Dunkield Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Just back from another epic shootin' and fishin' trip so thought I had better write it up before I get the sequence of events mixed up... The trip started with a bit of a mad dash from Ljubljana to Slatina in Croatia, about 3.5 hours, thankfully with a decent amount of motorway to start. As soon as we arrived we made it known we intended to shoot that evening, so it was quite turn around and out to our respective towers to see what was about. As it turned out the answer was loads of wildlife but not many shootable boar. I saw one pig at about 200 yards, several roebuck and fox just as it tail disappeared into the trees The high seats are actually quite comfortable towers looking over rides, sometimes in all 4 directions so you have to keep panning round so as not to miss anything. I remembered being in this one last year, it looked slightly different under the moonlight. We headed back to the ranch to catch up with the others over dinner, then morning start time bomb was dropped... 3am! So less than 4 hours later we were up and dressed and ready to go. Same routine, 4 hunters, 4 cars, 4 shoot towers. Once your driver disappears, you realise just how peaceful this place is. So much so I heard a shot way off in the distance and even that made me jump. One shot, one down, as it turned out when we caught up again. Having seen the boar there was a bit of discussion about the maximum size of animal we could take. Unlike driven this trip is about taking smaller (50kg 'ish) pigs One of the hunters had let several boar go he thought were oversize so was understandably kicking himself. Feeling the sleep deprivation we hit the hay for a couple of hours after breakfast then had a short road trip over the border to Hungary just for a quick look about, and to say we had been there. Wasn't much to see as it turned out but we did find a small gun shop with hunters man cave out the back We had a quick beer and then headed back over the border again to get ready for the evening session. Again I recognised my allocated tower from a previous trip and felt pretty confident about the prospects. Despite my best efforts in the late afternoon sun I did have a short kip, but woke up to see a roe crossing the ride in the distance Long story cut short a good time later a boar crossed in the other direction, I <just> managed to shoot that before it disappeared and then another came about half an hour later. I just managed to grab the rifle and shoot that too before it finished crossing the ride. Terrible picture as it was low light and 90+ yards away but they are both laying in the mud Having been retrieved, not by me luckily Pretty happy with that, again it was back to catch up and compare tales, seems the others hadn't seen any boar just loads of deer. Having shot those I elected to skip the morning session as I was driving us to the fishing venue in the morning, so the other two who got up to shoot could sleep it off on the way there. The last member of the team go his pig in that session so we were pretty happy as was the farmer as we headed off down the road after breakfast. That's it for now, I will do the fishing bit tomorrow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Nice going Stu That looks like a good patch of mud there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telf Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 well done,nice write up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Happy times. U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun4860 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Nice one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nats Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Great write up and a good trip, will look forward to the fishing bit too. They looked a good 50kg. What did they weigh do you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Two were actually 50kg one was 70kg and the other 80kg. I prepared our host for the fact we may be a little over and he in turn cleared this with the land owner. We are kind of 'in' with both so it wasn't an issue, we get the shooting for nothing hence the fact I sat the last session out (well that and the early start thing) I just think it is basic manners to not take the pee. But when a pig jumps out of a hedge at say 80 yards and you have waited 3 hours for that moment and you have precisely half a second to decide what to do it is a tough call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Excellent write up. Glad you enjoyed the outing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2015 Soooo.... having had breakfast, packed all the gear in the van and driven three and half hours or so, we arrived at Brod our base for next 3 days. Luckily we arrived in time for even more food and a calming beer or two, then permits bought and off to a local river for the afternoon session. We picked the main river in the purely because it is close and we are too tight to spend £25 for half a day, this one is only £15 Our guide had selected a spot to get all four of us in and with options should that one not produce [i will mention the fact I seem to have very poor horizontal alignment skills with water shots, the rivers don't actually slope to the left...] This was our first spot, grayling rising left right and centre, so a good choice. Not a bad effort for someone who was drafted in at the last moment and doesn't really fish, he also shot a boar the same morning so 2/3rds of some sort of McNab and all on about 6 hours sleep in 2 days. Once we had all caught a few we headed back for a quick beer and dinner as we had two full days of fishing ahead. Next day we jumped over the border into Slovenia and fished their side of the same river, the Kupa or Kupi forms the border between Croatia & Slovenia. Clear blue skies and 25+ degrees forecast so we stopped off for water and sun block Fish being caught all over the place, our novice didn't have it quite so easy but for the rest of us they were picking dry flies off the surface all morning long Back to a slightly different spot after lunch as the heat was really starting to build, I was seeking out shady bits to fish from but the fish themselves like to be out in the sun [sloping photo alert] Some stunning water, and we had it all to ourselves, there are quite a few visiting anglers these days, far more than there used to be but you can still get a nice stretch to yourselves We had planned to visit the Risnjac Park, but we called ahead and got new it was quite busy, as it is a fairly horrendous drive up and down a mountain track, or an equally treacherous deep wade through fast water taking the short cut. We decided to go somewhere else. Luckily our guide had some ideas and after a couple of not so good pools we got all got stuck in again. We opted for local water actually in the town were staying in so walking distance from the all important end of day beers. This is the Curak one of the tributaries of the main river, can be tricky to fish but it's a really nice little stream (I have a feeling I have taken this picture at least 3 or 4 times before though) and then on to a little pool beneath a waterfall As this was rammed with