Ibex Hunting In Spain
Out of nowhere comes my dream ram walking. The ram stops and starts grazing. The guides are debating the size of him, because it has now started to snow and visibility is diminished. They judge it to be in the upper part of silver, and give me permission to shoot.
I get down prone, put the rifle on top of the knapsack, take a quick peek back to make sure everything is 100% OK. I push the safety forward, take a deep breath and touch the trigger. The ram signals a solid hit, and lurks forward. I choose to fire once more, and the ram runs 15 yards before falling behind a large tree, and out of sight.
The guides choose to bring the rifle with them across the river to search for the downed ram. Minutes pass, the wait is killing me. I want to know if everything is alright, when I see one of the guides wave and confirm the animal is there, dead.
Now the hard part begins, to get the animal back across the river, but with combined effort and some rope we manage to bring it over. The guides are pondering the size thinking it may be on the wrong side of gold, but after some recalculating they arrive at 223.75 CIC points. The ram is skinned in case I want a full mount, and we leave for the trip back to the hotel for a champagne lunch, and my, what a lunch. Six courses with champagne, wine and cognac. Later today we drive back to Madrid where my host, Antonio, will try and get tickets for the soccer game tomorrow between Real Madrid and Dortmund.
Facts and references:
The hunt was arranged by Iberhunting www.iberhunting.com, a full service outfitter. They also arranged for my Ibex to be full mounted in Spain, and shipment to Sweden.
I borrowed a rifle on site, a Blaser R8 .270 Weatherby Magnum with Zeiss Diarange M 3-12x56 scope.
I used Weatherby factory ammunition with a 140 gr Nosler bullet.
A good set of binoculars are invaluable for glassing the mountain slopes. I used a pair of Swarovski 10x50 with built in rangefinder.
I bought a pair of Meindl comfort fit hunting boots for the trip, and have not regretted it.
Spain is probably not on the top of your list when it comes to hunting, but the opportunities are endless at reasonable prices
There are 4 types of Ibex in Spain: Gredos Ibex, Ronda-Tejeda Ibex, Sierra Nevada Ibex and Beceite Ibex. The supply of all 4 is plentiful.
I get down prone, put the rifle on top of the knapsack, take a quick peek back to make sure everything is 100% OK. I push the safety forward, take a deep breath and touch the trigger. The ram signals a solid hit, and lurks forward. I choose to fire once more, and the ram runs 15 yards before falling behind a large tree, and out of sight.
The guides choose to bring the rifle with them across the river to search for the downed ram. Minutes pass, the wait is killing me. I want to know if everything is alright, when I see one of the guides wave and confirm the animal is there, dead.
Now the hard part begins, to get the animal back across the river, but with combined effort and some rope we manage to bring it over. The guides are pondering the size thinking it may be on the wrong side of gold, but after some recalculating they arrive at 223.75 CIC points. The ram is skinned in case I want a full mount, and we leave for the trip back to the hotel for a champagne lunch, and my, what a lunch. Six courses with champagne, wine and cognac. Later today we drive back to Madrid where my host, Antonio, will try and get tickets for the soccer game tomorrow between Real Madrid and Dortmund.
Facts and references:
The hunt was arranged by Iberhunting www.iberhunting.com, a full service outfitter. They also arranged for my Ibex to be full mounted in Spain, and shipment to Sweden.
I borrowed a rifle on site, a Blaser R8 .270 Weatherby Magnum with Zeiss Diarange M 3-12x56 scope.
I used Weatherby factory ammunition with a 140 gr Nosler bullet.
A good set of binoculars are invaluable for glassing the mountain slopes. I used a pair of Swarovski 10x50 with built in rangefinder.
I bought a pair of Meindl comfort fit hunting boots for the trip, and have not regretted it.
Spain is probably not on the top of your list when it comes to hunting, but the opportunities are endless at reasonable prices
There are 4 types of Ibex in Spain: Gredos Ibex, Ronda-Tejeda Ibex, Sierra Nevada Ibex and Beceite Ibex. The supply of all 4 is plentiful.
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