Moose hunting the Scandinavian way

[Kompressor]

I'm a first timer with moose hunting this season! I live in Norway, and since moose hunting around here is a bit different than what most members here would be familiar with, I thought I'd start up a thread on how it's developing with my experience this season.
The first major difference is perhaps that we hunt in teams. The team I've joined consists of 6 hunters, and we have bought a "moose terrain" (right to hunt) not far from my home for a period of 5 seasons. The quotas may vary from year to year, but should be set for about 5 animals each year if the moose population doesn't change very much. We do have to much moose around here, actually. They've been trying to get the population down for years, but since moose hunting is a bit expensive and also very time consuming, it has turned somewhat into a "sport for old men"... To bad, because we would really like to see more younger hunters in the woods too. In my opinion, with so many years on the outside, not being able to get in on any hunting teams, it could be essential to change to attitude among the "old men" themselves to see it happen. But enough of that.
Another major difference could be that we have to start preparations early. As in weeks ago!! Some of the guys have been walking through our terrain for days already to get familiar with it. Checking up on the stands, looking for obstacles and safe backgrounds. Were will the moose show up, and what is the probable direction it will run?
We usually post all hunters except one in the terrain more or less on a line, covering an area. Then one of us takes a tracking dog, "Elghund", in a long leach and start walking towards the line from the other side of the area we want to cover. The dog may be silent or barking, but the effect will still be that the moose is driven towards our line. If the dog handler does his job well the moose will come slowly with no stress at all. And we can very often get good shots in this way, since we know distances and safe angles from each post. It is essential to sit very still while waiting for the moose. And you never really know where it's coming, and how close. Sometimes you get a 200 yds shot, and other times the moose shows up in your face!!
We have to be able to tell right away what age and sex the animal is. Our quota is set for example to 1 bull moose, 2 two year olds, and one calf. It depends on what selection profile is necessary for a larger area in the population planning this year. You can shoot a calf from its mother, but never a cow from a calf without taking the calf also. Large bulls may be wished saved for a healthy gene pool. Young bulls are often the surplus population we can take the most from. Young animals are the best meat, anyways!
The hunting starts October 5th, but we are already well started with our planning. The hunting lasts sometimes until Christmas, depending on how big the moose population is in the area. And extra animals may be obtained late in the season if other hunting teams have quit without reaching their goals.
today I'm going up in the terrain to help out with the cabin we've rented. We stay in the hunting grounds for up to a week from starting day to get to most out of it, and the cabin is included in our deal with the land owner. I'll grab my camera and take some pictures to post here for you later today, so you can see what it's about. We can use the cabin the whole year too, so maybe this summer I'll spend some days up there with my family as well.

Link to aearial photo of our terrain




Norw. Elkhound

[samuel]

Sounds ok but basically over here we stalk/call moose.Usually with a guide calling and hunter doing the shooting.Some hunt from a blind. sam.

[Mooseman684]

We aren't allowed to use Dogs for Moose hunting...Usually you find a crossing and sit on it Morning and evening during Rut.
Sometimes we just drive around early in the morning looking for one on the side of the road !

[Kompressor]

Originally Posted by Mooseman684

We aren't allowed to use Dogs for Moose hunting...Usually you find a crossing and sit on it Morning and evening during Rut.
Sometimes we just drive around early in the morning looking for one on the side of the road !

We aren't allowed to use cars...
-Or any motorized vehicle for that matter.

It's common to use one dog. Maybe sometimes doubled by a young dog in training. It's not like we let a pack of "wolves" into the woods and shoot whatever comes out. I would also enjoy the solitude of hunting alone, but since we have a quota to fill we need to work it a bit more efficient than that. We simply have to much moose in the woods. There aren't enough predators to make any impact. And we are mostly hunting in semi-rural areas.
But a growing population of wolves has given some trouble with using loose dogs, since they atract the wolves and they are sometimes taken by them. Our dogs are also house pets, and it is always a loss when that happens. When using a loose dog it tracks up the moose and comes in close to start barking at it. It never attacks the moose, which would be a case for Darwin anyways... But the moose usually stop and front the dog long enough for a hunter to get close enough to shoot.

You Tube

[big shrek]

Sounds like you have a pretty good plan there

[Palladin8]

Kompressor, what are the requirements of your country to obtain a hunting license? Do you have to qualify at certain distances? Reason I am asking is when I was in Bosnia I spoke with a Col. in the Swedish Military and he told me to hunt in Sweden and most Scandanavian countries you had to shoot from various distances and hit the kill zone of the animal you were to be hunting. Just curious if that's what you guys also have to go through as well.

[keymasr5912]

we usually hunt on the rivers out of a boat. we stop and check any known ponds or meadows that we might pass by. we do alot of calling. we also do like mooseman says and stake out places along the roadways. this last month i have been seeing a small bull in the woods behind my house. i have seen him several times. 1 time he chased my dog to within 10 feet of my back door. maybe in august i will just hunt from my back yard in a lawn chair.

[Kompressor]

Originally Posted by Palladin8

Kompressor, what are the requirements of your country to obtain a hunting license? Do you have to qualify at certain distances? Reason I am asking is when I was in Bosnia I spoke with a Col. in the Swedish Military and he told me to hunt in Sweden and most Scandanavian countries you had to shoot from various distances and hit the kill zone of the animal you were to be hunting. Just curious if that's what you guys also have to go through as well.

