A wonderful Fall/Winter with Lots of Hunting

And its done! Bamboo rod complete!

Bamboo Rod Building

After looking at how I could get ahold of bamboo blanks to build a rod, I decided...."why not build one myself." So I found a course, and I am doing just that, and....it is awesome! I love this type of project. It takes a while, it requires discipline and skill and the tolerances are crucial. I've been to two sessions and making progress. After splitting, filing, straightening and twisting the bamboo into nice pieces, I started to plane the typical "triangle" shape of the strips. Lots of work! But it was really cool. Can't wait till next time.

Hunting 2012: From Ptarmigan to Pheasants

Its been quite some time again since my last posts. The life of a researcher/PhD candidate doesn't allow much free time, coupled with lots of training and hunting. However, I thought it would be of interest to you all to share some pics/videos of some hunting adventures in Sweden this Fall (up to now, with more to come).

After returning home from my trip the US we began getting ready for our trip to the mountains to hunt Ptarmigan. The stock of Ptarmigan was expected to be quite low, and it showed when we arrived. After 5 days hunting we shot only 5, and saw possibly 10 birds the whole time, but Nivos did an excellent job finding them!

Nivos proudly showing a Ptarmigan (Ripa)

Checking out the view on top of a mountain

Johan with a nice Ptarmigan!

The trip was an experience to say the least. Great friends, great hunting and a great dog! We are going again, even with a "bad year" under our belts. 

We continued during the Fall training Nivos and after some field trials, training and a couple hunts in the woods, we returned to our favorite Pheasant hunting area. This time Davie, Johan and I were out for the day to find birds....and yes we found many! Nivos did a great job pointing, though some of us didnt do that good shooting =) We eventually returned home with 3 pheasants and lots of good memories from our pheasant adventure. 

 The eventual 3 pheasants!

Nivos doing a little retrieving training

And here is a video of Nivos during some training with pheasants

Nivos in Action!

Hunting and Fishing....This is Fall after all!

I dont get on here as much as I used to, but I thought I would put up some pics of Nivos and I hunting, fishing, etc. Its been a great Fall so far! We've been out for black grouse, capercallie, pheasants, etc. Not too many birds shot, but we did see quite a few birds.

Early in the fall Nivos, Sofia and I spent 4 days hunting black grouse...we didnt see anything....=( After that Nivos completed his hunting certification and did great! He is a great hunter and got 1st prize!

We then went on an awesome pheasant hunt and got to see Nivos in action! He was amazing, and I actually shot 2 birds with one shot! Nivos and I have then been up hunting black grouse, and unfortunately didn't get any good shots at them (flew up a bit too far) After that we've been up another time and kicked up even more....with a few missed shots...=( But a great fall.

I've also been out to fish for sea trout...and wouldn't you know....I got one!

Training for Roxen Runt

After many hours of working on my bike after shipping it from USA...it works! Yes, and some friends and I have been out training for a race we will do August 28th. It is an 84 km (52 mile) race around Lake Roxen in Linköping. Here are some pics of the updated bike.