Guidance on hunting Europe

[mark-hunter]

Yes but you can find in 2-3k in Rusia, and the bigger ones in 5k.

My visit to Russia will wait for some years.... Till things get settled and stabilized there.
Most western foreign offices advise against visit to Russia.

in Russia, also Siberian roe buck, moose and capercaillie are interesting.

 

[HUNTROMANIA]

I’m not sure if someone reached his 2,3k bear back home?!
Romania is one of the best destination for brown bear. We have the highest brown bear population in Europe.
Regarding the other species: red stag, roebuck, wild boar, fallow stag will be a unique experience. I would say every hunt is a challenge. Because of Carpathian Mountains, large number of carnivores makes the pray game species more stronger and only the strongest are surviving. Body size of a Carpathian red stag, wild boar is much larger than any European red stag.
When you book a hunt must consider also those aspects. I don’t think is much fun getting a roebuck or a red stag who is looking at you for 5 minutes waiting for you to mount your shooting stick, to take off the back pack etc… this is not a real hunt…

 

[mark-hunter]

I’m not sure if someone reached his 2,3k bear back home?!

The reason why I did not hunt brown bear at my country of Croatia for price 10 eur per CIC point is just because I would not prefer hunting over bait at the night. That type of hunt is just not for me.

Hunting through agencies usually doubles the price. (if not doubling, then at least significantly increasing the price)
Any foreign hunter who can get directly in contact with local hunting club (outfitter) without agency services can get very attractive price.

My personal view is for that amount of money, can give me much better experience with plains game hunt in Namibia or south Africa.

 

[Philip Glass]

I think the single best piece of advice that I could offer anyone thinking about their first big game hunt in Europe would be to call the Hunting Consortium and have this exact conversation with Bob or Rob Kern. They have been acting as worldwide consultants for a very long time and have tremendous options for you across Europe. If you are interested in turning the hunt into a vacation as well, Margarete can arrange all that as well.

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I, or any other hunters with experience in Europe, can only offer our relatively limited opinions and experiences. The Kerns have a huge catalog of options that they can tailor to whatever you eventually desire. Moreover, they would be glad to simply discuss possibilities in the very general way you have outlined in your post.

I would note, you can easily hunt a red stag in Eastern Europe in the price range you have listed.

I agree.

 

[Whit]

$10k would be an absolute bargain. It’s considerably higher.

Not saying you’re wrong here - IIRC, I was quoted 10K, maybe a little bit more for an ibex Hunt in Austria just this year.

 

[wesheltonj]

Not saying you’re wrong here - IIRC, I was quoted 10K, maybe a little bit more for an ibex Hunt in Austria just this year.

I would happily hop on a plane tomorrow for an trophy (not a cull) Alpine Ibex for 10K. You can pay that and more for a CIC Gold Medal Central European Red Stag.

 

[ACE (in CT)]

Any incite on Bowhunting in Europe? Do all/most countries allow it? I have friends with a place in Croatia who are trying to get me over there, does anyone have info or contacts specific to Bowhunting there?

 

[UKHunter]

Any incite on Bowhunting in Europe? Do all/most countries allow it? I have friends with a place in Croatia who are trying to get me over there, does anyone have info or contacts specific to Bowhunting there?

The UK doesn’t allow it. I know that Hungary does. I’m sure others allow it too but I’m not sure exactly which ones.

 

[Arañuel]

Any incite on Bowhunting in Europe? Do all/most countries allow it? I have friends with a place in Croatia who are trying to get me over there, does anyone have info or contacts specific to Bowhunting there?

Spain allow and some people is specialized in bow hunting. I hunted with bow all the animals in Spain

 

[375Fox]

Any incite on Bowhunting in Europe? Do all/most countries allow it? I have friends with a place in Croatia who are trying to get me over there, does anyone have info or contacts specific to Bowhunting there?

I think most don’t allow it. It is legal in Spain and France. Hunting is a management tool in Europe and only a few participate. Hunting is viewed as more of a right in North America. Bow hunting is used to give opportunities with a low success rate. That’s not really a consideration in European management. It’s about harvesting the quota.

 

[Northern Shooter]

How common are medium and big bores in Europe? Would it be frowned upon to hunt with one's 375 or 416?

 

[mark-hunter]

have friends with a place in Croatia who are trying to get me over there, does anyone have info or contacts specific to Bowhunting there?

Bowhunting not allowed by law in Croatia.
Muzzle loaders for hunting not allowed.
For rifle hunting - suppressors or silencers not allowed.

There are some YT hunting movies with all above in Croatia, but I would not recommend that exercise, because penalties are draconian for outfitter and for hunter in such cases.

 

[mark-hunter]

How common are medium and big bores in Europe? Would it be frowned upon to hunt with one's 375 or 416?

I cannot say for all of Europe.
But in Croatia, not too common. There are few enthusiasts with 375 H&H for local hunting, but those calibers are mainly considered to be "African".

 

[Whit]

There are a few floating around Germany. But Mark Hunter is right, those are considered African. I’ve talked to one or two people that have hunted for wild boar with .375 H&H but that’s not common. And, going forward, it will be even less common as trophy imports from Africa to Germany are now permanently banned. People are looking to offload their Safari rifles; the market is depressed.

 

[mark-hunter]

Having said that, since I already have 375 for Africa, her new European role will be 270 grain bullet for red deer.

 

[Red Leg]

Yes but you can find in 2-3k in Rusia, and the bigger ones in 5k.

Back just before covid and the Ukraine invasion, I was booked for a Russian Brown bear for much less than an Alaskan cousin, but quite a bit more than 5K. Sadly, because of both the pandemic and the war, the hunt never happened. Not many North Americans will be foolish enough to try to hunt Russia for some while yet to come.

 

[Red Leg]

There are a few floating around Germany. But Mark Hunter is right, those are considered African. I’ve talked to one or two people that have hunted for wild boar with .375 H&H but that’s not common. And, going forward, it will be even less common as trophy imports from Africa to Germany are now permanently banned. People are looking to offload their Safari rifles; the market is depressed.

I had not heard that an actual ban had been put in place. The greenies could do almost nothing else that would be more harmful for the future of game populations in Africa.

When I was last there a couple of years ago, I was stunned by the low prices of classic drillings and other combination firearms in the gun stores I visited. There too, the government has taken a heavy hand and made it very expensive for a non-hunting heir to keep grandfather's hunting guns which have to be both licensed and made permanently non-firing (criminal).

Most of the few modern German hunters aren't that interested in these classic guns, and so the stores I visited were pricing them to sell.

A very different country than the one I hunted in so extensively in the late seventies (in loden and leather stiefel hosen).

 

[Northern Shooter]

There are a few floating around Germany. But Mark Hunter is right, those are considered African. I’ve talked to one or two people that have hunted for wild boar with .375 H&H but that’s not common. And, going forward, it will be even less common as trophy imports from Africa to Germany are now permanently banned. People are looking to offload their Safari rifles; the market is depressed.

I did not know that. Does that include all imported trophies? Select species? Dangerous game only?

That doesn’t bode well for the international hunting community. I hope it doesn’t further hurt the German firearms manufacturers that specialize in these rifles (Heym, Merkel, Mauser) etc.

 

[UKHunter]

How common are medium and big bores in Europe? Would it be frowned upon to hunt with one's 375 or 416?

I don’t know about frowned upon but it would be unusual. .375 is sometimes used on driven wild boar but calibers of that size are not needed for European game.