Date: 20-24 September 2014
Outfitter & Guide: Joachim Andersson
Location: Jämtland, Sweden, about 250 km north of Östersund
Species Taken: Moose



I am an Oklahoman living in Sweden for a year. When I saw the offer of a Swedish moose hunt specifically targeting bulls in the mountains ( Original ad ) on the Accurate Reloading forums earlier this year, I decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up. This is an account of that trip.

I arrived on Friday, September 19th to Östersund about an hour late, due to some fog at Stockholm Bromma Airport. Joachim Andersson, my guide, picked me up and drove me to Blomhöjden, where he has a couple cabins reachable by road, plus a fishing cabin, reachable by ATV. Blomhöjden is about 250 km north of Östersund and about 30 km east of the Norwegian border. The latitude is 64.5 deg. North, so not too far from the Arctic Circle. It has a population of maybe 10 people; there are two farms and a few cabins. I met his wife, Zara, and his three children I practiced my Swedish with his oldest son and he practiced his English with me. Perjonas: Plockar du svamp? Jeff: Jag plockar inte svamp. Jag vete inte vilken svamp är gift! (Translation: do you pick mushrooms? I don't pick mushrooms. I don't know which ones are poisonous!) I slept that night in one of the cabins.

On Saturday morning, I test fired the rifle Joachim lent me, a Tikka M695 in 9.3x62 topped by a Leupold 3x9 scope, an aftermarket stock with adjustable comb, and a Stalon Whisper ljuddampare (suppressor). With 4 shots fired, it seemed to be well sighted in, and quite capable of hitting a moose in the vitals at 100 yards. I packed a daypack and Joachim dropped me off at the trailhead. I walked about two and a half hours to get to our camp. Joachim took a 6-wheel Polaris ATV up with all of my stuff, food for the trip, etc.

Our camp was on the slopes of a mountain called Baltjoe. It is not a Swedish name, but a Sami name, and the pronunciation to this American sounds like Ballt-choen. Baltjoe is 991 m high and our camp is at about 800 m, just below a ridge line.



Our hunting was all done on the other side of the ridge, so first thing in the morning we would walk below the ridge, then cross over to a spot where we would glass the valley below looking for moose. The general technique was that we would move from overlook to overlook and we would look for moose and Joachim would call, especially if we saw a bull.




Camp itself was a Norwegian made tent designed roughly like a yurt, with a wood stove in the center. I had brought a sleeping bag and a self-inflating foam pad, but the reindeer skin really helped insulate me from the ground.





Saturday afternoon: beautiful weather sunny and ~15 C / 59 F. In response to a call, Joachim hears a moose moving through the brush right below us. We never see the moose, though. Perhaps he winded us or heard us. Later, from another overlook, we watched a bull moose, cow, and two calves for about 30 minutes. Joachim called (imitating a cow), but the cow decided she didn't like the competition and went further away. The bull apparently decided a bird in the hand was better than the one in the bush and followed the cow.

Sunday morning: over Saturday night, the weather had changed, the wind was blowing hard and there was a cold mist much of the time. We watched a cow moose and one calf at a salt block that Joachim had mounted about 3 m / 10 ft off the ground.




After getting chilled, we went back to the tent for an early lunch and warm-up. That afternoon we saw the same bull again, along with the cow and one calf. They were near the ridge opposite to us across the valley. They ignored Joachim's calling and wandered over the ridge. We watched for awhile, but saw neither them nor any other moose and went back to camp for dinner. After the bull disappeared again, we started calling him the “ghost bull” for his propensity to disappear on us.

Monday morning: clearer and colder, with less wind, but still brisk. We first went to the overlook from which we had seen the ghost bull the night before. We glassed for about an hour without seeing any moose. We did see some reindeer, though. So, we moved to another overlook.

Here, after a half hour of glassing, Joachim spots a bull well below us, along with a calf and a cow, all lying down. About 9:00, I think.


