During my month long stay in Finland in my quest to find relatives on both sides {found and met 155 and most were cousins}, stayed w/ my cousin Hannu who owns the farm that my grandmother was born on and it's 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
The annual kill of moose {amerikanpeura= American deer} in Finland ranges between 35,0000-55,000 per year and is a herd reduction hunt because the wolf population is non-existent. The previous year to which I stayed in Finland, had a kill of 50,000 moose.
Anyways...Hannu gets 6-10 moose licenses per year {dependent on acreage and moose population} and sells them to relatives. He also provides a "shooting tower", sleeping quarters, leisure time quarters, a kitchen and a butchering room w/ refrigeration. Also, and the most important...a sauna. The above are all next door to each other and form quite a complex.
The moose are "driven" past the " shooting tower" by dogs which are capable of "routing" out the moose from the dense evergreen thickets. The Sako, Tikka and Valmet rifles in the hands of the "hunters" then kill the moose. I know...this isn't really hunting, but this is the European style of hunting. But, is the Yellowstone herd reduction anything other than "getting some meat"?
The evenings are joyous occasions...replete w/ a plentiful supply of beer and liquor, moose on the grill and a feeling of friendship. This all is topped off w/ a stay in the sauna.
European hunting is a much more formal occasion and would be quite foreign to most "off the cuff" American hunters. In most European countries, very few are privledged to hunt.....if hunting was available to the masses, there wouldn't be any game survival.
We're so fortunate to live in the USA where whoever wnats to hunt, can hunt.....Fred
The annual kill of moose {amerikanpeura= American deer} in Finland ranges between 35,0000-55,000 per year and is a herd reduction hunt because the wolf population is non-existent. The previous year to which I stayed in Finland, had a kill of 50,000 moose.
Anyways...Hannu gets 6-10 moose licenses per year {dependent on acreage and moose population} and sells them to relatives. He also provides a "shooting tower", sleeping quarters, leisure time quarters, a kitchen and a butchering room w/ refrigeration. Also, and the most important...a sauna. The above are all next door to each other and form quite a complex.
The moose are "driven" past the " shooting tower" by dogs which are capable of "routing" out the moose from the dense evergreen thickets. The Sako, Tikka and Valmet rifles in the hands of the "hunters" then kill the moose. I know...this isn't really hunting, but this is the European style of hunting. But, is the Yellowstone herd reduction anything other than "getting some meat"?
The evenings are joyous occasions...replete w/ a plentiful supply of beer and liquor, moose on the grill and a feeling of friendship. This all is topped off w/ a stay in the sauna.
European hunting is a much more formal occasion and would be quite foreign to most "off the cuff" American hunters. In most European countries, very few are privledged to hunt.....if hunting was available to the masses, there wouldn't be any game survival.
We're so fortunate to live in the USA where whoever wnats to hunt, can hunt.....Fred
