Stories from Bad Kleinkirchheim

Author: Markus Patscheider

He sits hour after hour without moving on his raised blind, his “weapon” ready and waiting. He’s waiting for just the right moment. Suddenly rustling in the branches and there he is: a powerful stag, as commanding as he is graceful. You only have to get him into your sights and fire. But instead of a bullet, the shiny fur is only hit by the light of the flash. The stag runs away somewhat taken aback and the hunter is pleased. Arno Gruber is a hunter of a different kind. He’s been a member of the Hunting Fraternity in Bad Kleinkirchheim for 50 years, but over the years his interests have changed. The older he gets, the larger his love for nature becomes, not to mention his love for changing the lenses of his Canon Eos-1D.

Arno is an old school friend of Franz Klammer and more or less a piece of history here in Bad Kleinkirchheim. Everybody knows him, everybody likes him. He’s a welcome guest in every bar and restaurant, but generally you only find him running across the slopes, sporting his larger-than-life camera, looking for the perfect picture. Since Arno started shooting exclusively with a flash, his home is probably no longer filled with antlers as trophies – but instead lots of ‘alive’ pictures like this one here. You can’t get more alive than that, can you?!

Image and text courtesy of Markus Patscheider for the editorial team of the website www.badkleinkirchheim.at