Mouflon Selection Hunting: Shrewd and endowed with exceptional eyesight, mouflon hunting requires quick reflexes and shooting if you do not want to remain dry-mouthed.
A proud and suggestive creature of the woods, the mouflon is a species that belongs to the Bovidae family. Herbivorous and with unmistakable horns, it closely resembles a domestic sheep, since it appears to be its wild ancestor. Vigorous, strong and charming, it reaches a maximum length of 140 cm and a weight not exceeding 40 - 45 kg in the case of males. The females, on the other hand, are much smaller and easily recognizable.
Equipped with a short and thick coat, the color of its fur varies with the seasons although the colors fluctuate between cream and brown. Large lateral spots and dark mane characterize the males with fabulous spiral horns, while the females are characterized by a lighter coat. Equipped with a five-star view, the mouflon, suspicious by nature, also has an excellent sense of smell and hearing, which it exploits in its favor, to go unnoticed as much as possible.
Its ideal habitat is hilly or low mountain, better if the area is equipped with woods and clearings. However, depending on the availability of food, temperature and shelters, the mouflon does not disdain to change altitude and areas. Excellent climber, he manages to escape from danger by consuming rocky and particularly steep terrain with surprising simplicity. It certainly loves company and moves in flocks: the females and the young are the most numerous, the adult males the numerically lower ones.
Once present only in the large Mediterranean islands such as Cyprus, Sardinia and Corsica, over time the mouflon was introduced in various Italian regions and today substantial herds are present in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
It is a particularly adaptable species, and where it has been introduced the need for periodic checks as it enters into competition with native species, first of all the chamois. Capable of causing damage also to tree species, its presence negatively affects pastoral activities, as often happens with ungulates, given the food competition and the spread of possible epidemics.
Protected in Sardinia, the mouflon can be hunted throughout Europe from the XNUMXst of August while in Italy, according to the regulation, hunting is open from the XNUMXst of October. Among the hunting techniques, three more than others give a certain success: the hunting by the aspect, the search and the turn, in some cases also called guided.
The least common on the Italian territory is probably the turn or guided, a hunting trip that takes place without the help of dogs. Practiced in areas where the vegetation is very dense (Mediterranean scrub for example) it must be organized with a certain precision and requires an excellent knowledge of the areas that will be the hunting scenario. Need for a few hitters who, however, are able to move in a close-knit and synchronized way and who will push the mouflon or mouflons towards the post office.
Hunters are required to position themselves near those paths commonly frequented by mouflons, preferably well camouflaged or positioned on platforms and stations above elevated. Let us remember once again, the mouflon is endowed with exceptional sight and excellent sense of smell and hearing. The fact that they move in packs complicates things as you will have to deal with more eyes, more ears and of course more nostrils.
On the other hand, when we talk about hunting by appearance or hunting, it is good to emphasize that these are two techniques linked together. To hunt the mouflon, people usually lurk from sunrise to sunset and choose transit paths, preferably in the vicinity of a feeder, a salt pan or a cereal distributor. Given its constant movement, the hunt for this proud and cunning animal requires a certain speed of evaluation: otherwise you could run the risk of being left with a dry mouth.
Finally, as regards the search, we can without problems compare it to that practiced during chamois hunting, although the mouflon proves to be a hundred times more suspicious, astute and with better eyesight.