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Jakt 2020

Deer hunting season 2020.

Image: First post of the season: Fjelleryggen, post #4. Image: In the mountain side above Dalset, looking down at the lake. Image: At post #2 in Dalsetstranda. Image: At the bog below Huaren, where me and Helen went by this summer. Image: Walking up the steep hillside. I'm not the one who has to be waited for, for a change. Image: A lonely bluebell (campanula rotundifolia) in a crevice. Image: View westwards from my starting position for the Pottane hunt, at lot #16. Image: One of the numerous bogs in Pottane. Image: The waterfall in Åskora, which is normally not flowing as its water is used to produce electric power. Image: Another bog, this time near Langesjø. Image: The foundations of the old boathouse at Langesjø. Image: Langesjøløken. Image: A lot of water in the lake and streams at the summer pasture. Image: Posted underneath the power line going to Bryggja. Image: Yours truly. Image: Back down to where we parked before the hunt. The waterfall is Fessefossen. Image: The first stag of the season. Image: Taking good care of the carcass is vital for a good result. Image: Morning at the bogs. Getting ready to start walking towards the mountains. Image: At the top of the climb. You do not want to ascend that way if you have vertigo. Image: View towards Sætra, Sigdestadnakken and Høgefjellet. Image: Westward view towards the lakes from Dalsetvatnet and towards Kvarven. Image: The big 420kV electrical transmission substation. Image: Approaching Fessefossen from the west. Image: Ørnereidsvatnet. Image: Nearing my starting position as hunter #17. Ørnereidsløken in front and Sætredalen behind the hill. Image: Looking back at Ørnereidsløken and Ørnereidsvatnet. Image: Sætredalen and Sætredalsvatnet. The first snow of the season has fallen down to about 900 meters above sea level. Image: Starting the last leg of the hunt. #18 had already moved up to post #1 at the top of the gully behind me, so I had the highest position from there. But I only walked about 100m farther from where the photo was taken before we aborted. We concluded that we'd caught enough deer for the day. We still had a lot of work ahead of us, getting everything back down. Image: Me and the other hunters also backtracked to where post #1's deer were lying. They needed the help. Image: Looking back up at the gully from down and across the lake. I was in the first group to be rowed across; the remaining three are still waiting to load the deer into the boat. Image: Being able to bring a boat up on the lake is a major benefit to having a road up there. Image: Down at the inlet to the new power plant, which is the reason why we have a road now. Image: A nice catch for a long day's work. Image: Three of the four who shot deer today. Image: Post #3 in Kloppelvehola. Image: We had to box in an area in search of a wounded deer. I was posted under the "monstermast" pylons of the 420kV power line which was relocated here from its originally planned route by Ola Borten Moe. Image: I found mushrooms! A patch of chanterelles at post #10 for Holene. Image: Another picture of the big waterfall in Åskora. The bit we can see from here is around 170m high. Image: Testing my mobile phone's optical zoom. Not too bad. The smaller waterfall on the left emerges from the access tunnel to the tunnel containing the water pipes for the power plant. Image: Frying the mushrooms from earlier. Delicious. Image: A fine morning, for a change. It's been pissing down all week. Image: Sun rays penetrating the clouds just before I'm about to start my hunt as #16 in Øvste Berget. Image: A flock of ravens playing overhead. They were probably out keeping an eye on us, but also doing some impressive aerial acrobatics. They nest in this area, not far from the pit where we dump the remains of our butchery. Image: View towards Pottane and Meraftanakken, where I started when we hunted Pottane. The folded Devonian mountains give this area its very characteristic look. Image: Today the youngest hunters get the task of gutting the deer shot at post #6, under the guidance of an experienced hunter. Image: The bacteria in the gut produce gas which inflates the stomach, which isn't being released when the deer is dead. Such as in this case where it's been several hours since the deer was shot, it can be a bit tricky to get it out without puncturing it. Image: The intestines removed, the diaphragm is cut up to release the blood from the cavity above it, which also helps clean out the gut area of any dirt which might've entered during the gutting process. Image: It's been raining a lot, so the river is much bigger than usual. Getting the deer across was a challenge where the more experienced hunters took charge. The younger ones got to drag it the rest of the way. Image: The other big deer we shot today. This one was brought down on the ATV. It easily had the biggest horns I've seen in person. Image: The happy hunters. The one we brought down on the left and the one from the ATV on the right.

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