CROATIA: Bear, Stag And/Or Mouflon Has Anyone Hunted With Mike & Lisa At The Hunting Lodge?

[jbirdwell]

Just checking to see if anybody has hunted with Mike and Lisa and The Hunting Lodge in Croatia. I know they do the Bass Pro / Cabela's Signature Hunts but was looking for someone here that might have some 1st hand experience with them.

Thanks

Jaye

 

[UKHunter]

I haven’t but do know of a reputable outfitter in Croatia if you want to PM me

 

[mark-hunter]

I would suggest to take Croatian based outfitter (agent). If you need recommendation I can send you by PM.
The longest tradition and experience is on Croatian companies (agents) / outfitters. Only recently, an option opened for a foreign citizen to get concession rights.
The system of hunting is that in most of the cases hunting areas are managed by local clubs, and in some cases private companies or enterprises.
There is no outfitters like for example in Africa. So, there are hunting agents, who will connect foreign hunter to some local club, offering some hunt options. Croatia is small, so each agent will cover entire country. Market is small and well covered by various hunting agencies.

Entire Croatia, outside of urban areas is divided in hunting areas. There is around 1200 various hunting areas, covering 80 to 90% of the country. Each area is under concession of local club (80-90% of the cases) and the rest is under some private enterprises or companies. Agents connect hunter to hunting club for specific hunt

More details:

Thread 'CROATIA Hunting Information'

Aug 3, 2019

General info – source wiki

Croatia kroh-AY-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska, pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska), is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy. Its capital...

• mark-hunter
• Replies: 74
• Forum: Hunting Europe

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[wesheltonj]

At DSC, WTA (formerly Cabela’s) had a Croatia hunt that I inquired about. The agent who lived in Ljubljana called me to discuss the hunt and pricing. Unfortunately, I was at a conference and the agents in Croatia and Slovenia that I had obtained information from, I was unable to access. By the time I got home a day later to compare, the hunts were sold out.

I am using an agent that @mark-hunter had recommended.

 

[jbirdwell]

I actually spoke with a WTA person today and he does most of the Europe hunts for WTA and set up the Cabela's hunts with the outfitter I'm looking at as well. He was very helpful and definitely got back to me unlike the WTA rep that I was trying to find a Canadian Moose hunt for 2025 with.

 

[Dutchtrapper]

Mike and Lisa are from Dutch origin. They dont have a good reputation overhere! So be careful and warned.

 

[Red Leg]

I will be in Croatia in the spring of 26 which I booked through Roger Jergensen, who I know very well, at WTA. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

 

[jbirdwell]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[jaime serrano]

Hello, i have a hunt in 10 days at the hunting lodge for brown bear. why are you saying they have not good reputation? i asked some references and they talked me well about them.
thanks in advance

 

[jbirdwell]

I will be in Croatia in the spring of 26 which I booked through Roger Jergensen, who I know very well, at WTA. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

@Red Leg: I will also be there in the spring of 26. I fly out of Houston on 04/10/26 and Roger has been an excellent for me so far.

 

[mark-hunter]

@Red Leg
@jbirdwell

If you are around, drop me a message, I will gladly meet you over a steak lunch, if I am around. Lunch on me!

 

[mark-hunter]

why are you saying they have not good reputation? i asked some references and they talked me well about them.

I have seen their web page offering the hunts in Croatia.
It is stated they have "over 10.000 Happy clients in 15 years of experience".
Considering the annual animal take out in total of entire Croatia (available at national statistics goverment portal) it is virtually impossible to achieve this number of clients in competition with local hunters.

Local domestic booking and hunting agencies with 20 - 30 or more years working in Croatia do not have 600 - 700 clients per year.
Croatia is small country

And secondly, I am under impression they are a bit over priced. But pricing is of secondary importance in relation with quality. If hunt is good, and client accepts the price, then all is fine.

If we are speaking about pricing there are levels of pricing:

1. direct contact and offer from local hunting club who manages hunting area.

This is hard to find because they offer the hunts just to help them with annual concessions, but main financing comes from their membership. In general they do not advertise. they work with agencies. Agents knows the clubs and offer the hunts each year. So next level of pricing is with local agent

2. A bit higher pricing from local booking agents offer.

3. foreign booking agent
The more intermediaries there is, the more prices goes up.

