Icon Logo Gun Mart

Moose in Sweden

Moose in Sweden

I suppose my hunting life really took off again after the handgun ban, I had shot a few ducks, deer and varmints in Canada and been on a totally unsuccessful bear hunt. Plus the usual novice stuff in the UK. Up to that point pistols had taken up most of my post-army shooting life, so with that gone, time to re-think and also get back to something I enjoyed. This came with an unexpected invite to Sweden to cover an outfitter offering moose hunting.

Moose are large and somewhat ridiculous looking animals and described by someone as a mix between a cow and a horse; proving the creator does have a sense of humour! The hunting was in north Sweden in October around a town called Norso, which is getting near to the start of the Arctic Circle. This was my first European hunt so very much an education!

SUICIDE AND ALCOHOL

At that time of year the days are starting to get very short and when the winter sets in for real I was told it starts getting dark by midday. This as I discovered is not good for humans as they get a sort of depression due to lack of sunlight that leads to a high suicide rate. To partially compensate for this the Swedes have strict policies on alcohol as to strength, availability and prices, which are very high. Unlike the UK you can only buy low strength beer from supermarkets, if you want the hard stuff you have to go to a government-run liquor store, which is much like a bank. All in all a very odd concept!

Four of us went; some had brought their own guns others had not, so it was off to the range to meet the crew and a check zero session. In Sweden the minimum calibre for moose is the old 6.5x55mm Swedish, it’s no magnum but as I was to discover more than enough for even the bigger animals. I had borrowed a Steyr Scout rifle in 308 Win, which also proved up to the job.

The Swede’s attitude to moose seems to be one of pure hatred as everyone we met said make sure you kill some! The reason I discovered was that they do a lot of damage to timber and also in the winter cause a lot of fatal road accidents. If they are hit by a car, their legs break and the whole body smashes into the passenger compartment, usually killing or severely injuring everyone inside. So not really like hitting a roe deer!

We were out there a week and stayed in a series of very basic hunting cabins – outside toilets, water taken from a stream, often no electricity and heat being supplied by wood-burning stoves. The Swedes - though as technical as any other European country - seem to like roughing it when they play, hence the lack of amenities. One of our party was aghast at the concept, but I found it fitted in with what we were doing. Though having to get all my winter clothing on to go to the bog at 3 o’clock in the morning was a bit of a chore. It gets so cold that they use polystyrene toilet seats as wood would stick to your bum…

SIT AND WAIT

The majority of hunting is literally ‘sit-&-wait’ and not usually from high seats either. The reason being the huge forests with their heavy, tundra-like floors are near impassable. I went for a foot stalk but it was seriously hard going as a 5k trek through bogs, perma-frosted ground and densely packed trees really takes it out of you.

story continues below...

How it’s done is to drop you off on the side of one of the hundreds of dirt roads that criss-cross the area, which is primarily used for logging, where you wait for something to happen. It’s less hit and miss than you might think as the Swedes have dogs called Jempt Hunds (well that’s how it sounded to me) that track and drive the moose to the hunters. They looked to my untutored eye like small huskies and work on their own. They are sent out to locate the animals and when they do they do not attack them, as moose hate dogs and can easily kill them. Instead they keep their distance and literally bark them up and drive them to the guns.

They are all fitted with radio collars as they just go until they find the animals, which can be a good few kilometres away. The handlers have DF trackers so they can locate missing dogs, which often stay out at night if they don’t get a result. It’s a strange system but one that works surprisingly well.

SHOOT THE CALF!

In truth the only shots you get at a moose is when it crosses a road and you have to look out for the dog too as they are usually right up behind them doing their job. We were told that we could shoot both sexes but if a female had a calf then that would have to be shot first as it would die without the mother. Logical, but to a Brit maybe a bit harsh… We hunted all week and two of my colleagues got animals and I had still to score.

Friday - I was dropped off with my gear and told I’d be picked up in six hours’ time. Finding a position I set in and as usual was alert for the first hour or so. You know how it is, boredom sets in you eat all your chocolate, play with your mobile and your mind goes into neutral. I was sitting in the sun and though not warm it was out of the wind and I started to get drowsy, I reckon I must have nodded off.

WAKE UP AND SHOOT

I awoke to the sound of barking, Jesus it’s coming! I stood up and grabbed my rifle and checked the chamber. On side of the roads you get belts of dead pine trees that have been eaten by the moose. They are about 6 -8 feet high and extend back a fair way. I could not see anything but could hear a heavy body pushing through the cover, all the time the high pitched and urgent barking of as I was to discover Zorro the Jempt Hund hammering in my ears.

Then I saw the trees moving and a large and vague shape. Here it comes, scope down to minimum mag CHECK, safety on CHECK and rifle in the shoulder. Then at 25-yards he burst out of the trees, this great leggy beast with that daft expression on his face looked at me and I dropped the cross hair behind his shoulder and squeezed. BANG! Much to my surprise it dropped in its tracks and rolled into the ditch apparently dead. I was to discover later from other moose hunters that they do not take a lot of killing despite their size. An American friend of mine reckons you could use harsh language and they’d fall over!

I reloaded and heard more movement and swung onto it, only to see the dog Zorro leaping out of the trees and ripping into the moose taking great chucks of hair from its flanks. The moose moved (probably dead with nerves firing off for the last time) and literally kicking the dog away who was now bouncing all over the animal I put the safety shot into its head and it was all over. Sitting here writing this many years later the excitement of that moment is as vivid as ever!

BASIL FAWLTY’S MOOSE

Sitting on the moose as it was big enough I lit up a cigar and found a piece of chocolate for Zorro, he had earned it. The crew arrived and we did the photo thing. The PH suddenly started laughing and pointed out to me that my head shot had popped out an eye, which was hanging down on its cheek. When I saw the pic later there was me in my heroic pose and the moose looking similar to the one in Fawlty Towers, just before it falls off the wall and hits Basil.

The animal was pretty big, I never did get the weight but I reckon it must have gone 7-800 lbs. That’s not huge for a moose but big enough and I was very pleased. It took five of us to drag it onto the road to gut it. Transport was the next problem, solved by the tiny Skoda dog vans they use. We pulled out the kennels and somehow managed to get the beast in with its head hanging in the passenger seat. I remember it driving off with the suspension scraping along the deck. Overall a great hunt and one I will never forget. I apologise for the lack of photos but all that remains is a rather average print of me with my animal. This was pre-digital and despite looking hard I could not find any of the other pics I took! But that week hunting in often sub-zero temperatures is hard-wired into my memory bank still. CONTACT: Steyr Mannlicher rifles – Sportsman Gun Centre, 01392 354854

  • Moose in Sweden - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Moose in Sweden - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

279 Comments



more Shooting Advice
reviews

view all reviews >

more Shooting Advice
reviews

view all reviews >

Moose in Sweden

Moose in Sweden

I suppose my hunting life really took off again after the handgun ban, I had shot a few ducks, deer and varmints in Canada and been on a totally unsuccessful bear hunt. Plus the usual novice stuff in the UK. Up to that point pistols had taken up most of my post-army shooting life, so with that gone, time to re-think and also get back to something I enjoyed. This came with an unexpected invite to Sweden to cover an outfitter offering moose hunting.

Moose are large and somewhat ridiculous looking animals and described by someone as a mix between a cow and a horse; proving the creator does have a sense of humour! The hunting was in north Sweden in October around a town called Norso, which is getting near to the start of the Arctic Circle. This was my first European hunt so very much an education!

SUICIDE AND ALCOHOL

At that time of year the days are starting to get very short and when the winter sets in for real I was told it starts getting dark by midday. This as I discovered is not good for humans as they get a sort of depression due to lack of sunlight that leads to a high suicide rate. To partially compensate for this the Swedes have strict policies on alcohol as to strength, availability and prices, which are very high. Unlike the UK you can only buy low strength beer from supermarkets, if you want the hard stuff you have to go to a government-run liquor store, which is much like a bank. All in all a very odd concept!

Four of us went; some had brought their own guns others had not, so it was off to the range to meet the crew and a check zero session. In Sweden the minimum calibre for moose is the old 6.5x55mm Swedish, it’s no magnum but as I was to discover more than enough for even the bigger animals. I had borrowed a Steyr Scout rifle in 308 Win, which also proved up to the job.

The Swede’s attitude to moose seems to be one of pure hatred as everyone we met said make sure you kill some! The reason I discovered was that they do a lot of damage to timber and also in the winter cause a lot of fatal road accidents. If they are hit by a car, their legs break and the whole body smashes into the passenger compartment, usually killing or severely injuring everyone inside. So not really like hitting a roe deer!

We were out there a week and stayed in a series of very basic hunting cabins – outside toilets, water taken from a stream, often no electricity and heat being supplied by wood-burning stoves. The Swedes - though as technical as any other European country - seem to like roughing it when they play, hence the lack of amenities. One of our party was aghast at the concept, but I found it fitted in with what we were doing. Though having to get all my winter clothing on to go to the bog at 3 o’clock in the morning was a bit of a chore. It gets so cold that they use polystyrene toilet seats as wood would stick to your bum…

SIT AND WAIT

The majority of hunting is literally ‘sit-&-wait’ and not usually from high seats either. The reason being the huge forests with their heavy, tundra-like floors are near impassable. I went for a foot stalk but it was seriously hard going as a 5k trek through bogs, perma-frosted ground and densely packed trees really takes it out of you.

story continues below...

How it’s done is to drop you off on the side of one of the hundreds of dirt roads that criss-cross the area, which is primarily used for logging, where you wait for something to happen. It’s less hit and miss than you might think as the Swedes have dogs called Jempt Hunds (well that’s how it sounded to me) that track and drive the moose to the hunters. They looked to my untutored eye like small huskies and work on their own. They are sent out to locate the animals and when they do they do not attack them, as moose hate dogs and can easily kill them. Instead they keep their distance and literally bark them up and drive them to the guns.

They are all fitted with radio collars as they just go until they find the animals, which can be a good few kilometres away. The handlers have DF trackers so they can locate missing dogs, which often stay out at night if they don’t get a result. It’s a strange system but one that works surprisingly well.

SHOOT THE CALF!

In truth the only shots you get at a moose is when it crosses a road and you have to look out for the dog too as they are usually right up behind them doing their job. We were told that we could shoot both sexes but if a female had a calf then that would have to be shot first as it would die without the mother. Logical, but to a Brit maybe a bit harsh… We hunted all week and two of my colleagues got animals and I had still to score.

Friday - I was dropped off with my gear and told I’d be picked up in six hours’ time. Finding a position I set in and as usual was alert for the first hour or so. You know how it is, boredom sets in you eat all your chocolate, play with your mobile and your mind goes into neutral. I was sitting in the sun and though not warm it was out of the wind and I started to get drowsy, I reckon I must have nodded off.

WAKE UP AND SHOOT

I awoke to the sound of barking, Jesus it’s coming! I stood up and grabbed my rifle and checked the chamber. On side of the roads you get belts of dead pine trees that have been eaten by the moose. They are about 6 -8 feet high and extend back a fair way. I could not see anything but could hear a heavy body pushing through the cover, all the time the high pitched and urgent barking of as I was to discover Zorro the Jempt Hund hammering in my ears.

Then I saw the trees moving and a large and vague shape. Here it comes, scope down to minimum mag CHECK, safety on CHECK and rifle in the shoulder. Then at 25-yards he burst out of the trees, this great leggy beast with that daft expression on his face looked at me and I dropped the cross hair behind his shoulder and squeezed. BANG! Much to my surprise it dropped in its tracks and rolled into the ditch apparently dead. I was to discover later from other moose hunters that they do not take a lot of killing despite their size. An American friend of mine reckons you could use harsh language and they’d fall over!

I reloaded and heard more movement and swung onto it, only to see the dog Zorro leaping out of the trees and ripping into the moose taking great chucks of hair from its flanks. The moose moved (probably dead with nerves firing off for the last time) and literally kicking the dog away who was now bouncing all over the animal I put the safety shot into its head and it was all over. Sitting here writing this many years later the excitement of that moment is as vivid as ever!

BASIL FAWLTY’S MOOSE

Sitting on the moose as it was big enough I lit up a cigar and found a piece of chocolate for Zorro, he had earned it. The crew arrived and we did the photo thing. The PH suddenly started laughing and pointed out to me that my head shot had popped out an eye, which was hanging down on its cheek. When I saw the pic later there was me in my heroic pose and the moose looking similar to the one in Fawlty Towers, just before it falls off the wall and hits Basil.

The animal was pretty big, I never did get the weight but I reckon it must have gone 7-800 lbs. That’s not huge for a moose but big enough and I was very pleased. It took five of us to drag it onto the road to gut it. Transport was the next problem, solved by the tiny Skoda dog vans they use. We pulled out the kennels and somehow managed to get the beast in with its head hanging in the passenger seat. I remember it driving off with the suspension scraping along the deck. Overall a great hunt and one I will never forget. I apologise for the lack of photos but all that remains is a rather average print of me with my animal. This was pre-digital and despite looking hard I could not find any of the other pics I took! But that week hunting in often sub-zero temperatures is hard-wired into my memory bank still. CONTACT: Steyr Mannlicher rifles – Sportsman Gun Centre, 01392 354854

  • Moose in Sweden - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Moose in Sweden - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

279 Comments



more Shooting Advice
reviews

view all reviews >

more Shooting Advice
reviews

view all reviews >
Arrow