I'm looking to book some Moose hunting this year. I have only hunted Moose once before - in Norway 10 years ago - but it was an unforgettable experience.

I'd like to consider any of the Scandanavian countries including Sweden and Norway, but I haven't got a clue where to start. Quality of the hunting is paramount as is the quality of the beasts. A trophy bull is what I am looking for.

Does anyone have any recommendations based on first hand experience?

Here is my perspective as an annual visitor to Sweden for the past 3 years. Once with a friend following the dog and twice as a member of a local hunting team.



Sweden has approximately 300,000 hunters who shoot 100,000 or so moose a year. You can see that the average odds are 3 seasons for one moose. This is hugely effected by moose density. A high moose density will be something like 12 per hectare. The south and west of Sweden have higher moose densities but generaly smaller moose and smaller hunting areas. The North tends to have fewer but bigger moose.



The season in the southern half generaly starts second week of October, that in the North mid September for a short while before breaking for the rut and restarting some time in October (can't remember when) A huge percentage (80% or so?) of the moose are shot in the opening week.



The method of hunting is generaly that a team of 20 or so will draw lots to decide which peg they are going to stand on. There is a briefing about how the drive will run including what sex and age of moose is shootable. Everyone drives to the area in a few cars and the hunters are dropped off to make their way to their stands. At the stand you load up and make yourself comfortable. Just as you start to get cold the radio (most teams use these) tells you the drive is about to start. This means that the elkhound(s) have been introduced into the area. The hound follows the scent of moose until it has visual contact. It tries to bay it for the handler to shoot. Generaly after the first day the moose move. The dog barks every time the moose moves, if you hear the dog barking coming towards you get ready, there is a moose on the way. You will generaly never hear the moose, they move so silently even at full speed. At some point you will hear a shot, generaly more than one, followed by a radio conversation of what it was and if it fell etc. Just as you lose feeling of your extremities the drive is finished and you unload and make your way back to the cars. Everyone drives off to the team larder or meat safe to roast sausages over a fire, drink coffee and take the piss out of the lucky hunters shooting when the recovered moose turns up.



If you are lucky you may be offered the chance to walk with the dog handler. If the moose stands you will have a very challenging stalk to get within range.



Trophy bulls are relative. Forget Alaskan moose with antlers like shovels, the majority of Swedish moose will have round antlers. A Swedish hunter will be well pleased with a 7 pointer with a spread of around 2'. I have been incredibly lucky in shooting 2 such 7 point bulls (plus a spike and a bull calf) in 3 seasons, this in an area with some of the highest moose densities in Sweden. There are people in our team who have shot nothing in 2 seasons.



I would think from these odds that going as a member of a team on a hunt where you judge success with a trophy bull as being paramount is fraught with difficulty.



Whatever you decide on ensure that you ring the local Svenska Jagerforebundet (hunting organisation) and check the moose density of the area (be sure to get this from your prospective guide) and quality of the animals. I have heard from my friends of a number of cases marginal densities. The most interesting was a hunt for trophy bulls in late December, when I'm told, the hunt should be on the ground for the shed antlers.



If you have never hunted moose before, forget trophies and go and experience it. The adrenaline you are likely to experience when the dog bark gradualy makes it's way to you and this monster of an animal, be it bull, cow or calf exposes itself completely silently is unforgettable. I do a lot of hunting but nothing gets me going like a moose of any size.



Your host will want you to shoot the moose test (moving moose at 80yards) this is not something to do first time in Sweden in front of a bunch of strangers. You will need to know the lead that applies to your load and rifle and it is not easy. It is very usefull to get a couple of videos to help moose identification in the heat of the moment. Shooting a cow when cows are barred is going to be very unpopular.



Must dust of the 9.3 for October!



[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=66088&c=500&z=1"][/url]



A good average or slightly above average trophy for Western Sweden

Thanks for the information. Sounds very similar to my Norway trip, but I was hoping for something more akin to our British stalking experience. I'm not much for standing still all day just in case a beast gets driven my way. I'd rather track down and stalk my quarry. Is this type of hunting available?

Spie, Reindeer stalking might perhaps be something that fits your desires. Pure stalking and chances of large trophies. Reindeer hunting happens almost exclusively on open highlands.



