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PLANNING

The Romanian hunting calendar, month by month

Romania has something open in every month of the year. The trick is knowing which hunt is merely legal and which one is at its peak.

Romania Hunting3 min read

Red deer stag roaring on a frosty meadow during the September rut
Third week of September: a stag answers from the next ridge. The one fortnight everyone should plan around.

Why the calendar matters more here than elsewhere

Romania’s seasons are set nationally under Law 407/2006 and its annual orders, and they are generous: some species are open for six months, predators all year. But “open” and “worth flying for” are different things. Roe bucks are legal from May, yet the shooting is best in the last week of July. Boar can be taken from a high seat any month, yet the driven days that people cross Europe for run only from October to December. Below is the calendar as we actually run it, with the peak windows marked.

Roe buck standing in a summer meadow at the forest edge
May to August belongs to the roe buck – legal from 1 May, at its best in the last week of July.

The year at a glance

MonthAt its bestAlso open
JanuaryDriven boar (to 31 Dec) → high-seat boar; fox and jackal on snow; duck, goose, coot, snipeWoodcock, thrush, starling, pheasant, rabbit
FebruaryFox and jackal calling; late waterfowl (duck, goose to 15 Feb)Pheasant, woodcock, snipe, thrush, starling to end Feb
MarchBrown bear spring window opens 15 March (quota)Fox, jackal, high-seat boar
AprilBear spring window – peak mid-April to 10 MayFox, jackal, boar
MayRoe buck opens 1 May – first peak mid-May to end June; bear window closes 15 MayFox, jackal, boar
JuneRoe buck, territorial bucks in open forestFox, jackal, boar
JulyRoe buck rut from ~20 July – the best two weeks of the summerFox, jackal, boar
AugustRoe rut to ~20 Aug; quail opens 15 Aug; badger opens 1 AugFox, jackal, boar
SeptemberRed deer rut 10 Sep – 5 Oct; chamois and mouflon open 15 Sep; bear autumn window from 1 Sep; duck, goose, coot, thrush, starling openQuail, woodcock (15 Sep), badger, pheasant
OctoberDriven boar from 1 Oct; chamois; mouflon rut; fallow rut from 10 Oct; woodcock migrationRed deer to 15 Nov, quail to 31 Oct, everything waterfowl
NovemberDriven boar; fallow to 1 Dec; goose and duck at density; fox and jackal start their best months; rabbit opensChamois and mouflon to 15 Dec, badger to 30 Nov
DecemberDriven boar’s last month; chamois and mouflon close 15 Dec; bear autumn window closes 31 DecAll waterfowl, woodcock, thrush, fox, jackal

The four trips that combine best

  1. Late July – roe rut + fox. Dawn and dusk on the buck, a calling set-up in between; same lodge, same guide.
  2. Late September – red deer rut + chamois. The prestige week. Three mornings on the stags, then a day above the tree line; both hunts run from the same Carpathian valleys.
  3. November – driven boar + goose. Two drives a day in Transylvania, then two dawns on the Danube fields. Different regions, easily joined by road.
  4. January – fox and jackal + duck. Snow for the predators, ice-free lakes for the ducks: the cheapest mixed week on the calendar.
Hunter in a reed blind shooting at mallards over a lower-Danube lake
January on the lower Danube: the lakes stay open and the mallards keep flighting while the boar drives are over.

What has no season at all

Fox and golden jackal are open every month; the winter is simply better. Brown bear has two windows but is hunted only under an annual government quota. Wolf and lynx have no open season in Romanian law and are taken only under a derogation, which for the current season has not been issued – both hunts are suspended, and we take provisional bookings without a deposit. If your calendar is flexible, register interest and let the permit set the date rather than the other way round.

Hunters inspecting the tusks of a wild boar on a snowy driven-hunt day
A December driven day. High-seat boar is open all year; the drives people fly in for run October to December only.

One caveat on every date above. Seasons are set by Law 407/2006 and reset each year by the Ministry of Environment’s annual hunting order, which is the authority; quotas for derogation species (bear, wolf, lynx) move separately. Treat this calendar as the shape of the year and let us confirm the operative dates for your species when you book.

QUESTIONS

Frequently asked

When is the best time to hunt in Romania?
For big game, the last three weeks of September: red deer rut, chamois and mouflon opening, and the first driven-boar days a fortnight later. For value, late July for roe buck and January for predators and waterfowl.
Can you hunt in Romania in summer?
Yes. Roe buck runs from 1 May to 1 September with a rut peak in late July; fox and jackal are open year-round; quail opens 15 August.
When is driven boar season in Romania?
Driven days run 1 October to 31 December. High-seat boar hunting is available all year.
When does the red deer rut start in the Carpathians?
Around 10 September, peaking in the second and third weeks of the month and fading by early October. In Maramureș it runs a little later and longer.

Pick your month, we pick the ground

Tell us when you can travel; we tell you what is at its best and where.

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