fish we didn't move for an hour or so, I lost count of how many we caught, all catch and release by the way. Some actually release themselves when your mate says "that's a decent fish, hold that up for the camera" I managed a quick selfie hanging on to one of slippery suckers, pretty tricky balancing everything and not dropping the camera or falling in, I have done both before now! Last evening was a famous spot we have not been able to fish for years due to poor water, but it was <almost> back to how I remember it. The beauty of it is it walking distance to a decent bar, where a few fisherman gather after a day thrashing the water so a perfect end to the day and the trip for us. We had a leisurely drive back to the airport the last day via Ljubljana as we were 'fished out' and just fancied something a little different to do. Also having wet gear puts you close to the baggage limit on EasyJet even shoving as much as possible in the carry on. I have done the shooting bit and fishing bit a few times now and this was without doubt the best trip so far, I can't wait to get back next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted June 8, 2015 Report Share Posted June 8, 2015 Looks and sounds fabulous. At the risk of sounding stupid, do you get to bring any of the pork back with you, would it not keep the trip or isn't it allowed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2015 It's actually not a stupid question, the farm we stay at now has a complete meat processing plant, and I mean from the field in one end to blast frozen, vacuum packed and boxed up ready to go out the other. Mega impressive. As they are in the EU you can bring back meat no problem, we didn't as it would have fitted in with our plans. One of our team did buy some bear salami which was delicious, that was from a market in Ljubljana on the way back to the airport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Sifting through pictures here is a random selection of less usual (to us anyway) animals seen whilst out and about. They have massive red and black woodpeckers, some odd black a yellow lizards too. This appears to be some sort of wild tortoise, possibly released? I saw in the woods Storks are as common to them as red kites are to us down here And finally a variety of red squirrel, mix of red and black fur, it was long way off unfortunately so I had to use the scope for zoom [no I wasn't about to shoot it] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welsh1 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Looks like a great trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Top trip! Did the woodpeckers look like this: If so they're Black Woodpeckers ( Dryocopus martius ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatcatsplat Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 One of our team did buy some bear salami which was delicious, that was from a market in Ljubljana on the way back to the airport. I had bear jerky a couple of weeks back in the States and it was quite lovely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Looks a great trip with beutiful scenery , thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlistairB Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Not knowing a lot about this - why do they skin the hind quarters of the boar before they hang them? thanks AB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Not knowing a lot about this - why do they skin the hind quarters of the boar before they hang them? thanks AB You know what, that's a great question. I meant to ask but never got round to it, I assume it is so they have head start to carry on with the job later? It certainly isn't necessary to hock them. Did the woodpeckers look like this: If so they're Black Woodpeckers ( Dryocopus martius ). Yes, these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted June 10, 2015 Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 It's actually not a stupid question, the farm we stay at now has a complete meat processing plant, and I mean from the field in one end to blast frozen, vacuum packed and boxed up ready to go out the other. Mega impressive. As they are in the EU you can bring back meat no problem, we didn't as it would have fitted in with our plans. One of our team did buy some bear salami which was delicious, that was from a market in Ljubljana on the way back to the airport. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted June 10, 2015 Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 nice read cheers, that river looks gorgeous, was it just grayling or were there brownies as well. is there rough shooting or pigeon and whats the cost, sorry for all the questions but Ive never thought of this area for a holiday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 There are brownies but they are wild but tiny, they were bigger ones years ago, so I am not sure where they have gone. Grayling are their thing, the rivers are teaming with them if you hit the right spot, and pound for pound they fight like anything. They are wild but the stocks are also supplemented with local stocking. They do shoot pigeons but nothing like we do over here, there also shoot pheasant and quail - no idea what the costs are though. Fishing costs are £25/day for all the rivers Kupa, Kupica & Curak or £15/day for just the Kupa It's cheap to eat and drink, flights for us down here are anything from £80 return to a max of about £120 depending when you book. As you may have guessed it isn't an expensive trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dekers Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Looks like an excellent trip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 There are brownies but they are wild but tiny, they were bigger ones years ago, so I am not sure where they have gone. Grayling are their thing, the rivers are teaming with them if you hit the right spot, and pound for pound they fight like anything. They are wild but the stocks are also supplemented with local stocking. They do shoot pigeons but nothing like we do over here, there also shoot pheasant and quail - no idea what the costs are though. Fishing costs are £25/day for all the rivers Kupa, Kupica & Curak or £15/day for just the Kupa It's cheap to eat and drink, flights for us down here are anything from £80 return to a max of about £120 depending when you book. As you may have guessed it isn't an expensive trip. thanks for that I will definitely be looking into that now I know some of the river names cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 You are welcome, if you want a little advice on accommodation and guides etc just drop me a pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted June 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2015 Not knowing a lot about this - why do they skin the hind quarters of the boar before they hang them? thanks AB I finally got an answer to this today, and it is.... wait for it... 'for handling purposes' May have lost a bit in the translation of course, but it doesn't seem any more exciting than that. But, at least we know now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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