This is the second part of a series of articles “My trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia”. To get the best experience, I recommend reading the first part.

 

Chapter 2: The mouflon quest

 

After two intense days of hunting small games in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was time to head to our next destination: Croatia.

We decided to hit the road just after our hunting day. Anel’s Brother arrived at the house with his family during the afternoon and we spent just 30 minutes speaking with him and packing our stuff. It was almost dark and we had a 6 hours drive to get to our destination.

The total distance wasn’t very far, but we didn’t take the high road until the Croatian border. Instead we drove through a mountain road where there’s a high chance you’ll get eaten by a wolf or a bear if you take a piss on the roadside.

On this road, you also need to be careful because you can encounter wild horses licking the salt on the road.

Arriving in the plain of Livno we met a friend of Anel in a restaurant. It was during the world cup final (that we didn’t see), 5 minutes after the last penalty. Luckily, neither Anel or myself are football fans.

After a full meal, we got back on the road and crossed the border, finally arriving in Žuljana in Croatia.

I immediately experienced the people’s generosity from the owners of the place we were staying: the Konoba “Solar”; they offered us food and drink even though it was 22:30. After a second dinner and a few rakias, it was time to go to bed and sleep to be ready for the hunt.

Breakfast was at 05:00 which gave us the opportunity to watch the sunrise. The weather was sky blue and the temperature was higher than in Switzerland during this period of the year.

After breakfast, we met our hunting guide in the village center and then went directly to the area.

With sun rising and its orange light adding a “summer” atmosphere to the place, I recognized how lucky I was to have the chance to hunt in a place like that.

 

After a few hours of observation, we saw a huge mouflon and decided to make an approach. It was quite challenging as the place was wide and there was not a lot of vegetation to hide in. We took the chance and we encountered another group with two males.

I decided to go for one of them and after a moment, the mouflon was in a good position. I took the shot. I don’t know why but I wasn’t able to see the action. I was afraid of not being able to find the animal. Fortunately, Anel was filming the scene through his spotting scope. After 15 minutes, we found the mouflon under a tree.

When you go on a hunting trip, you know that there is a possibility to come home with nothing, so it was a great relief to get my mouflon during the first morning. It was done!

 

We took some pictures and started to organize the transportation of the animal. Once we arrived at the village, it was time to get the mouflon certified (medals system). They were two people in charge of the process: the president of the regional hunting club and another person who received the ability to certify animals. I am not sure about the exact details, but it seemed that he worked as an environmentalist or something similar.

They calculated the size of the horns and they took the decision that the mouflon would not receive a medal. Some people would be disappointed by this but I don’t care; what is important to me is the souvenir I created and the fact that I’m satisfied with the hunt. In my opinion, this mouflon is beautiful.

 

After the decision, we let the owner of the place take care of the animal and we started to relax a bit.

What is amazing about this trip is the fact that we had the possibility to eat the venison. Generally, the meat is entirely shared with villagers. I asked if we can keep a piece to cook it. And it was one of the best meals we had during this trip.

 

Hunting mouflon in Croatia was quite a unique experience. To be able to hunt in a place with a sea view is a privilege. I was super lucky to find the animal the first morning. Trust me, it’s not always the case.

Now that I have reached the main objective of the trip, what’s next?

Discover what Anel organized for the rest of the trip in part 3. Believe me, the adventure is far from over.

 

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