Has anyone been to Hungary for driven boar?

pip

Well-Known Member
Hi. As the title suggests, has anyone got any experiance of driven boar hunting in Hungary? Was the experience good/bad/indifferent, how much was the cost, were there many boar, what outfitter did you use, would you go again? The reason I ask is that I am organising our bi-annual driven boar trip and fancy a change from Poland.

Thanks in anticipation, Pip.
 
Hi Pip,
we go to Spanish mountains and do driven deer and boar. Bags are 30+ a day and are all wild. 6 guns and 5* accom.

My friend goes with Field & Forest ( Paul Smith), not sure where but recons it is very good.
 
I too have been with field and forest, hunting open areas. The accomodation and standard of hospitality was excellent. I personally didnt see any more boar than in Lithuania, croatia etc. I saw 2, shot 2. I also thought it was a bit off, and surprising! that our hosts charged us for boar that we had shot at and wounded and were not on the game cart at the end of the hunt! If the guns involved had known, they would have kept their mouths shut when they asked beaters to look for boar they thought they had hit. SO that put a sour taste on an otherwise a good trip for me.
 
Hi Pip,
we go to Spanish mountains and do driven deer and boar. Bags are 30+ a day and are all wild. 6 guns and 5* accom.

My friend goes with Field & Forest ( Paul Smith), not sure where but recons it is very good.
Hi Chopper
Which outfitter do you use for Spain?
Pip
 
Hungry is great , plenty of game about , price ? no idea mate i was invited by the owner never paid for anything
 
If he intends to go too much later in the year he will not get driven boar as the sows will either be pregnant or have piglets at heal and on a driven, fast and furious, shoot it is sometimes/most times hard to differentiate between what to shoot and what not.
Shooting from high seats or stalked with a guide is available all year round but isn't as exciting.
 
If he intends to go too much later in the year he will not get driven boar as the sows will either be pregnant or have piglets at heal and on a driven, fast and furious, shoot it is sometimes/most times hard to differentiate between what to shoot and what not.
Shooting from high seats or stalked with a guide is available all year round but isn't as exciting.
Eddy, please repeat that in English.
 
The driven season is normally/usually between mid October to mid January.
The reason for that is that both sexes can be shot during that period without upsetting the balance.
The females being pregnant but not too far forward and the offspring from the present year will be forward enough to survive without their mother.
Boar can be shot all year round but usually from high seats or stalked to enable selective culling to take place.
I have quoted mid October to mid January but certain countries, and even certain areas within a country in Europe, can and often do, change the open season based on the population and health of the Boar in their territory normally by either starting a week or so earlier or extending it by a week or so.
That's the best I can do for now as I have not learnt to speak or write 'Mendip' yet but am working on it :D
 
The driven season is normally/usually between mid October to mid January.
The reason for that is that both sexes can be shot during that period without upsetting the balance.
The females being pregnant but not too far forward and the offspring from the present year will be forward enough to survive without their mother.
Boar can be shot all year round but usually from high seats or stalked to enable selective culling to take place.
I have quoted mid October to mid January but certain countries, and even certain areas within a country in Europe, can and often do, change the open season based on the population and health of the Boar in their territory normally by either starting a week or so earlier or extending it by a week or so.
That's the best I can do for now as I have not learnt to speak or write 'Mendip' yet but am working on it :D
:lol: Mendip is a different language Eddy, you sure have that right!

Going back to my original post, I was planning a trip for next winter (12/13). However, after doing some research I'm 99% sure I will be taking my group to Serbia on this occasion.
 
