31.10.2024 • Travel

Wild Corsica

Going to Corsica to hunt was something that had never oc- curred to us. It was a fortunate coincidence that we received an invitation to this mountainous island. After we were initially a little sceptical about the local hunting practice, we were in for a pleasant sur- prise. Even the extreme storm on the first day of hunting could not spoil the good impressions.

Text and photos: Gunther Stoschek

Half an hour before we arrived at the small airport of Figari in the south of Corsica, we noticed the extremely rough sea. The landing of our Air Corsica flight was accordingly turbulent. On the short walk to the rental car office, we saw that the weather forecast did not look good for the next day either. We shuddered at the thought of the upcoming hunting trip in such a storm. According to the forecast, the strong wind was set to abate on the day after, and 14 degrees Celsius was very mild for end of November.

The drive to the hunting grounds of the Domaine de Murtoli with approx. 2500 hectares took only forty minutes – almost too short to fully enjoy the spectacular views along the coastal road, with the wide beach and wild surf below and the steep, rocky cliffs above. Secretly, we were now starting to ask ourselves what it would be like to hunt wild boar and red-legged partridges in this wild landscape.

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Early the next day, we were informed that we would start out by hunting partridge and other small game instead of boar, due to the strong wind. The leader of the hunting party simply had not wanted us to hold out on a stand for an extended period of time during the storm. So we went down to the sea with the dog handlers, on paths that are only accessible with four-wheel drive vehicles. The hunt was to take place on the wide beach with a large number of shrub areas. We were told that the red-legged partridges and pheasants preferred to hide out in these bushes.

The storm was really something. The spray from the surf, but especially the fine sand, whipped our faces to hard that it was difficult to see at times. It was a real challenge for the shooters and for our camera. While we knew that the partridges would never fly off against the strong wind, the situation still meant that the birds would fly unimaginably fast and we
would need an incredible forward allowance. Sometimes the storm was blowing the shot partridges a hundred meters away into thick brush. At the end of the day, it was only down to the dogs’ experience that we achieved a quite respectable result.

The following day, the storm had abated noticeably and the sun provided milder temperatures again. After an opulent breakfast, the leader of the hunting group explained the boar hunting process. He particularly focused on meticulously listing all safety rules – not a trace of the sometimes cited southern carelessness. Shortly after we had settled on our stands and heard the horn signal the start of the hunt, we already heard the first dog barking. The hustle and bustle was very large and was only parked with our small group. The terrain was also steep, rocky and extremely overgrown. We were all the more excited to see it. However, we soon realized the advantage of the size of this drive. As the dogs hardly got too close to the sows, they were reluctant to flee and tended to cross the aisles at the stands at a leisurely pace. These were good conditions for a safe shot. By the evening, a whole series of boars had been brought down. The fact that these sows are somewhat smaller than their relatives in northern climes naturally did not detract from the joy of the hunting success.