Iceland review - 2019, Blaðsíða 114

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Iceland Review
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There is a strong ethos of environmentalism
and sustainability embedded in Icelandic hunting
culture. “You don’t find more committed environ-
mentalists and conservationists than hunters,”
Atli explains. “Hunters know the value of unspoiled
wilderness and respect the prey.” Hunting ptarmi-
gan requires hours of hiking over heaths, up and
down mountains, looking for signs of life, often
with no success. “But even when I spend the entire
day walking, without seeing a single bird, I’m still
deeply happy,” Kolbeinn tells me. “It is really all
about being outdoors, in touch with nature. The
catch is secondary for me.”
Icelanders have easy access to large unspoiled
wilderness and value the right to travel on public
lands, which means that hunting is very affordable,
ensuring hunters come from all social classes.
“Hunters are lawyers, doctors, bus drivers, and
manual labourers,” Jónas tells me. “A complete
cross section of society.”
It’s (not) a man’s world
Hunting has traditionally been a man’s sport, but
this is changing. Jónas tells me that a growing
number of new permits are issued to women. Many
couples go hunting together, but women are also
hunting on their own. A total of 2,264 women have
valid gun permits.
Fríða Brá Pálsdóttir, who got her first gun three
years ago, tells me that she got interested in guns
through a former boyfriend who was a hunter. “I
discovered, to my total surprise, that I actually
found guns and hunting extremely interesting. I’m
a physiotherapist, and shooting requires bodily
precision. To hit your target, you need to master
yourself, be aware of your breathing and heartbeat.
It was fascinating.” Prior to becoming a hunter, she
was a vegetarian. “I decided that if I was going to
become an omnivore again, I should at least need to
work for the meat I ate.”
Despite the sport still being dominated by
men and the strong association between guns
and aggressive masculinity in popular culture
and Hollywood movies, Fríða has not experienced
much machismo at the gun range. “Sure, some
men can get a bit touchy if a woman is a better shot
than them, but I have never encountered guys who
express their masculinity through their gun. You
see so much toxic masculinity associated with guns
in movies, but I have yet to encounter such gun-cen-
tred toxic masculinity among Icelandic hunters or
gun owners.”
Icelandic vs American gun culture
The difference between Icelandic and American
gun culture is striking. Atli Helgi tells me he expe-
rienced a culture shock when he arrived in the US.
“Guns play a completely outsized role in American
culture. I would even go so far to say that the US
doesn't have a gun culture, it has the absence of
a gun culture. People walking around armed in
public. I can’t understand that.” Despite having
been interested in guns since he was a little boy and
a hunter since he got his license at 20, Atli Helgi
felt no need to get a gun once he moved to the US.
“I wasn’t going hunting, and it was years before I
got myself a handgun to practice at the range, but
I never felt a need to buy a gun to protect myself.
That idea remained as foreign to me in the US as it
had at home in Iceland.”
His experience in the US left him with a more
sober view of guns. “As you mature, you grow out
of the childish fascination with guns and learn to
respect guns for what they are, dangerous tools
and hunting weapons.”
As you mature you grow out of the
ch i ld ish fasc inat ion wi th guns and
learn to respect guns for what they are,
dangerous tools and hunt ing weapons.