“Planes, trains and automobiles!” said Mark Little with a broad smile as we boarded the train in Malmo, Sweden in route to the Copenhagen airport and the second leg of our Scandinavian Prohunters’ three-nation roe deer hunt. Both Carol Little and I had taken really nice roe bucks in Sweden, she a gold medal buck and me a uniquely long-beamed buck. Mark had not hunted in Sweden but would be doing so in Poland.
Stefan Bengtsson, Carol, Mark and I boarded our plane to Warsaw, Poland. Sofia Bengtsson, who we teased Stefan as being the “better half” of their Scandinavian Prohunters company www.scandinavianprohunters.com, remained in Sweden to guide hunters arriving the day after our departure. Our flight was an easy one as was clearing customs.
We loaded into a vehicle and drove three hours to the Hotel Sevilla in Rawa Mazonwiecka. Our gear stored, we spent what remained of the afternoon relaxing and doing a bit of sight-seeing and, of course, talking about our upcoming hunt set to start in the morning.
Mark and Carol had purchased the Three-Nations Roe Deer Hunt at the 2026 DSC Foundation Gala and Fundraiser, which had been graciously donated by Stefan and Sofia with Scandinavian Prohunters. I was along to help host the adventure.
DSC Foundation www.DSCF.org is the granting arm of Dallas Safari Club www.biggame.org. During 2025 alone, the DSC Foundation granted over $1,000,000 to extremely vetted wild conservation and education projects. Mark, a former DSC president, sits on the DSC Foundation Board of Directors. I had previously been on the DSCF board and now serves as an advisor to the board. Neither is a paid position.
We left camp at 4 a.m. to meet with our guides. Mark and Carol hunted with someone who spoke English. Stefan accompanied me to hunt with a gentleman who spoke no English or German.
We hunted a huge area with an orchard that produces apples, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries as well as variety of forage crops for livestock and wildlife. The property is traversed by brushy creek bottoms and stands of hardwoods creating a haven for roe deer, pheasants, foxes, the occasional wolf and a variety of other wild animals
Our primary way of hunting sarna, as roe deer are called in Poland was to drive roads looking at the spaces between the fruit trees and berry bushes, not unlike walking across corn rows, but wider. We spotted numerous roe deer, both koziols (bucks) and kozas (does). Driving toward an area with grassy fields along the edges of creek bottoms, we spotted a big koziol, with massive beams and long tines. When our guide stopped the vehicle, he handed me a R8 Blaser and a handful of Hornady .243 Winchester shells. I loaded three into the rifle and tucked the other five rounds into my coat pocket.
We had walked less than 20 steps when we were spotted by the deer, well over 300 yards away. Immediately, they turned and ran. We headed back to the vehicle, then drove to another area where we saw two really nice bucks that were sparring, and a third way off in the distance.
“Koziols!” said our guide, using his hand to indicate the bucks had large antlers.
We drove past them, stopped and began our stalk on foot. We spotted several does, which began to run away, spooking the three bucks. We spent the next hour walking and stopping to glass several more does and young bucks.
At eight o’clock the property’s workers started arriving and we called the hunt for the morning. We would return at six that afternoon when the workers would be leaving.
Back at the Hotel Sevilla, I learned Mark had seen several bucks. After a delicious breakfast, we visited one of Poland’s largest gun shops. I was amazed by the number and quality of their guns, as well as their substantial supply of Hornady ammo.
Shortly after six, Stefan and I crawled into our guide Darek’s vehicle. He handed me a Blaser R8 chambered in .243 Winchester and eight rounds of Hornady ammo. In broken English, he said the rifle was sighted dead-on at 100 meters.
We spent early afternoon driving orchard roads, going back into some of the areas where that morning we’d seen bucks. We also drove to some new areas, stopping to check out the edges of grassy fields and woody bottoms. We saw numerous sarna koziols as well as sarna kozas, and even stalked a couple of promising bucks, but passed on them because they were too young, or, they spooked before we got to within reasonable rifle range.
Scandinavian Prohunter’s Stefan Bengtsson glasses a distant roe deer in Poland.
As light started fading, we returned to where we had seen a large buck that morning. No sooner had we stopped than Darek and Stefan spotted two bucks and four does feeding along the edge of a brush line. I took a quick look at the buck through my 10×40 Stealth Vision binos before we started our stalk. He had tall antlers with long tines, a big body and looked to be mature.
