Hunting in Europe

[Duckhunter3000]

Whitetail in Finland would be kinda cool.
Shoot a deer then take a tour of the plant in Riihimaki.

What are whitetail doing in Finland?

 

[Muskox]

Call the Hunting Consortium. They have connections across Europe (and everywhere else), and I am certain they could set you up with a hunt. https://huntingconsortium.com/ I have used them several times when going to new areas in Europe.

Do not touch the hunting consortium with a ten foot pole.

Unless you want to pay 50-100% more.

He used to be the only guy Americans knew how to book through, then Al Gore invented the internet and there are thousands of choices.

Pay what Europeans pay book through a European agent.

 

[Muskox]

What are whitetail doing in Finland?

Also whitetails in Tchech republic. Not as many as Finland.

 

[Nyati]

What are whitetail doing in Finland?

They were imported from Minnesota in 1934.

I shot one near the town of Loppi in 1996.

 

[Red Leg]

Do not touch the hunting consortium with a ten foot pole.

Unless you want to pay 50-100% more.

He used to be the only guy Americans knew how to book through, then Al Gore invented the internet and there are thousands of choices.

Pay what Europeans pay book through a European agent.

For an experienced international traveler I would agree.

But for an American who has rarely or never traveled in Europe, I would HIGHLY recommend the Hunting Consortium. They can set up the whole trip to include pre or post hunt travel if spouse is accompanying. If an experienced international hunter and traveler, by all means book directly with a local hunting operation.

You would be surprised that for many Americans their first international experience will be arriving in Johannesburg for their trip to the lodge and a week to ten days of hunting before getting back on the plane to go home.

 

[Kevin375]

In France, we also have several games from America.

The most common is by far the racoon, and it is incredible how fast this animal is spreading across the country ! They were imported by American soldiers as mascots and most of them were released in the wild at the end.
Unfortunately, we can't hunt them like in America. First of all, electronic callers are prohibited for hunting and even though we have a large number of hounds native from the country, it's forbidden to hunt during the night. Sometimes in driven hunt, dogs catch one but it's nothing in comparison to what we see on cameras.
Trapping is possible but very few people practice it.
We shoot them when the opportunity arise, but it's not common during the legal times.

The musk rat was also quite common, but it seems they are gone now, at least where I am. From what I have heard, they don't get along with nutrias. The last species is also more and more common where I stay, but not out of control like raccoons. Both were imported for their fur and escaped from farms where they were raised.

In some place, the American mink is also present, but I have never seen one.

 

[Duckhunter3000]

In France, we also have several games from America.

The most common is by far the racoon, and it is incredible how fast this animal is spreading across the country ! They were imported by American soldiers as mascots and most of them were released in the wild at the end.
Unfortunately, we can't hunt them like in America. First of all, electronic callers are prohibited for hunting and even though we have a large number of hounds native from the country, it's forbidden to hunt during the night. Sometimes in driven hunt, dogs catch one but it's nothing in comparison to what we see on cameras.
Trapping is possible but very few people practice it.
We shoot them when the opportunity arise, but it's not common during the legal times.

View attachment 698409

The musk rat was also quite common, but it seems they are gone now, at least where I am. From what I have heard, they don't get along with nutrias. The last species is also more and more common where I stay, but not out of control like raccoons. Both were imported for their fur and escaped from farms where they were raised.

In some place, the American mink is also present, but I have never seen one.

That’s intresting. I would expect the raccoon to get into something with nutria. Although I’ve never seen nutria before, which I think are invasive in America. Knowing how raccoons are, I would expect them to get into some type trouble with the nutria.

 

[Kevin375]

I really don't know if there is any interaction between nutrias and racoons ? Racoons like to wander along streams and water pan, but I don't think they compete together !

But between nutrias and muskrats, for sure there is a competition because their behaviour is very close for both species.
Every ponds in the area, or almost, has now its nutria family.

Last year, my dog bayed this big nutria in the middle of a field, pretty far from its pond.

I'm sure I haven't seen any muskrat for 15 years now, while before they used to be quite common.

Another species from America that is more and more common is the Canada goose. In some place around Paris, you have hundred and hundred of them.

 

[Duckhunter3000]

I really don't know if there is any interaction between nutrias and racoons ? Racoons like to wander along streams and water pan, but I don't think they compete together !
View attachment 698643

But between nutrias and muskrats, for sure there is a competition because their behaviour is very close for both species.
Every ponds in the area, or almost, has now its nutria family.

Last year, my dog bayed this big nutria in the middle of a field, pretty far from its pond.
View attachment 698644

I'm sure I haven't seen any muskrat for 15 years now, while before they used to be quite common.

Another species from America that is more and more common is the Canada goose. In some place around Paris, you have hundred and hundred of them.

Oh, I must have read that wrong. I thought he was talking about the raccoons.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

For an experienced international traveler I would agree.

But for an American who has rarely or never traveled in Europe, I would HIGHLY recommend the Hunting Consortium. They can set up the whole trip to include pre or post hunt travel if spouse is accompanying. If an experienced international hunter and traveler, by all means book directly with a local hunting operation.

You would be surprised that for many Americans their first international experience will be arriving in Johannesburg for their trip to the lodge and a week to ten days of hunting before getting back on the plane to go home.

Yep. First international trip was to Namibia for 7 hunting days and one day in Windhoek via Doha. Also was first time on a “big” plane.

 

[Muskox]

I will say that it is a drain to book any major international trip. I mean emotionally not necessarily financially. But probably that as well.

I took the 5 of us to Iceland in March. Was an absolute terror to work out. I am an experienced world traveler and have something like 50 counties travelled and lived in 4 foreign countries for over 2 years each and spent several months in another 6. Lived on every continent except South America and Antartica.

A European agent like Lief Jonas can still put all the pieces for you together. He does it for all his other European clients, and works out his own American western draw hunts, New Zeeland and Norway hunting on his own every year.

I am driving down to hunt with him 1 country away and he tells me what hotel to book, what taxidermist to use and what the roads are like. Once he called me when I was stuck in traffic and helped me work out a quicker way.

It would have been easy in Iceland to pay a booking agent to work it all out. We would have paid 4 or 5 times the price and been on a big 80 person bus tour. Not what we wanted at all. In the end my extra work was worth it.