The first time I hunted in Europe was in 2008. It happened at the beginning of August. It was time when the whole world watched the Olympic Games in Beijing and the local war in Tskhinvali but my wife and I arrived to the Czech Republic. Our goal was to get the European Mouflon and the wild boar. We also wanted to see the country and to walk around Prague which considered to be on of the most beautiful cities in the Central Europe and where we had never been before. It was so called hunting touristic trip.
Telling the truth I was so disappointed by that hunt that didn’t want to experience it once again for a long period of time, especially in the Czech Republic. We reduced the number of days in the country, changed tickets and flew away right after the trophies had been taken. I have already encountered deception in my country when the local outfitters tried to deceive me but I treated it like the necessary evil of the domestic industry and I always knew how to behave in such situations. But the behavior of Joseph Barros was nothing compared to all situations met before. The Doctor Barros was the professional! I didn't take offense for him for long. We decided to think it as to our fault. But none of us wanted to visit Europe for a long time. That incident made me to look attentively how the Russian agent, who suggested us that hunt and that guy, worked with us and we part him later. It was the right decision and I didn’t regret about it at all. Just in four years I tried a new hunt in Europe. It was in Pyrenees. That time I got the absolutely different experience and feelings. The local outfitter Senior Velez earned our sympathy and trust by the attention to all details of our stay in his camp and the hunt organization.
Next time when I met him on the hunting show in the Gostiny Dvor in Moscow, we embraces as old friends. I was thankful to Valeriano Velez, the owner of the Ibex Hunt Spain company, who organized our first Spanish hunt in December 2012. That time we got the Beceite Ibex and the Aoudad and spent few days in Barcelona. We settled to arrange one more trip to his area. I really liked how Valeriano and his team worked and wanted to feel that positive emotions once again. We discussed all variants of future trip and decided to try to get the Golden medal Gredos Ibex and the same quality Iberia Red Deer. I was going to hunt four days and then to spend the rest of the vacation in Barcelona. I was fond of that city.
Spain once again
On December 18th we arrived to Madrid, Spain. A year before we started our trip from Valencia. Valeriano and his unchanged green car Pathfinder waited for us at the airport. We started to move to the west of the country not visiting the capital of the Kingdom. We were on our way to Jarandilla De La Vera - a small town, nestled at the foot of the Greek mountains, in the province of Caceres. The bright landscape of the middle mountains and the adjacent river valleys pleased my eye. We drove by the part of the country which was know by its agricultural traditions, the each part of the land on both sides of the road was cultivated. Senor Velez told me that that area was very popular among the retirees from the Northern Europe who prefer to buy or to rent property and to spend winter there.
The hotel, where we stayed for a couple of nights, was empty. Our group consisted of me, my wife, Valeriano and the cameraman Khavi, who was invited to make movie for the marketing purpose of the company. We were the only guests there.
Next morning I would have to test Remington, cal. 270, which used the last year and then to go for a hunt. But rain confused all our plans. It started in the evening and became even stronger at the morning. We waited for an hour and noticed just few clearings in the sky but decided to go. One of the local guides, who worked in the National Park, had already waited for us on the place where we had to test guns. The number and quality of the trophies inhabited in the National Parks was much higher in comparison with the private hunting lands because of the less human influence. The obligatory requirement to the hunting area was not to be fenced. We discussed it with Valeriano when were planning that Spanish trip. That was the reason why we hunted in that area.
The gun's test were carried out under the strong rain. We had to use the huge umbrella not to be soaked to the bone. The guide offered it for us. The rain became stronger and we waited out the rain siting in the car. The guide or so called PH constantly contacted by radio with another guide who monitored the golden medal ibexes last two days.
In twenty minutes we left the car and followed Valeriano up to the mountains. Irina and I carried that huge umbrella which saved us from the water flows chucked by gusts of winds from different sides. We didn’t walk long. The way took about 10 minutes. The path meandered through cattle pastures fenced by stone walls. The Ibex we met on one of those pastures. The imposing, white-haired and slender Carles - the guides who monitored the male, waited for us. It looked as he pastured the ibex, which ate grass in 120 meters from us. Carles also use the huge umbrella. We could clearly see the male but soon the clouds of fog, rolled along the slope started to hide it.
