A storm had come in from the North Sea and we were hit hard by the rain. To put it mildly, it was very unstable, and we seemed to experience three seasons on each day. Ordinarily, I would have expected to see more than enough deer to fulfil this quote. We had three days of hunting and licences for four deer: one stag, one hind, one yearling and a calf. Some of the party sat up in strategic places with the rifles, while the others drove the deer towards them, aided by a Norwegian moose dog, then we swapped for the next drive. During the middle of the day, the hunting was organised in drives. We had three days of hunting, beginning at 4am in order to be in position by the fields frequented by deer at first light, and not finishing until 8pm so that we could have a chance to make the most of the deer coming back into the fields in the evening light. When you put that together with excellent cartridge feed from the magazine and the crisp trigger you can’t have a better rifle. I know of no rifle as smooth, and the size, shape and angle of the Rigby bolt is a masterpiece. Speaking personally, the sweetest thing about the rifle is the ease of opening the bolt after a shot has been fired. It was a pleasure, as always, to use the Highland Stalker, which in my mind is perfectly suited to this kind of hunting, with its exceptionally reliable action. Once everyone had arrived, we went to the range to check zero and get to know each other to start building that sense of trust that is so vital when handling rifles in the field. It has just as much character today, and – importantly – excellent local food and wine, making it the perfect place to relax after a hard day’s hunting. It was immensely popular with the rich and famous, who sailed in with their yachts to explore, fish and hunt. This mid-19 th century, wooden Swiss-style hotel is located in the heart of what the British upper class adventurers called ‘The Northern Playgrounds’. I wanted to make sure the guests’ experience wasn’t too hard though, so Stryn seemed like a good choice.įor extra comfort and atmosphere, I opted for the party to stay at the Visnes Hotel. As anyone who’s experienced this type of hunt knows, it can be very hard going. I was arranging a trip to give a group of six Norwegian and British guests a taste of deer hunting in Norway with a couple of Rigby Highland Stalkers in. Every time, I thought: “Why don’t I hunt here? It looks so much easier than were I’m headed, and there are deer jumping around everywhere!įinally, this year, the perfect opportunity presented itself. I’d driven through it many times on the way to hunt deer closer to the North Sea. I’d had my eye on the area around Stryn, a four-hour drive from Lillehammer in the west of Norway, for a while. Last September, he got the chance to introduce some friends to its highs and lows and to put some Rigby Highland Stalkers to the test in a new hunting ground. Rigby dealer, Ole Arnt Kinde of Best Guns Norway, is no stranger to hunting his country’s elusive red deer.
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