The cold rains of October seemed to mark the end of the red stag rut season for us in Romania. I finally had some rest and I'm able to have a drink, look back to this season and organize my memories.
My initial plan for this year was to buy a permit for myself and look for something really interesting (old, abnormal or very big) and, if no luck with it, to shoot one for salami and sausages towards the end of the season.
This was changed by a call from G., a guy I have met on a hunting forum ~8 years ago. We had a few beers together in Reading, exchanged phone numbers and agreed to hunt together in the near future in Romania. Many things happened (COVID, family, work) and we did not had the chance to do it.
This time, G. put me in contact with 2 of his friends (L. and R.) that wanted to hunt a Carpathian stag. After learning what and how they wanted to hunt, I managed to secure 2 stag permits in a state managed area nearby. I knew the gamekeeper there ( a very capable guy) and the area has both thick forests and also large openings at high altitude.
After a short while, G. contacted me again and said that he decided to join the guys if possible. He also said that he has no size limit (very good because the most annoying thing is to have a guest that is limited to 9-10kg and pass the chance to shoot a 12-13kg one) but, obvious , he asked if they could stay together somehow.
I was not able to secure a third permit in the same hunting area but I found that a neighboring one had a total quota of 6 stags and that the regular customer did not paid the advance yet. Both me, my partner and even my father in law knew the terrain here and we decided to move the group there after the clients agreed with their prices too (change no 1). The agreement with this hunting association was for us to provide accommodation, transport and guiding in the field for the group and they should reserve for us half of the entire hunting area (~7000ha). If we will have a 4th hunter, they will make the entire area available for us and the remaining 2 tags will be used internally, for their members outside our group staying. After another few weeks, a cousin of G. decided to join us and we happily included him. All we had to do was to change the accommodation to have enough room for us and our 4 guests (change no 2).
They wanted to do everything based on a gentleman's agreement and a handshake but I insisted on also having a contract signed.
On their side, they had to make the official invitations for the foreign hunters in order for them to be able to carry their rifles. I provided the data, they confirmed that invitation was sent to the authorities and we considered everything a closed chapter...
We started the work needed to ensure the success of our hunting group (by me I mean mostly my partner because I had the money and he had the time). Field observations everywhere, learning the movements of the shepherds in autumn, complementary salt where we considered to not be enough already, clearing 2 paths of branches and other vegetation etc.
On September 10th, our confidence was shattered by a guy that set a new national record in Vrancea county (~40-50km in a straight line from our area). It is not official yet but it will be our new record. (I will put the picture in another comment because is another topic).
3 days before our group arrival, the hunting club owners tried to change the agreement we had because they did not wanted my partner to guide anymore. My first intention was to say "F.. you! Give me my cash in advance back and I will hunt somewhere else!" but it was clear to me that I would not be able to do it without ruining the hunt for the group. I would find emergency solution for 2 hunters but not for 4 with such a short notice. This forced me to compromise and changed the plans again, including the plan to spend 2 nights in a remote cabin, in the middle of a good area (change no 3).
Things got even worse when the group arrived. The invitation was sent only to the county police and not to the border police. 3 out of 4 hunters had their rifles detained at the airport! After many phone calls to unblock the solution, after failing to find rifles for rent (plenty of shotguns but no rifle available), we found the solution of borrowing personal rifles to the 3 unlucky hunters and to try to get the rifles from the airport later. (change no 4)
We started our trip to the hunting area and tried to uplift the mood (even if I was mad as hell about the situation and this new headache given to us by the hunting club). A few shoots of palinca helped us to look with more confidence to next day and... it was a good day indeed. L. managed to shot a nice stag in our first morning.
I was surprised that he took that shot. We had 4 more days to hunt, his size limit was bigger than this but I'm glad that he found the stag that made him happy.
This was a great boost for our group and we were able to actually start enjoying the hunt. We also enjoyed the food (I booked Mary, a lovely lady, to cook for us and she managed to surprise us almost every day).
The weather was too hot (26-27C) during the day and this made the evening hunt very difficult. The stags will come out very late, when not enough light was available to shoot.
I planned to hunt one day with each of our guests but the rifle situation forced me to guide both in the morning and in the evening. This exhausted me because I also had to organise this or that during the day and I had not enough sleep during the day (change no 5). This made me to act like a zombie and even to forget things sometimes.
