At The Edge Of The Earth With Swarovski

After a really enjoyable dinner and a good sleep in a nearby traditional hotel, Manfred (my Swarovski hunting guide) and I headed up into the nearby mountains in his Suzuki Jimny. The little 4x4 did surprising well, as we climbed the snaking gravel track carved amongst one of the most amazing settings that I have ever been in: my excitement was growing by the minute!

_{Parking the Suzuki - ready for a long walk.}

After parking the truck a good portion up the mountain, Manfred and I started our ascent by foot. It was unfortunate that my German is very limited, as Manfred’s English was worse, however we got by with the language that all hunters use when out with foreigners: hand signals and pointing. I would have loved to have been able to ask him questions on so many occasions as we worked our way up the scree pathways and rocky shelves of the mountain, enciricled by chatterings of alpine choughs and a conspiracy of ravens. 

_{Manfred spending a great deal of time glassing the chamois and checking whether there was a relevant beast in the group.}

It did not take long to come across some groups of chamois, often in pairs or small herds and often on large stoney slopes, using their hooves to expose the vegetation below. Each group we came across Manfred would religiously glass for between 10-25 minutes with range finders, then spotting scope, then range finders and so on, to check whether one of the beasts was appropriate in age, sex and size to take, but for one reason or another the animals we were seeing for the first 6 hours were not suitable.

Once we had reached over 2000m altitude, the smattering of alpine spruce disappeared and vegetation became sparser. After watching one particular group for around 20 minutes, Manfred spotted a group of 5 on the slope behind us, one of which he found particularly interesting.

_{Manfred using the spotting scope to check another herd in the valley ahead.}

Ushering me over to the rock he was laying behind and using plenty of sign language and repeatedly whispering ‘großen horn’, Manfred and I used 5 stones for him to indicate which of the group it was that I should shoot. I brought the short barrelled Blaser mountain rifle, chambered in 7x64 up to the rock that he was prostrate against and lay next to him. The Swarovski ELS Range’s told me that the beast was standing 160m from us and Manfred had managed to communicate that the rifle was zeroed for 200m, meaning I needed next to no adjustment for my shot. After checking a number of times that the chamois I was planning to shoot was the one Manfred had selected (adding yet extra pressure), I twisted the magnification adjustment ring to maximum on the Z6i 2-12x50 and thumbed the cocking lever forward. 

_{Getting comfortable to take the shot}

I squeezed the trigger and the boom of rifle echoed around the valley as the 7mm bullet found its target and the chamois tumbled down the slope. I quickly reloaded the straight-pull and put the site back onto the beast in case it needed another but both Manfred and I could see no movement and it was clear that the animal was deceased.

_{After the shot - you can just about see the chamois on the middle of the horizon; a black lump to the left of the rocks.} 

We got our equipment together again and climbed the rock strewn grass to where the goat had rolled to. Manfred spent a good amount of time ageing the animal, by counting the rings on its horns near its skull and used his fingers to tell me that it was an 11 year old animal, past its prime and starting to go back: so a good one to take. 

_{An incredible 11 year old chamois.}

After the gralloche: Manfred showed me that the shot had been perfectly placed with the heart compeletely annihilated in his hand which is always a fantastic feeling for a stalker. We decided to take lunch, appreciate the incredible animal that lay in front of us in the most idyllic of settings and watch as the choughs started to land metres away in case there were left overs for them to feed on.

_{The Tyrol Mountains - such incredible landscape to hunt in. The town of Absam is visible in the background; home of the Swarovski Optik factory.}

Manfred placed the animal in a roe bag and began the decent back down to the vehicle. As soon as we got back into the spruce he lay the beast on a rock, took two sprigs from a nearby spruce and performed the tradition of ‘Waidmannsheil’ where you show respect to the animal, placing one sprig in it's mouth to represent giving it is last meal and congratulating the hunter by presenting them with the second piece of spruce to place on the right hand side of his/her hat. 

_{The long walk back to the car: Manfred kindly carries the beast in his roe bag.}

_{We decend the mountain and Manfred searches for spruce to offer 'waidmannscheil'.}

The memory of the hunt will remain with me forever; alpine chamois are such incredible and hardy beasts that live in the most beautiful of surroundings and to do it just a mile away from the Swarovski factory whilst using their spectacular optics was amazing and I am exceptionally grateful to them for giving me the opportunity. 

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