Mikkel Ousen is 24 years old, and is the third generation in the family, who go hunting at vaernengene. He works in the ambulance and rescue service in Fredericia, nearly 130 kilometers away. Almost all of his spare time is spent on going to the hut. If the weather is promising for hunting, he even tries to swap his shifts at work so he can visit the area.

Among the homemade nametags on the outside of the huts are names like 'Nothing', 'Freedom' and 'Nothingness'. This shows the presence of bon vivants in the small wooden huts, where the November wind outside bites the cheeks and where the kettle inside the huts gets warm on the stove - ready for the coffee.

Aerial view of large Mjoel. The location of the huts at Vaernengene gathers around three natural dunes: Large Mjoel, Small Mjoel and Groenbjerg. Unlike a lot of other constructions where people want to have a view, the location of the huts at vaernengene is an expression of an adaptation to wind and weather. They are sheltered and avoid flooding from the fjord. The picture hangs in Allan Soerensen's hut.

"I don't think there's any place like this in the whole world," he says. At least not any places that Mikkel Ousen has seen. And he doesn't go anywhere else to hunt. There is plenty for him here. “This very flat meadow and the rich wildlife is unique. This is where I have had some of the best memories of my life,” says Mikkel Ousen.

For Helle Jensen, it's important that her grandchildren get some historical input from the real world, and not spend too much time on iPads. Therefore, they are on a hike in the dunes at the hunting huts. She does not own a hut herself, but she has been coming in the area for many years.

“One year at Sct. Hans I fell into the water when I wanted to unlock my boat to sail home to my hut. It was so foggy that I couldn't find my way home, so I ended up spending the night out on the fjord arm in arm with my dog to keep warm. ”

Outdoor life has always been a part of Allan Soerensen's life. Especially Ringkoebing Fjord, where he can fish and enjoy nature. It is a special area to him and the place where he feel most at home.

Allan Soerensen started coming at vaernengene as a child, when his parents had a hunting hut there.
At the age of 20 Allan was living in an apartment in Southern Jutland, but after the breakup with his girlfriend, he needed some space. He went back to Vaernengene where he bought his own hut. For almost 30 years, it has been the foundation of his life.

When people from the Ringkøbing-Skjern Museum in 1993 interviewed 40 hut owners at vaernengene, almost all hut owners determined that just their hut had the most special and beautiful view of them all.

When Kjeld Anker Espersen was a child, his parents had a little hut by the Limfjord. The many fond memories from that time were one of the reasons why he and his wife bought a hut on Vaernengene 20 years ago.

In the summer there are a lot of children at Vaernengene. A general attitude at the place is that it is important that children go outside, climb trees and play in the dunes.

Natural sewerage. There is no sewerage in the hut towns, which is why some people dig holes in the dunes for the natural remains. When the hole is filled, they cover it and dig a new one.

22-year-old Oliver Thomsen has been coming to the Vaernengene since he was a child. Both his father and grandfather have been hunting at vaernengene for many years. The hunting trips has always been important to him, even as he got older and people around him started living the typical life of young Danish people.
“When I was in high school, I many times preferred going hunting instead of partying like most of my classmates,” says Oliver Thomsen.

The water sloshes silently against the barge, while Oliver Thomsen is trying to rub heat into his red and cold hands. He has been hiking for over an hour through mud, water and reeds to reach the place he hopes will allow him to shoot some ducks.
He lies down in the barge, where he has been so many times before. Sometimes there are many opportunities for shots, and other times he is just laying waiting for hours before he returns to his hut.

In Per Stausholm's necklace, the bird ring hangs from one of the short-necked geese he has shot at Vaernengene this year. From the ring's information, he knows that the goose was tagged in Stavanger in 2004, and since then it has been observed in both Belgium, the Netherlands and Northern Norway.

The flag always hangs at Per Stausholm and Anita Pedersen's hut when they are at Vaernengene. After a successful hunt, Per Stausholm hangs today's prey in the front of the hut. Not all hunters do the same thing. They often keep the catch to themselves - not to reveal their good hunting locations.

Jamie Tvilum takes a nap in the straws to cure his hangover before sunrise. He got to bed a little late the night before. Meanwhile, Mikkel Ousen stands waiting for the first geese to come flying. He is ready for hunting. Jamie does not have hunting characters himself, and this is the first time he has been on the hunt at vaernengene. He has heard Mikkel Ousen tell many good stories about the place and wanted to experience it himself.

Mikkel Ousen's first rifle was a wooden toy gun, which he always carried around when he was a child. His present rifle is a gift from his grandfather.

About 25,000 short-billed geese were counted in 2013 at Vaernengene, and the nearby bird sanctuary Tipperne. In Denmark, the stock has been growing rapidly over the past four decades, so there are now 80,000. There are 300 hunting licenses for sale for Vaernengene per year.

According to Mikkel Ousen, the hunt at Vaernengene is the definition of 'real hunting'. The birds that are shot here are wild birds that reap the benefits of nature. It requires some knowledge of the area before it is possible to work out where the geese are flying. They change direction, depending on the wind and weather. It's a bit like finding a needle in a haystack when deciding where to stand at the 2,000-acre hunting area.