No response to Joachim's calls. (By now if you think that calling doesn't work well, read on!). We watch for awhile and discuss whether to risk trying to stalk the bull. (The risk being that if we traipse around down there and leave our scent we risk that we will spook other moose later.). Joachim thinks the chances are high that the six ears, three noses, and six eyes will foil our stalk. But we decide to go for it, so we begin the descent to the valley. Very quietly! Instead of a direct route, we go downhill so that we arrive well downwind of the moose.

When we get part way down, Joachim takes a slight detour to get eyes on the bull. He is now up feeding in the myr (a boggy meadow.). We are about 200 meters away, so we hurry, quietly to get closer. As we get closer, the bull and cow get quite noisy. The bull and the cow keep - how shall I put this politely?- moving around until she is ready to stand for him. First they are by a lake to the south of us, but only the cow comes out into the open, so no shot possible. Then, they are in the myr, and we are in the woods - I need to get closer to get a clear shot. Joachim sends me forward alone to the very edge of the woods. I sneak quickly up there. By the time I get there, they are just inside the woods across the corner of the meadow, no more than 40 meters away from me. I have a perfect line of sight to shoot, but, the bull has his head over the cow's back so it's a no go. Then they move again, back further in the woods, and while I wait I see not one but two calves follow them. Joachim joins me and we decide to head back where we can see the lake in hopes they may come out again.

We walk back to the north side of the lake when Joachim stops suddenly and says he hears something moving and thinks it is a different bull. We are about 20 m from the lake and about 10 m above it. Joachim sends me closer to the lake, tells me to find a place where I can shoot whichever way the bull comes around the lake. And he tells me that I should shoot when the bull stops. So I rush down to the edge of the lake, ready as I can be, and expecting the bull to come around the north side of the lake, a few seconds later the bull comes running along the south end of the lake, about 70 m away from me. Joachim emits a single call and the bull stops to look our way. There is a small birch tree between me and the bull, but I decide that if I shoot just to the right of the tree, I should still be well in the heart lungs area... I shoot, the bull flinches turns around in a small circle, so I shoot again, and then again. The bull goes no more than about 20 meters, and lies down. The first shot went through the lungs and creased the liver. It was a killing shot.



It was the ghost bull, which Joachim estimated as being four years old. The bull we were stalking was a bit smaller, perhaps a year younger. (The bull was weighed at the butcher - the 4 quarters weighed 280 kg/ 616 pounds) The tip-to-tip spread was 111 cm or 44 inches.

After shooting the bull, Joachim needed to haul it out to the road head and arrange transport to a game butcher. We discussed possible options for Tuesday – because his previous client had not shot a moose, he still had another license, or I could go fishing as I originally planned in the event that I shot a moose before the end. I decided to go fishing and so we moved from our camp down to a fishing cabin.




I had a leisurely day – fishing, catching a few öring (brown trout), seeing some dalripa (willow ptarmigan), and late in the afternoon – seeing a bull moose not too far from the lake where I was fishing.

On Tuesday night, we set our plans for Wednesday and decided to make one more try for a 2nd moose, looking for the one I had seen yesterday. We spent the morning hiking, watching, and calling, but didn’t see any moose. In fact, it was the only day in the mountains that I didn’t see any moose. Because I had booked an early morning flight on Thursday, we left camp late afternoon and stayed the night in Blomhöjden, before going on to Östersund in the morning. On the drive out, we saw several tjäder (capercaillie) which are very large grouse.

In short, I had a fantastic time – the scenery was beautiful, the company was great, and the outcome was wonderful. Joachim is “the real deal” – he knows the mountains and the moose quite well and I’d recommend hunting with him if you have the chance. When I came back to work at the university, the department head said that I had only been in Sweden for less than two of the twelve months, and already I had accomplished my most important goal. Very true!

Jeff

A few more photos - I used the Lapua Naturalis cartridges that Joachim provided. Three bullets were recovered:


I enjoyed eating reindeer and moose for much of the trip. The salted/smoked/dried reindeer that we ate for snacks was quite good:



The fishing cabin was quite deluxe, compared to sleeping in a tent:

Thanks for sharing....

Beautiful country, that's a very interesting area that I'm totally unfamiliar with. Thanks for posting it.

Wow a very intersting hunt. my wife a little the southern part of where you were and she s said that is still beautiful.

seems we will have to go soon there ...

