Drive tonight, hunt tommorow

[addicted]

The time has come. in a couple of hours Fire4effect and i will be leaving for a 2 day push hunt on the other side of germany for Red stag, Wild boar, and Reh. I'm super syked and I've got my 8mm ready to go. Hopefully i will get on saturday with lots of pictures and a good story. I'll bring the video camera but i dont think i'll have the oppourtunity to use it. Last time they held this hunt there was 75 hunters and 175 pieces of game shot. 

[saylean]

Red stag and wild boar...im jealous! Have fun! Taking the autobahn?

[shoot-em-dead]

good luck and a question- How safe is that to hunt with so many people?

[addicted]

Red stag and wild boar...im jealous! Have fun! Taking the autobahn?

you betcha.  we'll be in his new JK so we wont be hauling ass but it definately makes travel easier.

good luck and a question- How safe is that to hunt with so many people?

 

They put a lot of time and effort into the planning and placement of the hunters and drivers. The hunt starts on a horn blow of a certain tune and ends on a horn tune called Han and Rue. This is the only time in germany when hunters where orange as well.  The animals are primarily pushed by dogs and if a dog is on the tail of the game your supposed to let it go to protect the dog. It seems unfair and unsporting but it isnt easy. I went on one a few weeks ago with 35 hunters and we came up with a fox and that was it.  The DruckJagd is primarily used during this time of year when the local forester needs to make his quota of kills in his area so Official formal invitations are sent out.  There is a ton of tradition and and a lot of history that goes into the event as well as the camradory of great hunting buddies.

the heard management over here is much more closely watched and much better planned than in the states alowing just the right amount of animals in the area.

[Curly]

Sounds like a good time.  I'll be looking for pics.

[rasbo]

sounds like it will be a cool memory in the making...

[cohoho]

I only wish I experienced the hunting while there (6 years)....  I liked the German girls and beer better at the time..  Your definitely an ambassador for American with getting involved in these activities for sure...   Get some good pictures....

[addicted]

cars all loaded up. see you guys in a couple days.

[Machias]

Be safe, have fun and LOTS of photos!!

[AngelFace]

I am sure they will have a ton of fun and they will take lots of pictures.
I handed him the camera as he walked out the door so he has it. 

Taking the autobahn?

I think it is funny when people ask us that. The autobahn is basically just our freeway over here. I drove down to Paris on it and I was going about 105 mph the whole time and that was normal. And people were passing us. =)

[addicted]

It was a good hunt. I have to go plow the runway so i wont be able to post anymore pics for about 13 hours so i will give you a couple for the road and come back later for the story. 

Fire4Effect could get on and tell you his story.

[smdave]

Well that looks cool when were you going to tell me?

Dave

[rasbo]

get that damn runway plowed and get some story going on

[addicted]

I got on the comp at work so i cant post pics but i can start out a little story.

This is the Annual German American Friendship hunt in Hohenfells Germany.  The hunt is held on the hohenfells army post where there is almost no pressure on the animals for most of the year however this is a high fence hunt by no means.  The area we hunted the first day was 3,000 hectar and the area we hunted the second day was 7,000 hectars.

We started our day our day at 0500 and 13 degrees farenheit. with a slight new trace of snow on the ground.

This is a Drive hunt which is a very traditional and social hunt. We arrived the night before and went to they meet up point in the morning. There we probably 60+ hunters, both germans and americans. It is really a great way to meet people. They start out the morning with the blowing of the the horns to call the hunters together. Once the hunters are gathered the Person hosting the hunt, A forester in this case begins with a very high and formal speach. Welcome to the hunt...... I am so and so..... thank you for coming....

then for this large hunts like this one there is a holy man brought in to bless the hunt and pray for safety and a good hunt.   There was one german guy from a local church as well as an army chaplain for the americans.


After this the forester hosting the hunt goes over the menu for the hunt. This included

Red stag(put in groups from largest to smallest of 1A 1B 2A 2B 3 and 3B)
any spike unless it had a split anter at the top.
any 3 level stag without a crown
any 2 level stag without a crown
and any 1 level stag if you could afford it.(not me)
any red stag calf
any red stag cow not leading a calf(unless you shoot the calf first)

Any female Roe Deer.

Any wild boar with the exceptoin of the leading female.


Usually foxes are good to shoot but the area has a rodent problem so they were holding off on shooting foxes.


After the forester goes over the animals, the safety rules, and timeline for the hunt there is another horn tune blown for the beggining of the hunting day.  After this the hunters break into predetermined groups so they can be dispersed in precalculated hunting stands.

Our forester in charge of our group placed my buddy Fire4effect and I in semi close stands because we road in the same car. Unfortunately i didnt get ahold of my camera until later in the day so i didnt have any pictures of the first sit.  As i walked up to my stand i heard a shot a couple hundred yards away and looked up to see 6 stag crossing a hillside in the trees about 300 yards away. From that point on I was buzzing with excitement.  I quickly got in my stand and scanned the area like a hawk.

