Barbary Sheep Hunting Season in Spain

Barbary Sheep Hunting Season in Spain

Spain	Date From	Date To
Barbary Sheep (Aoudad)	15th July	15th February

 

Spain is one of the very few countries in the world where the Barbary sheep can be hunted wild. The beast is native to the mountains of North Africa and is known there, and to most hunters, as the aoudad; in Spain it is the arrui. It was released into the sierras of the south-east in the 1970s, found the ground to its liking, and is now established there in good numbers on a scale that supports a managed hunt.

 

The Ground

We hunt 9,300 hectares of private land in Murcia, in the dry mountains of south-eastern Spain. It is high, broken country of rock and scrub, and it holds a healthy population, so sheep are seen on most hunting days. The going is varied rather than punishing: the guides pick the approach to suit the hunter, and hunters of all physical conditions are welcome.

The ground is about one hour from Alicante and about four hours from Madrid. We recommend Alicante. You are met at the airport and driven to the hunting area, and an English-speaking guide is with you throughout.

 

When to Come

The season runs from 15 July to 15 February, and the two halves of it hunt quite differently.

From July to the middle of September the country is very dry. That works in the hunter's favour, because the sheep come to water and are easier to find, and it is the part of the season that suits a trip built around family or a holiday as well as the hunt.

From about 15 September to 15 November the rams are rutting. They move, they show themselves, and the weather is kind. If the trophy is the point of the trip, that is the window to ask for.

How a Hunt Is Arranged

The hunt is built around two full days on the hill with a guide, with accommodation on a full board basis in a good local hotel and airport transfers both ways. A translator is provided, rifle hire is included, and we arrange the Spanish hunting licence as part of the booking, so a visiting hunter does not have to deal with any of it.

An extra day on the hill can be added, and an observer who is not hunting can travel with you and be accommodated on the same basis. If you would rather bring your own rifle we arrange the Spanish firearms import permit instead of the hire. Taxidermy and export are handled for you; trophies usually reach a client two to four months after the hunt.

The rams are taken with no size limit, and a mature ram runs around 55 centimetres. Cull and female animals can be arranged on the same ground for a hunter who is managing a budget or who simply wants more days on the hill. Tell us which of those you are after when you enquire and we will build the trip around it.

 

Spain carries more than one kind of mountain hunt. If the aoudad is on your list you may also want to look at ibex hunting in Spain, which runs from November to April and is often taken on the same trip. For everything else we arrange in the country, see hunting in Spain.