjoy my service, Until next year, new adventure.

35Fan,

I've followed your report with great interest as I will be on a similiar hunt with Martin in Oct 2022. Sadie and I are very much looking forward to hunting Spain with Martin and assisting him in the future.

Outstanding report!

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
35Fan,

I've followed your report with great interest as I will be on a similiar hunt with Martin in Oct 2022. Sadie and I are very much looking forward to hunting Spain with Martin and assisting him in the future.

Outstanding report!

Mark

We will have a great time! Sadie and you will love Spain like 35fan and his wife! Cant wait.

Appreciate all the kind words from everyone, Spain was wonderful!

@Mark H. Young - October should be a great time to go, probably a bit warmer than December!

More Pictures Of 35Fan Trophy's:

Great Pictures and thanks for taking the time to post fine report. Sounds like a great trip, Martin's smile says it all!

quote:

Originally posted by mbogobutch:
Great Pictures and thanks for taking the time to post fine report. Sounds like a great trip, Martin's smile says it all!

We sure had a great Time!!! you must give it a try!

Excellent hunting article for anyone considering a Spain hunt. I/we will attend the SCI convention Jan. to discuss hunt options with many outfitters but will certainly consider your outfitter. Many thing will factor into upcoming hunt, as you know. My desire is for Beceite and Gredos Ibex only! Have a great red stag from NZ. We have been fortunate to hunt a few exotic regions but I am aging, rapidly. Therefore I want to close out my big game hunting with a true adventure.
Thank you for an amazing hunt adventure story. MTG

quote:

Originally posted by MTGunner:
Excellent hunting article for anyone considering a Spain hunt. I/we will attend the SCI convention Jan. to discuss hunt options with many outfitters but will certainly consider your outfitter. Many thing will factor into upcoming hunt, as you know. My desire is for Beceite and Gredos Ibex only! Have a great red stag from NZ. We have been fortunate to hunt a few exotic regions but I am aging, rapidly. Therefore I want to close out my big game hunting with a true adventure.
Thank you for an amazing hunt adventure story. MTG

Glad to help out on your Adventure!

quote:

Originally posted by MTGunner:
Excellent hunting article for anyone considering a Spain hunt. I/we will attend the SCI convention Jan. to discuss hunt options with many outfitters but will certainly consider your outfitter. Many thing will factor into upcoming hunt, as you know. My desire is for Beceite and Gredos Ibex only! Have a great red stag from NZ. We have been fortunate to hunt a few exotic regions but I am aging, rapidly. Therefore I want to close out my big game hunting with a true adventure.
Thank you for an amazing hunt adventure story. MTG

Glad you enjoyed our adventure and was great talking with you and the Mrs last night!

We certainly had a great time visiting Spain and hunting with Martin.

Just a quick update, Michelle's Mouflon score just made Silver and the larger of the two Stag's was a solid Bronze.

The Ibex did not make Bronze but I had booked "representative", the hunting was great which is what both Michelle and I really wanted out of the trip to Spain.

We are having shoulder mounts done in Spain of the Mouflon and the first Ibex taken in the snowy mountains while the other Ibex and Red Stags will be euro mounts. Will post up some pics when they are finished, hopefully within the next few weeks.

We have also booked a follow-on hunt with Martin for October 2023, both Chamois sub-species will be the focus.