Hungary

A country where hunting has an enormous tradition, thanks to which it can boast record red deer, fallow deer and roe deer trophies. Because of their atmosphere and frequency of elimination, common wild boar hunts and small game hunts are also unforgettable.

The season in Hungary opens on April 15th by hunting for roe deer, when the main season of deer hunting begins. Due to the different arrangement of roe deer hunting in Hungary (starting a month earlier than in our country), a large part of hunters from Slovakia use the time from mid-April to May 16th to collect experiences and trophies from roe deer hunting in Hungary. At that time, low crop rates of agricultural crops increase the percentage of hunting success in spring.

Roe deer can also be hunted for very successfully during the roe deer rutting period (late July to early August), mainly thanks to the handy hunting guides able to recruit a large number of roe deer during a single walk. Specific hunting grounds are selected according to the requirements of catching guests, depending on whether they are interested in catching only strong roe deer or, conversely, prefer quantity to quality, or whether they are interested in hunting in field hunting grounds or contrariwise in forest hunting grounds. In general, I prefer the eastern and southern part of Hungary (Alföld), where roe deer is the majority, which is also reflected in the quantity and quality of trophies. The roe deer can be hunted according to the individual price list (based on the weight of the trophy) or for the so-called flat price. A popular form is also the purchase of packages e.g. 10 or 15 pieces of roe deer with a significant price advantage.

The deer hunting period in Hungary begins on September 1st, when the southern part of the country (the Danube and Dráva flood zones) is already in full swing. The location and warmer climate predetermine that Hungary's deer rutting as the main period of hunting of strong deer in its southern counties (Zala, Somogy, Baranya) starts about 2 weeks earlier than in Slovakia. That is why many Slovak hunting guests spend the first weeks of September in the south of Hungary collecting unforgettable hunting experiences. It is in these regions that the strongest individuals are hunted for, as evidenced by the world record trophy tables. Interesting from the hunting guest's point of view is catching the real Carpathian deer in the east of Hungary (along the Hungarian-Ukrainian border). These deer are characterized by dark antlers, long and thick beam and fewer tynes. The rutting culminates here around September 20th. The third location I visit with my guests is the districts in the Vértes, Börzsöny and Pilis (bordering Slovakia), where there is from the point of view of the number and quality of the gene pool the same population as in the districts of Levice, Veľký Krtíš, Lučenec and Rimavská Sobota. Compared to Slovakia, however, the difference is mainly in the price and level of organization of the hunts. As with roe deer, red deer can be hunted on a flat-rate basis.

Hungary is renowned for the currently highest population quality of fallow deer in the world. Looking at the catalogue of the strongest trophies, we can see that hunting grounds Gúth, Gyulaj, Lábod, Pusztavacs and many others produce regularly fallow deer with points level above 200 CIC points. The point is that these are free hunting grounds, not small game enclosures or veterinary farms as in Slovakia or the Czech Republic. The main season of fallow deer hunting is of course the rutting (October).

Fallow deer hunting has always been in the shadow of red deer hunting, but in recent times hunters find catching the fallow deer in rutting no less exciting than catching a red deer in rutting. I hunt for fallow deer with hunting guests in several areas, depending on catching what kind of fallow deer the guest requires. In all cases in a hunting ground where fallow deer is dominant and is not disturbed by a stronger competitor, red deer. This also corresponds to the trophy quality of the fallow deer caught, which in some cases exceeds the magic limit of 5 kg.

Another attraction for foreign guests is the common wild boar hunting, both in free grounds and in game enclosures. As far as free hunting grounds are concerned, I prefer 2-day events (most often a combination of hunting in free territories and a game enclosure), whereby in case of a good excess of wild boars in the year it is not a problem to reach the hunting bag of 30-40 wild boars a day in the free grounds, or 100-150 pcs. in the enclosure. The number of shooters is set at max. 15 in the free grounds or 12 in the enclosure to really occupy only those stands where there is a real chance of success. In Hungary, as in Slovakia, it is allowed to catch non-trophy red deer, fallow deer and mouflons on common hunts, what my guests like to use. The difference from the classical common wild boar hunting is that in this way of hunting it is forbidden to use dogs for the game under Hungarian law. Especially thanks to this, the proportion of bare animals on the elimination is much higher. Rich hunting bags make this way of hunting more and more attractive.

Common wild boar hunts bring a unique atmosphere not only from the point of view of hunting itself, but also by meeting new people, having fun after the common hunt (regularly with excellent gypsy music) and possibly concluding new contracts. Unlike our classic “100-euro” hunts, they are distinguished by an excellent organization of smooth movement on individual drives, a sufficient number of drivers and high-quality hounds and strict respect for hunting traditions.

From the point of view of hunting guests, wild boar is extremely attractive game, both because it can be hunted for (except for sow) throughout the year and in terms of the way of hunting (individually and in the form of a common hunts). Wild boar hunting is often seen as a good complement to hunting for other game species.

