How do you deliver knowledge, experience, and manners to other hunters? By bringing together a hunter from the Swedish Sörmlands hilly landscape with a video maker from the capital’s inner city. The result? Two hunters that conduct good hunting - in several guises.
Bra Jakt (Good Hunting) is a Youtube channel that focuses on delivering hunting knowledge, both for the beginner and the amateur, with many hunting hours that want to dive in and learn something. The channel is driven by Oscar von Stockenström and Alex Frey, two completely different personalities that create video material that stands out from the crowd of hunting videos produced today.
But we’ll start at the beginning.
Oscar was born and raised in the countryside in a family that has conducted hunting for generations. Hunting and outdoor living has always been available outside the door, and everyday life has been shared with dogs. This trio has become a natural part of life.
- I did spot hunting with my father since I was a small kid. I was 12 years old when I fired a weapon the first time.
Hunting is not just hunting for Oscar - it’s about the hunt itself - reading situations and understanding nature and yourself. It’s about respecting the animal and taking care of its every part. For him, hunting is a part of life - not a hobby - and the whole life is planned due to the hunting calendar.
Alex, on the other hand, has no previous connections to hunting. He was raised in a suburb of Stockholm and had plans to become an ice hockey professional, but when the talent didn’t live up to the expectations, he changed trace and ended up in the television industry. Hunting? That was nothing for Alex.
- But after the first video we did with the Swedish celebrity Markoolio, I got interested, and ever since, I’ve tried to make up for the lost time.
The part about shooing on your own is a big step to take. The thoughts about how to shoot, how to find the right spot, and fire off were a lot for Alex. But after experiencing the hunting through the camera and the feeling at the right time, the situation was more natural. At the same time, he understood that it's the hunter himself that decides whether he’s shooting or not.
- You need a calm mind and not make any rapid decisions, then you’ll become a much safer hunter.
Several insecurities can appear as a new hunter, and this is something that Oscar and Alex want to highlight on their channel.
- I’ve hunted for so many years but get to experience everything again, all the first times in the forest, says Oscar. We get to hunt through someone else and guide someone inexperienced - which is way more difficult than shooting yourself.
Meanwhile, someone needs to deliver knowledge to the new generation of hunters. A large proportion comes from non-hunting families with no experience and values from hunting. Someone needs to do that without pointing.
- We want to make entertaining and exciting videos that educate, says Oscar. Many hunting videos depict hunters hunting, but there’s nothing for the one watching. The reason we’re doing this isn’t because of the hunting, because we’d do that anyway. For me, it's to genuinely share my experience with those who need it.
For Alex, the production of hunting videos has been priceless. He’s had a golden opportunity to deepen in different situations that have occurred through their hunting experiences, and learned even more;
- I love this because I’m outdoors, learn new things, try different hunting forms, and, in particular, show the extent of hunting. This should be available to more, but at the same time, we need to spread knowledge through hunting Sweden to keep the beauty we have in this country. We want to be an inspiration- and knowledge library, where the ultimate receipt to creating good content is when a watcher gets a sudden craving for some time in the woods.
Oscar and Alex agree about hunting is much deeper than loading the weapon and shooting. Hunting is an interaction with animals and nature, planning and understanding parameters that can affect the outcome, reading nature, and understanding how to act respectfully. Hunting is being able to affect your own experience and do it as well as you can - and take every opportunity to learn more.
- The beauty about hunting is never being fully trained, says Oscar. I believe that’s the reason why you find each other in hunting - there are always experiences to exchange. Becoming a good hunter is about spending time in the forest and giving yourself the possibility to learn by actually studying animals - even without shooting. It’s the hours in the woods that will make you a good hunter, not having the more expensive weapon.
Never regret a non-fired shot. Oscar explains that many hunters hesitate too long, which can result in a bad shot and a wounded game. You shouldn’t be afraid to not shoot, but at some point, you’ll have to fire off - and then you have to be determined.
- A good piece of advice to get past the line is to - when having the right position - count to three and then fire off. Some want to aim for 15 seconds and then retake. At that moment, it’s probably too late. It doesn’t always have to be perfect to work. You have to find your sense and control to understand when it's safe to fire. You also have to figure out when to not - without feeling bad or not shooting.
Alex’s perfect hunting day went down just recently. He was roe buck stalking at a new location. They saw a couple of bucks in the distance, but nothing on their lands. Planes were made, but the feeling that it would turn out in nothing grew stronger.
- I told myself that it’s still better to be outside in the beautiful weather than laying at home on the sofa, says Alex laughing.
On the way back to his car, he had a good position, and the buck was in perfect location. Alex slowly sneaked up on the buck, but when getting better sight, he thought it was too small. He decided to not fire. This wasn’t a big deal to Alex, because he had the experience and the hinting - he had outsmarted the game and had the moment but decided to not fire.
- It’s some sort of meditation, and right there it didn’t matter if I got to shoot or not. It still was the perfect day.
Oscar, on the other hand, means that hunting changing over the years. He describes the young years as important for shooting. Probably because it's a big deal to shoot the first game. Oscar depicts the first moose as something substantial, that it’s the baptism of hunting. With all the experiences Oscar collected over the years, he has experienced many perfect hunting days. We cook up to this:
- The most fun thing about hunting is the high expectations that eventually come true, despite losing hope for a while. A good memory is when hunting capercaillies. We were skiing for three days without having one single spot. But on the last day, the last fifteen minutes, er saw capercaillies lifting. Just when you’ve started the fight with your mentality, it happens and goes well.
The perfect hunting day is, in other words, when all the ingredients for a good hunting excise; expectation, despair, and a happy ending.
Just like a fairytale.
What about silencers? Oscar has chosen a Stalon XE 149 for his 30-06 and believes it feels like shooting with a 6,5. He describes the feeling of prone shooting with a 30-06 as unpleasant without a silencer, but with help from the XE149, he’s happy to do it without issues because of the major recoil reduction.
- I have a Stalon VICTOR as well. Even if it's smooth, slim, and has a low profile, the XE149 has given a mean, powerful caliber a new life. It’s an incredible silencer.
Alex is on the same track and has an XE149 himself but for his 8,57. It is Stalons largest silencer, however, he doesn’t experience it as clumsy - he actually uses it for driven hunt.
- For me, as inexperienced, it’s worth a lot thanks to the reduced recoil. The barrel is short, and with the XE149 I get a perfect balance in my weapon. I barely notice the shot with this one on my weapon.
Take time to study in the forest. The more you watch animals in their right habitat, the better hunter you’ll become. Hunting is mostly about reading nature. When I go MTB in the mornings I get a perfect opportunity to understand animals and nature.
Follow hunting and film situations. You can watch these at home in peace and calm and understand why things happened the way they did.