First you have to take qualifying course to be elligable to do any kind of hunting at all, and to even be considered for a gun permit. This is, I think, now typically 45 hours of classes and practical training (shooting, game identification etc) + a 60 questions exam. Then you are allowed to hunt small game with both shotgun and rifle.
For larger game, any size from roe deer and up, you have to do a mandatory shooting test EVERY YEAR of 10 shots within a kill zone on a paper figure at 100 meters (110yds). You have to do the test with unsupported shooting, but you can sit on a small chair using your knees as support. Before you can take the test you will have to show proof of 30 training shots. Local regulation can alter this to 50 shots.
It's no big deal. It's to avoid having those idiots who never even bother to do any kind of training before hunting season. And of course those old shaky ones that might do a better job serving coffee in the cabin after the hunt...

[Palladin8]

Thanks for the info. Sounds similar to what the Swedish Col was telling me. Good luck on your scouting and hunting trip.

[Windwalker]

Thanks for the update on Moose hunting in your Country. Nice post.

[FISHPOND]

Are you doing any-thing to curb the on coming wolves, Post #4, they are a great predator and do need to be controlled as liked the moose..

[Kompressor]

Originally Posted by FISHPOND

Are you doing any-thing to curb the on coming wolves, Post #4, they are a great predator and do need to be controlled as liked the moose..

SSS

[Joe Brainard]

Enjoyed the post. Dog hunting is illegal in the state I live in (Wisconsin), but driving is a very popular way to hunt deer here. We use "standers" as you described, and "drivers" or "walkers" as they're called in place of the dogs. Is the method you described traditional, or is it an adaption to modern conditions/laws?

[Rambo]

I'm still waiting to draw a moose tag in Maine. It would be a spot and stalk hunt. The wife is applying also every year.

[Kompressor]

Originally Posted by Joe Brainard

Enjoyed the post. Dog hunting is illegal in the state I live in (Wisconsin), but driving is a very popular way to hunt deer here. We use "standers" as you described, and "drivers" or "walkers" as they're called in place of the dogs. Is the method you described traditional, or is it an adaption to modern conditions/laws?

Oh, we don't hunt dogs!

Our "walker" (just one) use the dog as a tracker, and walks in the actual path of the moose. The "standers" (the rest of the team) are placed in a pattern to be able to spot and shot the moose as they come by. It is essential to know the local topography very well, so a hunting team usually stays in the same hunting grounds for years. Some even for decades. One is elected team leader, and takes care of dealing with the land owner(s), and makes the final descissions on our plans. Since the meat is (usually...) much more than the team members can take care of themselves, a part of the meat is usually sold to part finance the hunting fees. The only person actually making a lot of money here is the land owner. So much for living in a country many of you guys consider a socialistic state, ha ha!
But yes, this is a traditional way of hunting moose indeed. At least for the past 100 years or so. Since all hunting grounds are taken by teams, there isn't much room for stalking, or hunting alone. It is possible late in the season if we have animals left on our quota, and the other team members don't mind. But then it would likely have to be on a particular age/sex moose, which will lower your chances of a successful hunt anyways.

[Kompressor]

Some pictures from the other day.
-The hunting cabin we get with our grounds.
-Half the team.
-Chopping some firewood. October can be pretty cold and wet...
-Team chief's dog, used for hunting roe deer in September.

[Joe Brainard]

Hey those are great photos. To fight poaching it's illegal in Wisconsin to sell game meat, but a lot of people donate the extra meat from deer hunting to local food pantries.

[Kompressor]

Originally Posted by Joe Brainard

Hey those are great photos. To fight poaching it's illegal in Wisconsin to sell game meat, but a lot of people donate the extra meat from deer hunting to local food pantries.

If they were to stop selling moose meat in the grocery stores here, it would cause riots!! -You can get whale meat here too...

I'll keep posting some more pictures every now and then. It's always interesting to hear from others how they do it, to get different perspectives to one's own hunting habits.

[Joe Brainard]

Hey I love it. Especially since I'm of Norwegian descent. My mom's name was Bjorke. It's pretty interesting to see how hunting is done in the "old country" (we still refer to it that way) I would love to go there sometime and see life in Norge first hand.

Bear hunters use dogs, and as the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) has re-introduced wolves in Wisconsin, it is becoming more frequent for dogs to be killed by them here also.

[Kompressor]

Originally Posted by Joe Brainard

Hey I love it. Especially since I'm of Norwegian descent. My mom's name was Bjorke. It's pretty interesting to see how hunting is done in the "old country" (we still refer to it that way) I would love to go there sometime and see life in Norge first hand.
Bear hunters use dogs, and as the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) has re-introduced wolves in Wisconsin, it is becoming more frequent for dogs to be killed by them here also.

Life here is pretty much like in most western countries. In general, living standards are on the average a bit higher than in the US. Cars are expensive. Alcohol is expensive. Taxes are a bit higher than some (but not all) comparable countries. Health care is available to everyone and no insurance is needed to get treatment. Some of our export industries have had a set back from the financial crisis in yours and other countries, but we have plenty financial reserves which are set to domestic work as of right now, which keeps us floating in our daily lives. -My shop is booming!!! Which is good, because then I can afford to go hunting even more...

I live and hunt about 50 miles north of Oslo, which is about as far north as Anchorage. So you'll find rather similiar nature and wildlife, except we have less predators and smaller moose (elk size), and also some deer relatives from further south expanding their habitats into Norway since about the early 1900's.
Here are some pics to show the area, some(!) of my kids and some people I live around: