Figured I’d follow up since we have a few active duty people on the forum and some of you may find yourselves this way at some point. Been here almost one year now and I haven’t hunted per se. I’ve been spearfishing in Italy and Croatia so far. Greece is the next country on the list for the coming spring. I know some folks think it’s not hunting but it’s more akin to hunting than fishing, in my opinion. Some folks think it’s easy, they have obviously never spearfished in the Mediterranean region where fish like to hang out in 25-30 meters and hide at the first sight of a diver. I’ve hiked all over the Italian alps to include some brutal claims to over 10k feet. Been to Spain, France (for D-Day, the jump was scratched), Slovenia, Turkey, Germany, UK and Austria. Next summer I’m going to go spearfish in Norway for halibut; which should make for some interesting and cold diving. Worked with a bunch of foreign armies and I still have over two years left. There is hunting in Italy but it’s difficult to acquire permission and can be pretty expensive to pay for an outfitter. I’m only a Sergeant First Class, so that expense isn’t in the budget unfortunately. Ran into some bear hunters in Slovenia. They were recently successful and I got my hands dirty helping them field dress it during a break in training my platoon. So far it has been a good trip. I’ve been very busy and it seems at least every other month I’m traveling somewhere for training or leisure travel with the family. The fly fishing in the alps has been a OIL experience and would recommend for anyone visiting or living in Southern Europe. I’ve had no shortage of outdoor experiences thus far and don’t see that being an issue. Some the mountains here are every bit as steep and rugged as the Frank Church or Sawtooth. Luckily, they’re not as remote and there’s refugios (think small restaurant mixed with a hostel) scattered frequently throughout the entire region. I took my platoon on a two day hike that covered 19 miles and gained over 8k feet in elevation. Great experience, great unit but I can’t wait to get back to the States.
