Travel-worthy winter hunting destinations

Riccardo Tamburini, our brand ambassador from Italy, is one of the lucky ones – during winter, he often goes abroad to accompany hunters on their trips and film the process. Africa was one of his recent destinations, and his first tip is to study the local regulations carefully: “In Africa, you often can’t hunt during the night, but in those cases, you can use the thermal camera only as a spotter. And it can also be very useful when looking for chamois in the woods while stalking.”

His favorites for the task? The Pulsar Merger LRF XP50 thermal imaging binoculars for their exceptional quality, and the Axion 2 LRF XG35 for its compactness. The common thread? The built-in laser rangefinder for accurately measuring distances.

If you are going for the latter, though, get ready for a challenging trip – as our ambassador from Sweden Night Vision Viking tells us, mouflon sheep are hard to spot, let alone hunt, because of their remote (and quite harsh) living conditions and shy nature. Although knowing that, recently, he managed to approach one from just over 50 meters, who is to say you couldn’t just as well?

Here’s how Phil describes it: “You could end up walking up and down the hills for hours trying to find the right stag to take. You may spot some stags and hinds from the roadside with your binoculars or thermal, but then you need to work out which way you’re going to get to them without them knowing you’re there first. The wind direction can change very quickly and give your position away. Then you have to come up with a plan B which may mean going back over your steps and coming back in from another angle.”

Speaking of the hunting itself, Jón Rúnar has really enjoyed the tradition of making fires wherever you station yourself: “There is heat to keep you warm, there is warm coffee all day, and you camouflage human scent with smoke. Animals are familiar with the scent of smoke and thus don’t shy away from you.”

He also notes that moose hunting in Lapland is very much teamwork: “Who and how harvests the animal does not matter. When it does happen, everyone in the hunting party comes and helps get it out of the area. It was a pure joy to see how a well-managed group with good equipment could easily bring those giants out of the forest. Being able to take part in this kind of hunt was a big privilege that I will never forget.”

Also, I love forests, and that is something exotic for me as the Lofoten Islands aren’t spoiled with woodlands. This winter has just begun, but I already got to try hunting for capercaillie, which was really cool. Even though I didn’t have any luck on that hunt, I got to see several of these awesome birds, which I’ve never encountered before, and their hunting method is quite fascinating.

I also stalked a roe deer which is a little different on snow. I love being able to spot the tracks easier, but it can be hard stalking on frozen ground.”

The damp grounds of Louisiana are also a perfect place for woodcocks to spend their winter. The state takes pride in large numbers of the American species of the bird available, and while the process still remains quite challenging, the success rate is pretty high. And speaking of woodcock, we can’t forget its Eurasian cousin – mysterious and hard to catch, it usually spends winter in Southern Europe. Our brand ambassador Riccardo Tamburini has just told us about its hunting peculiarities in Italy, so we invite you to have a look and give yourself a head-start for the next woodcock hunting trip – whether it will lead you to Italy or Louisiana.