Irina took the comfortable position, put the rifle on Valeriano's backpack and shot. We saw how she hit it. But the bullet went through. The Ibex ran slowly up to the slope. The wife noticed the wounded animal but not at the same time. The male was in 160 meters from her when she shot the second time. Later when making pictures with the trophy we'd watched video, made by Khavi. It was clearly seen that the first bullet hit to the back part of its lungs while the second one went through the neck. I was discouraged how easy my wife got the good size trophy. But didn't show it.
After a long photo session (Valeriano is fond of marketing and showing pictures of trophies, him and hunters on Facebook) we solved to walk and looked at the second record size Ibex and group of females with baby goats on the mountains slopes.
That time we went much longer. We were not in a hurry and slowly moved and enjoyed by watching colorful Gredos slopes and river’s valleys. The muted colors landscape consisted of limestone-Dolomites and granite intrusions. We walked by the road made of Rome soldiers of big and flat granite blocks.
The weather, as it always happened in the mountains, changes very often. Fog and rain had been changed by bright and warm sun, which dried our clothes but then the rain started once again.
The guides, Valeriano and I took our binoculars and began to examine the slopes looking for the ibexes. Soon Carles detected a record size male and showed it to me and Irina. But it was not the same Ibex he monitored for us before. Later we spotted the group of females with babies. Valeriano explained me that Gredos goat is the definite hunting trophy, which is registered separately. I could try to take it because we have the license. I refused. Next fifteen minutes we observed the male, laid under the top of the stone ridge hidden in the ruins of dolomite blocks. Then we had lunch of cheese, bread and olives and drank young homemade wine, suggested by our guides and was going to go back.
Going back we met one more group of animals including that golden medal Ibex which was planned as our trophy. It was really nice. But not worst that the taken one. The male laid almost near the top and its hunting needed much more efforts from our side.
We hiked back gone by the water flows and wind gusts which turned the umbrella out.
In the evening we celebrated our successful hunt. The horns of the taken Ibex earned 267 points which was in 17 points more than the golden record. The price of such trophy was like hunting in Zanzibar. So it was. Spain is Spain. Europe. Hunting there isn’t so difficult as in other places but good size trophies cost more expensive.
Next morning we were going to drive to the south of the country to the Estremadura province, the town Hohen. I was going to get the Iberia Red Deer there. The hunt was organized on the private lands of Valeriano’s friend and hereditary stud breeder Juan La Puerta. That hunting area wasn't fenced too and bordered with the territory of the National Park. Our Spanish leader told us that there was plenty of game such as wild boars, deer and the Iberian kind of red deer inhabiting there were bigger than in other areas. We knew lots of new things. Spain is a very interesting country. We saw lots of signs the stormy youth of the country when the Spaniards fought with Arabs during the reconquista and forming the single Kingdom.
Our way went us through Toledo - an ancient Middle Ages town, founded by Romans at the beginning of second century BC. It was also the capital of Castilian Kingdom long time ago. Today it's known as the center of metal processing center. But most people know it as the touristic center.
Castilie is famous from the iron age because of its deposits of black ores of various properties. It's a surprise if you know about the variety of geological forms and morphologies which form the relief of the province. Iberians had been changed by Romans then by German tribes. Then the Moors and Jewish came. They all forged knives, swords, daggers, and armor there. Today when the swords have long been turned into a plowshare, the local craftsmen produce different knives and machetes. Most of their goods are for hunters and tourists.
We had lunch in Toledo and walked around its historical center but then continued our way to Hohen which was the last point of our travel.
Hohen turned out to be the southern town. The Estremadura's citizens, as Valeriano said, worked just a couple of month in a year. The rest of the time they had rest and enjoyed their life between hills and limestone peaks of the La Sierra mountains.
I noticed that all valleys and foothills were planted by olives, cultivated in Spain from the Romans time. Each patch of ground is planted by olives except top of the mountains. There were millions of olive trees. I liked that view.
Next morning our group, lead by Alvaro - the son of the landlord, drove to the mountains. In twenty minutes we reached the final point- the excellent horse breeding complex. It had huge territory with the pound, rocky slopes and horses of course. All the estate buildings had been built under the influence by the Moors architecture. Everything was well maintained, filled with calm and trust in future. The absence of olive trees contrasted with what we saw before. All vegetation there was natural and was presented by wild BlackBerry bushes, southern and cork oaks, pines and junipers. We observed deers and boars which crossed the road before our car and were not afraid of us. The animals’ density was close to the natural level and It became possible thanks to the smart management, animal's feeding and controlled number of hunts.
We entered the small office decorated by the pictured of hunters with trophies, filled all necessary papers and went to the hunt. We spent lots of time in the forest and walked long distance but didn’t find the required size trophy. Alvatoro blamed the wind which blew to our backs. The wild animal fears humans much more than the car even in such paradise place.
We had to stop for a lunch in one of the small restaurants, located in the valley, which was empty because of the season. But the absence of clients didn’t correlate with the meal quality.
After the lunch we went on hunting. Alvaro assured us that we easily met the desired animal in the second part of the day and offered to drive by car. So we did it.
He was right there was much more game that in the morning and I couldn’t believe it. We observed many of male and females with babies. The animals turned to the feeding places. We drove about thirty minutes from one place to another when detected four bulls which had real crowns from the horns and could be estimated as the golden rank trophies. They had red color bodies but not huge. I thought their weight was about a centner or a little heavier.
Almaro pointed the bull and I shot. It didn’t fell down as I expected but broke into trot with three others.
We came to the place where it stood and found some blood there, then waited about ten minutes and followed the wounded one. It was about an hour till the sunset. I liked that animation. It started to look like a real hunt, as I understood that word. In two hundred meters we frightened the wounded deer from the place where it laid. It disappeared in the bush and we could hardly notice its nice horns between young oaks. The situation repeated once again in five minutes. The thick bushes didn’t allow to make one more shot and to get the trophy.
We changed the tactics. I rose to the small rock hung above the bush while Alvaro continued to go through the forest following it. It immediately gave the result. I detected the male’s head, which I knew by the specific horns, aimed to its shoulder blade, hidden by bushes, and fired.
Later in the evening we decided to celebrate the trophy and went to the town center to find the suitable bar. It was hard to do because all bars and restaurants were full of people after 9 pm. So as streets in the center. The marijuana smell was in the air and the respectable-looking head of families rolled joints and gave it to their partners or friends and all other people were very indifferent to what was going on.
At last we could take seats in one of the restaurants. In a quarter of hour it was so full that waiters couldn't walk and people had to pass plated with the help of neighbors. The waiter couldn't have any chance to go through the crowd. However, this did not bother anyone. We all were tired but enjoyed that evening. I liked tasty wine, fresh seafood and the price which was obscenely low in comparison with Moscow ones.
Next morning Valeriano delivered us to the airport of Granada. And with a warm and kindly shake of the hand, we left him but promised to fly back in a year for a Rondo Ibex and chamois.
In an hour we landed in Barcelona where spent three lovely days walking by its streets, breathing Mediterranean air and admiring Christmas decorated streets and squares. We couldn't repeat the previous year experience when visited the Camp Nou stadium because the team played in the guests. But we visited the local Rambla market , famous by its assortment. Each customer or tourist could buy there all that the Spanish land was rich in. The market cooks fried fish, opened oysters, as well as shells and limbs of marine arthropods of various types and properties. There we met lots of Russians.
Telling the truth we didn’t want to fly back to dank Moscow but had to. The new 2014 was coming and new hunting trips was waited us already. But we didn't forget about the old ones.
Good by Spain. See you again. We’ll fly back as old friends.
