As usual Bulgaria didn't disappoint. A client and I were hunting for red stag which was our main focus. The Red stag rut in september is truly an amazing hunt. The forest is alive with the roar of stags all around. Some say that they can tell a bigger older stag from a younger smaller stag by the sound of the roar and others dispute it. Nevertheless approaching a roaring stag gets your heart rate up and is worth experiencing.

The stag I shot (yet to see one growing on a tree so no harvesting for me) had 17 points which is the kind of stag I was hoping to shoot. As in most of Europe in Bulgaria a red stag trophy is evaluated by the weight of the skull and horns after being cleaned without the lower jaw. The official weight is recorded by three members of the game department so there is no hanky panky involved. We estimate that these two stags will be in the 10+ kilo range. As the trophy price is on a sliding scale, clients must specify what size range stag they are looking for so that your guide will know to select the right one. Obviously there is some margin of error allowed.

My client's stag




The stag I shot




The hunts are morning and evening stalking when the stags are most active. Once the sun comes up they seem to stop roaring and you return to the lodge for lunch and a bit of a rest before heading out for the evening's hunt. The weather is typical fall weather with cool mornings and evenings, but we hit a warm spell which didn't seem to matter! Hunting can also be done from a high seat for those who prefer this style of hunting.

Aside from the stag, we shot a couple of small boars each. As with many places wildboar numbers are down in BG thanks to the African Swine flu but are slowly making a come back.

The food and lodging is always great in BG and we were well looked after.









Replicas of some record size stags from that area.


With the price of quality elk hunts these days, I think that the red stag hunts in Eastern Europe offer a great alternative and a real value for money. These are all 100% wild, native, free range deer. Our hunt was five hunting days and we were done by day 3, but for those looking for fallow, roe buck and boar a few extra days is recommended.

These hunts are very popular with European hunters and the rut is only a few weeks long so for anyone looking to go one of these hunts I advise to book early to secure a spot in a good area.

Thanks for your time.


Arjun Reddy
Hunters Networks LLC
www.huntersnetworks.com
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Brewster, NY 10509
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I say it all the time to my friends here Arjun
Best bargain for big deer is Europe as you don’t pay trophy fee if you don’t shoot one
Here in the West, elk guided hunts are overpriced and your chance is maybe 20% on half way decent bull you’re out of money one way or the other
Age of the stag is best found by their acting then calls as calls can be so deceiving.
Guides who know the stags will know some of them so they can tell, but by sound only…for visiting hunter no way

Arjun,

Well done! You are having altogether too much fun. Beautiful crowns on those stag.

Mark