Hunting.

September is full of hunting trips. Varying from just day trips to longer trips. Half of my interest in hunting comes from being able to fill the freezer with wild game. Other half is spending time in the wilderness. Here's some sceneries and such from various trips so far.

It was a rainy summer, so waters are quite high, marsh areas being pretty wet.

Autumn is full of chilly, misty mornings. Fresh air, bright sounds. If you walk in the woods in your own thoughts, you get your face wrapped in spider's web all the time.

Many birds are migrating to southern parts of the world before the winter is here. Two swans were having a rest on a forest lake, and curiously came to have look at me and the dogs.

Capercaillie hunting season started fairly well. After spending and hour barking at a moose, Kumu got to work with the right game of the day.

Last week I spent 6 days on a hunting trip with two friends of mine. Tall forests of the Hammastunturi wilderness area are a joy to walk in.

Like in the previous autumn, Pyry is mostly walking leashed. On longer trips he's carrying his own food. Leash is attached on my back pack's waist belt.

Being only several kilometers from the nearest logging road, this lake has been a popular place to set camp. Not too popular, as there was still plenty of firewood to be found. We used and old fire place with the benches.

As the fatwood can be always found in forest areas, you don't have to be the toughest wilderness jack to get the fire started. Just find the right stump or piece of pine, and you get the fire burning, rain or not. Watching the picture I can smell the richly resinous timber, and feel the waxy surface of the freshly cut feathers.

In tall forests it's Kumu's job to run free to be looking for capercaillies. When we're crossing more open fell areas, I keep him leashed. There's no capercaillies above the tree line, so he doesn't have to spend extra energy just running around. Pyry enjoys his freedom nearby, mostly trying to catch voles and lemmings. He would love to run further, but I won't let him as chasing some game wouldn't do good for his shoulder.

Pyry and Kumu won't mind being together at all. Unless they disagree about the ownership of something interesting. This capercaillie was shot for Kumu's treeing work. Obviously they both think they own it. They don't have problem me entering and taking it, but as soon as it's the other dog... Showing teeth, growling, ready to fight for it. The nature of a dog. 

After having their share of the guts, Kumu forgets the catch, and runs back to the forest. Pyry doesn't forget the capercaillie, until it's packed. He stays guarding it.

During the 6 days we had decent luck with the weather. It was raining heavily only during one night. Started when we were about to go to sleep, and stopped around the breakfast time. We or not, it's always good to try to get all the moist out of the sleepingbags before packing.

Dark evenings by the campfire, full moon rising. Men with head torches cooking.

Some capercaillie on the frying pan. First catches of the trip were eaten during the trip. Too many days ahead to carry the birds with us.

Fresh water can be found everywhere here. No need to carry water with you, or worrying about the drinking water.

When a dog gets older, he obviously starts lookin really wise, thinking of really deep things. Or just waiting for a bite from my sandwich, pretending he doesn't care about it.

A wilderness romantic picture of socks drying.

A hunter and his dog. Last morning of the trip.

Still some luck on the last day of the 6 day trip. Kumu is getting tired, but a catch now and then cheers him up. Next two days will be just resting at home.

Tuohipää puukkos for sale. ( SOLD )

Rhombic cross section 80CrV2 carbon steel blades. Birch bark + brass handles. Leather sheaths with wooden liners for the blade.

  SOLD!   Nr 1    113 x 23 x 4,9mm blade.  110 x 30,5 x 22,5mm handle.  SOLD!

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SOLD!    Nr 2 107 x 22,5 x 4,9mm blade. 112 x 30,5 x 22mm handle.    SOLD!

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SOLD!    Nr 3   109 x 22,5 x 4,9mm blade. 112 x 30,5 x 23mm handle.    SOLD!

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SOLD!    Nr4    107 x 22 x 4,9mm blade. 110 x 29,5 x 22mm handle.    SOLD!

Autumn is here.

You can feel it in the air, the change of season. Cold breeze, sub-zero nights every now and then, leaves changing colour and falling. Autumn means the start of hunting seasons as well. Bear and moose hunting is on, season for capercaillies and willow grouses starts in few days.

After the summer hunting dogs can run unleashed again. I've been walking in the forests and fells quite a bit lately, Kumu running free to gain some endurance, Pyry as a senior mostly walking leashed.

Sometimes you'd think a dog can enjoy the scenery too.

Autumn is an easy season with the campfire. Ground is pretty much always so wet or moist that you can safely light up the fire.

Sometimes a craftsman gets lucky with finding a decent moose or reindeer antler. This one was too rotten, had some greenish colour already, and clear signs of cracks running deep inside. So it remained there, left for voles to chew.

A cold day, but obviously too warm for a furry guy, as he wanted to cool down in a pond.

This is the main game for Kumu to look for. A capercaillie ( Tetrao Urogallus ). He's very interested in moose as well, baying and barking at them. As I want Kumu to be mainly a bird hunting dog, I've either ignored the moose he's barking at, or used a whistle to get him away.

When treeing a capercaillie, Kumu is barking by the tree, getting the bird concentrated on him. This way the master can approach withouth the bird noticing him that easily. Sounds simple, right? It's quite not that easy always. Sometimes capercaillies are really alert, flying away almost immediately, or from the smallest disruption. Sometimes they stay there for an hour or two, just watching the dog bark. It's also quite unbelievable how easy it can be not to spot a relatively large bird on the tree in the forest.

On a good day it can be easy. Below is a short video of Kumu barking at a capercaillie. I was staying just 10 meters away, Kumu giving me a look occasionally, like saying " There's a bird, you see it? Why aren't you doing anything? There's bird, you moron!"  After more than half an hour I walked closer, and it took off. As it's not a hunting season yet, all the shooting was done with the camera.

"Yeah, I know you're not interested in voles, but I simply can't resist them"

Vole and lemming population seems to be decent again. This means usually a good amount of stops in Kumu's search for the "real" game. If the vole hunt lasts untill I'm there too, Pyry is happy to join. Sometimes they furiously dig for one, as most of the dogs would do.

High numbers of voles and lemmings immediately affects on the population of foxes, owls, and hawks. This hawk owl was watching us passing by.

Pyry never seems to be bothered to be leashed, although he sees Kumu running free all the time. Sometimes I let him free, but tell him to stay nearby. When it's time to be leashed again, he simply doesn't care.

At work I've been working on this small set of birch bark handle puukkos. This time with slightly longer blades from my regular size. By now the handles are ready, sheaths stitched and drying. These will be for sale in two days. If you're interested in one, stay tuned!