He has but is planning on later in 2012. I thought he/they might join us. Any one for 20th to 23rd of January in Hungary ?
Well I'm back and almost settled. Boy what a trip. Two myths put to rest straight away.
1. Hungary is flat - no it isn't ! it may be mostly flat but where we went the mountains, more like steep hills but just as much a challenge walking into position as some other places I've been, see attached picture.
2. Anything less than .30 calibre will not touch driven boar - yes it will. One of the guys used a .243 and shot dead three rather large boar with no trouble at all. One ran probably ten yards and dropped but so did some of the others that had been hit by rather large calibre rifles.
The organisation was splendid, we were given crib sheets to show us where we were going and positions to take and from where the beaters were coming. Mostly delivered to our positions by various 4x4 vehicles, so for some (me) real luxury !!
The accomodation and hotel facilities were splendid and we were well looked after by the hotel staff.
The weather was good, there had been snow before we arrived but we were lucky, all we had was hard frost, bright sun and a bitingly cold wind.
The first day, we accounted for twelve rather large pigs with talk of another two being collected after we moved and a Fallow.
I use the term 'we accounted for' rather reservedly as I could not hit a barn door so just enjoyed the lads company rather than make a contribution to the bag !!
The second day was another driven boar dream !! but again my shooting was not up to scratch but even without my help the gang managed to put twenty six boar and four Fallow in the bag.
I must admit I had so many chances but could not get it right, I gave a foot lead at short ranges and more at further ranges but still only managed to destroy a few trees :(
When the snow clears the foresters will know where I stood as there will be used brass everywhere !!
One young lad put a few of us to shame.
He had never been on a driven boar shoot and hadn't owned his rifle for long having only just managed to get it a few weeks before we set off. It was a Winchester underlever (cowboy!! ) gun in 30-30 calibre with iron sights.
On one of the drives he was in a good position with a few pigs presenting them selves, probably feeling confident as Pete was a novice !! he taught them a lesson !! I was further down the line and when he started I thought he'd joined a pheasant shoot !! he fired eight rounds and accounted for three large boar. It was like a butchers shop around his peg !! Although I didn't manage to contribute anything to the bag I was very happy with the whole outing but the icing on the cake was seeing the smile on Pete's face when the drive had finished.
On the return trip to the airport we made a detour to the Diana shop in Budapest and drooled over the things we wish we could afford or were available here in the UK.
We then went on to a Hungarian Restaurant where we immediately brought the reputaion down !!
There were obviously office workers, well dressed couples that appeared to be entertaining clients all suited and booted, that included the ladies ;) and we turned up dressed for travelling.
The food was all typical Hungarian and, for me, was an eye opener. The others had been there before and knew what to expect.
The starter, a Goulash soup served in an enamel 'bucket' was more like an all in stew and would have been enough for a main meal for two !!
Then followed the main meal, we all had various individual choices, but again of such portions to make the average guy struggle to get it down.
Then there were still one or two of the group that had a sweet, how they managed that I will never know !!
The beer and wine flowed all the time so you can imagine how we all felt on the last leg of our journey to the airport.
We all managed to get home and are most probably planning/saving/practicing ready next year.
Not many photos I'm afraid, new camera and a bit too technical for me. I'll take my Brownie with me next time !!
 
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There is little I can add to Eddie,s write up on this trip. It went well for us,very well :) Everyone got to put lead downrange,some lots of it !
This was our 3rd trip with the same outfitter. However we took a different package and paid a basic price and then paid for the bag shot on the day.There was a cap on it so the sky was not the limit.
Previous years we had paid a fixed price with a rebate for not achieving the minimum amount of shots or pigs shot.
This time it was in the operators interest to get as many pigs shot as possible.We were only to happy to oblige.
DSCF0148.jpgDSCF0155.jpgDSCF0151.jpgDSCF0153.jpgDSCF0159.jpg
There was the obligatory beating of wild boar virgins and those who shot their first red.
A great moment for myself was when a roebuck in velvet came bouncing right up to my peg and only clocked me when I spoke aloud and said,you,re in a lot of fecking trouble! I,ve never seen an animal take off so quickly.

If anyone wants to organise a trip there this is the website www.nagyvadhunting.hu Travel time from Budapest is about 1 hour and the forests are anything from 15km to 80km from the hotel in Ballassagyarmat.
The weekend of January 18th 2013 is already booked :)
 
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Nice one guys, looks like a good trip with plenty of pigs. How was the weather? Looks like a trace of snow on the ground?
 
Angus & eddie, as I said on email, I really regret not making this trip, needs must.

Angus, do you think paying per head focused the outfitters attention on making sure enough pigs crossed you bows ?

Next year definitely.
 
Angus & eddie, as I said on email, I really regret not making this trip, needs must.

Angus, do you think paying per head focused the outfitters attention on making sure enough pigs crossed you bows ?

Next year definitely.
1St Brian,sorry you couldnt make it.It was the best trip I have been on,total of 4.3 there and one to Morocco which I can only describe as chaotic madness,another story.
we paid 390Euro for our package of Hungarian hunting licence,local insurance,3 nights 1/2 board in a decent hotel,lunch in the field and transfers from hotel to hunt and back. Transfer from Ferighy Airport was 60 Euro per head and the driver was ours for Monday while we visited Diana hunting in Bud and had a knees up at Mrs.Miggins restaurant. 20 Euro single room supplement and we tipped the hotelstaff,beaters,ghillies as we felt appropriate.

The daily rate was based on the amount of pigs shot.10-19 boar per day was 400 and 20+ was 500 per day and there were lower rates but as we shot a shed load I dont remember what they were. easy maths 14 one day 20+ the next =400+500+390+60=1350.

So yes it was in Zoltans interest for us to grass as many as possible.
 
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