Elk Hunting Time
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When you come to a Swedish country village at Autumn time, you may find that there is a special sensation in the air. Shops are shut down, and a great deal of the inhabitants are away for the elk hunt.
In northern Sweden it is permitted to hunt those big animals from September and from Hälsingland and southwards the first elk hunting day is the second Monday of October.
The elk hunt has an enourmous significance in great parts of our country. Firms shut down, and a special liturgy is celebrated in some places as a beginning of the hunting period. Some places they have a common meal as the beginning of the hunting period.
The elk hunting period really can be considered as a feast. Nothing else can be more important than that hunt.
There are special ceremonies bound to the elk hunt. E.g. the hunter who has shot a elk gets the horns and has the right to put a fir twig in his hat.
The participation in the hunt is often bound to the family. The children who shall be hunters when they become grown-ups accompany the hunters to be able to feel the special sensation.
The right to be a participant of this hunt date back to medieval times. Even how the bag is shared.
This hunt has ancient traditions. There are lots of medieval trapping pits in our forests, mostly used for elk hunting.
But as mentioned - nowadays the elk hunt is fenced in very strict regulations from the authorities.
Track of the elk |