Congratulations, great hunt. Very nice pictures, superb report.
Thanks for posting.

Congratulations,nice hunting report too. You should try both mountaingrouse hunting with standing dogs and capercaillie hunting with barking dogs. Moose(and other animals) hunting with dogs is special too.

Congrats! Thats a great bull!

Thanks for sharing!!!
I hope to do this one day with Joachim...its such a beautiful place

Great account of a wonderful hunt and trip.

This reminds me of what this forum used to be like a few years ago!

Don't feel bad (as if you would) on multiple shots on your bull - I average 2.1 per moose and the last few have been one shots so I leave you to work out how many some took! They don't react much and it's hard to see strike with a 9.3 even with a moderator.

Can these moose be hunted in August?

No the moose season starts first monday in september in the north, in oktober in the south. 1/9 this year.

Hannay,

Waidmansheil!


Super trip report & photos on your moose hunt.

Superb ! Congrats and great pictures.

A bucket list hunt !

Cheers

Great report - would love to do this hunt sometimes :-)

Morten

It looks like a great hunting trip in all respects. What fees did you pay the outfitter/guide?

All - Thanks for your kind comments!

Blanco County: The costs were posted in the original ad; I pasted it in below. My cost was 3200 Euros for the hunt and the trophy fee, since my bull was a little short of making bronze medal. At exchange rates earlier this year, it was about $4400.


The hunt cost
€2300 includes guide, food and accommodation. Transfer from Östersund airport to the mountains. Also, if the hunt succeeds during the first day/days we can stay
for trout fishing.
Trophy fees
Moose bull €900
Bronze medal €1800
Silver medal €2300
Gold medal €2800
Bear €1700 (possible if any bears left on the license.)
Not included is Swedish hunting license (€30) and charter flight (€650) if you want to take helicopter up the mountain instead of walking. (Walking takes 1,5-2
hours)

I think that is an acceptable overall cost. How do you feel about the throphy fees? Its not common in sweden to have what its a more continental europe thing.

I was quite happy with the overall cost and would do it again if I have the opportunity. I don't know that much about what is common in Sweden vs. continental Europe. I haven't really seen all that much in the way of hunting opportunities in Sweden advertised, so it's hard for me to compare.

My sense is that this was quite a bit different from most Swedish moose hunts - not a team - just me and the guide. But I would love to hear more about hunting opportunities in Sweden for visitors!

The hunt you had is a very special one. (very nice)

Most hunting grounds in sweden are tyed up in game management areas there the members own or lease the hunting rights.

The most common moose hunt for sale is one week in a normal hunting team. They hunt with bailing dogs you are treated in most cases as a normal member. (cost typicaly 5000sek/550e)

Its can be a team of hunting clients only to and the guides and outfitter akes care of everything.

Some hunt moose with client and doghandler only then yuo stalk the moose with then the dog is barking. Its a special kind of hunting.

Some areas are leased out for a week or weekend and the buyer hunt by him self or his own team.

Other kinds of hunts worth trying are:

Mountain grouse in the mountains/fjällen by standing dogs and shotgun.

Capercaillie hunting by bailing dogs in the forest. You stalk the bird then the dog is barking.

Moose hunting with bailing dogs either as a shooter or following the doghandler stalking it.

Driven hunt on mixed game(wildboar,moose,red deer, fallowdeer, roe deer) in southern sweden. The game is driven by short running dogs.

http://www.backlandtv.com/watc...--sweden-part-1.html

http://www.backlandtv.com/watc...t-sweden-part-2.html

http://www.backlandtv.com/watc...t-sweden-part-3.html

Some movies with americans hunters in sweden.

Nordic2,
Thanks for the suggestions. I was invited to participate in a "team" hunt near Finspång with about 20 hunters posted around the edge of the hunting area and 5 hunters with dogs working their way through the hunting area. The intended game that day was wild boar, red deer,and moose calves. I only saw roe deer that day, so never had a chance to shoot. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun - and another totally different hunt from anything I've experienced in the USA.