Regards

The mooses in or close to the scandinavian alps are much bigger and have often better antlers.

http://www.jagareforbundet.se/englishhuntinginsweden/default.asp

Kronog�rd hunt&fishing camp e-mail mailto:kronogard.vildmark@telia.com

I know that this of course is rather obvious, and that 1894 probably know this better than i do, but a high moose density will be something like 12 per 1000 hectare, not per hectare...

Regards,
Martin

12 per 1000 hectare is indeed a very high moose density. We have about 10 moose per 1000 in our 18500 hectare area a little north of Oslo, and consider that to be rather high. As far as I've understood, moose density is generally a touch higher in Sweden then in Norway. What is also important is the ratio between bulls and cows. We have about 1.8 cow for every bull, while the optimal is 1.5 cows per bull. Which thus will reflect what type of moose we take out in the next few years. Moose managment is actually more scientific than many think, and one must take a lot of things into consideration.



Erik D.

Oops! Yes per 1000ha. Another thing to consider is that (so I hear) many teams are reporting very small calves and fewer twins as a result of the previous dry weather.

If you are very lucky you may be able to find a guide who has a dog that tracks moose on the lead, this would be the most similar to stalking over here but I gather (all of this is 3rd hand) that this is absolutely the hardest and rarest type of dog handling.

Some Swedes will hunt moose by stalking but 12 or less per thousand Ha is the proverbial needle in the haystack and not really for the visitor.

Well, moose hunting in Sweden is almost an occupation for me during the autumn...

I�ve had some fellas from the UK, Germany, Italy and Us following me and my dogs on a day of hunting moose. Generally, this demands a pretty good "breath" and walking, running or crawling for some 15-20 kilometers per day is what should be expected. Of course, you can lay down beside the fire and wait until the dog has got the moose and then come by to start sneaking up and try to get a clean shot.

Generally the dog only barks when the moose is standing still and if you have good dogs there should be at least a couple of opportunities during a day in a good area. But, that is in the northern parts of Sweden where you generally have areas bigger than 5000 hectars to hunt. If you are looking for really good trophies you should really go stalking with the people in the northwestern mountains. A really boring hunt since you spend most of the day on a mountain top looking through a pair of binoculars, but still, they got really nice trophies up there.

I�ve hunted moose in all parts of Sweden where it�s legal, and with good dogs it doesn�t matter that much if you have 3 or 10 moose per 1000 ha, the dog will find a moose within a couple of hours, and then it is up to you. If you are going for a sitting hunt the density of moose however is cruicial. Since my occupation the rest of the year partly concerns moose research, I think I can help you with recommendations of good areas.

I can sure help you with finding the right guys to give you a good hunt, but beware, it might be quite costly if you are going to shoot a big bull for a well trained dog...

Congratulations on a quite nice trophy there! But, I must say, that is a nice trophy in the south - western parts of sweden. Generally, people in the areas around here, northern parts of Sweden, wouldn�t even bring home trophies with less than 10 points...

I guess you�ve visited V�rmland? That is the really good part of Sweden if you want to have fairly big areas of hunting and some pretty heavy moose densities. But we have parts of northern Sweden with as good densities and bigger trophies.

Indeed it's Varmland. It is my ambition to go North and to hunt with the dog. I spent a week doing so in Varmland but eventualy shot my calf standing while my friend drove the moose to me. This was late season and the last day of my hunt dawned cold enought that the snow was too loud.

It was impressive that in a block of 1000ha the moose came within 15yards of me - now that's what I call local knowledge!

If you go to the northern parts of Sweden (north of V�rmland and Uppland) you will be able to hunt in September. We often have quite nice weather and the moose is a little bit easier to handle for the dogs. Generally the absolutely best period is in late september, just before the "breedingseason" for the moose. At that time the really big bulls will come out from their "hiding areas" and expose themselves a lot for dogs and hunters.

If you are interested in trying out the moose hunting with dog I am, as i wrote earlier, willing to help you. Surely my dogs ain�t the best ones around but if we have a week or so we should have a very good chance at getting a bull and perhaps some calves. I have most of my areas in J�mtland and V�sterbotten so there is not extremely high moose densities but the areas are big so there should not be a problem with finding the moose.

