Just spend a fantastic weeend ~1hr outside Stockholm taking the Swedish hunting license with my girlfriend (she's swedish).

The test, theory and practical, is super complete and a great way to bring new people to hunting, while giving them a solid grounding in fauna, flora and ethics. + a blast.

Definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a fun weekend in Swedish country-side. The swedish (language is a bit of a barrier, but translations were ok and was able to make past the theory test... Practical is easy and fun... Running moose targets).

+ in my book, any country with Moose, Red Stags, Roebuck (with the UK the nicest), Wild boar, Fallow, Capercaillie and the list goes on, is an amazing place for a hunter!

Well done - can you describe the practical shooting test?

Will you be joining a hunting team this season?

Practical Shooting Test(s) - they don't kid around...

1. The "Safety Walk": a 400m walk through the woods with a "loaded" shotgun, the a variety of targets that one must judge the distance on and say whether one would shoot or not.

2. Clays: you get 6 targets, and must break 4 (with both barrels available for each).

3. Running Fox/Hare with a Shotgun: at 18m, you get 2 shots at each target, and must have >10 pellets inside the "kill zone" (about the size of a pack of cigarettes).

4. "Precision Shooting": with a .22lR, at 80m, you must put 4 shots into a group of <12cn from a benchrest, then put another 4 rounds into a group of <17cm from a "hunting rest" (ie a position you could adopt in the field, your choice).

5. Running Moose: 3 strings of fire, 4 shots each. First standing shoting sets the target in motion, quick reload, then a "running" shot before the target disappears. Same thing going the other way. All rounds must be in a wide "kill area", and there is a minimum score.

None are particularly hard for someone with shooting experience, but for someone that had never held a gun 3 days prior (and there were people like that @ the course), was a challenge.

A fun day out... we got lucky and had a bright sunny day @ the range to do all this in.

And, yes, we're now looking for a hunting team to join for the coming season.

Any ideas?

good luck - Sweden is such a nice country - wish I could go hunting there one day as well...

Dugongberbulu -

Thanks for posting the details of the practical shooting test - very interesting to me. Was the weekend just the written test and the practical shooting test or were there some review/practice sessions? Was this organized by Svensk Jägareförbundet? What level of Swedish reading/listening/speaking abilities were needed? I'm trying to understand just how this works for a non-native, non-resident hunter.

I hunted for vildsvin south of Stockholm last year with an invitation arranged by a friend, managed to obtain an import permit for my rifle, met up with some members of the hunting team, checked the sights on my rifle, and hunted several evenings without success. I was toying with the idea of going further and picked up a copy of Nya jägarskolan a few weeks ago when I was there.

But any additional information you could provide on your experience as a non-native taking the Jägarexamen would certainly be of interest. Thanks!