[The Beauty Of Nature, "add Yours"]

Frozen forest 

[Wild boar hunting in Romania]

A picture sent to me by a friend who organizes nice wild boar hunts

[Wild boar hunting in Romania]

The driven hunt season for wild boar is ending in Romania (allowed until last day of this month), I had some great hunts and I managed to shot 3 piglets in total. No big boar in my scope  at driven hunts but my "luck" does not surprise me  To be honest, I had a  3 years old male boar in 25m from me but the slug was diverted by a tree branch  and he went away.

2 of my piglets. Small but tasty

It was not the case for my friends, a nice season for most of them...

A gold medal boar hunted by a gamekeeper 

 

2 weeks left, hopefully I will have the chance to shot at least one big boar this season. If not, no problem, we are allowed to hunt wild boar males all year  but the method will change in order to not disturb the sows (high seat and stalking)

[Driven hunting in Romania]

Driven hunting is not only about big game in Romania. Well, in my case it is, I spending most of my time in the mountain areas but once in a while I will also go to a small game hunt.

This time I had a very bad weather with temperatures bellow -7 degrees Celsius and a constant wind (which will make it worse).

Here we could see the beaters at big distance from us...

...and here me with one of my hares. 2 shot, 2 missed by me.

 

We have big problems with hares on most of the hunting associations due to a mixture of factors (modern agriculture, poaching with Greyhounds, insufficient funds allocated for fox hunting and pest control) but here I have seen a decent amount of them. 

 

[Driven hunting in Romania]

2 great boars from the last weekend - 200+ kg and a young one of ~ 150kg. The boars from mountain areas are smaller but the breed is pure and the tusks are usually bigger. 

Nothing on my name, I had 2 close encounters with bears (a small one and a really large one - more than 450 CIC points) but they passed trough without making any problems. 

We also had great dogs with us (sadly, not in the picture)

[Driven hunting in Romania]

On 29/10/2018 at 16:56, Boghossian said:

I will contact you when it comes time to come hunt in Romania!

Anytime

I think that I will fly to UK sooner  (my employer is about to sign a new contract with an UK partner)

[Driven hunting in Romania]

This one was hunted by an old hunter at a driven hunt in an area next to the one I'm hunting. It is no additional cost for members  

[Driven hunting in Romania]

2-3 drives, depending on results, weather and terrain. We could never do 9-10 shorter drives because the dogs will chase wild animals at large distances.

It is not a rule that the biggest boars are shot at night because those are very careful (is easy to hunt a boar at feeding points but is not so easy to hunt a big male. I had to wait for more than 6 hours in cold weather for such a large male once) . 

I will search some pictures with big tuskers hunted in driven hunts but my gallery is huge  

[The Beauty Of Nature, "add Yours"]

[My red stag saga]

....and yes! The technical issue was generated by some sort of content limit for a post. Could be this increased? 

[My red stag saga]

• 16.09, evening, 'Molidis' -  The first roar is early,  07:09 PM. When the sun goes down, 2 females and a calf are showing in the clearing at ~140m, close to an apple tree. After a while a young male is also exiting the protective forest.  He had decent antlers for his age but it was in a bad physical shape (too weak for this period of time, we also discovered later some strange things on kidneys and lungs) and I received the permission to shoot.  I would normally wait for a better position and to come closer but the wind was changing and the oldest female was already alerted. I take the shoot despite the bad position and I aim so that the bullet will exit trough his chest.  The females are jumping back in the forest and the stag will start running down in the opening. I start smoking a cigarette (to give him time to lay down) and we start moving to the place of the shot. It's already dark so we need to use the flashlight. Nothing! Not a single blood drop. I could not explain since I remember that the red dot of was in the right place. We start going down on his path but we are unable to see anything until we start hearing some big noise in some thick bush. He was down and we forced him to flee!! Damn! Next time I will smoke at least 2 cigarettes! At 20:56, despite the gunshot and the flashlight, another female with a calf is exiting the forest.
• 17.09, morning, "Molidis" - Back for searching the stag. On the road to forest meadow we see a promising roe buck, another one that should be hunted and a roe deer.  We start to search uphill but without  luck.  On the top of the hill, right when I was thinking to go back to take a dog,  my companion finds the first blood on a branch.  The shot was high and with no exit wound, internal bleeding.  