I followed Darek and Stefan. It was still legal shooting light but getting dark quickly. We stopped, Stefan set up the Stable Sticks, then stepped away so I could rest my rifle and take the shot. Black crosshairs steadied on a dark animal. I pushed the Blaser’s safety to fire, then gently tugged the trigger. The buck went down, but was immediately up again, trotting away. I sent a second round his way but led him a bit too much and missed. He was into brush before I could take another shot. We followed but failed to see him.
Darek thought my shot had been good, though possibly a bit low in his front quarters. Stefan agreed. We talked about waiting till the next day to find him. Cold night air would keep the meat good.
When we got back to our vehicle, Mark, Carol and their guide, who was also the manager of the property, were waiting on us. Mark had taken a really massive buck his guide felt assured would go gold medal. Carol, too, had taken a great buck. Their guide asked about my shot. Darek explained that we intended to wait until the morrow to find him. The manager disagreed, saying he had a “thermal drone” and felt assured he could quickly find my buck, even in the dark.
Five minutes later, he had the drone in the air, headed to where my buck was either bedded or lying dead. Before we left, he explained he would finish my buck or simply shoot into the ground to let us know they had found him.
After an anxious 20 minutes, we heard a shot. A short time later, the two guides walked to where we waited with my three-by-four, long-tined, long main-beamed buck. I was thrilled they had found my buck.
Three outstanding roe deer taken the same evening in Poland with Scandinavian Prohunters, Carol Little, Mark Little and Larry Weishuhn, Scandinavian Prohunter’s Stefan Bengtsson.
We posed for photos with our three Polish roe deer before heading to camp, where our guides would care for our deer. Even though we got to “camp” a bit late that night, we raised high a dram or two of “safe-water” in honor of the animals taken.
Next morning, we were again out early. We spotted several bucks, including some that were truly very tempting. I was amazed by the number of bucks we saw. I hoped to take a second sarna koziol, if we found one with antlers larger than my first. Mark to decided to take a second buck if he found one he really liked. He did!
Back at camp, after breakfast we did some “touring” and were continually amazed by the cleanliness of the Polish and the great amount of industry throughout the area. Democracy and capitalism are working well for Poland and its citizens.
As the evening hunt approached, we headed to the property. This time, I was hunting with Stefan and the manager. He spoke English, and I learned a few things about the property including that it produced a tremendous tonnage of apples, which were exported throughout the world. I also learned our guide truly loved to hunt.
When I had stepped into his Raptor, my guide handed me a R8 Blaser chambered in 8×57 JS and a handful of Hornady ammo (180-grain ECX from Hornady International). For the past several days, Stefan had been extolling the 8×57 JS as the “perfect round” for European big game. Our guide said his rifle was dead-on at 100 meters.
As the afternoon wore on, we saw several bucks, but all too young or too small. With about an hour our or so of sunlight remaining, our guide took us to an area where he had previously seen a really nice buck. We abandoned our vehicle and began stalking two bucks, which upon closer inspection proved to be young. Then, we spotted a distant buck that brought smiles to both my guide and Stefan. I assumed they had spotted a good buck.
Taking advantage of bushes, trees, tall grass and a rill, we cut the distance to within 150 yards of the unsuspecting buck. I did not look at his antlers until after I had rested my rifle on the Stable Sticks. Definitely a “shooter!” I waited for the buck to turn slightly. When he did, I squeezed the trigger, then watched him drop. At the buck’s side moments later, I watched my guide prepare three sets of yellow flowers. One he placed where the bullet had entered the body, another went into the buck’s mouth, and the third he presented to me.
Larry and Stefan Bengtsson show off Larry’s first Polish roe deer.
I truly appreciated the European way they honor the hunt, the game taken and the hunter. I accepted the flowers and his “Waidmannsheil” with a resounding “Waidmannsdank,” then placed the flowers in my hat band where I would wear them to honor the deer.
My buck’s antlers had excellent mass, long main beams, long first and second points, plus a non-typical fourth point on his right beam. Later, I learned that like my first Polish buck, he was in the silver medal class.
After many photos, numerous congratulations not only from Stefan and my guide, but also Mark and Carol who had watched my hunt unfold from afar, we headed to camp. That night, we enjoyed a small celebration honoring our hunt in Poland, the people we hunted with and the great bucks Mark and I had taken.
The next morning, we loaded our gear and headed to the Warsaw airport for our flight to our third roe deer destination, this time in Scotland.