CROATIA Hunting Information

[mark-hunter]

Thank you, @Mort Hill

 

[ofbiro]

I read it just today.
Mark, you are a great story teller. Congrats for the ram and the story.

 

[mark-hunter]

Thanks, @ofbiro!
I was actually encouraged by one of the forum members to post the story, in real life (and internet) I keep low profile, and I am very shy. Also, I rarely post the pictures.

 

[mark-hunter]

Some roe bucks as of this spring.

 

[Lee M]

Anyone hunted in Croatia recently? Considering a trip in 2022 or 2023. Possibly combined with vacation with spouse. Thx.

 

[HuntingGold]

If all goes well, my wife and I will be there in the fall of 2022. That's the best I can do for you.

 

[Wildlife_Raye]

Hey y’all,

I plan to attend an upcoming deer biology conference in Osijek, Croatia in early September. I am looking for any and all advice about what hunting in Croatia entails. If needed, I am more than willing to travel to another part of the country for better hunting opportunities.

What are the regulations on meat transfer back to the states? Due to gun restrictions in-country and traveling by plane, is it recommended to use an outfitters gun or bring a personal?

I am open to hunt any large game but I am leaning towards fallow deer, reed deer, and/or mouflon with all being free-ranging. Based on my research there seems to not be many resources out there finding a outfitter/hunt club. I personally do not need much for living situation and would be perfectly content to sleep in a vehicle or tent to cut costs. My priority is first safety, then hunt experience and opportunity at game, then reasonable costs. I prefer "hard hunts" that open opportunities up for hunters to locate mature/trophy game and if entails backpacking or hiking 20 miles in then I am perfectly content with it.

If anyone can provide advice or names for safe and reputable outfitters it would be extremely helpful.

Thanks so much in advance and I am excited to hear some feedback!

 

[sierraone]

Contact @mark-hunter and read the first pages of this thread. Should answer most if not all your questions.

 

[Sika98k]

Info@adria-hunt.hr is the email address of an outfitter in Croatia. Give him a try. Good luck

 

[mark-hunter]

Thanks so much in advance and I am excited to hear some feedback!

Go on the page one, of this thread, read, then you can ask whatever you need. There are species hunting seasons, gun laws. Then you can drop me a msg, for some outfitters contacts.

Osijek is old baroque town, and a local administrative rural county center. They have the best sport shooting public range in country., and have annual national shooting competitions there
Traditional food is excellent!
Hunting is tradition in those parts, and local areas are known to produce the strongest red deer, and roe buck trophies. The fields around are harvested with crops, corn, and other crops - giving fantastic summer feeding opportunities to game, and oak woods give plenty acorn and wood cover for boars.
In a word, it is a paradise for wild game.

The area where you will be going (Osijek) is famous for red deer, roe deer, boar and small game.
At that time of year (September) there is a red deer rut (and I would suggest to focus on that), it is also the end of roe deer season. Roe deer will be a bit scarse, as the season is ending, qoutas almost fulfilled, and they are recovering strenght from their own summer rut, preaprinng for winter, collecting fat, resting, and being less active. Driven boar hunts will start just about end of red deer rut.

For the fallow deer and mouflon, the area of Osijek is not famous for these two. They are introduced species and if some hunting club can offer locally mouflon or fallow deer it will be most probably in high fence area. You can ask, but Osijek and Slavonia area in sepetember is really to look for red deer in rut, in open fields of Slavonia.The the driven boar hunt. After that, a phaseants shoots.

However, Croatia is small and well connected by highways, and from Osijek you can travel in a matter of hours, to any part of country to hunt mouflon or fallow deer. But in Osijek - red deer and boar are must, at septemeber. If you will stay long enough days, agent can organise, several hunts for you in different parts of country, depending on what you need. RIfle renting is possible, but to bring yours is not complicated, as Croatia is under EU firearms regulations, and procedures are simple/

From hunting guide boolet, I will copy following text:

SEPTEMBER IN THE HUNTING GROUND​

For the month of September, we can say without hesitation that it is in the sign of the deer. After the summer heat and draughts, with the first rains and cooling of the woods, the hunter's ear echoes the most beloved melody - the roar of a red deer.

Rut​

During the roar, the deer gathers around his a harem of several hinds and tries to preserve and defend it from other rival deer. There are several ways to roar, and hunters most often imitate the roar of a deer looking for hinds, trying to challenge a deer holding a harem and get it on a shotgun.

MOUFLON AND FALLOW DEER MATING​

In the second half of September, mouflon begins to mate, or browning, as we call it in hunting terminology. The fallow deer have already cleaned their antlers and are slowly getting ready for mating, which reaches its peak in mid-October. Roe deer that rested after mating and hid in the thickets go out to pasture again, and we use this to complete the planned shooting, because the hunting season for them stops on the first day of October.

PREPARING FOR WINTER​

As the days go by and September approaches, we notice more and more ungulates in the hunting grounds, which have begun to shed - by changing the short and thinner summer to thicker, longer and thicker winter hair. Migratory birds also feel colder weather, so their migration is in full swing. pigeons gather in smaller or larger flocks and gradually fly away, and snipes on their way come to our region again. Heavy forest seeds fall in the forests - acorns, beech and chestnut, which are abundantly used by game to gather enough fat for the winter. If the yield of these fruits is missing for some reason, it is necessary to start feeding the game as soon as possible. Hay, haylage and silage should already be stored and ready, and corn still needs to be picked from the fields, which we will use later for top dressing.

