Iceland, Hunting 66 degrees North

[Patrick Pitt]

With part of Iceland being inside the Arctic Circle it can become a merry-go-round of weather changes in a short period of time. I just returned from my second trip there and true to form it was a Pandora's Box of weather and a variety of sights and sounds. The ruggedness of parts of the country reminds me of New Zealand with the lush mountains found there while some parts are barren and snow-covered like some parts of Alaska that I have visited. I had weather from driving rain and sleet fueled with 20-30 mph winds to sun-bathed mornings with barley hungry birds. On clear nights we could watch the Northern Lights dance in the sky above the mountains.

Southern end of Island.

Up near the Arctic Circle. This is an area where I have shot Rock Ptarmigans on a previous trip.

The biggest glacier in Europe is in Iceland that spawns some spectacular streams and waterfalls.

My target for collectible birds were Barnacle Geese on this trip and i wasn't disappointed.

Graylags are the most common geese there along with Pink-footed Geese and the protected Greenland Whitefronted Goose.

In the mountains the birds feed on blueberries before hitting the coastal barley fields.

Whooper Swans are protected but are constantly in the decoys while lay-out hunting.

99% of the usable energy in Iceland is renewable. The hydro and geothermals are pollution free and the water comes out of the ground at 212 degrees.

Many rivers are silted from the melt water from underneath the glaciers and are from the 130 volcanoes on the island.

30% of the population have college degrees and 50% believe in Elves! I saw two myself hiding in the rocks ;-). The Prime Minister's phone number is listed in the phone book also. No litter either and they don't even have laws against littering. We could take a lesson from that.

 

[Al Hansen]

Thanks Pat, for these beautiful shots. Glad to see you got what you went there for. I hope you'll post the barnacle geese when you have them mounted. I sure enjoyed this.
Al

 

[Bob B]

Patrick,
this may just be the coolest post since the Duck Tub adventure. That is some country up there. Do you bring your own dog? Looks like a great bucket list trip. What is the state of the tourist trade for hunting, or for that matter sight seeing?
Those rivers and waterfalls look like they are about as free as it gets. Any fish?

Again, thanks for posting.

Bob

 

[Patrick Pitt]

Bob, fishing is big up there with both the Atlantic Salmon runs and ocean fishing. Tourism is a big industry and sightseeing on the glaciers and volcanos is popular as well as rafting, hiking, etc. You can hike and drive for miles on some 15,000 kilometers of back roads and a new sight is around every curve. There are quite a few outfitters that do this. The hunting is anywhere from great to mediocre depending on the weather, crop harvest and migrations which is why there only a few hunting guides up there. I hunt with a friend that comes to Arkansas to hunt with me. I hit it right at prime time this trip as the birds were staging and feeding heavily for their flight over the Atlantic which made for some great decoying action. They started leaving the last day I was there. But, this year a lot of the crops were late and not harvested yet which made for some problems on some people's leases. Also the drought and volcano eruption played havoc with nesting birds and livestock on the south end this year. They can market the geese there also and many hunt them to sell. The hunting season runs for about two months but the geese move in and out unpredictabily and may be only in good numbers for two weeks I am told. A lot of the ducks will stay there till the season closes in March and they shoot a lot of seabirds like Gulls, Puffins, Razorbills, etc., which aren't legal here so I don't bother with them as I can't bring them back to mount. Rock Ptarmigan season only last for 9 days this year and are in some pretty rugged terrain.