My hunt for harbour seal in Vesterålen, Norway

Together with two friends I went seal hunting last weekend. We had been thinking about such a hunt for a long time. We booked this hunt with Sigbjørn Johnsen: www.seljakt.net

When hunting seal the only option is head shots. You have to really ancher these animals or else they will swim to the bottom of the sea. The head is not a very big target, so seal offers plenty of challenge. A trip to the range before our departure got me sighted in.



We arrived in Evenes on Thursday evening after a flight from Oslo. Sigbjørn picked us up at the airport and took us to his home, where we were to stay til Sunday. Simple, but nice accomodation and with a very friendly host.



Three days of hunting should be able to give us all a possibility to bring home a seal or two.. The weather can be a challenge in this area. We ended up with two good days and one lost due to really bad weather.
Hunting is done kind of spot and stalk. You drive around in a boat glassing for seals. When spotting them the hunter/hunters are placed on a nearby island. Then the boat is ready for the seal pick up. When a shot is fired the shooter stands up and point at the direction of the (hopefully) downed seal. Together with radio contact this should get the boat there pretty soon.
The seals will normally (but not always) float for a little while. When hunting seal it's always a risk of loosing an animal.

Here's my friend Eivind and Sigbjørn looking for seals.



After five minutes on day one we spotted some seals in a shallow bay. I had first shot and went on shore. As I placed my feet on solid ground a seal head popped up a mere 30 meters away. I dropped to the ground, fired and had my first ever harbour seal! Wow!



Another friend Olav, jumped on shore together with me and five minutes later another head came up 125 meters away. He made a perfect shot an anchored another one. An hour later Eivind connected as well. This was easy..

It's was time for a short coffee break and some skinning work. This is time consuming work. Right underneath the skin is a heavy layer of fat and one must try to avoid getting a lot of it on the skin. At the same time it's very easy to cut a hole in the skin because of it's thiness.



Hunting seal in Vesterålen is an amazing experience. Not only because of the hunting itself. Take a look at this stunning nature!





At the end of day one we had 10 seals in the salt. This is a very good result, according to Sigbjørn. His record in one day is 13, so we were close..



On day two we shot another five seals. Unfortunatly we lost two of them even though they were hit well.
On the last day the weather was really nasty, and there was no way we could enter the sea safely. The weather got worse in the evening.
For our flight we had to change airport and was delayed by some five hours..

I talked to Sigbjørn about bigger groups. He normally have 4-6 hunters at each time. But he can easily arrange for more hunters. This might be something to consider for a future AR HUNT!?
What do you guys think?

I'll end this report with a picture of a happy seal hunter.

Aahhh, you did it mate
Congratulation on a great hunt, Diana was by your side this time as well

What about the skins, will you have them made into a jacket or what?

Yes,the northern part of Norway is really something else, I fully agree Anders.

Thanks Arild!
The skins will be mostly for decoration I think.. I really want some clothing in the future, but maybe not this time..

Do you know of anyone who prepares seal skins? The only tannery we have found so far is Granberg. And they use a method not suited for clothing. The skins will be to thick they said..

I´m not to sure Anders, but I think/remember that G C Rieber Industri in Bergen are dealing in seal skin.
At least they did some years ago when I used to hunt seal.
(actually more than 15 years ago..... )

You my contact them on 5560 6700.
Internet site: www.gcrieber.no

I have heard about Rieber, but I think they have quit. Will check to make sure! Thanks again..

Beautiful pictures - sure looks like an interesting hunt. How wary are the seals?

Did you taste the meat or take any home with you?

They have excellent eye sight. So when you're jumping on land you hit the ground quickly and stay there as motionless as possible. If you do this they will normally offer a shot. But you have to shot rather quickly. If they sense something is wrong they will not stay emerged for a long time.

We ate some meat and it was very good. I can't compare it with anything. Very unique taste. I brought back three skins and 4-5 kg of meat. Supposed to be very good for barbeque, so I can't wait for the summer to arrive..

Anders,


Certainly sounds to me like exciting and unusual hunting. Needless to say; I've never shot a Seal before.

From Muntjac to Seals ..... I think your suggestion of an AR weekend excursion to northern Norway for Seals is a very good one. What do think Sigbjoern could do price-wise for a say, 3-Day Weekend?



What would be an ideal cartridge & scope combination for head shooting Seals? .222 or .223 Remington or something in the .243 - 6.5 range?

