Having made a comment on the Hunt n Seek two day hunt thread as a warning to others.. here on the original thread is my account of what happened.
Firstly a big thankyou to Paul who for his group ensured all details were taken care of with military precision, even booking and paying for my flight and sorting car parks, hotels etc. Well done mate
Quote from the original add....
17000 Hectare Private Hunting Estate - Private for who ? the Northern half of Finland who drove past us on every drive
3-4 drives daily infact means two !!
Lasting memories of other wildlife - this included a few species of bird, the lucky few seeing a squirrel. I have never seen such vast woodland devoid of life and I am not joking. Wishing to be accurate we also saw four Coon Dogs however we were travelling for ten hours in a van and they were squashed. Not in one single field did any member of my group see an animal in 10 hours of driving, truly unbelievable....
Relaxed Lunch - if you call an apple, crisps and a cold beer after being still in -2 degrees for 3-4 hours
Originally offered for 12 and on diferent grounds I joined the hunt after all this had been spoken about and was looking forward to hopefully seeing/shooting a Bull Moose.
The Airport was true to form as despite arriving early had us messing about for so long the gate was closed and the last call made as we rushed to the plane.. a total nitemare..
The drive to Salla from Helsinki was to be around seven hours with a further hour added as soon as we were near to seven culminating in just over 10 hours.
We arrived in the early hours to find that the accommodation had four single beds leaving us to sleep on the sofa's and little two inch mattresses in the three foot loft spaces. A great start making your beds up at nearly three in the morning when your up at six.
We were on each three days placed along a stone road used by logging trucks and it seems most of the local population and fellow hunting parties. This was a surprise proving the lack of attention to detail with us being sited in such ridiculous places
Advertised as a traditional Hunt using Dogs to drive the Moose this was not the case as the only break we had to our line was a couple of Reindeer one with our dog ragging its leg.
Some of the more laughable phrases from the hunt included,
Ssssssh close the door quietly as we were dropped 4-500m apart then stepping aside as a convoy of cars passed us.
Apparently you can tell by the way the dogs bark if its a Bull or Cow but when over the radio you hear theres a drive on and guns be ready you don't expect Mick (the sausage) to say ones on me lap and the other ones licking Fran... what a joke as the dogs disappointed with alarming regularity.
It was a catalogue of disasters as Sika Stav on sighting a Moose was told not to shoot by a guide as it was a Cow, then as the Bull Moose ran off it was quick shoot..
when your only packing a pink .243 this was a big ask as by this time it was out of range at over 60m.
Only one person saw big Bull Moose ( another fekin Northern Monkey) which on 80,000 acres managed to find its way onto land we weren't allowed to shoot on... How lucky was that
Congrats to Jonny ( The Psycho ) who on looking behind at some birds saw a Moose and got four shots into it. Luckily he must have hit some grass leaving his .270 rounds tumbling into the Moose... After a good chuckle it all proved to much for the little thing as it unfortunately tripped and drowned in a nearby river
There was so much I was going to say on this thread but am way too busy tomorrow and don't have the will to go on so will sum up by saying that all the hunters I met were an amazing bunch, and I really mean we did have a total scream inventing a new Brand of humour.
I know many of us will be remaining in touch and new trips are already being spoken of.
Also a big thankyou to everyone for the kind generosity shown for our Amelia this was greatly appreciated.
Summing up....
imo this was all about recouping the money invested in new ground by Hunt n Seek where we were unfortunately the first lambs to the slaughter as despite barely being able to cope with 12 hunters they pushed the boundaries and greed to a level where accommodation, food and even transport could not cope... Then despite this to charge a 140 euros to dish out crisps and a apple then a water cup with a cuppa soup clearly indicates how far these guys have to go to be considered any where near professional or competent.
Big on promises as in the original add, this in no way was representative of what was delivered...
Poor hunting experience, poor food, poor accommodation, poor dogs and despite us all making our feelings known and worst of all a totally disgusting attitude with no intention to make good the failing of Hunt n Seek to deliver on any level by Christian.
Terry