Personally If I would be looking for a hunt in Croatia from abroad, I would check the offers with number of local agencies, and compare the prices.

95% of hunting areas are managed by hunting clubs, and all agencies are offering hunts in same areas managed by those clubs.
Especially for high valued animals: bear - limited range, central highlands, red deer in north eastern regions, etc...

This is screenshot from their web page: (in conclusion to me it smells fishy, but what do I know?)

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

@Red Leg: I will also be there in the spring of 26. I fly out of Houston on 04/10/26 and Roger has been an excellent for me so far.

@jbirdwell if you are scheduled to fly out on 4/10/26, you missed your flight 12 days ago.

 

[Sarg]

@jbirdwell if you are scheduled to fly out on 4/10/26, you missed your flight 12 days ago.

Maybe he reads/writes it up differently to most ?

I actually don’t understand the US way of putting up dates

I would & we do put the Day - Month - Year
Which to me makes sense.

Not the Month - Day - Year which to me is messed up ?

 

[dchum]

Maybe he reads/writes it up differently to most ?

I actually don’t understand the US way of putting up dates

I would & we do put the Day - Month - Year
Which to me makes sense.

Not the Month - Day - Year which to me is messed up ?

That would October 2026 then, which wouldn’t be the spring as noted.

So either way it’s confusing!

 

[mdwest]

Its important to understand that The Hunting Lodge is just that.. a lodge..

they work in conjunction with WTA.. WTA is who connects the hunter to the guide/outfitter...

The wife and I are booked to stay at The Hunting Lodge with Mike and Lisa in September (roe deer and boar).. Roger @ WTA is who is arranging all of the hunt details..

So far everything has gone really well with our planned hunt... Lisa has been super responsive and answered every question we have asked.. and Roger, despite bouncing around from show to show and being busy as hell in January when I started engaging him about our hunt was also super responsive and helpful..

I'll know more in September obviously.. but all interaction we have had with WTA and The Hunting Lodge so far (we've been working on this since about November of 2025) has been very positive..

In fact, we passed on 4 other organizations that we considered and chose WTA/The Hunting Lodge, because the other organizations were either slow to respond, or werent very direct in answering questions (could have been a language barrier getting in the way).. .

 

[jbirdwell]

@jbirdwell if you are scheduled to fly out on 4/10/26, you missed your flight 12 days ago.

You are correct, It is next year that I will be there. I did have a little blond hair as a child

 

[Red Leg]

It is early morning in Dubrovnik, a must visit for anyone booking a hunting trip in Croatia. I will be writing a full report when I get back, but I wanted to put a quick stop to negative speculation, by anyone who has not actually hunted with Mike and Lisa at their lovely Hunting Lodge or used WTA. These are two great people who run a terrific operation in a game rich concession.

My friend was hunting brown bear, the primary reason we were there, and I was hunting roe deer. This is mountain, country, and while gold medal class deer do exist, they are far rarer than on the agricultural plains. I took two nice older bucks, and could have easily taken a third, but I, was being very picky about age.

My partner shot a huge boar brown bear that scored over 520 in the CIC system! Due to late snows, the animals were just coming out of hibernation and were just getting into their summer routine. Nevertheless, the night before we departed fourteen different bears were on the trail cameras. A Danish father and son were also in camp at the same time we were and each also took bears.

Finally, Mike and Lisa were in the restaurant business in the Netherlands, before moving into concession management first in Germany and now for several years in Croatia. Ergo, meals were also superb.

Finally Roger, who I have known for five or six years, did a great job setting up the hunt, but also working with me to plan the rest of our two-weeks in Croatia.

In short, I can not recommend them more highly. And @mdwest judging by the numbers of red deer we were stumbling into trying to stalk roe, you will have a fabulous hunt in the rut. Did I mention this is a great destination to take spouse? Actual report coming after we get back.

 

[AZDAVE]

Spoke with them at SCI on the recommendation of our Namibia outfitter. They are on our short list! trying to work out dates for a Croatia hunt.

@Red Leg @mdwest Looking forward to your hunt reports.