Hunting Lagopus Lagpopus

[ErikD]

A couple of old hunting reports were brought to my attention on another forum, and I thought some of you might enjoy seeing how we do things over here.

Hunting Lagopus lagopus in Norway

by ErikD

Ptarmigan grouse hunting in Norway's mountains

As usual here in Norway, the hunting season for grouse started on the 10th of september, and it was thus time for me to drive up to the mountians to spend a long weekend with my wifes family hunting these birds. The grouse we hunt is called "Rype" in Norwegian, "Ptarmigan" in English, and "Lagoopus lagopus" in Latin. We use English Pointers to hunt these grouse, although many other people here in Norway use the various Setter races, and some use German Shorthaired or Wirehaired Pointers.

This hunting is often quite hard walking, as the terrain can be steep in some places, and we are out all day. Thus, the backpack with gear, ammo, a couple of liters of water, and food for both ourselves and the dogs can end up quite heavy. As the weather can change quickly high up in the mountains, it is important to bring warm clothing and preferably a sack of some sort to crawl inside to sleep or seek shelter in if needed, even if the day starts out warm and with sunshine.

Myself, with my dog Tiko on the right, and my aunts dog Ciss on the left. I borrowed Ciss for the weekend:



Collecting a few birds I shot over Ciss:



A few of the many sheep that wander around in the mountains to fatten up. They are usually brought in by the owners in mid september:



Having a snooze during our midday break:




That mornings bag, which is a decent amount for this type of hunting:



My wife, and the dogs having a nap. Even though my wife is 4 months pregnant, she still toughed it out and joined me to go hunting:



The weather changes quickly, and the clouds rolled in the next day:





My father in law, who was a bit depressed after missing quite a few shots... Luckily, he got a couple of birds shortly after, and his honor was restored! :grin:



My Father in law together with his English Setter; Maya:


All in all, it was a nice few days with lots of walking, a bit of shooting, and good fun with the dogs.

Erik




Join in the discussion thread here.

(Link to thread added to fb)(added to ezine)

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A copy from another previous report:

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As usual in the beginning of September, except for last year due to an ankle injury, we spent a few days up in the mountains together with my wifes family hunting grouse.

As I had been rid of my crutches for about 1 1/2 months, we decided to give it a try, even though we knew I wouldn't be able to walk for very long. A couple of weeks before going up to the mountains, I had tried walking for an hour in the forest, but found that my other hunting boots did not give my ankle the support it needed, resulting in me having to lay in bed the day after. So I did a bit of searching, and found a pair of stiffer boots that would suit my current needs. A pair of Lowa "Hunter GTX TF" (a military version of the Lowa "Sheephunter"). These boots made a big difference from the first time I went out walking with them, and have enabled me to walk for longer without the pain getting too bad. They are definitely a worthwhile investment.

I was able to walk for 2 hours the first day up in the mountains, and 3 hours the next day before the pain put a stop to the fun. Which I'm actually quite pleased with. Some of you might recall that my English Pointer "Tiko" broke his leg last year (shortly before I broke mine only 50 or so meters away from where he broke his!). It is now obvious that he will not return to his former self, and after the couple of hours the first day, he was limping on 3 legs. So he stayed at home on the second day.

The number of birds we saw was unusually low this year, and of the handful we shot, all were adults. This was very strange, as usually at least half would be young birds.

As we found out the last evening from a local, there had been a sudden short period with snow in mid-June, which killed all the fledglings in that area.


All in all, I shot 4 grouse these 2 days, which is far less than we have usually shot during 2 days in the past.

So it's a good thing that we only shot a few. Hopefully not too many will have been shot by those who hunted there after us, leaving enough birds to build up the numbers again next spring.

I've always enjoyed being up above the tree level, where you can see "forever". Both when hunting, or just for hiking and skiing. So despite painful ankles, limping dogs and few birds, we had a very good time and hope to come back stronger next year.








Me with one of the 3 grouse I shot on the second day. This one was unfortunately shot from a bit too close. So there wasn't much more then some skin and feathers left... :o








Erik

[Sanders]

Looks like a great time!

[10 Bears]

You certainly hunt in some rugged and challenging areas!

Thanks for the trip!

[5knives]

Envy Envy Envy Envy

Looks like a great time indeed ... the kind you treasure and remember forever!



Regards,
...

[OneShot729]

Thanks for sharing the pics. That's some beautiful wide open space. I'd love to have something like that close to here. As it is, all I have to look at is soybeans and corn.

[aviator]

Beautiful terrain.

[Railbuggy]

Odin is Good

[SIXPACK]

Originally Posted by 5knives

Envy Envy Envy Envy

[Czubek]

Man, nice pictures. Looks like you guys had a great time!

Brian

[WFO2]

Very good . Sounds like you had a good time . Plus kudos to the wife for going along .All and all looked like a few good days afield to me .

[Sanders]

I really like the wide open terrain. No crawling around in cactus, catclaw and mesquite to get your birds after you shoot them.

[DorGunR]

Bird hunting ...............my favorite kind of hunting.

Do you like the side by side better than the O/U shotguns?

[ErikD]

DorGunR, for this type of hunting, the shotgun is carried all day long up and down hills and mountains, I find a light S/S in 20/76 to be pretty perfect for me. It's comfortable when resting in the crook of my arm, or over my shoulder either from it's sling or with one hand around the barrels "safari style". There's a lot more walking and carrying then shooting during a hunt like this.

Fwiw, in case I wasn't clear, these reports are from a few years ago and were just revived today on another forum. If it wasn't for my busted ribs I'd very likely be hunting up in the mountains for Ptarmigan or in the forest for Black Grouse and Capercaillie right now.

[hawksnest]

Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures. Very nice.

[ErikD]

Originally Posted by Sanders

I really like the wide open terrain.

Me too. If I could pick and choose, I'd always go for the wide open space above the treeline.