Cecil Hammonds
AH senior member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2016
- Messages
- 84
- Reaction score
- 432
- Location
- North Texas
- Media
- 61
- Member of
- DSC, NRA, SCI
- Hunted
- Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa, Poland, Canada, Mexico, Argentina
In October of 2022, my friend Todd and I went to Greenland to hunt caribou (they call them reindeer). We were supposed to have done a DIY Alaska Caribou hunt in September, but Units 23 and 26A were closed down for this year and next, so I started looking for an alternative. I found Erik with Trophy Hunting Greenland on bookyourhunt.com and got it set up. We traveled from DFW to JFK and on to Copenhagen, Denmark on Delta. Had some drama with our flight out of JFK, so we ended up getting into Denmark more than half a day late. Fortunately, we had built some flexibility into our travel plans. Even so, we still had to rush to clear customs with our guns and make our connection to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland on Air Greenland. We had no problems with customs in Denmark. There was no special paperwork or permits needed ahead of time for the guns. We declared them at customs, and they gave us a temporary permit. Upon arrival in Greenland, we were met by Erik our outfitter and after collecting all our gear, we headed out to camp. We camped on the bank of a lake in a wood shack that had a kerosene heater with bunks, so it was not too bad. We were fortunate enough to have good weather for our hunt with clear skies and temperatures in the high teens and low 20s with light winds. There was about 6 to 8 inches of snow already on the ground, and that made for some fairly tough walking. There were three other hunters in camp, two brothers from Indiana, and a guy from Germany. On day one, we set out in the morning from camp in boats to the far end of the lake to access the hunting area. Here we started hiking, and I must admit, this was a much more physically demanding hunt than I thought it would be. I had envisioned setting up on some high ground and glassing until we spotted a herd we could move on. In reality, we pretty much walked through the snow all day over some fairly rough ground. I was lucky enough to get my caribou the first day, and Todd got his the second day. We both had about a 300 yard shot. I used a .300 Win Mag with 180 grain Hornady SST, and Todd used his .300 WSM. The two brothers hunted for muskox and the German guy hunted caribou. Everyone was successful.
After we were done hunting, we spent a day hiking over to the ice cap and viewing the glaciers which was very impressive. We were also treated to seeing the Northern Lights, which was a first for Todd and I. All in all, it was a challenging but rewarding experience. Our trophies will be shipped to Denmark in June after the spring thaw. Once in Denmark, we have the option to do dip and pack or full taxidermy work. We are leaning towards having the taxidermy work done in Denmark as the dollar to Euro is favorable, but we will see about that come June.
A couple of lessons learned for me were 1. avoid JFK if possible, it's almost like not even being in the US. and 2. I didn't allow enough time between our flights to clear customs at JFK on our return, so we missed our connection and had to spend the night. If I wouldn't have had my gun, we would have made it, but we just didn't have enough time because of the ridiculous rules they have in JFK. In any event, we had a great trip and made some great memories.
After we were done hunting, we spent a day hiking over to the ice cap and viewing the glaciers which was very impressive. We were also treated to seeing the Northern Lights, which was a first for Todd and I. All in all, it was a challenging but rewarding experience. Our trophies will be shipped to Denmark in June after the spring thaw. Once in Denmark, we have the option to do dip and pack or full taxidermy work. We are leaning towards having the taxidermy work done in Denmark as the dollar to Euro is favorable, but we will see about that come June.
A couple of lessons learned for me were 1. avoid JFK if possible, it's almost like not even being in the US. and 2. I didn't allow enough time between our flights to clear customs at JFK on our return, so we missed our connection and had to spend the night. If I wouldn't have had my gun, we would have made it, but we just didn't have enough time because of the ridiculous rules they have in JFK. In any event, we had a great trip and made some great memories.
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