FOREIGN EXCHANGE COMMUNITY, HUNTING TRADITION AND FINE FIREARMS IN THE LAND OF THE FINNS

BY T.J. SCHWANKY

IF YOU’VE NEVER travelled abroad to hunt, it’s pretty easy to believe what you see and read on social media about hunting in different parts of the world. Once you’ve visited several different countries, though, you realize how rarely such perceptions turn out to be true.

When I hunted in England a couple of years ago, for example, I expected there to be widespread anti-hunting » sentiment, given the outcry over the country’s traditional fox hunts. Once I left London’s city limits, however, I was surprised at how deeply rooted the gun and hunting culture remained. I also once believed hunting in Europe was only for the ultra-rich, and that the average person had no chance of taking part. I’ve since seen that proven wrong, time and time again. And when I first hunted in South

Africa, I was under the impression all hunting was conducted behind high fences. I was shocked when we were able to go hunting on sheep and cattle ranches with low wire fences, similar to what we have here in Canada.

At the same time, it’s also pretty easy for us to assume the hunting opportunities we enjoy here in Canada are superior to those in most other countries. To some extent they are, but in many cases, they are just different.

So when I was invited to Finland last fall to test the new Sako 90 line, I was as eager to try out the rifles as I was to experience the country’s hunting culture. And Finland certainly is an interesting place. It’s basically a country of preppers, which is no surprise considering it shares a border with Russia. Military service is mandatory and, as a