The Chamois: the Prince of the Alps
Rights-free picture: adult BLACK chamois on a snowy background.The chamois is the first mountain game that we think of in France. Originally from the Alps, it can now be found in the Alpes, the Jura, the Vosges and the Massif-Central. With Hunt in France, you’ll hunt it in the Savoy and in the Alpes de Hautes Provence. You’ll hunt it by stalking or by still-hunting. Often these two types of hunting are complementary; we stalk in places known to be frequented by the chamois. Often, we’ll use field-glasses and wait a while to see if there are animals moving that will cross the sector we’re watching. As with the izard, we start the season in the high mountain and as the snow starts to whiten the peaks, we descend lower.
Summary/ key points:
Game that’s 100% natural, access to selected territories, the experience of the guides from HUNT IN FRANCE;
Possibility of discovering mountain-hunting by hunting young animals (kids and juvenile chamois) at a lower rate.
Firing distance from 80 to 250 meters;
We leave for the whole day, with packed meals;
Average gradient: high mountain, about 700 meters (walking gently, we climb easily and in addition, we stop many times in order to use field-glasses),
in the foothills: 450 meters.
Natural history:
French name: chamois
Latin name: Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra
Biometry: muzzle-tail: (short tail) 110/130 cm for the males compared with 100/120 cm for the females; withers: from 80 to 85 cm for the males and from 75 to 80 cm for the females, weight: from 2.5 kg at birth to 40/45 kg for an adult he-goat.
Found in many countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Slovenia.
Reproduction: rut from mid-October to the end of November or the beginning of December. Parturition: May to June, gestation time: 23 weeks.
National hunting plan in France in 2019/2020: 13,917 with 12,610 animals attained (attainment rate: 90.16%)