As for the possibility of hunting for wild boar, I cooperate with users of hunting grounds located south of the lake Balaton. In addition to these parts, I have good experience in organizing hunts in the area of Nógrád and Gömör (south of Veľký Krtíš, Lučenec and Fiľakovo) and also in the vicinity of the Hortobágy pusta, where wild boar is hunted for in several tens or even hundreds of hectares of large reeds. I can also provide excellent hunts for you in the Börzsöny mountains north of Budapest and around Nagymaros (Dunakanyar).

There are also many wild boar enclosures in Hungary where breeding is directed to achieve the strongest trophy boars. Boars with an average tusk length of over 24 cm are not rare, and genetically, the emphasis is also on obtaining the most coarse weapons. What is essential is the effort to preserve the natural shyness of the game and thereby ensure a full hunting experience. I often encounter long-time hunters who have caught several dozens, perhaps hundreds of wild boars, but have not caught "quite a tusker" yet and Diana is not inclined to them. If you are one of them, I recommend individual hunting in the enclosure. Wild boar enclosures are not small fenced areas for training hounds, but a few hundred hectares of fields, which provide a full-fledged hunting experience.

Small game also becomes interesting. In Slovakia, we almost don´t hunt for hares, wild pheasants are also shot only at a minimum level and the partridge from our districts has disappeared completely. There are still enough hunting grounds in our southern neighbours where a 10-member group has no problem catching 100 hares per day and 20-30 wild cocks. For Hungary also half-wild breeding of pheasants is typical, which results in the possibility of securing hunting for excellently flying pheasants grown directly in the district, either by bushing (rough shooting with dogs) or by classic battue with shooters on the stands. Hunting for ducks, which also come from artificial breeding, but are also excellent at flying, is also very popular, Too. An attraction is partridge hunting, unfortunately even here exclusively from artificial breeding. The result of the hunting for small game is always dependent only on the financial possibilities and shooting skills of the hunting guests.

Hare hunting in Hungary, unlike in Slovakia, starts on September 1st, but most hunting ground users plan to hunt from October to November, when it is also possible to hunt for pheasants. In Slovakia, hunting guests basically do not get to the hare hunting, because the users of hunting territories, where small game is the main game, try to monetize the increase in hares mainly by capturing it. In Hungary, capturing hares does not have such a tradition and the number of hares is regulated exclusively by shooting, while the fee for catching hares is about half the price of captured hares in Slovakia.

Pheasants are hunted for in two ways, firstly it is a classic method of bushing or hunting in pheasantries. By the first method of hunting it is hunted in groups of 3 to 5 shooters with the help of a few drivers and 2-3 quality pointers. Pheasants are wild, i. e. hatched and bred in nature, so they fly beautifully and are not easy to catch. The so-called half-wild breeding is also gaining more popularity, where the pheasants reared in this way do not lag behind their wild competitors and during the hunt there is no difference between them. In pheasantries, the hunting follows as in our country by battue. Of course, an artificially bred pheasant cannot compete a wild one in the flying skills, but through a good organization of drives and suitable terrain, the hunting in the pheasantry can be brought closer to the hunting in the wild.

From the point of view of hunting guests, the hunting of partridge which is not hunted for in Slovakia at all, is very attractive as well. It should be acknowledged that this is not a wild population, as it does not exist in Hungary anymore, but artificial breeding provides mature and well-flying individuals.

As for small game, I would like to give your attention one more offer, namely the hunting for so called half-wild ducks. They are wild ducks that are hatched in artificial hatcheries and are reared in such a way that they are forced to learn to fly well. From the moment the ducks are able to fly, the caregivers only feed them and they are forced to fly to the water to a lake about 300 m away, with an adult forest filling the space between the feeding place and the lake, forcing the ducks to gain the necessary height. I recommend these hunts in September or October during the Indian summer. Given that hunting takes place during the day, there is no problem to combine it e. g. with a fallow deer hunting or wild boar hunting.

Wild geese hunting is also sought after. They are hunted either by pass-shooting or with the aids of decoys in the fields where they sit for grazing. In case of favourable weather conditions for geese hunting (fog, wind, rain, snow) it is possible to achieve a very nice hunting bag. With regard to geese hunting, however, it should be added that it cannot be planned in advance by several weeks or months, as is the case with other game. I recommend those who are interested in geese hunting to contact me and leave me contact details so that I can get in touch with you in case of the highest probability of hunting.

In the months of November to January hunting for does and fawns is also interesting in Hungary, especially in the field grounds. This kind of hunting is favoured by shooters, who are also improving in shooting at greater distances, or testing ammunition. There is no problem to catch about 15 pieces of non-trophy roe deer per day.

ZAn advantage for the hunting guests with poor physical condition is undoubtedly hunting from the car allowed by Hungarian law. It is also possible to hunt from a horse-drawn carriage in selected areas, which is certainly a great attraction for many.

Overall, Hungary can be characterized as a country where the level of hunting is the highest compared to the neighbouring states, which is also reflected in the results achieved and the interest of hunting guests to return here.