Midwinter calling, day 26

Hunting

It's early morning and we repeat the hunt from two days ago, but this time Olafr has a rifle and Alith has the musket in addition to her bow. When I handed the musket to Alith and asked her to choose between bullet or the two shotgun pellet sizes, it was pure happiness mixed with decision anxiety. In the end, Alith chose a solid bullet reasoning that she might be able to shoot something bigger like a deer or at a longer distance - after all, she has her bow for birds and other smaller animals.

Just like the last hunt, we spread out in hunting pairs with a few hundred meters between us, and the wind direction means that we will have a little headwind or crosswind if we keep a long ridge between us, which is good for safety and avoid getting lost. We will slowly follow the ridge until we meet at a field along the the small forest road on the other side about 2km away and will decide what to do from there. If someone shoots something, they will of course stop and take care of the animal. Regardless of what happens, we will return to the longhouse for dinner. I should absolutely make some kind of signalling kit, like at least a good whistle or a bullroarer, and some kind of emergency flare would be a smart idea too. The problem is that I don't have any magnesium etc, so it will be difficult to make something that glows for a long time and is visible during the day. We should have improvised bullroarers last night, but we can't waste time doing it now.

This is difficult mountainous forest to walk in and as we've walked I've started thinking about hunting towers and hides. Alith and I take a short break, and we drink water from my water bottles while whisperingly wondering if Olafr shot anything, because we have heard a couple of shots echoing from the other side of the ridge. I hope he kill a deer or something.

The sound of snapping branches draws our attention, and we are surprised when we see two elk slowly walking through the forest diagonally towards us and they will pass something like 50m from us. Alith grips her musket hard and they have her full attention. I will absolutely take a shot, but realise I'll need to take cover behind a fallen tree and quickly draw my Boomstick if the elk rush at us, before drawing my sword, and I visualise fighting of a elk with a sword and failing. Oh, well. I whisper: "Shoot if my shot doesn't kill."

I use the side of spruce and a branch to carefully aim as I silently push the safety off, and I wait until one of the elk comes out into a clear space. The elk see us, and just slowly takes a few slow steps as it looks at us. Area behind the elk is clear, and the muzzle is clear. Chest, heart, lungs.

BANG!

What the hell? The elk just stands there and looks at us. Alith seems equally confused and we exchange questioning looks.

But then the elk just slowly collapses. As if it were inflatable. We both just stand and watch and the shock on Alith's face probably matches mine, then Alith quickly takes aim at the other elk just 15-20m behind who for some reason haven't run away.

BANG!

That elk starts to run away, and Alith swears as we both start to frantically reload while trying to keep track of where the elk is running, because we haven't actually considered that we might have to follow and search for a wounded elk in these vast forests, at the same time as we have a elk here. Shit! My thoughts goes wild as I plan to cut off a strip of orange fabric and quickly tie it around a branch so we can find the lying elk that might just be wounded and very dangerous. Elks are fast and we might need to add more orange guiding strips, and gather people to hunt the wounded elk. Shit! We really didn't plan this hunt well!

My heart is pounding in my chest as I reload, but in the distance between the pines, we see Alith's elk slow down and start walking slowly, until it take a few steps and collapse.

Incredible. We can see another elk further away running away, but we don't care as long as it doesn't threaten us. We have finished reloading and carefully approach my elk, which is closest. We're both worried that it will start moving or attacking. Elk's are not to be trifled with and wounded animals even less so, but it feels silly to stand here behind a pine with the rifle ready to fire as Alith flanks the elk and with an arrow at close range ensures that the elk is actually dead. We locate the other elk lying where it appeared to fall and we repeat. The arrow cause the elk to twitch a bit before it too is dead. Two elks, just like that. Holy shit. That will probably never happen again, no matter how much we hunt.

We lean the firearms against a tree and Alith literally jumps with euphoric happiness while making incoherent happy noises, and we hug and congratulate each other. Adrenaline, endorphins and emotions are peaking, and our celebration quickly turns into intense sex against a pine and on the bilberry shrubs, and it's amazing!

I hold Alith against me as we sit and watch the elk a few meters away. Alith starts to talk:

"Killing an elk with a bow or spear is unusual, and can be so dangerous that most people don't even try if they are alone. The wise choice is to slowly back away if you encounter an elk, especially if there are calves. Just like with a bear. Elk hunting is usually several men with bows, spears and dogs scaring an elk over a cliff, or chasing the elk into a pit trap they built with simple fencing directing the animal towards the pit. We just killed two."

Alith holds the musket in front of her and just looks at it. We realise that we have to get the two elks out of the forest. We need help; there are more than half a ton of elk here, in the middle of hilly mountainous forest. We adjust our clothes and take a several pictures and videos posing with the elk we shot, then hang up a large orange cloth and tie it to a tree after cutting half away to make four narrower strips. We hang one strip above the other elk, clearly visible. Of course we can't split up as Alith is my guard, so I take a compass bearing, and a picture of that compass heading, and we start heading down towards the fields and other road. We are careful to try to keep the same heading through the terrain, and after what we think is a third of the way, we hang another strip of cloth clearly visible, then we continue in the same compass heading and repeat after another third until we come out of the forest and tie the last the strip of cloth very visible.

