Would anyone be interested in coming to Norway to hunt seals?

I'm not offering a hunt, but the minister of fisherise in Norway said that opening up to more sealhunting would traw foreign hunters to Norway. He was quicly met by protest and nobody belived that anyone would come to hunt seals in Norway.

The hunting is done out on the small island on the Norweigian cost. The shooting is mostly long range and headshots. You go from island to island with boat. By the way I'm not talking about clubing seals on the ice. Do you find this interesting?
It would be something a bit different I imagine.

Johan

If the sealhunting was closed in Sweden then I might consider it
PerN

If I had another reason to be in the area I'd probably jump at the chance to go along with local hunters just for the experience. It wouldn't really matter to me if I shot or not, as the seal seems to fall into the "subsistence" category of hunting. (One which I practice diligently on our local whitetails.)

I don't think you'd create a sporting industry of Continental Europeans or North Americans. The seal is just not a traditional game animal for most of us.

Don

Gee's and here I was getting my club ready to go! They only do that up in Northern Canada, I went once, I was doing some Gas and Oil support flying and well it was not what I thought it would be. They kill the fur seals for the pelt. Would my 6.5 x 55 be the proper cartridge for seal shooting in Norway? I would not want to buy another rifle for this. I would like go and check this out.

[ 06-23-2002, 02:42: Message edited by: George Semel ]

If it was a walrus I would, nice set of walrus teeth would be an interesting trophy. But I don't think it would be something I would do a lot of, as Don said it would be a new experience and I'm always open to new experience's. As for the protesters, I don't understand them, I can't see the difference between hunting a Deer,pig or what ever or a seal.

Bakes

Interesting concept... Seals are practically a 'sacred cow' here in the US. Wouldn't mind it if they decided to open up a season here in Maine. Last year, while shark fishing I had a seal take a bait and get hooked. I fought it for a couple of minutes, then it came to the surface and gave me one of those 'what the hell?' looks, and I cut it loose. Fought pretty good though... I wonder, are they any good to eat?

oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!!!!!! now i have a whole new game rifle i can start looking into a seal gun...but i've got to agree with bakes, walrus would be nice too...hmmm there's a thought seal/walrus combo...hmmmm.....

now let's see what caliber to adequately dispatch a seal with...

[ 06-23-2002, 05:15: Message edited by: Curtis_Lemay ]

In a second!!!! It would be a blast!!!! Imagine, hunt seals for a day or two then spend the rest of the time sampling the "local flavor"!!! Where does a person sign up?

If the price was right sounds like fun.

It would have to be in conjunction with some other hunting. A friend of mine hunted reindeer and seals in Iceland, and had a great time.

What other game is available that time of year?

George

Being an Alaskan Native, I can hunt seals here, just outside, in the Sound.
I haven't actually hunted them specifically, but have chanced upon them on occasion while boating to other hunting areas (for bear hunting).
My younger brother hunts them quite often with the in-laws. He uses a 30-06.
All manner of varmint rounds have been used on seals with great success up here, because head shots the norm. Nothing wasted in this manner, and a very dead seal, to boot.
Bobbing up and down in a boat, is somewhat troublesome when aiming. The trick is to pull the trigger as the boat comes up on a wave, just as the seal comes into the sights. Your timing is very important, or you'd just splash water beside the seal.
As to how they taste, well I suppose having grown up with it I got to say it's otay, but don't eat it too often, My children do more then I.
I've known non-Natives to puke when they taste it, and some to actually love it. One man's poison is another's wine. ~~~Suluuq

If the price were reasonable and I could also hunt some type of deer or moose on the same trip, I would do it.

Tried it in when I was working in Northern Canada. Most of the hunters I met either used 303 Br Lee Enfields, or 222 Remingtons. When I tasted the seal, I thought it tasted like under cooked veal soaked in oyster oil. Of course, you can make some really nice garments from the pelts. FWIW - Dan

I hunted a lot of seals in Nunavut when I lived there. It is a heck of a lot of fun we used three methods... In August/Sept/beginning of October we'd hunt them from a big freighter canoe one of the 24 foot jobbies that take a 40 HP or more and can carry over 2 tons of gear.
Used my 6.5 Rem Mag but too destructive and if you shot too low and hit the body the exit wound would sink em. I settled on a 22 Hornet being about perfect. Lots of fun stalking them in the boat amongst the ice floes. In late November to March-April we would go Aglu hunting... this means that you find the breathing hole (Aglu) on the ice and stay there with a harpoon or short barrelled rifle and get em when they come for a breath...lots of suspense and you have to have more patience than me to get good at it. In April/May/June July.... the seals spend time on the ice and you sneak up on them behind a canvas blind. If you shoot them in the head they won't slide down their breathing hole but nonetheless at the shot you run like hell to try to get em before they slide. This is a real riflemans game and a 22-250 is about perfect.
For Walrus you need a bit more gun and hunting from the boat is the norm. .303 and up is the way to go here. I used a .416/350 Rem Mag and it was more than enough. It's a lot of fun and a challenge and there are a hell of a lot of seals out there despite the city living greenpeace bastards destroying another native economic activity in the name of conservation.

According to this month's American Handgunner (go figure), Iceland is now paying a $120 bounty on seals. The lower jaw needs to be turned in for proof of kill. Bury the rest.

H. C.

Can you use Matchkings on a seal?

Ngrumba!
I think you finally found a perfect game for the Mathking
You must hit the head or spine or the seal will dive. So in this case the precision is everything and the pentretetion of minor interest/
PerN

I don't personally hunt seal. I know some that does, but I have never tried it my self.

I think you be best of with a gun that is stainless. It should be flat shooting and very accurate. I think most just use their moose rifle in 6.5x55, 308 or 30-06. A biopod is useful.

The rules say that you must use expanding bullets that gives atleast 2.700 joule at 100 meters for 9 gram bullets or 2.200 for bullets over 10 gram.

There are different seals. What we call Kobbe is the most common. It may be 60 to 100kg I think.

I think the hunting not would be expensive, but Norway is an expensive country to be in. The season for seal is as far as I know in winter. And most other hunting is over. You could maybe hunt bever, lynx, and some small game.

By the way there is no walrus in Norway. And we don't have fur seals like sealions. Only the real seals.

Johan

Folklore from the Gulf of Bothnia:

The seals are egyptians, really. They are descendants from Pharaos soldiers drowned when Moses closed the sea on them during Exodus.
This, of course, is quite true: Just listen carefully to the seals calling out for help in the spring: Phaaaroooo!
Furthermore, the bones of their paws look exactly like human hands. My father told me that it was a pretty strange thing to watch the old women eat the paws and discard something that looked like a hand.

True at first light and a lie by noon..

Boha