HUNTING SEASON​

It is gradually opening up to more and more species of small and large game, so with wild boar, red deer and mouflon we start hunting wild ducks, coots and runners, and from September 16 fallow deer and pheasants. Let us remind ourselves at the end that before the start of the hunt it is necessary to count the game in order to check and determine the actual growth and to plan and carry out the shooting as correctly as possible.

 

[ofbiro]

Hey y’all,

I plan to attend an upcoming deer biology conference in Osijek, Croatia in early September. I am looking for any and all advice about what hunting in Croatia entails. If needed, I am more than willing to travel to another part of the country for better hunting opportunities.

What are the regulations on meat transfer back to the states? Due to gun restrictions in-country and traveling by plane, is it recommended to use an outfitters gun or bring a personal?

I am open to hunt any large game but I am leaning towards fallow deer, reed deer, and/or mouflon with all being free-ranging. Based on my research there seems to not be many resources out there finding a outfitter/hunt club. I personally do not need much for living situation and would be perfectly content to sleep in a vehicle or tent to cut costs. My priority is first safety, then hunt experience and opportunity at game, then reasonable costs. I prefer "hard hunts" that open opportunities up for hunters to locate mature/trophy game and if entails backpacking or hiking 20 miles in then I am perfectly content with it.

If anyone can provide advice or names for safe and reputable outfitters it would be extremely helpful.

Thanks so much in advance and I am excited to hear some feedback!

Hi Raye,

Personally, I never hunted in Croatia, although I was there years ago on holiday a couple of times.
The country has a good reputation as a host of hunters, with special reference to mouflon in a Mediterrenean environment. The coast and the islands where mouflon live ner the sea are very rugged and this add to the charme of croatian hunting.
Moreover, being Croatia the goal of many tourists, accommodation is quite easy to find.
I suggest to get in touch with the conference organisers to have the name of the local representative.
I found in the net the email address of the Croatian hunting association,
E-mail: hls@hls.t-com.hr
Rifles should be available locally, while as far as meat import is concerned, better you ask customs/health official in your country.
Good luck and let us know the developments.

 

[mark-hunter]

Let me follow up, on @ofbiro comment.
Croatian hunting federation, (HLS) - which is national hunting federation of Croatia, operates on two hunting & game managment areas, and can offer hunting for tuorists.
Those are hunting areas "Grede kamare", and "Vila Garich".
This however is not close to OSijek, but neither is out of reach as well.

Their price list is here:

http://www.hls.com.hr/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Cjenik-divljaci-22.pdf

In order to calculate, you will need to "de-code"croatian langauge, CIC points and croatian currency. ;-)
There is however english version in PDF, if you scroll down.

The pricing is as per CIC system. (more points-more money), and in my view best value is just below bronze medal. (On previous pages I already posted CIC values for medals)

Currency:
Croatian Kuna (HRK): 100 USD = cca 660 HRK, or 100 EUR = 758 HRK

From that price list, example of pricing, of good trophy non-CIC-medal game:
170 CIC red deer = 10.000 HRK, trophy fee = 1455 USD
165 CIC mouflon = 4500 HRK, trophy fee = 655 USD
Roe deer, up to 105 CIC = 300 EUR/350 usd
140 CIC fallow deeer: 4000 HRK = 581 USD

Guide, small admin costs, lodging, meals, field trophy prep can be charged separately.
Venisson/meat is sold separatley, in price per kg. (but need to check improt export regs. For EU member states no problem - I think, but other....???)

here is a trailer movie, about RED deer hunting, in their "Grede Kamare" hunting area.

LOV JELENA U RICI – GREDE KAMARE -Dočekom – Serval Channel

 

[mark-hunter]

Croatia is getting on international hunter map.

Herebelow are some informations on one of the online magazines, for expats in Croatia and visiting hunters:

2205 GTW

www.davidhallpublishing.com

 

[Jaegger]

Hi Capt M,

I just stumbled across your origin Croatia post from Aug 2019 - extremely detailed & helpful for anyone considering Croatia as a visit/hunting destination! Members of my American/German family have vacationed there X2 & beautiful outings …

I look forward to our future planned hunts there - Big Beautiful Mouflon along the Coast would be memorable experience indeed!

Have a great Namibia outing in May!

Ciao

 

[mark-hunter]

A nice story, which I will "borrow" for my Croatian hunting thread:

The Adriatic Wild Boars Of Croatia

The Adriatic Wild Boars Of Croatia by Oliver Dorn Three years ago, during a winter-driven hunt in Kutina, Croatia, I met Marijan Balaško, the chairman of the local hunting club. The following autumn, we met there again on the occasion of another driven hunt. As always and everywhere in Croatia...

www.africahunting.com

 

[mark-hunter]

NEWS:
Croatian Hunting Federation (HLS) goes digital.

Foreign hunter can make hunting license online.
Valid for one year.
300 EUR.

This is hunting license or hunters ID card.

With this card a foreign guest can hunt in any hunting area in Croatia.
With this card, a guest needs to contact any hunting club, and goes there to hunt.

Local hunting club will issue then a hunting permit which includes species to be hunted.

(Legal hunting inlcudes: hunting ID card + locally issued hunting permit)
Depending of agreement with local club, rifle can then be rented.

Here is the link

Hunting Card Portal

 

[HuntingGold]

My mouflon is on his way home now. A wonderful trip to Croatia.

 

[mark-hunter]

Congrats!
Truly great animal!

 

[HuntingGold]

I've spoken to @mark-hunter by text but want to say to him publicly a big thank you for all the wonderful information. We had a great time in Croatia.

 

[mark-hunter]

Thank you @HuntingGold