From that point it was easy, it was no way to go left or right due to the trees and rocks and the blood trail was constant. I found him after 200m but a lynx was faster than me.  The fat from the near of his anus is eated first and this one was hungry, he also took large pieces from back legs.  We are quickly opening him to throw away the internal organs and the blood. After that we used a large amount of nettles to fill him (something traditional to prevent meat damage during warm weather around here) . We took the head and rushed back to the car and further to a hill in order to call for help and to drag the carcass  

My aim was poor or the stag moved, don't know. The entry point was trough the left back leg and I found the projectile in the skin,  under the right front leg.  The damage was done to the muscles, kidneys, stomach, liver and to the right lung. No major bone was hit, except for 2 broken ribs at exit. 

Back to my car, a small bear was looking at me from less than 20m...

[My red stag saga]

• 09.09, evening, "Boburi" - The weather is too warm. The group of males splitted in search for females. I was able to see a group of 6 roe deers
• 15.09, evening, 'Molidis' -  wind and some rainfall . I decided to spend the night  in an abandoned cottage there because a young stag was roaring  despite the bad weather.  The gamekeeper tried to provoke him but he scared (he was too small). At 03:00AM I see a 2 years stag. It is very cold in the morning and I manage to "sleep" 10-15minutes from time to time on a broken door. I could not sleep more because I could clearly hear some bears eating  nuts nearby .  I could barely control my car in the morning (wet slope) and I'm forced to use my Discovery 1 at maximum just to not crash on the trees. 

Here is the view from the cottage

[My red stag saga]

Back to my reds... The story of the first one:

Just to avoid the mistakes from last seasons, when I had troubles trying to remember the details of the hunt in the correct order, I started to keep a journal. It was a good decision!

I requested a permit from the first day of the season, despite the warm whether. The association was concerned that the meat will be damaged (this is an important sourse of income if is a large animal) so I promised them that I will buy it.  The hunting area was new for me (and for the gamekeeper) and it was a mountain area. I prepared my trip by taking multiple hunting permits in that area during summer (roe buck and boars) and I'm glad about that because it was a great experience...

Enough intro:

• 01.09, 05:30, 'Curmatura' - The gamekeeper knows about a group of 6 males (some of them "selections)" that are frequently seen in a pasture full of apple trees. Sadly, a farmer started to collect some hay early in the morning, disturbing the area. Animals seen: 2 roe bucks, a roe deer and a fox
• 01.09, 20:00, 'Valea Siriului' -  I start stalking in an area where we knew about a large male. I'm waiting for the moon to rise in order to be able to use my scope. A huge stag is showing, vigorous body  but with some asymmetrical  antlers. The gamekeeper says that this was a trophy and not a selection, so I could not pull the trigger .  Another young stag is appearing and stays for a while. The clouds will now block the moon light and we are in total darkness. Some small mammals (don't know the english names) are making funny noises in the trees until they are stopping suddenly. I manage to distinguish a low noise close to me and I decide to turn on my flashlight (I was unable to find a position that will protect at least my back). It was a good thing! A 2 years bear was very close to me and started to threaten and spit me. I'm also  swearing him and I retreat keeping an eye on him...  
• On the road back home I have seen 2 red stag females and a calf close to the road. Close to them, a wolf passed the road (probably he knew that he may find some food there). +3 foxes
• 02.09, morning, 'Curmatura' -  Nothing. In the previous day, a farmer made too much noise in the area.
• 02.09, evening, 'Molidis' -  We climbed for about 1h up to a high hill -"Monteoru".  It was a nice view but no roaring there. One roe buck, a roe deer, a wild cat and a hedgehog

[My red stag saga]

I try to post the story for the first stag but I'm receiving the same error as at the roebuck topic... What is the problem? Is any limit for the message length or what? 