[addicted]

Alright. home from snow duty now. here are the pics to go with what story i've told.

first pic is the hunters in the morning with fire4effect center left.

second picture is the horn blowers(note the 12 year old. there is usually one or two at these big hunts. they end up doing a lot of work. good kid)

then guys about to give the invocation.

[The Weazle]

I am so envious of your time in germany...do many guys over there use a deutsch drathaar (dog) for hunting?  Keep up the stories and pictures!  Looking forward to the rest of this thread... 

[rasbo]

that is really cool,tradition

[PacificNWhunter]

Awesome!

[addicted]

For the rest of my morning i saw only the ass end of one reh scooting out behind me. At noon we took a 15 minute scheduled break so that people could get down from the stands and gut their animal so they could be open and cooling. Got down and went to go ask want ryan(fire4effect) saw. while i was walking back to my seat a reh buck ran by my at about 40 yards oblivious to my presence. The hunt was scheduled to end at 1400. every couple of minutes someone would shoot something that they saw and the other animals would get spooked by the shot and make a mistake so the shots came in waves all day.  I saw one calf and cow running accross the valley infront of me coming my way so i was up and ready but all i saw after that was teh dogs that were pushing them. they had dooped the dogs. 1400 hit and we went to get the camera for the streckelegen(laying out of animals)here are a couple pics fromt that. Just got called in to plow the runway again. stay tuned

[fire4effect]

Ok, so here is my side of the story. Even though I didn't shoot anything i certainly saw what has got to be the biggest damn animals I've ever seen. The first day after the 1200-1225 break to field dress your game, I saw 3 massive class 1A Heirsch Bulls. For those of you who aren't familiar with the German ranking system, here is the break down:

3b is the least desired, usually weeded out of the herd
3a is developing to be a 1a, you will never shoot a 1a

2b is a strong bull, good antlers however will never crown and usually is a great trophy
2a again you will never shoot a 2a, its potential is far to valuable

1b, not sure if these exist
1a, now these are damn monsters and i am not joking, i swear i thought they had christmas trees on either side of their heads. I would say they were close to 700 m away and they were giants. the trophy fee for these ususally ranges about 500 euro per kilo. Hope you have deep pockets.

It was a great time had by all especially those who were able to harvest an animal. I am hoping next year with my re-enlistment bonus to go to graf and bring hope a big 1A.

Addicted (Josh) took all the pics because my camera was not charged.

[AngelFace]

Hopefully next year I will be able to go on this hunt with my husband. He had such a great time and was able to shoot such a cool animal as you guys saw pictures of. I really hope that I will be able to go next year and shoot my first piece of real big game. Two foxes and some ducks are just not enough in my book.

[hornhunter]

Isnt there a very hard test required to get your hunting license in Germany.  I met a German exchange student a few years back and he began to tell me about this test.  He also had a study guide book.  Did you have to take this test?  What an awesome experience to hunt in Germany and experience a different hunting culture.

[addicted]

yup. i took the test a little more than a year ago and my wife(angelface) and fire4effect took the test in march i think. the class we went through was 8-10 weeks with 3-4 nights a week and practice shoots on the weekends because not only is there a written test but a rifle, pistol, and shotgun, shooting test at the range.

[hornhunter]

Cool!  The exchange student was able to go elk hunting in Idaho with us for a week.  We all agreed he would learn more in elk camp for a week than highschool  He had a few German hunting magazines I looked at.  The pictures were neat 

[fire4effect]

the course is considerably shorter than what the germans take. the downside to that is we dont get to learn all the stuff they do. it does however take some time and a bit of studying but its totally worth it. i should have taken the course as soon as i got to germany.

[addicted]

stuck at work again but i'll finish off the story.

Day Two

so the second morning it was alittle  warmer. 15 degrees.
After going through all the ceremonies of the first morning again, we went out to a new area to hunt.
The forester placed me in a stand in its own valley. While pointing out where the other hunters were(unable to be shot directly) he said that this was the best stand in the valley. 

I quickley grabbed my gear and headed out to the stand which was a couple hundred yards from the road.  As i arrived at the stand it began snowing steadily. The stand had a 100-250 yard view of a tree line to the front of the stand and a huge meadow out to 600+ yards to the rear.

About 10 minutes into the sit a beautiful fully winter fured fox showed up about 50 yards in front of me. He was mousing accross the field while i got out the camera to snap some pics.(I'll post them when i get home) There was a gun shot and he spooked. i tried to squeek him back but he was long gone. Over the next hour i saw 4 more foxes. one behind me, one dissappearing in the trees and 2 chasing eachother out a couple hundred yards. I would have wacked the first one if we were to be shooting foxes that day. about 1030 i heard the dogs barking and turned to see a Cow and a calf crossing the feild behind me probably 400 yards out. i watched them hook around and dissapear in the trees. a minute later the dogs came down teh same path. they showed up again 200 yards out the left of my stand and i was going to wack the calf but they never stopped moving. they crossed the opening and were never seen again.

