Last autumn, 14-year-old Sivert Drage-Jørgensen took his hunting test, and last weekend he was going to the press for the first time. He was on a hunting camp on Arnøya in Nord-Troms with a friend and other budding young hunters, when he shot what must be called a monster hare. – We didn’t think he would be that big. He looked a lot smaller when we first shot, the 14-year-old tells news. It was the magazine Jakt & Fiske that first mentioned the case. The hunting party had been out for a couple of hours without firing a shot. – We had seen some hares before this one, but we didn’t quite get close, so we weren’t allowed to shoot, says Drage-Jørgensen. Then they spotted a prey that might be within reach. – Me and my friend, Vebjørn, went over a hilltop towards the hare. I saw it first, and raised the shotgun. We had to get a little closer, but then we shot, says the 14-year-old. It was Drage-Jørgensen who shot first, and thus felled the hare. – He was heavy, roughly like a medium-sized dog, says the 14-year-old, and adds: – I am very happy and proud. Can tanger record Exactly how big the hare is, no one knows; no one brought a scale with them on the hunt, nor has anyone weighed it afterwards. To Jakt & Fiske, hare researcher and associate professor Simen Pedersen at the Department of Forestry and Field Studies at Høgskolen i Inlandet agrees that the hare from Arnøya looks unusually large. He tells of a survey from 1990–91 where 156 shot hares were weighed. Only two of these were over four kilos, Pedersen tells the magazine. Simen Pedersen at Høgskolen i Innlandet. Photo: Magnus Molstad Olsen The documented world record for this type of hare is held, according to the researcher, by a hunter in Murmansk who shot a hare weighing 4.7 kilograms in the 60s. He does not rule out that the Arnøy hare could be a tangent to the world record – with the caveat that he is not particularly good at guessing. – I guess I can only encourage people to weigh the hares they shoot before they take out the entrails, says Pedersen to Jakt & Fiske. – The fantastic Isak Karlstrøm of the Norwegian Hunters and Fishers Association (NJFF) in Troms was an instructor at the hunting camp, and also when the friends shot the monster hare. – It was special, the whole arrangement. It was fantastic, he says to news. Karlstrøm says that Drage-Jørgensen had been on camp with them this summer as well, and tried his hand at crow hunting and fox hunting. – He and his friend thought it was so much fun that they took the hunting test and went hunting for the first time with a shotgun now. And then he shot this insanely large hare. – Is it common to trap hares of this size? – Absolutely not. Over four kilos is rare, and of course we saw that this one was substantial. Isak Karlstrøm in the Norwegian Hunting and Fishing Association (NJFF) in Troms. Photo: Isak Karlstrøm / NJFF Troms – How big would you estimate it was? – I can only speculate, but when the boys had to hold it up, they struggled to keep their arms straight because it was so heavy. And it filled a grouse net, while the other two hares we shot got a place in one. – Do you regret not weighing it? – It would have been nice to know if there is a record. But it’s also funny now that it’s a bit mysterious. Will cook it Drage-Jørgensen, who lives in Senja, has two older brothers who have inspired him to start hunting. And the previous experience has clearly added flavor. – I will continue. This was fun, he says. The hare is now in safe custody with friend and fellow hunter Vebjørn. – I think we should eat it, Drage-Jørgensen replies to questions about what happens next with the monster catch. – How do you prepare hare in the best possible way, then? – I think you boil it. Published 01.11.2024, at 17.37
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Sivert (14) shot “monster hare” on Arnøya – news Troms and Finnmark
