We certainly didn’t plan on driving in and around these slow moving “vehicles” so we left the driving to the locals.
So we stayed one night in Bucharest and had a "traditional" Romanian dinner at a "tourist place". It was fun but don't try to use your credit card in Romania! On Sunday we met our party at the airport and proceeded to Targoviste (pronounced Ter-GO-vishte) Romania about an hour away from Bucharest. The party consisted of Flavio Fusetti, SABI Board Member, Claudio Gritti-son of Renato Gritti who owns Cascina Croce Kennel, Domenico Verducci, GianEnrico Maggi, Claudio Sigismondiv- trainer of Pointing Dogs, and Loris Camporiondo-father in law of Claudio Gritti.We stayed at “The Italian Life” restaurant and hotel owned by Vittorio Vittori, an Italian transplant. Vittorio would also be our guide for the 4 days out hunting. The dogs arrived via transport van on a 20+ hour trip from Italy. We started on Monday morning and I was paired up with Flavio and his Bracco Italiano “Gim”. I rented a gun from Vittorio and had to learn to use an automatic loading 20 gauge. My over and under break open Beretta was not quite the same. The terrain was typical brushy fields and farmland. It wasn't much different from the Imperial Valley here in California.
I had a rocky start and really couldn't get used to the gun and the muddy grounds. Everyone wears mud boots there and I brought a pair but my legs were not used to heavy boots over long periods of time. By lunch I was tired and thirsty and I still had 3 more days to go. This was the only day we saw any pheasant and I missed both birds. Day one was a big fat zero for me.
By the second day I was getting more comfortable and was able to ditch the mud boots. The weather was fantastic - no rain and about 60 degrees during the day. In the morning I hunted with Domenico and his two beautiful Bracchi. In the afternoon, I went out with Cladio Gritti and his father-in-law Loris. Claudio brought about 6 dogs and Loris had his English Setter. There were Partridge, Quail and Hares to shoot at. I had the best day on Tuesday by hitting a couple very slow, very old Partridges. They cheered when I finally got one. I observed the Bracchi of Claudio