At 1150 two cows popped out of the trees 200+ yards infront of me and dissapeared back itno the trees. They came into a clearing and got the crosshairs on the first one. I sqeezed one off and saw her legs go week. she moved into the trees and appears a moment later about 130 yards to my left. i picked her out immediately from teh blood coming out of her mouth. as she came to the edge of the clearing I could see the dog catching up with her and i shot again. i couldnt tell immediately if it a hit  because she went into the brush. i saw her in a clearing in the brush quartering toward me a few seconds later standing still so i pulled the trigger one more time and she dissapeared. 

I could hear the dog catch up with her and start growling and howling. By time a came down there at noon the dog had ripped out the A$$ hole and another fun part. when the german hunting dogs get ahold of a piece of game they get very aggressive and defensive.  When  I got there the dog saw that the game was going to be taked car of and ran off to find more.  I looked at my shots. the first two were only a couple inches apart in a great spot. complete passthrough. the third hit just infront of the shoulder. Feild dressed her and went up to the stand. Didnt see much till the end of the day after shooting time was over. I heard several more shots though.

I marched back to the road and made the hoe hunt sign in the road while i waited for my ride. When fire4effect showed up we drove his new jeep out into the feild(insert fun) with the forester to pick up the cow.

Back at the streckelegan there was about as many animals as teh first day.

I'll post some pics if i ever get to come home. supposed to snow a few more inches so we are waiting so we can plow.

[addicted]

First pic is the valley i hunted. the stand is in there if you look close i think.

then a couple of my cow(alteer in deutch)

then fire4effects jk parked near where the animal gave up the ghost.

[addicted]

Some picks of the day 2 streckelegen.

A body pic of my cow

a pic of me recieving my Schutzen Bruchen. The shooters branch presented to successful hunters that is worn in the right side of the hat for the duration of the festivities.

[andrew_12gauge]

awesome story and photos addicted and congrats on your kill, how do the red deer taste?

[addicted]

awesome story and photos addicted and congrats on your kill, how do the red deer taste?

in this case i did not get the meat. it went to the forst department for sale. tastes like elk though

[AngelFace]

The husband said this picture was in there on one of his last posts, but forgot to attach it. He posted a picture of his hat with the shooters branch on the right side, but not the one of him actually getting the shooters branch presented to him. So here it is . . . a picture of him receiving his shooters branch which is presented as part of German Hunting Tradition to the shooter of the animal. =)

[addicted]

aegtfb

[addicted]

Front window where first shot was.

left window where shot 2 and 3 were. little bit of buck fever i guess. at least they werent bad shots.

rear view.

right view back to the road.

[addicted]

Lucky fox #1. i would have wacked him in a heartbeat.

[hornhunter]

do you have any photos of the hoch sitz?

[addicted]

not really this is the best i could do. it was a pretty open stand. bench seat and a roof.

[PA BEN]

I might have missed it. What guns were you using and where does the meat go? BTW, looks like fun and thanks for your service.

[addicted]

For guns i was using my new czeska zborovka 550 stutzen in 8X57 IS with a meopta meostar 3-12x56.
We wanted to act like rich germans so we brought back up guns as well. my back up was my wives czeska zborovka 550 luxus 30.06 with a nikon 3-9x50.

My buddy fire4effect was hunting with a sauer 202 30.06 with a schmidt and bender 1.5-6x42. his back up was a Steyr mannlicher classic 30.06 with an S&B scope on that as well.

You wouldnt think you would need a back up gun but when your this likely to shoot an animal, you want to be ready to go. one of the guys we met there was getting out of his car and closed his Sworovski scope in the car door 

the shooter has first choice to buy the whole animal. after that the other hunters have the choice to buy it. after that the forest department already has a deal to sell the meat to a restaraunt or by other means. Sometimes small animals like young pigs are given away for free.

[EastWaViking]

Man, that looks like a great time, what a neat experience being able to hunt over there.  Nice work!!!

[addicted]

I'm Leaving for this hunt again tomorrow. Fire4effect wont make it cuz his deployment extended but i will have camera in hand and huntwa in mind.

Wish me luck.

[addicted]

Good luck.   You want to borrow my Tikka?

they frown upon not bringing enough gun 

[addicted]

never needed a recoil pad on a toy gun before 

[addicted]

I'm pushing like 500 more foot pounds than you 



I've contemplated getting your set up as one of my options when i get back to the states. I just need to wait and see where I'm going and what i'm shooting.

[h20hunter]

Thanks for sharing. That is a great post. I love the tradition, the sharing, and the group effort that goes into it. Kind of like the deer drives in the south. Family and friends get together and hunt for the love of it. Some great animals taken. I really like the pic of receiving the branch, very cool.

[Machias]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!!!

[addicted]

Ok Guys. I'm all packed to go and the Camera is charged. I'll see you when i get back probably saturday morning.

and a news flash. They sent out invitations for another big hunt on WED  and i got the wife talked into going on that one so it will be a family affair.