On the way to the rutting place, there is a first test. Here, the men are separated from the boys. Surrounded by roaring stags, it is a matter of letting it all sink in, regaining your calm breathing and mastering the situation.

Soil and biotope allow antlers to grow to prime dimensions, the further south you go, the heavier the racks. This is to indicate that it is also perfectly possible to take on this adventure when you want to shoot a 5-6 kg stag.

Hunting area

What red deer need are large, expansive areas of uninterrupted nature. After reforming the hunting reserves, the forestry administration – with its vast areas of tens of thousands of hectares – has maintained the all-important lebensraum for red deer. This has preserved Hungary’s status as the classic country for stag hunting.

Those who set foot in a Hungarian estate for the first time cannot miss it. Everything here is about hunting. Landscapes with forest, open plains, wild meadows and fertile farmlands are in perfect proportion to each other. Ideal conditions have been created for red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, wild boar and roe deer.

Hunting season

The stag hunting season in Hungary opens on 1 September and ends on 31 October. Selected deer, known as culling stags, may still be hunted until 31 January. It is good to know that the rut in the south starts from the first days of September. Further north, it starts later, until the first week of October.

Tradition and hunting ethics are written in calligraphy here. A bagged stag always receives a big tribute of which the ‘last bite’ is only a small part. Respect for every animal, that’s how Hungarians were brought up. You will experience this yourself when you look at your quarry, lying in a beautiful bed of oak leaves while the hunting horns sound.

Travel details

After landing in Budapest, you will be accommodated in a cosy hotel, guesthouse or hunting lodge. You will understand that not all accommodation is star-studded, but at least the basics are good. Well-kept, clean rooms, each with its own shower and toilet. In some cases, you might even be pleasantly surprised by an existing sauna or other wellness facilities.

You will be picked up by your guide for each outing. Throughout the whole year, all these specialists do is assist hunters in fulfilling their dreams. They are so familiar with red deer that they can estimate the exact weight of the antlers to within two or three hundred grams.

Several factors are decisive for the success of the hunt. Because of this, we plan four days for this trip; for the 8 to 10 kg class, we even recommend booking a fifth day. Then the moment will surely come when all the pieces of the puzzle fall in place and your dream stag will present itself.

Included