Date: 23-25 September 2010
Outfitter: Pannonvad Outfitting
PH: Catalin
Location: the Arges mountains of Romania (near Brasov)
Species Taken: Chamois

Just now taking the time to go through all the pictures and write the report of last year’s trip to Romania, where we hunted for Chamois. This was the second year in a row with the same people and same outfitter, and did not disappoint.

In 2009, went in mid November, which was cold and windy. Was told to come back end-September, as would be the best time of year to get out and see a lot of movement. We weren’t very lucky with the weather, as first 2 days were in the mid-to-high 20C’s (hot) for most of the day, which means that movement was not that pronounced, with the Chamois seeking out the shade and staying put most of the day. In any event, has a great time.

It’s amazing how much work hunting these animals really is. Below is the starting point for each day… and the tops of the mountains if not the highest point for the day (there is more behind), but was climbed at the very least once per day, sometimes twice. That’s >900m vertical per day at a minimum, and ~10lm walking (horizontally) every day.

We stayed at the same place as the year before, which is a cross between a private home (of a local industrialist) and a hotel (he rents a few rooms to the few hunters allowed per year).

Day 1 was by far the most difficult and long. The temperatures spiked early in the morning – I was in a t-shirt by about 8:30am. We walked up and down the mountains three separate times, and while it wiped me out, the scenery was spectacular!

Didn’t get to stalk into anything I wanted to shoot, but did see a good number of Chamois during the day. My friend though did shoot a small male, which was his first Chamois. So a good day for all in the end.

Day 2 we decided to try the mountains from another angle, and while the climb was very steep, the views were once again lovely.

There is the amazing mountain lake, about 2/3rds of the way up, that’s just so majestic

But, at the end of the day, and over the last ridge before we were set to go back down… we found a group of Chamois. At first we thought it was only 2, but as the minutes went by as we looked at them, more emerged, and it ended up being a scattered group of about 17 Chamois.

In the group, we couldn’t see any good males. But there was a solid looking female. The day had been tough, but very special in terms of the scenery and hunt, so decided to take her.

The shot was @ ~220 meters. She went down on the spot.

Now, at that point, from behind a hidden gulley, came out another female… and she was huge! Probably 105-110CIC. I thought long and hard about it… I had 1 more day of hunting, and shooting 2 females back-to-back just didn’t seem right, so I let her walk. Big mistake and regret (only one of the trip).

But, my friend connected with a nice male that same afternoon, so we both had a Chamois (his second).

Day 3 just goes to show, that when an opportunity presents itself, you take it. The temperatures plummeted overnight down to almost zero C, and completely fogged in. We try for about 4 hours to stalk in the mountains, but with no more than 40 meters of visibility, the only thing we found was a stray dog, and her new-born puppies in an abandoned mountain hut. Too bad… and was kicking myself over that beautiful female the day before. Oh well, that’s hunting.

In the end though, we all had a great trip. It’s an absolutely magical place, with pristine mountains and fauna. Well worth the trip. I can’t say enough about the organization and guides. All great people, whose interest is in getting you to have a great trip, enjoy what they get to see all year round, and have a successful holiday. No pressure to shoot at any particular animal, or sense of not wanting to be there (which most of us have had / seen at some point or another). They only build on the great sense of them I had from the previous year.

We did get 3 Chamois between the 2 of us, and were pleased with the result in the end. We’ll definitely be going back, probably in 2012, but the main question is: what time of year? Which should keep me excited just thinking about it, til we’re off again. Maybe Balkan Chamois in 2011…