Hunting in Spain

HUNTING IN SPAIN

Winter days in Castile

Classic driven redlegged partridge & big game stalking near Madrid

Season after season, shooting in Spain remains a great classic. Spain has a reputation for challenging birds and, also, there are those who claim that sport in Spain has been in constant decline since the reign of late Alfonso XIII. But the fact remains, Spain is still a unique destination. To paraphrase an old fly fisher's saying, there is more to shooting in Spain than just shooting... Spain is a unique country where people take seriously the pleasures of life. The sporting life and country ways of Spain are something to be experienced at least once in a lifetime and, then, repeated as often as possible. A day's hunt in Spain leaves one with the feeling of hope and calm, which remains elusive in today's harsh and hurried world.

The atmosphere of the bars, bodegas, restaurantes in Madrid is beyond imagination

There is the city of Madrid, a lively place, day and night, which will leave you with the illusion of everlasting youth. There is the drive to the shoot, across dark hills and white villages -los montes pardos y las aldeas blancas- (a phrase I found in Spanish in the Dangerous summer of Ernest Hemingway). There are the bars, where you will take on the local customary stop for a morning cafe con leche and where you can't resist ordering a small plate of ham and cheese -platito de jamon y queso- with a glass of tinto. There are the smiley sun-tanned faces of the countryside people telling the jokes you probably won't understand but will still make you laugh and feel like Don Quijote eventually finding his Sancho Panza.

Spanish gastronomy

The Spanish gastronomy is gaining a worldwide reputation, with tapas bars now popping up everywhere. Tapas showcase the real art of Spanish cooking, small plates which offer you small delights. Here, with tapas, true gourmets will recognize the value of genuine simplicity. Wonderful dishes are presented for your selection, but words cannot describe the effect of a chilled Sherry and some olives eaten after a day in the field. Imagine yourself and your group of friends in the midst and silence of an ocean of centuries old olive trees. Your palate starts finding similarities between the taste of the fino fresquito and the red earth dust of the fields with an aftertaste of gunpowder !

Hunting season

Occasionally, shoots can be arranged in August and September on quail over dogs or you also have a chance for woodpigeon and turtle-dove shooting from blinds. This is named the media veda, sort of half season to translate it literally. The real season runs from early October to the 1st Sunday in February. During this season, hunt feature the red-legged partridge -patiroja or perdiz brava. Brava, which means brave or tough, is the same notion used to describe the toros bravos of the famous Spanish bullfights. Like the bulls raised to give a great show en la plaza, partridge are naturally reared free to produce the spectacular events in the ojeos driven days. Big game is also hunted from October to February.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The shooting packages are detailed below

The Spanish countryside offers a pristine and colorful scenery. Some winter days can be chilly in Spain, but layering with a good shirt, a light sweater and a shooting vest is the most common way to dress afield in Spain.

The atmosphere of the blind (puesto) with loader, secretario, keeper and friend. The shooter is protected by steel screens (pantallas) not because Spanish guns are more dangerous than others (the only neighbors are your own friends), but safety is a priority and some guns get hypnotized by the number of birds and their speed.

Real waves of rockets can be surrounding your blind. It is quite common to use a leather hand guard, placed on the barrels of side by side guns, to protect your hands from the heat of firing guns. These hand guards are sold at the gun shops of Madrid, which are worth a trip in their own right to see the fine arms and other beautiful leather accessories. You will find the prices in Spain to be very affordable.

Secretarios picking up your birds. There was traditionally a competition between secretarios to pick up as many birds as possible for THEIR hunter -not to say steeling birds from the neighbors- as they would bet sometimes and the tip given by the smiling "top gun" does not compare to those given with the grin...

The estate uses luxury 4x4 vehicles for the transportation to the shoot. Weather permitting, lunch can be taken afield but, in any case, drinks and snacks are always served to take forces or wipe the dust during the day.

The pride of the guarderia after a successful day. The countryside people of Castile are wonderful persons to meet. Always quiet, smiley and gentle, they give you the feel to meet characters of an other age.

As for individual hoping to stalk big game, Spain offers a huge variety of different quarries. Wild fallow deer (like this one), mufflon, Barbary sheep, chamois (with 2 subspecies, the Cantabrian or Pyrenean), roe-deer, wild boar and the famous and noble ibex named Cabra Montès, or Macho Montès if you go for trophy- (with also 5 subspecies slightly different from one sierra to another).

The Spanish red deer along with the wild boar, remain the quarry most sought after in Spain, either individually for trophy stalking or in groups when the famous monterias are organized.

Shooting Packages in 2005

All inclusive "Edwardian estate shooting party" package for $49,995 for up to 20 persons at this price i.e., 6-10 guns, who are each welcome to bring a non-shooting guest...

Your package offers

Full assistance, starting with the airport (we also will assist you with any gun clearance issues, so that you may easily bring your own guns). Then, a local guide will privately escort your party on an overnight journey to see Madrid, at the beginning or at the end of the sojourn. Transportation to and from the estate. Luxury 4x4 transportation at the estate. Full-board with luxury accommodation at the estate, (for each "gun" and their non-shooting guest). Drinks, lunches and dinners at the estate are all-inclusive, plus snacks and aperitivos afield. Hunter's license and insurance, of course, are included and will be well arranged for you. Each shooter will have a skilled loader and also a secretario to pick up his or her birds. In addition, the shooting party will be served by a full crew of guards, keepers, and beaters. All the cartridges are also included. Two fabulous days shooting with a rough result of 1,000 birds for the group over the two days.

The package does not include: Your airfares, telephone calls, gratuities. Hotel and the expenses of restaurant and bar, for your night in Madrid. Cancellation and medical cover or repatriation insurance. Spanish VAT taxes (IVA) of 16%. Additional birds over 1,000 are available for $50 per bird.

We look forward to hosting you and your party for this fabulous shooting estate party.