And the next time you go to Sweden you should really try to combine the moose hunting with some days of Capercaille hunting with dogs. We have had extremely lot of Capercaille the last years and you could go on very good hunts for almost no money at all.

Linkis,
I'd really like to hunt Capercailles in Sweden. Do you use small bore rifle or shotgun? And which is the best season to hunt them?
On Alps late April is "the Period", when they call to mantain their status with other cocks.

w.h.

Based on your thin air training period and the results from the german cross country skiers this season I am not worried at all for your stamina and skiing skills...

Actually the skiing is not that hard but the terrain might be a bit difficult and the temperature can be really low. Down to -25 degrees celsius is no problem but below that it is not fun anymore...

There are big differences in Capercaille density in Sweden every year. Generally it is based on the weather in spring when the small Capercailles are raised. A lot of rain will leave us with very low densities... So I usually go where there are lot of Capercaille, which means from J�mtland (�stersund) up to the northernmost parts of Sweden. I am situated in V�sterbotten myself (Ume�) and the western parts of V�sterbotten has been the absolutely best parts of sweden the latest seasons.

Hunting for small game (everything but moose and bear) will cost you about 3-10 euros per day. More expensive on state land than on private land. Almost all areas on the western half of sweden up north will sell day or weekly based hunting permits. You can not go by your own on state land since you are not from the nordic countries. But being within 10 kilometers from a guide in those parts of our country surely counts as closely together...

What you will need for this type of hunting is good a good pair of skis (that will take you forward in deep and loose snow), a pair of good binoculars and some warm clothing. The rifle I use is a 6,5x55 or a 7x57r with hollow point bullets. Generally the shooting distances is from 100 up to 300 meters, depending of your stalking skills... A scope with 10-20X magnification makes the shooting parrt a lot easier. Then you will need an all white stalking suit to cover up for the really cautious Capercailles. Generally you will se the birds on several hundreds of meters and then take of your skis and crawl through the snow to a good shooting point.

The beer quality is really low and since the daylight is only 6-8 hours you will need a lot of it to cover for the dark hours you need to spend celebrating all trophies...

Gemsj�ger,

it's extremely difficult to find the way to the places that Linkis talk about. The best is probably if you take your car, load it up with beer, drive to Stockholm, put my gear in your trunk, and I'll show you the way northwards.

In the case I need excessive luggage, you may need to unload the beer att my place.

/HerrBerg

Unfortunately my testimonial is the italian team... a little bit under the top this year !
But i'll try to training myself for such a challenging hunt carrying down from Swiss alps some chamois .
With reference at beer quality and chilly temperature, I could bring with me same bottles of barolo as antifreeze fluid .
From now I'll looking at scandinavian weather forecast hoping in a dry spring.

Even better! From what I�ve seen of Italian cross country skiers you will fit just fine in my backpack if you loose some stamina out there... And If Mr. Berg comes with us you can feel quite relaxed since he is used to drag some pretty heavy stuff around in the forest after I�ve done abit of hunting...

I�ve actually been to the alps looking at chamois and I must say it was a little bit challenging... I�m quite sure about that our guide tricked us through the worst parts of the entire area, but anyway... It sure was tough...

Antifreeze is essential and before midnight we only drink liqour in the sauna If you bring some red wine of good old italian quality I will cook you the best Capercaille dinner you�ve ever eaten...

BTW, I have some friends working on a scientific level with Capercailles so I can assure you that I will know where the densities are the best for some good hunting... But be sure to do some talking with the weathergods this spring...

Linkis: Now that you have my recipe, I am sure you cook the most delightful game birds! As to the wine, you will just have to look at my signature to know that I fully agree with you.

Gamsjager: Don't get that wrong. You might have heard about Swedish sin but beavershots have nothing to do with that. Beavershot is a schnapps flavored with glands from a beaver (Castor fiber) and taste as fouls as it sounds. The only benefit is that you can eat about anything afterwards without feeling any taste at all...

Regards,
Martin

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Oh shit, didn't work. Sorry about that...