Moose hunt in Finland (or Sweden)

[WaWox]

Like most here, I have started to dutifully put in my credit card details every year and hope for a lightning bolt of good luck/ wait my turn for the next 30 years.

My wife is from Finland and her uncle is a very committed hunter in Finland, so she did ask me -- why are you bothering? I checked, and indeed, Finland harvests 50k moose a year (perhaps 4x as much as all of the US, including Alaska), and from some googling, it looks like it'd be cheaper to hunt a moose in Finland, even after flights, than to put in for Moose hunting points across US states for the next 5-10 years. And you get to go this fall, rather than in 15-20 years.

I didn't find anything by searching for Finland or Sweden in this forum, so my question here:

1. what am I missing? I will talk to my uncle-in-law a bit more in detail soon, but he doesn't know anything about the 'coming-in-from-abroad' side. He is only familiar with the rules from his perspective.
2. If I am not missing anything, how is this not a more well-trodden path?

The biggest miss for me is that the US does not let you import *any* meat from the EU


[All the same applies to Sweden, except even more moose [really, the plural should be meese] harvested]

 

[NilsBackstrom]

I'll try and help you a little but since I am from Sweden and still spend parts of the year there.

All hunting is conducted on some sort of private land whether it's private person, Forrest company you name it. Pretty much all hunting is leased out to hunting teams. A group of people get together and bid on the hunting rights. Moose is limited in harvest by the feds per area.

There is very little trophy hunting there. The majority is for tradition and also keeping the animals at good numbers. Hence they shoot bulls cows and calves. It's a very different way of managing game than in the US.

With that said there are opportunities to go for moose as a non-swede thru guides and lodges. Then again don't expect a monster like in Alaska as the moose are not even remotely as big.

 

[Blockcaver]

Maybe search around Google for some Finish moose hunts. I’ve watched a few Finnish hunts on Wild TV and read a few stories. Not at all like hunting moose in North America.

- they use dogs to drive or bay them
- big groups of people hunt together
- radios in use
- “any moose is a good moose” mentality, shooting cows and calves.

I’m of Finnish heritage but wouldn’t be very excited about hunting moose (or brown bear) over there based on what I’ve viewed and read.

I’ve arrowed a few moose, two in Alaska, two in BC, one in WY and another in Alberta. All DIY except Alberta. If I was you, I’d save up for a DIY Alaska moose hunt or an Alberta guided hunt.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

i spent some time in Finland semi recently and covered a lot of country in dissection. Hunting is common, but way more whitetail than moose IMO. Bout the only way I'd personally hunt there is to plan a month in country and eat the meat there and share abundance with the local neighbors. Lots of bird hunting too, but way more private land than I expected.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Aren’t those moose hunts in eastern Canada still relatively affordable? Seems like under lots of stuff on Facebook with guys having high success rates on medium sized moose for reasonable prices.

I met a guy who shot a giant one in Russia and from what he was saying, it wasn’t unreasonably priced but that was before this warning they have going on there so maybe it’s not an option.

For some reason, I thought you could shoot a Shiraz moose in Utah for ~10k, there was a guy here on rokslide a few years ago who did a moose “slam” (Alaska, Canada, Shiraz) and I remember him saying you could basically buy a land owner tag in Utah. I could have that I formation completely wrong though, maybe look for threads about moose slams.

 

[medvedyt]

i had the luck to hunt moose and wild boar in sweden and moose in finland (way up north).

you can pay to hunt or be invited by the hunting association, you will need to pass a shooting test on standing and running moose target. and you will need that invitation to borrow a firearm if you do not have an european firearms password and you might have to prove you can possess firearms in your own country (i had to do that for sweden, in finland the european firearms passport was enough at the time.)

in europe most of the hunt is done in group called battue or driven where you have beaters and dogs. what you are looking for its friendship and camaraderie, it is obvious that people do not hunt antlers (like a soup tag antlers soup are not the best) and yes they are shooting according to the hunting plan: a certain amount of calves, cows and moose like in certain area in canada. in most of the hunts you cannot shoot bigger moose as they are for certain members at certain period of time (it will depend of the rules set up by the hunting associations).

in finland many hunters were using 308 in tikka and in sweden mostly 30-06 and some 8x57js ... my 9.3x62 was like a zombie thing but it worked good with oryx bullet and i made the tests so i was able to hunt.

follow all the rules and you will enjoy the break and of course the big meal and laughters after the hunt where everybody tells stories of the day.

 

[WRO]

Aren’t those moose hunts in eastern Canada still relatively affordable? Seems like under lots of stuff on Facebook with guys having high success rates on medium sized moose for reasonable prices.

I met a guy who shot a giant one in Russia and from what he was saying, it wasn’t unreasonably priced but that was before this warning they have going on there so maybe it’s not an option.

For some reason, I thought you could shoot a Shiraz moose in Utah for ~10k, there was a guy here on rokslide a few years ago who did a moose “slam” (Alaska, Canada, Shiraz) and I remember him saying you could basically buy a land owner tag in Utah. I could have that I formation completely wrong though, maybe look for threads about moose slams.

Shiras are low 20s to high 30s now depending on quality..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Beendare]

No bow hunting in Finland- I'm out.

 

[seww]

I know the rules differ a bit between Sweden and Finland when it comes to moose hunting.

@NilsBackstrom nails it though regarding Sweden. Sweden's annual harvest is between 80k-100k moose, however, I have heard now that the population is dwindling but that's also pretty local. Before I moved to the US, I'd hunt with my family and we usually received 4+4 tags (4 adults, 4 calves) divided among about 10-13 people so plenty of meat to go around.

Dogs are often used, other than that you sit in a stand and wait. Our property is around 2,000 acres and mostly flat so a lot of land to cover.

I have a cousin who used to invite new hunters to hunt, but that was mostly for small game since the moose hunt is almost sacred for many, especially up North.

 

[valtteri]

I am from Finland and just last week got my first ever tags for two moose in northern Lapland (municipality of Utsjoki ).

About 90% of moose hunting here in Finland is done by hunting clubs, with members of approx 20-50+ people. This entails a big group of guys, cars, radios, dogs like an earlier poster said. It's very much a carefully orchestrated and planned affair with the goal of taking meat, not trophies. It's also very much a social thing, for some that is the main thing. Think a group of guys over a camp fire roasting wieners and swapping stories. Old-timers getting a chance to still be part of something, the young generation learning the ropes. It's almost like a local community thing.

The remaining 10% or less of moose hunting takes place in the wilderness of northern Lapland on state-owned land, with teams of a couple of guys. This is backpack hunting with usually no dogs. Much like the Alaskan style moose hunting, the hunting is based on calling and glassing. One key difference is transportation of meat from the wild to a road: here in Finland you can apply for a permit for a quad that you can use for getting the meat out of the bush. They used to carry meat out back in the day, but I believe most people use quads nowadays for getting the meat out.

I've tried the club-based moose hunting and it's not for me. I much more prefer backpack hunting and up to this point have mainly been hunting birds (different species of grouse), which is very traditional in Finland. But now I put up a group of four guys (myself included) and applied for moose tags. Total cost of permits for two moose was less than 500USD. If and when we harvest the moose, an additional fee is applied, about 100-150USD per moose.

I am pretty sure a team like mine could simply have a guest hunter come in for a fee of like 20USD a day or something cheap like that. Here is some info about what's required from foreign hunters to be able to hunt in Finland. That sounds more complicated than it really is and the shooting test is a piece of cake.

Anyway, moose hunting in Lapland has been a dream of mine for a long time and I'm beyond stoked to get to do it soon!

Here is a couple of photos from Muotkatunturi, the area in which I'm going to be hunting in. I will try to write up a report after the season is done!

 

[valtteri]

Also, here is a map of all state-owned moose hunting areas

Much like for all other species too, you can roughly say that southern Finland is mainly private land and pretty much all of northernmost Finland is state-owned to where any Finnish person can apply for hunting permits.

 

[406life]

I had my buddy from Sweden on to talk about hunting over there last year. We're planning a trip there soon. Maybe get to hunt seals as well.

Elevate the Hunt | Elevate the Hunt

www.elevatethehunt.com

 

[seww]

I am from Finland and just last week got my first ever tags for two moose in northern Lapland (municipality of Utsjoki ).

About 90% of moose hunting here in Finland is done by hunting clubs, with members of approx 20-50+ people. This entails a big group of guys, cars, radios, dogs like an earlier poster said. It's very much a carefully orchestrated and planned affair with the goal of taking meat, not trophies. It's also very much a social thing, for some that is the main thing. Think a group of guys over a camp fire roasting wieners and swapping stories. Old-timers getting a chance to still be part of something, the young generation learning the ropes. It's almost like a local community thing.

The remaining 10% or less of moose hunting takes place in the wilderness of northern Lapland on state-owned land, with teams of a couple of guys. This is backpack hunting with usually no dogs. Much like the Alaskan style moose hunting, the hunting is based on calling and glassing. One key difference is transportation of meat from the wild to a road: here in Finland you can apply for a permit for a quad that you can use for getting the meat out of the bush. They used to carry meat out back in the day, but I believe most people use quads nowadays for getting the meat out.

I've tried the club-based moose hunting and it's not for me. I much more prefer backpack hunting and up to this point have mainly been hunting birds (different species of grouse), which is very traditional in Finland. But now I put up a group of four guys (myself included) and applied for moose tags. Total cost of permits for two moose was less than 500USD. If and when we harvest the moose, an additional fee is applied, about 100-150USD per moose.

I am pretty sure a team like mine could simply have a guest hunter come in for a fee of like 20USD a day or something cheap like that. Here is some info about what's required from foreign hunters to be able to hunt in Finland. That sounds more complicated than it really is and the shooting test is a piece of cake.

Anyway, moose hunting in Lapland has been a dream of mine for a long time and I'm beyond stoked to get to do it soon!

Here is a couple of photos from Muotkatunturi, the area in which I'm going to be hunting in. I will try to write up a report after the season is done!

That's interesting, in Sweden it's very hard and expensive for someone without land ownership or good contacts to start hunting moose. I was very fortunate to have family with land and with the same interests and we have even invited outsiders to hunt with us, to give them a chance.

I'm from Lapland so I know what you're talking about

 

[medvedyt]

I am from Finland and just last week got my first ever tags for two moose in northern Lapland (municipality of Utsjoki ).

About 90% of moose hunting here in Finland is done by hunting clubs, with members of approx 20-50+ people. This entails a big group of guys, cars, radios, dogs like an earlier poster said. It's very much a carefully orchestrated and planned affair with the goal of taking meat, not trophies. It's also very much a social thing, for some that is the main thing. Think a group of guys over a camp fire roasting wieners and swapping stories. Old-timers getting a chance to still be part of something, the young generation learning the ropes. It's almost like a local community thing.

The remaining 10% or less of moose hunting takes place in the wilderness of northern Lapland on state-owned land, with teams of a couple of guys. This is backpack hunting with usually no dogs. Much like the Alaskan style moose hunting, the hunting is based on calling and glassing. One key difference is transportation of meat from the wild to a road: here in Finland you can apply for a permit for a quad that you can use for getting the meat out of the bush. They used to carry meat out back in the day, but I believe most people use quads nowadays for getting the meat out.

I've tried the club-based moose hunting and it's not for me. I much more prefer backpack hunting and up to this point have mainly been hunting birds (different species of grouse), which is very traditional in Finland. But now I put up a group of four guys (myself included) and applied for moose tags. Total cost of permits for two moose was less than 500USD. If and when we harvest the moose, an additional fee is applied, about 100-150USD per moose.

I am pretty sure a team like mine could simply have a guest hunter come in for a fee of like 20USD a day or something cheap like that. Here is some info about what's required from foreign hunters to be able to hunt in Finland. That sounds more complicated than it really is and the shooting test is a piece of cake.

Anyway, moose hunting in Lapland has been a dream of mine for a long time and I'm beyond stoked to get to do it soon!

Here is a couple of photos from Muotkatunturi, the area in which I'm going to be hunting in. I will try to write up a report after the season is done!

soon you will have a lot of friends ... when i hunted in finland not far from Joukola and another time around tormua so more central finland compared to where you are hunting 2 hunters from abroad did not pass the shooting test i do not recall if it was the finnish or the swedish that had running moose but i had to shoot in finland on the bear target as well as we had brown bear in the hunting grounds but seems they retreated to the russian side as we saw tracks and never seen one ... if i remember the test was valid for 3 years at the time but it is few decades ago lol

enjoy the good time and preparation.
moose hunt season is starting on the 1st of august here in the Yukon.

 

[medvedyt]

That's interesting, in Sweden it's very hard and expensive for someone without land ownership or good contacts to start hunting moose. I was very fortunate to have family with land and with the same interests and we have even invited outsiders to hunt with us, to give them a chance.

I'm from Lapland so I know what you're talking about

what is not expensive in sweden lol ... but great country as well

 

[valtteri]

That's interesting, in Sweden it's very hard and expensive for someone without land ownership or good contacts to start hunting moose. I was very fortunate to have family with land and with the same interests and we have even invited outsiders to hunt with us, to give them a chance.

I'm from Lapland so I know what you're talking about

That same thing applies in southern Finland - and everywhere where there is only private land. You need to either own land or have contacts, or it's not going to happen. In Finland, for public land there’s a crap ton of it especially up north and you do have a fair chance of getting tags. So I would say it is a pretty good system.

soon you will have a lot of friends ... when i hunted in finland not far from Joukola and another time around tormua so more central finland compared to where you are hunting 2 hunters from abroad did not pass the shooting test i do not recall if it was the finnish or the swedish that had running moose but i had to shoot in finland on the bear target as well as we had brown bear in the hunting grounds but seems they retreated to the russian side as we saw tracks and never seen one ... if i remember the test was valid for 3 years at the time but it is few decades ago lol

enjoy the good time and preparation.
moose hunt season is starting on the 1st of august here in the Yukon.

Right on!

The shooting test nowadays is only to a standing moose target from about 75 yards. It’s about a 10” target and you have to take 5 shots inside 90 seconds and all have to hit. You can even have your rifle on a bipod. That is way too easy and many feel it is not enough of a test of one’s shooting ability.

Because of the dogs, many shots here are taken to running moose so for an ethical harvest, hunters should be able to shoot a moving target. Unfortunately not all hunters here have that ability.

@medvedyt I was an exchange student in Fort McMurray in ’96-’97 and totally fell in love with Canada. The Yukon river ran through the city and I always just wanted to go even further north to see what would be there. It’s been close to 30 years now, but I will be back eventually!

 

[seww]

what is not expensive in sweden lol ... but great country as well

Ha, you're not wrong! $2/litre for gas/diesel... and 25% VAT on top of everything and don't get me started in income tax!

 

[seww]

That same thing applies in southern Finland - and everywhere where there is only private land. You need to either own land or have contacts, or it's not going to happen. In Finland, for public land there’s a crap ton of it especially up north and you do have a fair chance of getting tags. So I would say it is a pretty good system.

Right on!

The shooting test nowadays is only to a standing moose target from about 75 yards. It’s about a 10” target and you have to take 5 shots inside 90 seconds and all have to hit. You can even have your rifle on a bipod. That is way too easy and many feel it is not enough of a test of one’s shooting ability.

Because of the dogs, many shots here are taken to running moose so for an ethical harvest, hunters should be able to shoot a moving target. Unfortunately not all hunters here have that ability.

@medvedyt I was an exchange student in Fort McMurray in ’96-’97 and totally fell in love with Canada. The Yukon river ran through the city and I always just wanted to go even further north to see what would be there. It’s been close to 30 years now, but I will be back eventually!

Sounds like Finland got a smarter way of handling it so that new hunters without contacts and land get to hunt too.
That's one major benefit here in the US.