| Croatia and Lucky Hat Ram |
By Gordon Rockefeller - Life Member #
Several years ago, I decided hunting a Mouflon ram should be a nice sheep hunting experience plus their a
very pretty sheep. I’ve always believed that hunting wild sheep should be as close to their native range as
possible. I investigated hunting Mouflon in Hungary, Spain, Czechoslovakia and Hawaii. But then I read that
Croatia held Mouflon in hunt able numbers and they were pure bred and free range. So when we heard
Hunting Consultant/Vance Corrigan had been to Croatia and booked for Mouflon we spoke with Vance and
decided to go give it a try.
Don Brown from Texas and I decided that Jan 2006 would be the best time for both schedules. Its not the
best time to hunt them for sure… too windy. Sept and Oct would be a much better choice.
In Jan 2006, I met Don at JFK and off to Zagreb, Croatia via Amsterdam we went. Lucky for us Dons travel
agent was insistent that we get a gun permit for traveling through Amsterdam even though we only had a 4
hour layover.
We were met in Zagreb by our outfitter, Josip, who was very efficient and had everything arranged to the nth
degree. No problems with permits, licenses, passports, etc.
We traveled for a couple of hours stopping at a very nice restaurant that was clean and food that was
absolutely delicious with all the wonderful wine one could drink. We continued on in the freezing rain/snow
into the night crossing over some pretty good mountains arriving about 9-10pm dead tired in the town of
Sinh. We stayed in a very nice apartment over looking the Adriatic sea with a beautiful view and breakfast
served each morning at 6:00 am . We were up at 5:30 am each day and with breakfast off to sheep country.
We hunted sheep about 15-20 miles from Sinh along the beautiful cliffs and canyons above the Adriatic
sea. It was spot and stalk with some very rough canyons and draws. The hunt can be tough or quite easy
as sheep hunting goes. The sheep were in a range bordering the sea for 20-30 miles. On our first day, I
discovered that I had forgotten to pack a peeked hat. So on 2nd day I asked Dejan (Dean), my guide, if he
had a peeked hat that I could borrow. He scrambled around in his vehicle and found a peeked hat with a
sheep head/Blazer logo on it. He said, “You will kill a sheep soon cause this is a lucky hat”. More on the
“Lucky Hat” later. We saw lots of rams and sheep but found them to be very wild. Towards the end of the 2nd
day we glassed a band of sheep about a mile away with one pretty nice ram. So after a couple of hours of
stalking and glassing trying to make sure ram was mature and older we got within 225 yards and made a one
shot kill. .
My guide, Dean, spoke very fluent English , was very considerate and an excellent guide. He loved to hunt
the Mouflon ram and was ever trying to determine age, size for ensuring we took a mature old ram. The
Croates have a long and rich hunting tradition with lots of respect for wild animals paying them their due with
last rites, working hard to harvest older animals and studying and tracking them to ensure they remain
healthy.
Croatia is a beautiful country with excellent seafood and wine and a friendly, caring way for their guests..
They have huntable numbers of Roe deer, Red Stag, Wild Boar, European Brown bear, Chamois and
Mouflon sheep. Our outfitter Josip ,guides Dejan, Luka and Hrvose could not have been more
accommodating. They were friendly, humorous and did everything possible towards making one feel
comfortable and relaxed. Including separate day tours, after the hunt was over, to the mountains, various
historical land marks and two major cities of Rijeka and Zagreb the capital. We went to Josips Mom and
Dads house for dinner one evening and had a very nice meal. They made one feel like you were home, a
very delightful evening. Now to the” Lucky Hat ”. Several years ago, Dean guided a young ,23 year old,
Swiss man who was paralyzed from the waist down from a skiing accident just a year or two before. It seems
Silvano Beltrametti was considered one of the top 5 Olympic down hill skiing competitors in all of Switzerland
and had always had a love for the mountains and sheep hunting. He had always carried the sheep
head/Blazer logo’d hat to his competitions and it had always been lucky for him. One day he forgot the hat
and on that faithful day he had a terrible accident leaving him paralyzed from his waist down. Being that
Silvano had always loved the mountains and hunting sheep, he contacted Josip to hunt Mouflon in Croatia .
Dean agreed to pack him(160 lbs) on his back to hunt Mouflon. They connected on a Mouflon and on that
day Silvano gave his lucky hat to Dean and told him it would always bring him luck. Dean thank you for
lending me your “Lucky Ram Hat “.
