Italian Safari hunt and tour. 

The sun is just rising on a mountain outside of Gubbio as my guide Tomaso and I sneak down a farm road, it's a clear and sunny Italian morning with dead calm winds and a low fog across the valleys almost 1500 feet below. We have already seen a Fallow buck and two does, and can hear the roar of a red deer not far away.

It's then that we see the glint of a Roe Deer's antler tips in the tall grass. He's 116 meters away and I'm only thirty five minutes into the first day of the hunt with spectacular views all around us with the smell of freshly cut alfalfa in the air in what is arguably the best Roe Deer hunting area in all of Italy.

Tomaso says he's a nice one, but it's only the first morning for the hunt, so I had to make a tough decision, is there a better Roe Buck out there?

How did we get here?

Several years ago while I was the SCI Iowa Chapter President, Craig Boddington was our keynote speaker for our annual fundraiser. Many of you familiar with Craig might remember the year he suffered a heart attack while in Uganda. Well that was the year we had him scheduled to be in Iowa. Fortunately for us, Craig's daughter Brittany stood in for him, and frankly she was as big a hit with the crowd as Craig was the next year when he did make it to Des Moines.

Fast forward to the fall of 2024, and as my wife and I were looking at traveling to the Italian Amalfi Coast of Italy in 2025. I got an email from Craig about his newest Endorsed Outfitter, Aloisio Carrassi of Italian Safari. Well that was a total game changer to say the least. Aloisio combines the perfect couples trip, hunting in any region of Italy combined with several days of guided tours throughout the areas of your choice.

Aloisio had the perfect package for us; My wife added a few days in Rome before our hunting guide Tomaso picked us up and we were off on our adventure. The Roe Deer hunt in Umbria, then down to the Amalfi Coast with a short stop for a private guided tour of the ancient City of Pompei, then two nights in Amalfi, with a day trip to Positano. We then took the ferry boat to the Island of Capri for a night, and finally took a private boat tour of Capri and then to Sorrento for two nights before we headed back to Rome to fly home.

During the three days of hunting in Umbria, we went on a truffle hunt and visited an olive oil producers facility during the day between the morning and evening hunts in the field. Great food, world class accommodations, and of course, our Italians hosts.

Should I Take Him?

Words I've heard dozens of times, but it was my decision this time. As I looked through the Steiner rifle scope of the guide's 300 Winchester Magnum Tikka T3 rifle resting on the shooting sticks, I remembered Craig Boddingtons quote; "A nice animal seen is an animal that may not be seen again." I took Craig's words to heart and one smooth squeeze on the trigger and it was finished. A perfect tall 3x3 with a fourth point on his right side, a seven or eight year old buck.

We had an unbelievable trip, and are planning a return in 2027 for Chamois in the Italian Alps and a tour of Northern Italy with Aloisio and Italian Safari's.

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Dave Funk
Captain (Ret.)
Northwest Airlines, Inc.