[My red stag saga]

L.E. Is not difficult to prove the impact of wolves on other game species if we are comparing the natural increase of population for deer and boars from our country with the one from countries with no large predators (yes, we also need to consider bears and lynxes) . The harvest is smaller in our country and this is because they are eating young animals...

We had a camera at a feeding point for boars and a saw had 7 small piglets. After a while only 5. Then 4, then 2... 

[My red stag saga]

They prefer to hunt boars, especially if is a year with less snow (a red stag will be more difficult to catch if they could run free). A boar male will be very difficult to hunt due to his armor,stamina and sharp tusks but a saw or a piglet will be a delicious dinner  (they are eating almost everything, only the skull and the backbone will remain)

Keep in mind that they are very intelligent and great opportunists ==> they will eat anything if they can, weak or strong (that image with the wolf as a great "doctor" of the forest is just a delusion of the romantic ecology  We need wolves but in controlled numbers). The most impact is on the young animals, not experienced enough and easy to catch.

3 years ago, we found the carcasses of more than 3 red stag females in a small area and the reason for that was that 2 big trees blocked a pass after a blizzard. A huge wall of stone on the right and a 20m abyss on the left. They quickly exploited the opportunity  and started to push anything they could hunt in that direction. We took a chainsaw and destroyed the blockade  

[My red stag saga]

21 hours ago, Born Hunter said:

Have you (or can you) hunt wolves, biriuck?

Until a few years ago this was possible. Now is very hard to get a permit based only on damage done to the shepherds. Let's say that a small pack will kill 20-30 sheep in one attack, until you will obtain the permit to hunt them, they will be far away (they are traveling 30-50km in one night and are not staying too much in one area) .

A few years ago it was possible to shoot them at driven hunts (with a disciplined hunter and a big amount of luck) or  at bait (one of their kills or another animal - they like the dog meat ) 

This is a wolf hunted 2 years ago by a friend of mine, a big male hunted at a driven hunt. The dog that is next to the wolf is a tall one, he has a name derived from that ("Calul", "the horse" in english)

When taking hunting offers from countries with wolves, don't put too much hope and consider yourself very lucky if you will hunt one. If an outfitter is able to provide that then is mostly at bait. Hunting a wolf in a driven hunt or while stalking other species is a matter of luck because is a very cunning animal and is usually able to escape. The outfitters are usually mentioning wolves when speaking with the clients from western countries just to gain their interest about areas of true wilderness.  

Speaking of red stag hunting, in my area, wolves are one of the main reasons that are forcing the stags to not roar  while they are around. It is very frustrating to track a stag for 2 days and to decide to go after him in the next morning or evening and see that no stag is roaring in that area  anymore - a sudden silence.

 

[My red stag saga]

On 26/10/2018 at 17:46, Boghossian said:

These are very high quality trophies - very nice Carpathian red deer.

 

It is nice to hear about real wilderness hunting in Europe, not just fenced areas. Do you feed the stags in the winter? The fallow is also a beauty - much better than the bucks we see in the majority of England.

I hope you are offered better rates than the tourist hunters - hunting in Romania is very expensive by the looks of things!

Thank you  

Yes this is still possible in Romania mostly due to the fact that more than 1/3 of the country is in the mountain area and the intensive agriculture is hard to implement. Also we had a good policy for managing the big predator species (keeping them small but not eliminating them) and they helped us to maintain vigorous  populations of red  deer, roe deer, chamois and wild boars. Now this is in danger due to over protection (some "green" propaganda group managed to obtain this under the pretext of some stupid EU legislation created long time ago when EU had no country with big predators )  

Usually, we are not feeding them but when we have years with too much snow, we will send them some food. In most places, this is not really used by deers because they will prefer some young branches of blackberries or other trees. We are giving them salt.