To Josip,Dean, and all Josips crew, We thank you kindly for making our tour and hunting trip so
memorable.
very pretty sheep. I’ve always believed that hunting wild sheep should be as close to their native range as
possible. I investigated hunting Mouflon in Hungary, Spain, Czechoslovakia and Hawaii. But then I read that
Croatia held Mouflon in hunt able numbers and they were pure bred and free range. So when we heard
Hunting Consultant/Vance Corrigan had been to Croatia and booked for Mouflon we spoke with Vance and
decided to go give it a try.
Don Brown from Texas and I decided that Jan 2006 would be the best time for both schedules. Its not the
best time to hunt them for sure… too windy. Sept and Oct would be a much better choice.
In Jan 2006, I met Don at JFK and off to Zagreb, Croatia via Amsterdam we went. Lucky for us Dons travel
agent was insistent that we get a gun permit for traveling through Amsterdam even though we only had a 4
hour layover.
We were met in Zagreb by our outfitter, Josip, who was very efficient and had everything arranged to the nth
degree. No problems with permits, licenses, passports, etc.
We traveled for a couple of hours stopping at a very nice restaurant that was clean and food that was
absolutely delicious with all the wonderful wine one could drink. We continued on in the freezing rain/snow
into the night crossing over some pretty good mountains arriving about 9-10pm dead tired in the town of
Sinh. We stayed in a very nice apartment over looking the Adriatic sea with a beautiful view and breakfast
served each morning at 6:00 am . We were up at 5:30 am each day and with breakfast off to sheep country.
We hunted sheep about 15-20 miles from Sinh along the beautiful cliffs and canyons above the Adriatic
sea. It was spot and stalk with some very rough canyons and draws. The hunt can be tough or quite easy
as sheep hunting goes. The sheep were in a range bordering the sea for 20-30 miles. On our first day, I
discovered that I had forgotten to pack a peeked hat. So on 2nd day I asked Dejan (Dean), my guide, if he
had a peeked hat that I could borrow. He scrambled around in his vehicle and found a peeked hat with a
sheep head/Blazer logo on it. He said, “You will kill a sheep soon cause this is a lucky hat”. More on the
“Lucky Hat” later. We saw lots of rams and sheep but found them to be very wild. Towards the end of the 2nd
day we glassed a band of sheep about a mile away with one pretty nice ram. So after a couple of hours of
stalking and glassing trying to make sure ram was mature and older we got within 225 yards and made a one
shot kill. .
My guide, Dean, spoke very fluent English , was very considerate and an excellent guide. He loved to hunt
the Mouflon ram and was ever trying to determine age, size for ensuring we took a mature old ram. The
Croates have a long and rich hunting tradition with lots of respect for wild animals paying them their due with
last rites, working hard to harvest older animals and studying and tracking them to ensure they remain
healthy.
Croatia is a beautiful country with excellent seafood and wine and a friendly, caring way for their guests..
They have huntable numbers of Roe deer, Red Stag, Wild Boar, European Brown bear, Chamois and
Mouflon sheep. Our outfitter Josip ,guides Dejan, Luka and Hrvose could not have been more
accommodating. They were friendly, humorous and did everything possible towards making one feel
comfortable and relaxed. Including separate day tours, after the hunt was over, to the mountains, various
historical land marks and two major cities of Rijeka and Zagreb the capital. We went to Josips Mom and
Dads house for dinner one evening and had a very nice meal. They made one feel like you were home, a
very delightful evening. Now to the” Lucky Hat ”. Several years ago, Dean guided a young ,23 year old,
Swiss man who was paralyzed from the waist down from a skiing accident just a year or two before. It seems
Silvano Beltrametti was considered one of the top 5 Olympic down hill skiing competitors in all of Switzerland
and had always had a love for the mountains and sheep hunting. He had always carried the sheep
head/Blazer logo’d hat to his competitions and it had always been lucky for him. One day he forgot the hat
and on that faithful day he had a terrible accident leaving him paralyzed from his waist down. Being that
Silvano had always loved the mountains and hunting sheep, he contacted Josip to hunt Mouflon in Croatia .
Dean agreed to pack him(160 lbs) on his back to hunt Mouflon. They connected on a Mouflon and on that
day Silvano gave his lucky hat to Dean and told him it would always bring him luck. Dean thank you for
lending me your “Lucky Ram Hat “.
To Josip,Dean, and all Josips crew, We thank you kindly for making our tour and hunting trip so
memorable.
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