Dear Tommy, Just a few lines to thank you for an
unforgettable experience with you. You have been a wonderful guide and you have made this hunting trip truly exceptional! Moose, bear and bird hunt in Swedish Lapland: It all started with an impossible dream offered to me by my friends for my 50th birthday anniversary. I wanted not only to shoot a moose and a capercaillie, but more importantly to experience Swedish Lapland in all possible manners. My friend joining me wanted to go for a bear. We landed in Lulea, about 3 hours driving away from Kangos, our final destination, north of the polar circle. Tommy was waiting for us, his car packed with food, wine, guns and equipment and during the trip. It became very soon clear to us, that he and full team of hunters had prepared this hunt in every thinkable detail and that we had the chance to be in the hands of great professionals. /.../Dinner was somptuous! Tommy and Anders are fantastic cooks and do have a flair for great food and superb wines! It feels surprising to eat a Moose filet with mushroom sauce, accompanied by a great Margaux north of the Polar Circle, but that is exactly what makes NordGuide so special! Next day, wake-up call at 3.00am! At 5.00am, I am in position and Tommy starts calling in Bulls! The countryside is breathtaking, temperature is around 10 degrees Centigrad, it is summer! / ... /As the dog starts barking, adrenaline starts to flow in the veins! This is the moment when you are thankful for having trained seriously before! Tommy starts running in the direction of the barking, we cross rivers, swamps, dense forests, open areas, always taking care not to be on the wrong side of the wind, often obliged to walk additional kilometers to come from the right side. Your breath gets short, your muscles ache, your body desperately needs energy! The barking gets closer, often in the most impossible place, you crawl in silence and suddenly, you get a brief look at the moose! / ... /Suddenly a huge noise and a young capercaillie takes off and flies to the top of a tree. I crawl again until I am at more or less 35 meters. One shot, the bird falls down, dead! /... /During that time, my friend and his guide Andreas have found some bear tracks. Tomorrow, they will launch the dogs! Andreas is one of the most extraordinary characters I have met so far. He is the ultimate bear-hunter, has himself the size and the strength of an adult bear and has the best bear-dogs that can be found in Sweden and probably Scandinavia! Hunting with Andreas is a privilege reserved only for a few very tough characters, who also accept his natural authority without questions. Bear hunting is dangerous and Andreas is your best life-insurance, provided you do exactly what he says! Five hours of sleep later, wake-up at 3.00 am! The temperatures have fallen to -6 degrees. It has been snowing…. Moose calling next to a swamp. We hear noises, but nothing comes out. During the day, we try to bring the dog to recent traces, but to no success. In the evening, moose calling again. We hear him, we know he is around, but no chance to get him out… Tommy goes for the ultimate trick! He walks with both arms and hands pointing to the sky in order to imitate an adult bull moose (do not forget that it is 6.30 pm and that it is getting dark….). And it works! For a second, I get a sight of a great bull, but no chance to shoot, and seconds later, he catches wind of us and walks away… It will take us two more days to be successful! My friend will shoot a bear and I will finally shoot a 10 pointer after nearly 5 hours of punishing walks through swamps and forests behind our dog! / ... /We crawled more than hundred meters in the thickest forest, and suddenly heard the dog getting closer. Putting myself in shooting position I first saw the dog and just behind the bull walking slowly. One eye on the dog, the other on the bull and suddenly the bull stops, the dog runs 3 meters ahead, it is the moment I have been waiting for during the four last days. One shot in the lungs, the moose walks away slowly. I am full of adrenalin and Tommy tells me that the bull is deadly hit. We see blood all over the place, the dog is still barking 100 or 200 meters away, we walk quietly in the direction and here it is, standing in the open, the dog in front of it. A second shot and it falls to the ground. MITT 121 VAPEN HÖRT FRÅN KUND: