Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Europe Grouse hunting in Finland

Our group of seven spent the last weekend hunting small game in the Finnish Lakeland region.

( I've had to do some creative editing due to some participants being camera shy -- sorry about that )

The campsite was an old forest road completely covered by undergrowth. As we anticipate a part II in 2010, we went into Big Job Mode (tm) and made some room for a couple of Jeeps and our Finnish military model tent.





This was on private land and the spot had to be cleared anyway so we got rid of the cut twigs by making a modest campfire.









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By 6 am we went hunting and while returning empty handed, found a couple a good spots for further attempts.

I cooked a nutritious breakfast ( lots of bacon and eggs, coffee with whole milk ) and away we went again.







After returning to camp, my hunting buddy and I decided we weren't to be cooked for another night in the tent ( some of the guys insisted on heating the stove regardless of temperature constantly being over 40 *F outside ) so we moved our stuff into the old hay barn nearby. We did eventually talk others out of heating the stove and moved back, but I must say it was a nice place for a midday nap.





We had a couple of hours of siesta and a shooting clinic, my .22LR CZ 453 Varmint being pictured here, on a Stoney Point Polecat tripod.



Come late afternoon we packed our gear and headed for the spots we found earlier. A friend of mine shot this very nice black grouse and yes, that's a shotgun.

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We have the luxury of night hunting here in Finland so we set up a spot at a small nearby lake, waiting for waterfowl to come in for the night. I heard a couple of pass-overs in the darkness but no opportunity presented itself so we headed for the camp. Suddenly a male black grouse jumped right next to us and I shot him. He fell into the total darkness some fifty yards from us but the dog found him quickly. I never leave home to go grouse hunting without one of our dogs.







Time to cook the birds, have a beer and relax. Nothing beats fresh grouse with some salt, some pepper, and a lot of butter on a hot pan.

The last morning we started early, had a lot of contacts but unfortunately all birds flushed from afar without giving us an opportunity to shoot. I didn't mind, having already harvested one great-tasting bird I figured I was already on the winning team.

By noon we were doing some shooting by the campsite, hence the goggles.



Packed up and headed for forest. Here's a pal hauling AR-10T. Props to him, that thing weighs a ton. I couldn't be bothered with carrying the rifle ( in a J104 ) anymore as there was no expectation of birds being in the treetops in the afternoon.



Walked around the small lake twice, got a rowing boat ride and had a breather to enjoy the scenery and company.







Two full days, two birds. Decided to share some pictures of a fairly typical Finnish bird hunting trip. Enjoy.

You have damn good hunting trip habits.

Thanks for sharing.

So what kind of guns do you use in Finland? I see parts of a rifle that looks like a Winchester 100 semi auto.

I think I've written about it somewhere in the campfire -- mostly Sakos and Tikkas due to availability, especially in the 2nd hand market. But there's the usual assortment of Remingtons, Savages, Weatherbys etc. , just in less numbers.

This trip, as I recall, we had:

- A .308Win Winchester 88
- A couple of 12ga Saiga (Izmash) shotguns
- My 12/70 SxS Monte Carlo shotgun
- My 30-06 Sako TRG-S
- My .22LR CZ 453 Varmint
- A .308Win AR-10(T)
- Some O&U shotgun I don't know the make of
- Something that looked like a "semi-auto & pump" shotgun
- some black powder stuff not used for hunting

How did a Winchester 88 end up in Finland? I lived in Germany for 3 years and wanted to visit Finland but never got around to it. Always interested in the place after reading about the Winter War. The Finns really stuck it to the Russians but couldn't overcome the Red Horde.

Independence since 1917 is still a pretty good accomplishment -- considering our location

Great series -- thanks. Looks like great fun and good companions.

Someday I'd like to come to Sweden, Norway and Finland...at least I have a Husqvarna rifle... .

Dennis

Nice looking dog if I might add. I shoot a couple of Sako's myself. One 6.5 x 55 and the other a 338 in a 75. Looks like a place I would not mind a bit to go on a little bit of a walk about.One of these days I am going to have to come and shoot a moose.

Very interesting. Awesome pics.

Always liked Finnish-designed cutlery and hunting guns; still have a couple of Sammi-style hunting knives, two Valmet O/U shotguns and a Valmet O/U combination 12/.308. Does
Valmet still make sporting guns? (All I've seen recently from them is MONSTER mining equipment....).

Many thanks for sharing your hunt with us!

I should also add that I've had a ride in a Valmet-produced, French-designed "Magister" jet trainer now owned by a private individual in the US. A very neat little plane widely used as a strike aircraft by various nations (including Israel) back in the day. The one I rode in had the Browning .50s deleted, and no rocket pods, tho......

Glad you guys like the pics.

Mike, all Valmet gun manufacturing has been under Sako flag since the '80s. There's been lots of merging throughout the years, resulting in Sako containing both Valmet and Tikka; There are a couple of small guns manufacturers like Pirkan Ase and a few individual custom riflemakers like Jyri Jalonen and Jouko Kinnunen but they manufacture a couple of dozen rifles a year, tops.

ruistola, thanks for the info and the links--unforunately my Finnish is weak....no, scratch that, nonexistent. One of those Ase rifles looks like a straight pull action possibly meant for Olympic "Running Boar" competition, or possibly Biathlon, a Finnish specialty that I'm familiar with because one of my hunting buddies was once a US Biathlon Olympic coach.

Many US-made hunting knives are highly influenced by Finnish traditional designs, by the way--I often carry an old Case "Finn 5," a design they still make.

The only 7mm Mag I ever liked was a Husky - and the bastid wouldn't sell it to me...

I really wanted that rifle....