G. also had a chance at a nice 14 points stag in the first day but he decided to pass it. Indeed, it was a young animal, he was after something bigger and older.
R. had no luck. D. hunted with me and we saw a very young male. The roaring was weak.
Day no 2 was with no luck for G. and R. D. managed to see an average male and some females in the morning and we spent a nice evening stalking trough the forest.
L. was the most relaxed one, he joined us hunting in the morning and then he enjoyed drinks with my partner while boiling the head
The roaring was slightly better.
Day no 3. I went with D. and a representative of the gamekeeper in another area, above the tree line. We planned to spend the night in a shepherd's hut but the wind was bad. We took a large detour trough the forest to be able to be in the right spot before nightfall. During that detour we heard a very deep and strong roaring. After some consultations, we decided to leave it because the chances to shot were very low, he was very well protected by vegetation. We managed to reach the forest clearing just in time, before it went too dark. The females were already there and the oldest one was always alert.
The stag was mad with lust, chased a female, roared...everything. I told D. that he could shoot if he likes it but that he needs to decide fast while he was still able to see the body trough the Leica scope.
He placed a perfect heart shot at 185m and the stag stumbled. The 185m were actually way more to walk because we could walk in a straight distance. The clearing was very treacherous to walk due to the old trenches from the first world war.
We celebrated his success and decided to spend the entire night there. He had no choice anyway since our designated driver also celebrated
. It was a memorable evening there. Good food, good wine, palinca to warm us, no human lights and a perfect autumn sky.
R. was again without luck. G. had some activity but I don't remember if he saw or not a stag.
As expected, L. got bored at the base camp and asked me if he could hunt something else. I agreed something with the gamekeeper about it but now they told me that due to the rifle situation, they don't have enough people to guide L. for a predator of wild boar hunt. This forced me to more phone calls and I managed to send him to hunt some birds (quail and collar doves).
L. was really happy about it, this is how I learned that quail could not be hunted in UK, and he declared that a single quail will made his day. He managed to shoot 16.
(it seems that I'm able to attach a maximum of 5 files ==> I will continue the post in the next comment)
My initial plan for this year was to buy a permit for myself and look for something really interesting (old, abnormal or very big) and, if no luck with it, to shoot one for salami and sausages towards the end of the season.
This was changed by a call from G., a guy I have met on a hunting forum ~8 years ago. We had a few beers together in Reading, exchanged phone numbers and agreed to hunt together in the near future in Romania. Many things happened (COVID, family, work) and we did not had the chance to do it.
This time, G. put me in contact with 2 of his friends (L. and R.) that wanted to hunt a Carpathian stag. After learning what and how they wanted to hunt, I managed to secure 2 stag permits in a state managed area nearby. I knew the gamekeeper there ( a very capable guy) and the area has both thick forests and also large openings at high altitude.
After a short while, G. contacted me again and said that he decided to join the guys if possible. He also said that he has no size limit (very good because the most annoying thing is to have a guest that is limited to 9-10kg and pass the chance to shoot a 12-13kg one) but, obvious , he asked if they could stay together somehow.
I was not able to secure a third permit in the same hunting area but I found that a neighboring one had a total quota of 6 stags and that the regular customer did not paid the advance yet. Both me, my partner and even my father in law knew the terrain here and we decided to move the group there after the clients agreed with their prices too (change no 1). The agreement with this hunting association was for us to provide accommodation, transport and guiding in the field for the group and they should reserve for us half of the entire hunting area (~7000ha). If we will have a 4th hunter, they will make the entire area available for us and the remaining 2 tags will be used internally, for their members outside our group staying. After another few weeks, a cousin of G. decided to join us and we happily included him. All we had to do was to change the accommodation to have enough room for us and our 4 guests (change no 2).
They wanted to do everything based on a gentleman's agreement and a handshake but I insisted on also having a contract signed.
On their side, they had to make the official invitations for the foreign hunters in order for them to be able to carry their rifles. I provided the data, they confirmed that invitation was sent to the authorities and we considered everything a closed chapter...
We started the work needed to ensure the success of our hunting group (by me I mean mostly my partner because I had the money and he had the time). Field observations everywhere, learning the movements of the shepherds in autumn, complementary salt where we considered to not be enough already, clearing 2 paths of branches and other vegetation etc.
On September 10th, our confidence was shattered by a guy that set a new national record in Vrancea county (~40-50km in a straight line from our area). It is not official yet but it will be our new record. (I will put the picture in another comment because is another topic).
3 days before our group arrival, the hunting club owners tried to change the agreement we had because they did not wanted my partner to guide anymore. My first intention was to say "F.. you! Give me my cash in advance back and I will hunt somewhere else!" but it was clear to me that I would not be able to do it without ruining the hunt for the group. I would find emergency solution for 2 hunters but not for 4 with such a short notice. This forced me to compromise and changed the plans again, including the plan to spend 2 nights in a remote cabin, in the middle of a good area (change no 3).
Things got even worse when the group arrived. The invitation was sent only to the county police and not to the border police. 3 out of 4 hunters had their rifles detained at the airport! After many phone calls to unblock the solution, after failing to find rifles for rent (plenty of shotguns but no rifle available), we found the solution of borrowing personal rifles to the 3 unlucky hunters and to try to get the rifles from the airport later. (change no 4)
We started our trip to the hunting area and tried to uplift the mood (even if I was mad as hell about the situation and this new headache given to us by the hunting club). A few shoots of palinca helped us to look with more confidence to next day and... it was a good day indeed. L. managed to shot a nice stag in our first morning.
I was surprised that he took that shot. We had 4 more days to hunt, his size limit was bigger than this but I'm glad that he found the stag that made him happy.
This was a great boost for our group and we were able to actually start enjoying the hunt. We also enjoyed the food (I booked Mary, a lovely lady, to cook for us and she managed to surprise us almost every day).
The weather was too hot (26-27C) during the day and this made the evening hunt very difficult. The stags will come out very late, when not enough light was available to shoot.
I planned to hunt one day with each of our guests but the rifle situation forced me to guide both in the morning and in the evening. This exhausted me because I also had to organise this or that during the day and I had not enough sleep during the day (change no 5). This made me to act like a zombie and even to forget things sometimes.
G. also had a chance at a nice 14 points stag in the first day but he decided to pass it. Indeed, it was a young animal, he was after something bigger and older.
R. had no luck. D. hunted with me and we saw a very young male. The roaring was weak.
Day no 2 was with no luck for G. and R. D. managed to see an average male and some females in the morning and we spent a nice evening stalking trough the forest.
L. was the most relaxed one, he joined us hunting in the morning and then he enjoyed drinks with my partner while boiling the head
The roaring was slightly better.Day no 3. I went with D. and a representative of the gamekeeper in another area, above the tree line. We planned to spend the night in a shepherd's hut but the wind was bad. We took a large detour trough the forest to be able to be in the right spot before nightfall. During that detour we heard a very deep and strong roaring. After some consultations, we decided to leave it because the chances to shot were very low, he was very well protected by vegetation. We managed to reach the forest clearing just in time, before it went too dark. The females were already there and the oldest one was always alert.
The stag was mad with lust, chased a female, roared...everything. I told D. that he could shoot if he likes it but that he needs to decide fast while he was still able to see the body trough the Leica scope.
He placed a perfect heart shot at 185m and the stag stumbled. The 185m were actually way more to walk because we could walk in a straight distance. The clearing was very treacherous to walk due to the old trenches from the first world war.
We celebrated his success and decided to spend the entire night there. He had no choice anyway since our designated driver also celebrated
. It was a memorable evening there. Good food, good wine, palinca to warm us, no human lights and a perfect autumn sky. R. was again without luck. G. had some activity but I don't remember if he saw or not a stag.
As expected, L. got bored at the base camp and asked me if he could hunt something else. I agreed something with the gamekeeper about it but now they told me that due to the rifle situation, they don't have enough people to guide L. for a predator of wild boar hunt. This forced me to more phone calls and I managed to send him to hunt some birds (quail and collar doves).
L. was really happy about it, this is how I learned that quail could not be hunted in UK, and he declared that a single quail will made his day. He managed to shoot 16.
(it seems that I'm able to attach a maximum of 5 files ==> I will continue the post in the next comment)
))
