Posted: 11/14/2010 2:35:17 PM EDT
Awesome trip. Going to have to do it again. |
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Fantastic!!! That looks like a great hunt and an awesome experience. Nice Chamios as well. Congrats. 
I for one would like to hear more details. Thanks. Here ya go... This summer I was looking around for something interesting to do. I have always wanted to hunt in the mountains, but have not found an affordable hunt in the US or Canada. I saw a advertisement for a chamois hunt in Romania for a good price, so I jumped on it. Good decision. Romania is a beautiful country. The people are very nice and the food is really good. Anyone looking for an adventure would do well to check it out. Hunt prices there seem to be considerably lower than most other European countries. On the second morning of the hunt we headed up a trail into the Fagaras Mountains of Romania. We were hunting chamois, a species I had never seen and knew little about. The trail rose steadily upwards. We crossed mountain streams and passed through forests and clearings. After a few hours on the trail, we were in a mountain valley. I had expected it to be nice, but the scenery was stunningly beautiful. As we continued to climb, the two rangers (guides) were scanning the high ground looking for chamois. They spotted three far ahead in the bowl of the valley, so we moved up to one side of the valley to a level where vegetation an terrain would cover our approach. As we carefully moved forward, a chamois came running from the far end of the valley, spooking the three. Ah well, we pushed on. Further on, the rangers spotted two more on a rocky slope ahead of us. One ranger put his rucksack on a rock and motioned for me to get ready. The higher chamois was very large, and the ranger indicated I should shoot. I had rested my rifle on the rucksack and looked through the scope. The chamois was looking directly at me. Damn! I'm busted! I expected the animal to bolt at any second, so I put the cross hairs on his shoulder and snapped off a shot. I missed. Badly. No second chance. Everyone was disappointed. We decided to have lunch and regroup. Romanian food was quite exotic to me, and I enjoyed every bite. I was given a piece of slanina, smoked pig fat, to eat with a piece of onion. I did not understand the explanation, but apparently it has some magical powers for people in the mountains. As we ate, I was told how the chamois tends to flee if it catches a hunter's scent, but is not easily frightened by movement, especially during the rut. I should have sufficient time to make a shot. After lunch we cached some of the rucksacks to allow us to travel more easily in the higher levels. We made our way along the side of the valley, and the rangers soon spotted another chamois high on the mountain side. Again a ranger put his rucksack on a rock an indicated I should shoot. I got into position, and put the cross hairs on the chamois. I did not like what I saw through the scope. I told them we had to get closer. We moved forward a little more than a hundred yards, and set up again. The chamois kept moving short distances, then stopping to look at us. I snuggled up to the rifle, got a steady sight picture. I considered all the factors that could influence the shot. I aimed at a spot on his shoulder as he was quartered towards me. Holding half a breath. I squeezed the trigger as a rifleman should. When the rifle fired, I was completely confident I had done it well. I cranked in another round and observed the area again. No movement. Perfect. I looked over at the ranger. He did not look pleased. He said "I think the animal is not dead. Understand? We have to go shoot it again". What? Really? Crap! As we made our way up to the animal's location, ravens began to circle over head. The ranger with me visibly relaxed. "Corbi", he said. The other ranger had taken a faster route up the mountain, and hollered "Morto! Morto!". Sounds like "dead" to me. Big relief. It took us nearly forty five minutes to climb the 300 yards up to the chamois. The shot had destroyed the shoulder, heart and lungs. Still it had shown no reaction as the ranger had watched the shot. Tough animal. When we finally got the chamois down to the floor of the valley, there was much celebration and many pictures were taken. "Congratulations! See? You eat slanina for lunch, then you shoot a big chamois!" "Thank you", I said. "I think I should have eaten it for breakfast." |
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 Nice! Almost looks like part of the Cascades.Really? What do you have to hunt in the mountains out there? Blacktail Deer, Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Elk, Mountain Goat, Moose, Cougar, Black Bear, Coyotes, we have lots of animals to hunt in Washington. |
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My car is a Subaru Forester. I don't think I'm supposed to wash it. I sure as hell wouldn't polish it.
The meat was really good, similar to venison. The steaks were marinated and grilled. I shot this one early in the season. The Romanians said later in the rut, the meat would not be appetizing. |