It's lucky the hunt was in the morning, since it takes hours to get hold of people and lead them to the right location, and then transporting the elks out is hard work. But in the afternoon the elks have been transported to Kari's longhouse mansion. Olafr and Bodil have joined us and are happy for our achievement. Bodil managed to take another grouse with her bow, but things didn't go well for Olafr. He missed both a deer and a bird he was trying to shoot, but we all believe his shots spooked the elk toward us, which help make Olafr very pleased with the hunt.

Olafr and Bruinn is overjoyed at what the thunder weapons can do, and they are terribly proud of their craft and what Olafr has experienced in the last few days. Their pride and joy is not diminished when they realises that the tale of this elk hunt will spread far and wide, and they have made the weapons and participated. For Olafr it doesn't matter he didn't shoot anything and it was my sejd that made the weapons work. We have taken plenty of photos and some video for future sketches, including one more where Alith and I pose with the elks, but so do my sambos. I've already asked Jane to sketch a couple of pictures for Olafr so he can bring it back home and show others.

Alith enthusiastically tells the hunting story to anyone who want - or doesn't want - to hear, many times, and it is a huge moment. Two thunderous booms echoed through the forest; two dead elks. Alith is so happy that she didn't load shotgun pellets, and she receives enthusiastic congratulations by the others. Apparently everyone expected me to shoot something, but Alith shooting an elk with the musket is especially unexpected and she is a fairly short woman with definitely female forms. I should expect that many see hunting as very masculine, and elk hunting is unusual and even more impressive. It is only bear that beats elk in praise of the hunter, and we hunted the elk. Man against beast, and we didn't try to scare them or drive the animals to their deaths. We hunted. Our thunder weapons are looked on with awe and respect, and many have absolutely heard about master blade smith Olafr.

The elk hunt is soon the big happening, and many many people arrive on foot or on horseback. It feels really weird because I wouldn't have guessed there were so many people living nearby, and it sort of feels like people just appear out of nowhere as I got another feeling as we rode around. How many people can actually live here nearby? Children run around and play, and we are many with smiles on our faces as we see a couple of girls imitating Alith's musket with a branch.

A few of the men start taking care of the elk, and when I see how they start to butcher the first elk, I give clear directives as they don't care to keep their hands clean, start touching the fur and the meat with the same hands, etc. I'm hardly a master butcher, but cleanliness is important and given my status and it's my kills and meat, they follow my directives. Even though Alith shot one elk, status-wise she's just my guard, and the hunt is on my concubine Kari's land. So my rules apply. It feels better when only one cleaned hand touch the meat, and we clean knives etc properly and sanitize them before and after. The elk furs will be cleaned and treated so we can use them. It's a status thing to own a elk fur, and these have almost no damage, which is really impressive, and even more confirms the power of the thunder weapons. When they find the small hole they are almost scared. Such a small hole, but such huge damage to the elks heart and lungs. I am very proud of that clean kill, although I have to admit it was lucky.

We will salt and smoke a lot of meat, but it is such an awful lot, and there's no freezer here for really long-term storage, so after a quiet conversation with Kari, Iselin and Alith, we decide to celebrate and get some good PR, we will have a barbeque grill for the people here. We will bring meat to the residents and workers on the islands, and we will send some meat to Storman Jolfr, the local Völva Gauthild and the closest Storman to the north, Hariwulfr, that I meet at the Tosra Gathering. We will include blood pancakes, a jug of blood and some other things for Jolfr, Hariwulfr and Gauthild. I have no interest in the blood, the hooves, the tongue, the liver, the heart and so on. We keep the best parts for ourselves and a lot will be dried, smoked and salted, but the weather is cold and meat keeps pretty well right now, and we have a working icebox. The ice house is also finished, but very empty. We will definitely have a little feast at the mansion tomorrow as well. It also feel right to sacrifice some to the goddess of hunting Skadi and goddess of sejd Freya and the god of thunder Thor.

I'm not that interested in hunting trophies but this is special, so I've had the elk antlers taken care of to be mounted on wooden plates. Alith's antlers are bigger than mine, but I don't care. It wasn't until we got back to the longhouse before I realised both elks were bulls. I didn't think about it until then, although I was extra scared of the antlers in case they attacked us.

The barbeque grill is a great success, and everyone eats their fill of freshly grilled elk meat, blood pancakes, bread, fruit while drinking mead and cider, prepared or brought by the neighbouring people. Blood pancakes is a classic old Scandinavian meal and basically small 'pancakes' made from blood, milk and egg, and something I avoid eating, so for me it is very unexpected that it is so appreciated by men in particular. But if they think they can get magical power and strength by eating blood pancakes made from elk blood, from a elk killed with thunder? I won't argue. More meat to the rest of us.

Kari inform me that she have talked with the people here and has asked them to spread the word that we are happy to buy land here, and it is intended for hunting during the fall and winter, but we can also trade against other land south on the mainland with silver, goods or animals, so those who decide to move will get something for their trouble. Anyone interested in selling or a land exchange can find us in our island mansion, and we are also interested in elk and deer hunting rights on larger areas. Several landowners might join together to offer that to us. We guess that there might be a lot of that since elk hunting isn't a big thing like in modern Scandinavia, and it's likely that the landowners will divide half the meat between them. It's basically free meat or silver for them, and if there are volunteers to form a line of beaters driving game towards a line of hunters, they will be rewarded. Considering what Kari, Iselin and the guards have heard so far, that will likely be very popular.