I guess I never paid much attention to the moose in Finland, Sweden, etc.
I am starting to find out that they are very plentiful and are open for us to hunt.
Can some body tell me How big they are? What it takes to get a hunt? How much they cost?
I am working on my moose slam and thought I was nearly done. But I guess not.
Thanks Maddog

MADDOG,

My impression from reading is that there are lots of moose particularly in Sweden. The hunts for them seem to be a cultural event the same as the deer season here in the USA. It also seems that your chances of taking a trophy at least by our standards are nil there. I'm sure one of our Swedish contributors can give you some first hand info.

I can comment on it a little as I've been to Sweden a couple of times. They are plentiful, and licenses and insurance are cheap. You need an invite or sign up with a guide. Most of the hunting land as I understand it is Paper company land. The cabins and all belong to the paper companies and hunting teams handle the upkeep. As far as size, they aren't as big as as Alsakan Moose, the species is "Alces Alces". It is hard hunting but a helluva lot of fun. The shooting test is a little daunting since there's a bunch of guys standing around waiting for you to miss..or maybe they were just waiting for me to miss?? You must also pay the paper company for the moose you shoot, with the exception being the calves. If you see a cow and calf they require you to shoot the calf first before the cow. Lots more but that's all I can think of right now.

Moose are indeed plentiful in Scandinavia, and certainly in Sweden. A pretty large moose hunt is necessary to keep the moose from causing damage to the forest industry.

In Sweden alone, we shoot 96,000 moose per year -- way more than all of North America combined.

In size, our "�lg" (subspecies Alces alces machlis) doesn't compare to the really big Alces alces gigas in Alaska/Northern BC/Yukon, but they compare well with the subspecies Alces alces andersoni in Maine or Ontario for example.

Seasons are long -- 3-4 months. Seasons in the north of Sweden run from Sept 1 to Dec 31 for all moose, but calves alone can be shot in January.

Guess what I'm having for supper this evening?

jpb

[ 11-09-2003, 19:02: Message edited by: jpb ]

There you go Maddog, you got any questions Mr. Bell has your answer and that's no lie!!!

Approx 85.000 Alces Alces (hirvi - in finnish)will be bagged in Finland oct - dec this year.

Approx 24.000 whitetail deer (valkoh�nt�peura)oct - jan.

Approx 3500 roedeer (mets�kauris)

Last year 6625 road accidents reported involving moose and deer. 4434 so far this year..

http://cat.teho.net/software/mkj_riista/e-site/de/

Boha

[ 11-10-2003, 16:55: Message edited by: boha ]

Ref to Bohas.
Scandinavian moose is little smaller than yours in North america.Ours can grow upto 700kg weight,but usually they are under (live-weight)450kg.Last year I shot one moose bull, horns 10 spikes,live veight was aprox 650kg,clean meat weight 281kg,it was the record moose in our "mooseteam" history since est:1947.So it was a big animal,and now I`m keeping the record.

Elias

[ 11-12-2003, 19:36: Message edited by: Elias ]

I lived in Sweden and have hunted moose there, I've never shot one though(did get some meat, as they divy it up between all the hunters)--they usually have quotas as to how many bulls, cows and calves can be shot on the hunting parcel--I think the bigger bulls usually come from the most Northern regions--or it seemed that way when I would get the various Swedish hunting magazines and when I lived there(15 months in the Varmland region)--

the Varmland and Dalarna regions may have more moose than any other part of Sweden(or they used to), a few good ones are taken there every year, but most have the bicycle handle bars for horns--

basically if you draw a line from Stockholm to Oslo (that is close to the southern regions of Varmland and Dalarna)-and the eastern side is basically at the city of Orebro and then North, the western side is at the Norway/Swedish border(I don't have a map in front of me so if I'm off a little don't bash me too bad)-

I'd try and go farther North, but it's hunting and nothing is ever a sure thing, so sure as I'm typing this the biggest moose will come from the south that same year you go---chris