I have accompanied my father out hunting for
several years, since I was a young lad. I wake up early; eager to get out and
wait there in complete silence for the animals to stumble upon where your
sitting. In the summer of 2010, me and my best friend in Sweden took our hunting
licenses, but since then I have not been on many hunts because of the harsh
winter last year. In October this year, my family and I went to Sweden for the
annual moose hunt on the island where we live. We were in Sweden for four
days.
Day 1 of October Moose Hunt: I woke up at 6:30; knackered, and i realized that I was definitely much older than what i was before when i bounced out of bed. I got dressed in my hunting attire, and walked into the kitchen like a zombie. I put on my belt which had my EKA swing blade hunting knife attached to it. My father was standing there in the kitchen making our lunch and snacks for the day. I told him to "double up on the coffee." My mum walked down in her hunting gear. My dad told me to go down stairs to get the rifle. When I came back up my dad had finished the food for the day and was ready to go. I walked outside to wait for my mum and dad, as soon as the crisp autumn air whipped my face, i was ready for a full day or hunting. We got on the quadbike and started driving towards my neighbour; the air was cold and harsh. A part of the beauty of hunting is the excitement when you realize that you are going out to hunt. When we arrived at my neighbour, we assigned places to sit. Due to the fact that i do not have my full license, i am not allowed to shoot any animals over the size of a deer, so unfortunately i was not allowed to sit with a gun. I decided to run with the dog and the dogs owner. The dog in hunting is used to chase the animal out of the woods and hopefully in sight of a shooter. I had no idea how hard this would be, as it was my first time following the dog. I was knackered, we broke for lunch. I ran with the dog again after lunch sort of against my will, but it turned out to be the right choice in the end. The dog looked up; and sniffed the air, he started to run in a specific direction, this was a good sign. "He seems to have picked something up here" Said the man i was running with. "Oh good, has he started running yet?" Asked Lenart "yes" He answered This is when it got really exciting. I was getting more and more tired by the minute. After 1 hour of endless running, and excitement there turned out to be nothing.
Day 2: "Wake up Carl!" Screamed my father, i bounced out of bed, and i was ready for a second day of hunting. Yesterdays hunting was amazing, and i could feel that today was going to be better. I got dressed in my hunting equipment, and walked into the kitchen, my mum and dad were making lunch and snacks. "Coffee or tea?" asked my dad "Coffee" I answered. I put on my boots and got my walkie talkie, and stood by the door; my mum shortly joined me. When my dad was ready, we took the quadbike to our neighbours house. They set out the positions where all the shooters were going to stand, and the hunt got started. I was still knackered from yesterday; so I decided to sit with my dad today. Well, at least I though I would. 20 minutes into the hunt, i hear; "Carl, do you want to come with me and the dog to chase up the animals?" i was tired, but it was also cold, and maybe moving would warm me up."Sure" I answered. I got up and walked to the road to meet the dog keeper. we set out to finish the hunt. There was nothing, not even a sound from the dog, no sign of interest. We broke for lunch. After lunch we set out again for another round, I was put with my friend It was the last day; I was relieved that I was put with my
friend because I won’t see him until Christmas. The first couple of hours were
slow and cold, but really exciting none the less. We sat there, in complete
silence waiting for some moose to come by. “Look! Moose” I said in a sort of hissing
whisper.
“Oh stop lying, I know you didn’t see any”
My friend answered
“No seriously, there was!” I claimed
“Oh Look! 1…no 2….wait! 3 moose!” He
whispered
“I told you! Oh there’s another one!” I
answered “Me and Philip saw 4 moose about 150 meters away from us, headed your
way Lenart.” I said on the radio
“What were they?” Lenart answered in a very
intrigued tone.
“2 male, 1 female, and a lamm!” I told him
“Ok, whoever sees them is allowed to shoot
the bigger one of the males.”
“Understood” We all said.
2 exciting minutes went by
BANG!
“Who shot??” I asked on the radio
“It was me. I shot the bigger of the
males.” Answered Lenart
BANG! There was another shot.
"ok we are going to break now for the day, come to where i am and we will transport to moose." said Lenart We all walked to where he was, when we got there, there was a moose on the ground with one bullet hole through the chest and one in the leg. "how did it happen" I asked "I saw the moose from about 170 meters away, i took a shot; it hit the bottom of the heart. It stood there swaying, and so i shot it in the leg, it was already dead, but just to get him on the ground." He answered We pulled the moose onto our trailer and drove him to Lenart's. When we got there we skinned it, and what not, and we called it a day.
Day 3: I bounced out of bed, and got dressed, i was the first one out. I went down stairs and got the rifle. We left when my father was done making lunch. We Took the quad to our neighbour again and we were given our positions. I sat with my father and waited for some moose to come by. No luck. There was no interest. "Alright, there doesn't seem to be anything today, lets call it." Lenart said. We walked to Lenart's and got ready. We were leaving today, so we didn't have much time. "I'm going home to pack" My father said to me. "Ok, May i stay and hunt, some deer with the others?" I asked him. "Alright, but be home by 12" He answered That left me 1 and a half hour to hunt deer, which i was personally aloud to hunt. Lenart lent me a shotgun, and we got on our way. I was sitting to the left of my friend Philip; waiting. I heard some noise behind me, i turned around, and there was the dog. He was barking; that means that he was close. My heart started pounding against my chest. Then, at that very moment I hear, "Carl you need to come home now." It was my father, we needed to leave. I got up quietly and walked to the road, got on the quadbike, and drove home. It was a great experience.
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