In oktober i was very fortunate to go on a hunting trip to Sweden. I was invited by a mate of mine who has a Swedish friend with several permissions / land. Never been to Sweden, let alone hunt for moose or birds so of course i said yes. 
Only the 15 hour cardrive towards our cabins (stuga's) made me a bit concerned. Most of all because the speedlimits in scandinavian countries are low so it takes you a lot of time to get anywhere.
After arrival late afternoon we where met by our host who made a lovely smoked trout dinner to welcome us. Next day it was out on the range to get some practice on running moose. Everybody in our group of six is used to driven (german) hunts and we had some practice earlier so no problem there. After a good sleep in the small but comfortable stuga we met the doghandlers at dusk. Our host explained the tactics, we where put on post in the woods or at the roadside where the moose where most likely to get past because of the dogs giving chase. Or if the moose confronts the dog the person close to that location has to stalk up to the moose together with the doghandler. The dog has a GPS on his back so the doghandler can pinpoint his location.
I was at the end of the string of posts but our host got confused about the exact location and had to put me on another spot which was also promising. Some good rides and clear view. I chose not to sit on the roadside but about 40 meters away as one of the rides came out of a thick pine forest and was directly in front of me. I got comfortable and with the rising of the sun got a good look of the countryside. In the area we where staying and hunting there are only a few roads, and these roads are scarecely used. Only two or three cars pass you by in a day. I waited for things to come and I thought i would be over the moon to just see a live moose during my entire stay. But after 45 minutes contemplating i saw in the corner of my eye some movement, A MOOSE
. And it had ANTLERS too. So no mistake of shooting a cow before the calf. So my rifle went up, i aimed and shot... The moose stumbled, i shot again, moose DOWN. Pfff, never thought i would be this lucky. It was all over in under two seconds. That was a bit of a shame
, but I JUST SHOT A BIG MOOSE.
The dog came soon after and started plucking at the mooses head and neck (so no head mount..
). Still very impressed with the event i had to inform the other hunters that a moose was shot. Then everybody packs in because the dog is on the shot moose. Also retrieving the moose is a huge effort. Fortunately i shot my moose 1 meter next to the roadside
. Still was a huge haul with 8 people pulling the moose on the trailer. Then wood is collected, a fire is made and everybody eats sausages next to the roadside. That is a big Scandinavian thing, campfires and sausages. But what an adventure, i was told that this moose is one of the bigger ones shot in the area for several years. Up north they get bigger, but in the middle part of Sweden this is a good thropy. Needless to say everybody was very happy. We then took the moose to the butchers, outside the butchers where several other heads of shot moose.
During our ten days stay a mate of mine shot a moose cow (she had no calf) which we had to retrieve from the middle of the forest. Took us two hours dragging with nine people. Later I also had a small opportunity on a calf. I had the cow and calf in my view for a long time. They where coming down a hill, followed by the dog. Unfortunately they dissapeared behind some big rocks on my left side and when i got them in my sights again i was not sure that the first moose i got into view was the calf (just me being not very experienced at moose). When the cow come round the corner it was clear enough but by that time there was no good shot left, just looking at mooses behinds
. But i had a good long view at them and that is a beautiful experience as well.
In the middle of our stay the dogs had some rest for three days and we went out for birds and some fishing. Walking up through woodland, forests and around marshes we got a few birds.
In all it has been a lovely experience, everybody saw moose, the Swedes are nice and interesting people and the countyside is stunning (although not so different from Scotland). Some pictures enclosed.
Only the 15 hour cardrive towards our cabins (stuga's) made me a bit concerned. Most of all because the speedlimits in scandinavian countries are low so it takes you a lot of time to get anywhere.
After arrival late afternoon we where met by our host who made a lovely smoked trout dinner to welcome us. Next day it was out on the range to get some practice on running moose. Everybody in our group of six is used to driven (german) hunts and we had some practice earlier so no problem there. After a good sleep in the small but comfortable stuga we met the doghandlers at dusk. Our host explained the tactics, we where put on post in the woods or at the roadside where the moose where most likely to get past because of the dogs giving chase. Or if the moose confronts the dog the person close to that location has to stalk up to the moose together with the doghandler. The dog has a GPS on his back so the doghandler can pinpoint his location.
I was at the end of the string of posts but our host got confused about the exact location and had to put me on another spot which was also promising. Some good rides and clear view. I chose not to sit on the roadside but about 40 meters away as one of the rides came out of a thick pine forest and was directly in front of me. I got comfortable and with the rising of the sun got a good look of the countryside. In the area we where staying and hunting there are only a few roads, and these roads are scarecely used. Only two or three cars pass you by in a day. I waited for things to come and I thought i would be over the moon to just see a live moose during my entire stay. But after 45 minutes contemplating i saw in the corner of my eye some movement, A MOOSE
. And it had ANTLERS too. So no mistake of shooting a cow before the calf. So my rifle went up, i aimed and shot... The moose stumbled, i shot again, moose DOWN. Pfff, never thought i would be this lucky. It was all over in under two seconds. That was a bit of a shame, but I JUST SHOT A BIG MOOSE.The dog came soon after and started plucking at the mooses head and neck (so no head mount..
). Still very impressed with the event i had to inform the other hunters that a moose was shot. Then everybody packs in because the dog is on the shot moose. Also retrieving the moose is a huge effort. Fortunately i shot my moose 1 meter next to the roadside. Still was a huge haul with 8 people pulling the moose on the trailer. Then wood is collected, a fire is made and everybody eats sausages next to the roadside. That is a big Scandinavian thing, campfires and sausages. But what an adventure, i was told that this moose is one of the bigger ones shot in the area for several years. Up north they get bigger, but in the middle part of Sweden this is a good thropy. Needless to say everybody was very happy. We then took the moose to the butchers, outside the butchers where several other heads of shot moose.During our ten days stay a mate of mine shot a moose cow (she had no calf) which we had to retrieve from the middle of the forest. Took us two hours dragging with nine people. Later I also had a small opportunity on a calf. I had the cow and calf in my view for a long time. They where coming down a hill, followed by the dog. Unfortunately they dissapeared behind some big rocks on my left side and when i got them in my sights again i was not sure that the first moose i got into view was the calf (just me being not very experienced at moose). When the cow come round the corner it was clear enough but by that time there was no good shot left, just looking at mooses behinds
. But i had a good long view at them and that is a beautiful experience as well.In the middle of our stay the dogs had some rest for three days and we went out for birds and some fishing. Walking up through woodland, forests and around marshes we got a few birds.
In all it has been a lovely experience, everybody saw moose, the Swedes are nice and interesting people and the countyside is stunning (although not so different from Scotland). Some pictures enclosed.