Anders
I understand japanese eat raw but fresh seal meat like sushi with wasabi as garnish

is it tough meat to prepare ?

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
What do think Sigbjoern could do price-wise for a say, 3-Day Weekend?



What would be an ideal cartridge & scope combination for head shooting Seals? .222 or .223 Remington or something in the .243 - 6.5 range?

Gerry
Price is normally 1500 Norwegian kr per day, or appr. 160 GBP if you prefer.. For a three day hunt all included I think we're in the same range as the recent UK hunt.. +/-

Regarding firearms a minimum of 6,5 with 140 grain bullet! Actually quite overkill since they're easy to kill with a head shot.

quote:

Originally posted by londonhunter:
Anders
I understand japanese eat raw but fresh seal meat like sushi with wasabi as garnish

is it tough meat to prepare ?

Ben
I think it was quite tender actually. One thing to make sure is not to get meat and fat together. This will leave an unpleasant taste according to our guide.

Congratulation

Seals are quite high up on my list of animals to hunt soon too. . Looks like you had a very good hunt.

Johan

quote:

For a three day hunt all included I think we're in the same range as the recent UK hunt.. +/-

You can put me on a list for an AR weekend in Norway!

quote:

Regarding firearms a minimum of 6,5 with 140 grain bullet!

O.K.; got the message ..... legal minimum?

If it's f for BBQ then I'm in for hunting it!!

I'll bring some matches so just point me in the direction of a pointy stick and I'll show you the old greek cypriot speciality of Seal souvlaki!!

March is always kinda quiet round here, just remember I can't wade as deep as you to retrieve them!!

FB

This really looks like fun. I have always wanted to hunt seal but unfortunantly it is not legal here in Alaska where we have so many. The seals are reserved for the Eskimo hunters.

I would love to hunt them in Norway but I would not legaly be able to bring the skin home.

I would still consider it though for a good expiriance and some good photo's and comradery with some fellow AR members.

Looks like fun,i would love to hunt Seals one day

Anders, its fun.
Over here we almost look at them as a pest and you can shoot them at will.
Two trips come in mind, one 80 seal over a weekend and another, 8 tons according to the scale on a day.

quote:

I brought back three skins and 4-5 kg of meat. Supposed to be very good for barbeque, so I can't wait for the summer to arrive..

Well done Anders, would like to try seal hunting myself in the future

Regarding the BBQ, we should meet up during the summer, you bring the seal meat and I'll bring some of my boar ribs

Jonathan

Anders it`s good to see that there are othe who also shoot seals.
I have only bean one trip and shoot 4 on the out side of aalesund.
my favorit caliber for sealhunting is the 22-250 but after they changed the huntinglaws some years back its not leagal anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by Fallow Buck:
If it's f for BBQ then I'm in for hunting it!!

I'll bring some matches so just point me in the direction of a pointy stick and I'll show you the old greek cypriot speciality of Seal souvlaki!!

March is always kinda quiet round here, just remember I can't wade as deep as you to retrieve them!!

FB

If you really really have to wade that deep I guess you can. The water is pretty cold.
The meal sounds interesting, Kiri!

Yes, legal minimum Gerry.

quote:

Originally posted by jonher:

Regarding the BBQ, we should meet up during the summer, you bring the seal meat and I'll bring some of my boar ribs

Jonathan

I'm in mate!

The 22-250 should be perfect, roebuck! What do you use these days?

I tried my 300wm on a couple of seal but started to losing more seals so I have gone back too something smaller
I have shoot over 150 seal with the 22-250 and it is working better then the 300wm..

From a Texas point of view - kind of like a nice hog hunt...

Way to go...

I´ve hunted hogs in Texas in July. It doesn´t compare at all to seal hunting in Iceland in January...

Wow Anders, thanks for the pics and report, Waidmannsheil!!

Sounds very interesting and I think I'd enjoy a hunt like that one day, though I don't uh, let's just say I hate boats, any size

If I remember correctly, for DJV competition shooting here in Germany they listed minimum legal caliber to shoot with as .22 Hornet, because with that caliber it is (or was at least) legal to hunt Seehund, or Seal. Maybe the law has changed here also, not sure.

Anyway, looks like you had a great time, Dom.

I've uploaded a couple of video clips to my blog: http://andersmossing.blogspot.com/

Not the best quality, but hope you enjoy!

Wery nice Anders!seal meat is wery nice when its barbecued but put a littel olive oil on it then it dont ge dry !!it is also wery nice to make a stu wit it!!