Report from the moose hunt 2005

[Tor helge]

Earlier this month I was fortunate to go moose hunting in Hattfjelldal (Norway).
We had 2 moose on the quota. A free animal (shoot anything) and a young animal (shoot calfs and 1,5 year olds).
The pic below is of some of the hunting ground (a fairly small area, less than we`re used to hunt). We hunt on state land. Mostly new places every year but occasionally we have the same area a couple of years in a row.
The mountain in the background is Hatten (The hat).

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The first four days we only saw some animals as they hastily left our area, but then again, more time to drink coffe :) .
Inside the lavvu as it was raining that day, but it was warm and cosy around the fire.

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And outside the lavvu on a day with better weather. Wich it was most of the days.

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Sitting on post isn`t bad at all when the weather is good and the coffee is warm. We often light a fire when sitting on post, it helps mask our scent, and gives a moral boost when it`s cold and windy.

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The fifth day I shot this little ox :beerchug: . I often shoot the smallest animals by the way, must be some curse. A normal ox of this age should be 220-250 kg ready butchered, but this was only 189 kilos.But we were pleased to bag it anyway.
The ox was shot with my trusty old Mauser M98, cal. 30-06, at about 75 meters. A perfect lung shot but still it managed to turn and run about 200 meters.

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This was the only animal we got. I left for home the next morning while the others continued hunting. The only animals they saw was another ox and a cow. The wrong sort.
But we don`t whine, there is another chance next year.

Tor

[Kane]

Is the idea behind taking a small/young animal part of a population control scheme? Or is that a good age for quantity/quality of the meat?

Kane

[Abbe Osram]

Well done mate, did you get a share of the meat?
cheers
Abbe

[JonnyP]

Hi Tor...........Looks like you had fun there..........It reminds me of when I last went to visit my parents, they live in Montana USA . I went on an elk hunt and although we never shot one, we watched a family of elk walk past us about 30 feet away and they never saw us, it was fantastic. Over there they all seem to want to shoot the males with all the antlers as they are only alowed to shoot one elk a day and want a trophy as well as the meat...........Jon

[Tor helge]

Is the idea behind taking a small/young animal part of a population control scheme? Or is that a good age for quantity/quality of the meat?

Kane

The quota is a part of a population control scheme. But as you could see we had one free animal to shoot, and since it was late in the hunt and not so many animals in our area I shot the only one we saw that day (the free animal on our qouta).
But we tend to shoot 1,5 year old animals as it is a good age for both quantity and quality of the meat.
The one we didn`t shoot, goes directly to the next "teams" quota (we had the area for 14 days but hunted just for 9 of them. Too little free time :( .)

2 years ago we shot (my boss at work actually) a big ox which was 320 kiloes ready butchered. It had nice big antlers but a little though meat.

Tor

[Jeff Wagner]

That looks like a great hunt, Tor. I was on a bear last month in Maine and we saw quite a few large moose. Moose hunting there however is on a quota system. It takes 2 - 3 years to be selected for a license. I also have a model 98 Mauser but in 7mm. My bear gun on this trip was a Model 86 Winchester in 45/70. Are black powder firearms allowed for hunting in Norway?

[Tor helge]

That looks like a great hunt, Tor. I was on a bear last month in Maine and we saw quite a few large moose. Moose hunting there however is on a quota system. It takes 2 - 3 years to be selected for a license. I also have a model 98 Mauser but in 7mm. My bear gun on this trip was a Model 86 Winchester in 45/70. Are black powder firearms allowed for hunting in Norway?

Yes, you can use blackpowder firearms in Norway. Only weapons not powered by gunpowder is illegal (bow, spear and so on).
But I don`t know anyone who hunts with black powder firearms.

Tor

[R-J]

the country looks stunning, and i cant think of many better ways to pass afew days! i love the Scandinavian/american sytem for hunting, getting tags and taking part in a government organised cull. never gonna happen here, our way is to ingrained, lol. guess it just means i'm gonna have to pay a load to get my hands on some happy meat :( lol.

i've also got a mauser 98 but its over in germany at the moment. i've not sorted my firearms license here yet and landlord wont let me put a nail in the wall, so a 19 stone german gun cabbinet is out of the question... lol. mines a 6.5X55mm swedish a lovley if some what rare, in the uk at least, calibre coupled with a sturdy m98 :)