|
|
Live from Siberia - A hunting story from our trapper camp
Sep 26, 2004 11: 20 EST
These guys are something else, when it comes to dispatching too. Here's the latest:
"Sunday the 26th of September, we're still at N 64°44;06.5 and E 153°01;41.9, the first snow arrived last night, tarns are covered by thin ice and the temperature is below zero. -3 to -6°C.
I just have to tell you about Friday, two days ago, a dream come true for hungry amateur trappers!
A small grilled aperitif before dinner
Already during the night, we realized that the cold and the frost stood by the door. Maybe even the snow was on its way? The air was crisp and clear, the trees were making cracking sounds and the fire was restless. One could hear the majestic monotonous voice of the mountain owl from far away. My muscles were aching and tired from the hard paddling the day before and none of us said a word, when Johan placed the breakfast Trout soup on the stove. A sign of tiredness and growing irritation.
Best would have been if we'd spent the day inside the cot feeding the stove with firewood all the time, but we had set the nets in a small inlet the night before. Since we get exited every time it is time to check the nets, we wanted to do just that.
Once outside the cot, we just stood in silence, impressed by the beauty in front of us. A row of snow-covered mountains surrounded by the enormous rust colored forest. It was windy and Kolyma was tense. Still, at that stage we both felt: "This feels like we might get some proper meat today!"
We had caught 5 sigs and 2 small trout's in the nets. On the way out of the inlet, a caught a small pike on a wobbler. A small grilled aperitif before dinner to kill the worst hunger. We had already decided to dry all sigs, and for that reason the ceiling of the cot is full of drying sigs at the present.
The ground was a yellow carpet of pine
We're always on the lookout for better fishing waters and we combine those excursions with a short stint in the thick Siberian forest. In the hope of discovering fresh prints left by moose or hare. So far, fishing's been real good, a success, but hunting not the best, to put it mildly. For this reason, this morning, we tied the boat to a tree, covered the fish since we're constantly having the company of a group of seagulls and entered the forest.
It was incredibly beautiful this morning! The ground was covered by a yellow carpet of pine, old dry trees and thick areas of bush. And it was totally free from wounds made by the destructive hand of man. Total disorder ruled!
"Fire, it's food!"
"Stop!", shouted Johan after we'd walked for awhile and asked me excitedly, "should I shoot?"
I looked around, figuring he might have spotted one of the evasive moose, not only the constantly fresh tracks, but I saw nothing.
"No, over there!", he whispered and pointed only 10 meters ahead of me. One of Kolymas giant hares sat under a log. It probably thought it was almost invisible as usual, but forgot that his white winter fur was far too early.
"Fire, it's food!", I whispered excitedly!
Johan fired, but amazingly missed!
"But", I said in my normal pedagogic way, "you missed again!"
I grabbed the gun from a shocked Johan, raised it, aimed and killed the hare, who had run off a few meters, still in the hope that he was invisible.
I cannot right describe the feeling experienced, when like us, you are totally dependent for survival on what you can get out of natures food stores.
All I can say is that the feeling is genuinely primitive and has a sense of unhindered freedom. And it gives a short euphoric experience food wise, which one never experiences in the protected life at home in Sweden.
Even the moral of killing is different
That isn't the only profound feeling I experienced. It's such a major difference to hunt when it is really serious, when your health depends on what you can get, compared to the spare time hunting back home, when you know that your fridge is still full of food whether you succeed or not. Even the moral of killing is different.
I experience the same deep feeling of sadness when I've killed an animal, the harmony of animals in nature is so beautiful! And the question from the soul is there:
"Was this the right thing to do?"
Back home the answer isn't always a convincing yes. But, here, it feels genuinely right immediately. It is then one truly knows that it is written, far in there, in your genes, that man is a hunter. It feels natural. But, one also experiences a profound feeling that one wants to honor ones prey, by thanking something indescribable, maybe the great spirits of nature? And one realizes the importance by taking care of everything on the animal, it's fur and meat and take care of it in a manner that one doesn't waste or spoil anything.
As I'm writing this, I hear three shots outside
After we spent the rest of the day taking care of the fish and hare, we set off on an evening hunt. With Johan acting as a hunting dog, with one aim only, to force possible prey out of thick bush. Which he did very well. I shoot a giant of a hare and Johan an additional one later on. We've hanged both to mature for a few days in a tree not far from camp. We've got food for many days to come!
Just now, whilst writing this, I hear Johan firing three shots in the distance. I wonder if he got something?
He just returned whilst I am translating this piece, 25 minutes later, utterly disappointed. He missed the biggest hare he's seen in his life (of course...) and says as only a disappointed 20 year old can say: "I will never fire a shot in my life again!"
The start of this expedition didn’t go too well – mosquitoes, broken fishing poles, a rising river flooding their camp site, doctors judging them too fat to go, wife leaving. . . Sure enough though, it seems the two are getting into the groove of things now and are even enjoying themselves.
Remember though that this expedition will eventually take to land and the two will be wishing for the hot and muggy days swarmed with mosquitoes when they get a taste of what Siberia is really known for – bitter coldness. They’ve got a whole year ahead of them!
Husband and wife adventurers Mikael and Titti Strandberg, planned embarking upon an epic journey through Siberia stretching over 3500km. Joining them is a young guy, a great outdoor talent, and good hunter, Johan "Delta" Ivarsson. Before the expedition started, however, Titti decided to abort as previous medical conditions mean its very unsafe for her to be exposed to such cold for as long as they will.
Live image of the camp over Contact 3.0, courtesy of the team.
|
|
Feature Stories |
|
Latest News |
more news |
 |
North Pole Russia: Borneo Base up and running
Full Story
|
 |
North Pole Russia: It's over - all teams evacuated!
Full Story
|
 |
Russian Polar Borneo Station status update
Full Story
|
 |
The rules of Adventure
Full Story
|
 |
Russian frontier department angered by Cerpolex
Full Story
|
 |
North Pole teams on the ice - no rescue agreement with Borneo
Full Story
|
|
|
The battle for the North Pole - full story
Full Story
|
|
|
| OneWorld expedition: It's over Jun 3, 2005 | | Vancouver to Moscow - 1 year anniversary! Jun 2, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: The Single ski Weight Watchers Greenland program Jun 1, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Rain and world record May 31, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 30, 2005 | | 12 year old doing well on Greenland ice cap crossing May 27, 2005 | | Vagabond update - Polar bears, 200 candles and ice melting in Inglefieldbukta May 26, 2005 | | Arctic wrap-up: Polar hygiene, and Napoleon on ice May 26, 2005 | | Contact GEO hits Greenland May 25, 2005 | | Iridium: "Invalid battery - matches found, 0" May 24, 2005 |
| | Arctic wrap-up: Adventure family kites 162 km, reaches halfway point May 23, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
2004
BEST of EXPLORERSWEB
|
|
|
|
