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Croatia is among the rare countries that can boast of having a tradition of organised hunting more than 120 years old. Fallow deer hunting takes place on the Island of Plavnic.
Croatia Fallow deer hunting takes place in a coastal, dry environment, as opposed to much of Europe’s wet, rainy weather. The climate is Mediterranean along the Adriatic Sea in the coastal region, with warm summers and mild winters.
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Fallow deer were introduced to the Island of Plavnik (which can only be accessed by boat) during the 1990′s and are thriving. The island is located between Krk and Cres and has a total area of 1000 hectares and fallow deer are the only large game on the island. In addition to fallow deer hunting this outfitter also provides; Bear, Mouflan rams, Alpine and Balkan Chamois, Red Stag, Roe buck, wild boar, wolf, fox, jackal, and birds, partridge, pheasant, and quail.
Here you will experience beautiful and untouched nature in the coastal karst, covered with oak, Holm oak, and juniper. The hunting ground also has a house where shepherds used to live where, during the day, you can relax, freshen up and enjoy the beautiful views of Krk and Cres islands. Nearby are the ruins of a small church, and frequent guests are the Griffon vultures!”
~ Your Outfitter
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An account of our hunt with this Outfitter:
Drove down in a rental car to Croatia from Germany, through Austria and Slovenia, cleared customs with the rifle for 7 Euro ($10) at the Croatian border; the Outfitter met us at the airport to clear customs for us. He explained where we would go in the morning. He speaks very good English.
Day One; Woke up early and we were driven five minutes to the harbor and loaded a boat to the private island of Plavnik. All gear was loaded by three camp hands/guides. After a 30 minute boat ride we walked or rode to the lodge on the island of Plavnik only 10 minutes up hill. All of our gear was taken uphill on a tractor. We began to hunt straight off the boat.
We tried to take a young buck but could not get a shot. We saw several does and heard a rutting buck in the wind. After a few hours we walked back to the lodge and had a great egg and bacon brunch with all fresh foods and then took a nap in our room.
In the early afternoon we went back out and we finally took a spike buck for culling purposes. Late afternoon close to dusk, we heard the croaking of a large mature Fallow deer buck. After stalking up through the bush we came upon a big buck about 150 yards but hidden in the brush. After several minutes we saw his shoulder and from shooting sticks Mat took the shot. Perfect lung, he dropped within 5 yards; large Fallow buck with a scenic sea backdrop!
Day Two: Early morning, we looked high and low for a big buck but the wind was strong and the big ones were in the low ground in deep cover. Later in the day after walking for hours we came across a young spike buck and followed him to a small harem with a very large buck croaking loud. We snuck up on him, low crawled into position. We decided to leave the big buck alone to breed but take another young spike buck that was weak. Henry harvested the second cull buck. In 2 days we had shots on two big bucks, two small bucks, several does, and about four spike bucks.”
~ Mat Cervantes
Croatia Fallow Deer Hunting Details
Hunting Season:
September through January
Terrain:
Rolling hills, rocky, but not too steep. Juniper and oaks with lots of stone walls from the old days of sheep herding. Beautiful sunny weather in the Mediterranean region. Plavnic Island is about 2500 acres in size. The original lodge building and church date back to 1577!
Hunting Method
Stalking, Glassing, Walk, and Crawl or Kneel. Shoot from sticks or stone walls. Tree stands available for sitting if needed.
Success Rate:
High, close to 300-400 population of Fallow on the island with SCI approved feral rams. Finding deer was not a problem, getting close enough to a shooter without getting busted in the brush was.
Trophy Quality:
Excellent to good. Bronze-Gold medal animals are possible using the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) rating system.
Guides:
Guides and helpers used high end spotting scopes and binoculars. Once an animal was taken a call was made and men came out with a stretcher and took the animal away for gutting and capeing. There are no language issues at all. The Outfitter speaks perfect English.
Lodging:
Lodging is part of the package and is clean and comfortable. Great food is prepared by the guides in the lodge, local cuisine, excellent beer and wine as well as a variety of water and soft drinks.
Travel:
You can fly into the Croatian capital of Zagreb and rent a car or be picked up personally by the Outfitter. We drove to Croatia from Germany. Croatia is not yet a European Union (EU) member and still uses “Kuna” instead of Euro although Euros are widely accepted. 2013 is the current EU membership date. Clean and safe environment with good roads and airports.
From the airport you will travel to the Dalmatian coast on the Adriatic Sea which is 2.5 hrs.
Available Game:
Several different types of animals are possible to hunt on the mainland coast and inland (Bear, Mouflan rams, Alpine and Balkan Chamois, Red Stag, Roe buck, and wild boar but only Fallow bucks, feral sheep, and rabbits on the Island of Plavnik.
Tags/Permit:
Tags and permits are all part of the package, included in the cost. This is all handled transparent to you; by the outfitter. No one is required to have any license or safety course prior.
Visit GotHuntsGear.com to gear up for this hunt!