The fallow buck was hunted in an area that is not so great for big trophies. In the west of the country we have better areas to hunt this kind of animal but was to far for me. (the best area for this seems to be Socodor)

Yes, the prices are much better for the members of the association (~800E the small one and ~1500E the second stag + fuel, food,accommodation, tips)

[My red stag saga]

My vacation is over - finally  

I managed to hunt a small wild boar on a driven hunt (and I also missed 2 foxes ) and I was able to hunt my first fallow deer. The rut season is at his peak in Romania and a friend of mine just told me about this opportunity. After to splendid mornings of stalking, I finally had a chance to take a shot to this male.

It was a moving target and I had to shot trough a small window in the dense forest. The male was hit in the chest (close to the right leg) and I recovered the projectile from the skin, near the tail. Despite this, he managed to raise again when I was close to him so I decided to send him another bullet to end the suffering quickly (it was clear that we would not be able to run anyway). 

Is an interesting species to hunt, I had a great time but, in my opinion, is not comparable with the emotions from a red stag hunt during the rut ...

[My red stag saga]

10 hours ago, Yokel Matt said:

Well worth the wait by the look of him. No trip is ever a waste - always something to either learn or appreciate.

I subscribe to that. I learned alot while searching our mountains for this animal.

In the first year, I obtained the hunting permit too late (near the end of the rut season) due to the fact that we had many foreign turists and none was available. At the end of the rut season and after it, they are retreating to the high pastures in order to recover the lost fat. Due to that, the effort to track them is intense (but is somehow compensated by the view)

I managed to see a stag but my lack of experience was decisive and I was unable to shot.

In the next year I had no luck. Is the only explanaition... The roaring was weak in that season and we had an intense rut only 2 days but we also had a tourist in that period and he was unable to shot despite the fact that he had great opportunities fort that (a great steag at ~80m).

The season was also ruined by warm weather, shepperds with no respect for the law and wolves. 

For this season I was more prepared (but is a a long writing and I'm not home yet, I hope to also hunt a wildboar )

[My red stag saga]

In Romania, the wild animals are not the property of the land owner. The wild animals are the property of the state. The hunting associations will win the right to administer well delimited hunting areas (from min 3000 ha in the plain areas up to min 10.000 ha in the mountains). I'm a member in 2 different ones. This one has ~30 hunting areas with almost everything (from quail and ducks up to red stag, bears and chamois).

You could also "hunt" in a fenced area. The animals from there are not under the hunting law and they are the property of the land owner.

Both of them are wild animals, hunted in less populated areas. I will never hunt in a fenced area.

[My red stag saga]

After 3 unsuccessful seasons, I managed to shoot my first rest stag male (a "selection" - a selection is an animal that is injured, sick or has the signs that will never produce a good quality trophy)

...and, after some more work, a trophy

I'm happy equally for both of them

I promise to also write the story for this hunt in the  next days (most probably after my vacation is over)

[Cooking an animal hunted by you]

I have a new one

It is very very simple, so simple that I'm somehow reluctant to call it a "recipe"

You need to hunt a red stag male (it is not important if is in the rut season or not) and take the heart and the liver. I suggest to also take the kidneys but they are for the one that could handle a dish with "flavor"   .  Burn some charcoal or even some dead wood  on the field and cut the heart and the liver in long slices, 1 inch thick, and rub them with salt before throwing them to the grill. 

Be careful to not overcook them and remember to also have some wine or brandy. It is important to prepare them in the first hours after hunt (like all internal organs) and I guarantee that the emotion of the hunt will be somehow added to the taste

Don't worry, it's enough for the entire hunting party. A red stag hearth is huge, the liver is even bigger...

[Roebuck - the smallest from the "big game" list in Romania]

I have some more pictures and stories but I'm unhappy because I'm unable to post the text for 3 pictures posted before....

[The Beauty Of Nature, "add Yours"]