Mouflon hunting in the Tuscan Archipelago.

Mouflon hunt: Lord for elegance and strength of the Italian woods, the mouflon is present today with very numerous groups throughout the Tuscan archipelago and its hunting is a real challenge for the hunter looking for new adventures.

It is part of the Bovid family and its charm is indisputable. Elegant and proud, the wild mouflon is present in Sardinia (although it is an extremely vulnerable species) and in Corsica. Over time it was introduced in several countries, with great success due to its surprising adaptability. Today it is present not only in the Tuscan archipelago but also in the Apennine areas, in Switzerland, in Germany, in the Netherlands, in Czechoslovakia, in Russia and in Hungary, just to name a few.

Those who have seen a mouflon with their own eyes cannot have forgotten the mysterious and elegant charm enjoyed by this medium-sized ungulate, robust and vigorous in size. About 120 - 130 centimeters long, its height at the withers does not exceed 75 centimeters and the weight can reach up to 50 kilograms in the largest specimens.

The males can be recognized with a certain simplicity given the presence of fantastic horns with spiral shape, wide at the base and curved. These are hollow horns that are never laid. Rather they grow every year, and each parallel ring, starting from the base, indicates the winters of the mouflon. By counting the rings, therefore, the age of the specimen can be estimated. The females, on the other hand, either do not have horns, or they do have them but are extremely small, so distinguishing them from the male is extremely simple.

The fur is thick, short and rough, partly woolly and curly and changes color according to the season: during the summer, for example, the coat is reddish brown, while the muzzle, the inside of the ears, and the legs are white. In winter, by necessity, the hair becomes thicker and therefore partly darker and for this reason the contrast with the light parts is extremely evident. Affectionate to hilly, but also arid and rocky environments, the mouflon has found an ideal habitat especially where the Mediterranean scrub proliferates, but it has also adapted with a certain simplicity to mountain environments with rigid and snowy winters.

Lover of social life, the mouflon lives in very numerous flocks that are normally led during the movements by an elderly female, who however is not the pack leader. It feeds on foliage, but also acorns and fruits, and in the absence of these foods it opts for grasses and legumes. It reproduces during the months of December, January and February and in this period the fights between males are extremely common and the blows of the horns that collide can be distinguished among the vegetation, in the areas where these fabulous animals are present. 20 weeks after mating, the female usually gives birth to the new mouflon.

In Tuscany today there are good settlements of mouflons: just think that in 2009 it was estimated the presence of 3 inhabitants distributed in the northern and central Apennines, and precisely in the Casentino forests, in the Pistoia Apennines, in the Garfagnana, in the Lucchesia, and in the Apuan Alps but also on the Island of Elba and in the Pisan area, and also in the Oasis of Covaglio in Firenzuola and in the surrounding areas.

Introduced in Italy in the sixties of the last century, today it is also present in the islands of Montecristo and Giglio and its presence is felt in all private or state-owned reserves from the Gargano to the Dolomites. Hunting and presence is necessarily regulated with extreme judgment, given that where the mouflon reaches the limits allowed by the ecosystem, selective hunting becomes indispensable for the protection of the environmental balance. In fact, it is important to remember that the mouflon immediately entered into food competition but also territorial competition with the chamois, creating significant problems for the native species.

They prefer to move neatly at dawn to reach the pasture and during too hot afternoons they rest in the shade of the woods. They never leave their territory and move, as mentioned, in an orderly row headed by an old female, and closed by the pack leader who controls the area, the group and any dangers.

The hunter who has already met the mouflon in the field knows that it is an extremely resistant creature: it takes the shots of the rifle and it seems almost not to feel the blow. Naturally the hunter who has good aim and legs to chase the mouflon who is able to travel many meters after the shot, will see his fatigue give results.

Having said that, we remind you that to hunt down this king of the woods, the ideal calibers range from 6,5 mm up to 8 mm.