The discovery of Macedonia by Diana continues, in this new article we will deal with the southern area of the country.
In this part, the Adica hunting agency is clearly present, which has taken huge plots of land under concession. The mountainous part near the Albanian border is flanked by the Mediterranean one which extends to the border with Bulgaria. By changing the area, the spectrum of wild animals widens and includes turtledoves, wood pigeons and snipe. 240.000 hectares to meet all needs. The lands taken over by Adica are truly enormous: 240000 hectares, which include areas that are very different from each other.
The hunting areas extend throughout the southern part of the country, from the Albanian border (mountain area) to the Bulgarian border (Mediterranean area). In practice, half of southern Macedonia is managed by Adica. The land being so vast presents many differences both in the presence of wild animals and as a habitat. Adica has divided the territory obtained in concession into mountain areas and Mediterranean areas. The mountainous areas located in the southwestern part of the country are excellent for quail hunting in the months of August and September. In these areas, in fact, the heat is mitigated by the altitude so as to make both dogs and hunters perform at their best. In October, however, it is possible to hunt partridges in a fabulous environment, a vast plateau located at six hundred meters above sea level and crossed by many watercourses. On this land the partridges are hunted in small lots cultivated with wheat, vegetable garden, tobacco: a mixture of crops that partridges love so much. As the season progresses and the gardens are worked, the partridges are hunted on the gentle hills that rise just above the valley floor. In these areas, as you go up from six hundred meters, the fields give way to oak forests that are excellent for woodcocks, which arrive in this area in early November and stay until it snows. For the hunt for queens, the areas offered by Adica represent a real delight: practically virgin lands, accompanied by grazing cattle in the wild. Continuing to climb in altitude from the oak woods you pass to a different vegetation. Here, around a thousand meters, the cotorni are the most interesting dishes on the menu. Gorgeous animals, authentic alectoris graeca and not chukar as many say. The areas in which it is possible to undermine them are many and mostly quite easy, and in every day it is possible to attend a good number of encounters. This mountain area is excellent from the beginning of the season (1st August) until the beginning of December. Here you can make a fabulous trio, consisting of partridges, pork rinds and woodcocks. Then the snow usually falls and the games close and for this reason Adica has also taken a concession in an area that they have defined as Mediterranea.
The "Mediterranean" area
The other pearl offered by Adica in Macedonia, develops along the Greek-Bulgarian border and was taken in concession both to hunt us simultaneously with the mountain area and to use it when the mountain is covered with snow. The area is characterized by vast plains cultivated with wheat that offer for dog hunters, land also suitable for the great search and training of dogs. In addition to the cultivation of wheat, the same Adica has taken steps to sow some sunflower plots to concentrate the thousands of African turtledoves and wood pigeons that gravitate in the area in August-September. Moreover, thanks to the experience of the Adica boys, the hunt for these wild animals takes place in the Italian style, according to tradition, constampi and huts. Quail is also very abundant and can be hunted both in the immense stubble and in the large alfalfa crops or on the surrounding hills. By virtue of the presence of this wild in the same period of doves and pigeons, it is possible to combine the two hunts. dedicating a little of the day to the dog and the other to the difficult shooting of the turtle doves. In addition to partridges, which can be hunted from 10 October, and quail and turtle doves, which can be hunted from 1 August, there are phenomenal areas for snipe. The land dedicated to this extraordinary wilderness consists of rice fields and flooded areas where, in the months of October and November, the snipe pass is truly impressive. A unique place in Europe, for the quality and quantity of its wild, quietly on a par with the more noble Romania. The wetland managed by Adica is about 300 hectares while the rice fields extend for another 500, so as to ensure maximum enjoyment. So, in summary, in the Mediterranean area you can undermine quail, turtle doves, wood pigeons, partridges and snipe, but it does not end there: the Mediterranean area as you get closer to the Bulgarian border rises in altitude. On these mountains the rock partridges are present in impressive numbers; the habitat is different from the mountainous area because the cotorne are found in slightly more dense areas, however, also by virtue of the number of wild animals, the encounters are always very many. In addition to cotorne, woodcocks could not be missing in all these thousands of hectares available. Within the 240000 hectares, Adica has selected fantastic areas for the queen hunt, beautiful lands with many animals in the wild. Furthermore, the advantage lies in the fact that if it snows in the mountain area, the woodcocks are surely found in the Mediterranean one! The advantage of having so much land is that you can have hunters hunted in different areas every day. Furthermore, the extension is such as to allow groups of hunters to be managed in an excellent way so as not to exert excessive pressure in the same area. It is practically an Eden!
Text by Jacopo Billi, photos by Adica