Regarding the other types of hunting, if you have any suggestions as to where I might find guides that offer these type of hunts, please let me know. I'd also be interested in roe deer stalking. Thanks! And thanks for the links to the hunting shows.

Jeff

Yes what the kind of mixed game hunting i was talking about.

I have never used a guide in sweden but here is a list of hunting opportunitys. Sorry its in swedish.
http://svenskjakt.se/Start/nagonstans-att-jaga/

How long are you staying in sweden?

WWW.inatur.se
More hunting ,you have a link in the top to get the page in english.

Nordic2: Thanks, I will take a look at the links. Jag kan läsa lite svenska. (Eller använda Google Translate!) I am here through close to the end of July, but after that I will come back occasionally, so hunting next fall or the fall after is also possible.

Hannay,

Great report!

I have hunted this area with Joachim several times and it is nice to see your pictures of to me well known places.

Congratulations on the moose, I heard from Joachim that you had a VERY exciting hunt within close range. This is the way to hunt the moose up in the mountains.

/ P-A

P-A,
Thanks! It was VERY exciting - I probably wouldn't have believed it ahead of time if Joachim had predicted how it would all come out with the final stalk, the calling, and the second bull charging in. It would have been nice to capture all the action with a GoPro or the like. But then, who knows, I might have been messing with the camera when I should have been hunting!
Jeff

Good you are coming back for next season the late august to november is the best time. Now here in the north we have only some capercaille/grouse hunting(barking dog now and later on skies) and fox hare hunting by driven dogs. In the south its a lot of mixed game driven hunts going on until januari. You shuold try to get some roedeer stalking now as they loose their antlers in december. Do you do crosscountry skiing?

In the spring season we have a lot of beaver you shuold come up so we can go hunting.

The cost north between Gävle and Örnsköldsvik has spring stalking on roebuck 1may to june 15.

Hej Nordic2,
Thanks for the advice. I didn't realize that there was a spring roe buck season. It's a long story, but I think I have lined up some hunting for fallow deer in a few weeks. I may have to leave the roe buck hunting until next spring or fall.

I used to cross country ski many years ago, but sold my skies when I moved from Illinois to Oklahoma 25 years ago(!).

Beaver hunting would certainly be interesting. How far north are you?
Jeff

The sring roebuck came after the Chernobyl accident in the autumn roedeer eat mushrooms with high bequerel level so we got a spring season.(now the bequerel level is well below the limit even in autumn)

Fallow deer sounds nice i hope to go south and hunt some in the winter.

If you feel for winter hunt on caper/grouse you can borrow some skies from me. Its a difficult hunt more like deerstalking than birdshooting. Beaver is easyer to hunt and its often nice weather in the spring and a active wildlife.

I live 500km north of stockholm but i have close to trainstation and airport.

I clicked on Hannay's link for the Sweden hunt and figured I would bring this one to the top; quite an awesome hunt. Love the scenery; looks a lot like Alaska.

Hi Hannay

What a fantastic trip. I have always wanted to hunt Moose but it's way out of my price range for a trip to Alaska etc.

This Moose hunt in Sweden though is in my price range.

Does this outfitter have a website?

Kind regards
Mike
Mike Taylor Sporting
+44 7930 524 097
mtaylorsporting@gmail.com
Instagram: mikezimbab
Facebook: Mike Taylor Sporting

AnotherAZWriter - Thanks for bringing this back up. It was an awesome hunt.

Mike Taylor - I don't believe Joachim has a website, but I will PM you his email address.

Just out of curiosity, what medal class was your bull?

quote:

Just out of curiosity, what medal class was your bull?

It fell just below bronze medal class, thus saving me 900 Euros. Though I would have gladly paid if it had made it.

quote:

Originally posted by Hannay:
AnotherAZWriter - Thanks for bringing this back up. It was an awesome hunt.

Mike Taylor - I don't believe Joachim has a website, but I will PM you his email address.

Thanks very much Hannay for you PM.

Mike
Mike Taylor Sporting
Hunting, Fishing and Photographic Safaris
+44 7930 524 097
mtaylorsporting@gmail.com
Instagram: mikezimbab
Facebook: Mike Taylor Sporting