One of great things about living with the Guicchiardini family is getting to know some of the history and heritage that comes with this old Italian noble family. From medieval villas with lush gardens, to even older palazzos and town homes, this family has it all. Although we spend most of out time in Florence or Firenze in Italian, where Giovanni has school, swimming, and karate, we also spend a lot of time at the country villa called "Aquisti" in Maremma, Toscana, Italy. Here, the family has acres of open pasture space freshly turned over in preparation for winter wheat, and numerous barns, glistening lakes and other perfect habitat for every species of game animal you could imagine. I knew that Luca, Giova's father, was overjoyed with my love of hunting, when I overheard him on the drive to Maremma telling a friend on the phone that he was bringing a " Cacciatore carino" or loosely translated "a cute/good Hunter" with him. We stopped on our way at a local gun shot where we loaded up with shells for the weekend and I had a moment to gaze at some of the most beautiful guns. This first weekend at Aquisti was spent still getting to know the family and settle down to the much slower Italian pace of life. When we arrived Luca became very enthusiastic about showing me around and giving me a tour of this working egg and dairy farm. Latte Maremma as it is known, is the families brand of milk and Uova Maremma is its egg branch. After the more formal drive through in what I think is a pretty awesome Land Rover, it was time for lunch. Family from all corners of what must be several hundred acres showed up to our house for a lazy afternoon in the sun with meats, cheeses, pasta, and plenty of wine. Afterwards, Luca again came to me with that childlike enthusiasm and said that it was time to show me his duck hunting spot. Little did I know that this "spot' was multiple spots, build into the thick bamboo marsh and dense brush that surrounded multiple large lakes. Dusk was settling on the farm and the sun was glowing bright orange behind the distant Tuscan mountains, when Luca and I slowly made our way onto a narrow bridge and through the brush to a little shack that sat right in the middle of a lake surrounded by all variety of waterfowl. I could hear the familiar sound of drake mallards call just in front of us and then the squeal of a teal as it flew overhead. "I had arrived" I though to myself as we sat in awe of this, our hunters paradise.
We never discussed when we might make it out to hunt, but early the next morning, around 5 am, Luca knocked on my door and said "we go hunting now". A funny thing about Italians speaking English, is their lack of expressing the tone of a question. Theirs come across more as demands or as matters of facts that you have no hope of denying. I sprang out of bed groggy from a large dinner with healthy portions of wine to hurriedly dress in my UGA Ducks Unlimited t-shirt and jeans, and threw on my jacket and camo ball cap. I met Luca downstairs where he handed me a wooden stocked, gold triggered masterpiece of gunmaking that had "Barretta" engraved on its side. I was enamored by this beautiful gun and could not believe it was now mine to go hunting with. It was still dark as we drove to the lake we visited the day before and Luca dropped me off at another fantastic hunting blind. Standing quietly in the early morning fog I could not help but to feel so blest by such an amazing opportunity. As dawn broke, gunfire rang through the valley as duck hunters began the rush to shoot ducks on the move. Adjusting to the 20 Gauge over-under gun took some time, and still is difficult. But as the gunfire subsided and ducks were settling back down into their feeding spots, I finally achieved what I though was merely an unrealistic dream. My first set of curls! Those reading this with a hunters background will know that this meant for me, my first greenhead or drake mallard! I could not believe that I had actually done it, and that finally a bird folded midflight and landed in the water over my right shoulder. I was an Italian hunter now. As we gathered out birds and met back at the Land Rover it was so cool to have been part of this amazing experience.
The rest of the day was again filled with a fantastic lunch, that was followed with a dove and pigeon shoot above the cow barn, which two weeks later resulted in my first ring necked dove as well. And this same story has been repeated over and over every weekend we spend out in Maremma. I look forward to my first Teal and eventually to the "Cinghiale" or wild boar hunt we are sure to experience during my stay here in Italy.
We never discussed when we might make it out to hunt, but early the next morning, around 5 am, Luca knocked on my door and said "we go hunting now". A funny thing about Italians speaking English, is their lack of expressing the tone of a question. Theirs come across more as demands or as matters of facts that you have no hope of denying. I sprang out of bed groggy from a large dinner with healthy portions of wine to hurriedly dress in my UGA Ducks Unlimited t-shirt and jeans, and threw on my jacket and camo ball cap. I met Luca downstairs where he handed me a wooden stocked, gold triggered masterpiece of gunmaking that had "Barretta" engraved on its side. I was enamored by this beautiful gun and could not believe it was now mine to go hunting with. It was still dark as we drove to the lake we visited the day before and Luca dropped me off at another fantastic hunting blind. Standing quietly in the early morning fog I could not help but to feel so blest by such an amazing opportunity. As dawn broke, gunfire rang through the valley as duck hunters began the rush to shoot ducks on the move. Adjusting to the 20 Gauge over-under gun took some time, and still is difficult. But as the gunfire subsided and ducks were settling back down into their feeding spots, I finally achieved what I though was merely an unrealistic dream. My first set of curls! Those reading this with a hunters background will know that this meant for me, my first greenhead or drake mallard! I could not believe that I had actually done it, and that finally a bird folded midflight and landed in the water over my right shoulder. I was an Italian hunter now. As we gathered out birds and met back at the Land Rover it was so cool to have been part of this amazing experience.
The rest of the day was again filled with a fantastic lunch, that was followed with a dove and pigeon shoot above the cow barn, which two weeks later resulted in my first ring necked dove as well. And this same story has been repeated over and over every weekend we spend out in Maremma. I look forward to my first Teal and eventually to the "Cinghiale" or wild boar hunt we are sure to experience during my stay here in Italy.
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