Small game and roe deer hunting

Updated: 1 September 2023

Next update: 28 August 2024

Grouse shot in the hunting year
Grouse shot in the hunting year
2022-2023
157 500
Number of roe deer and selected small game species harvested
Number of roe deer and selected small game species harvested
NumberPer cent
2022-20232021-2022 - 2022-20232017-2018 - 2022-2023
Willow Ptarmigan109 700-4.22.3
Ptarmigan47 8006.7-19.8
Capercaillie7 560-14.2-22.5
Black Grouse15 950-15.2-18.9
Wood Pigeon32 110-10.9-7.7
Mallard6 860-12.6-46.4
Mountain Hare14 3103.34.3
Red fox19 610-6.811.9
Roe deer32 900-5.1-1.1
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Number of woodland birds and wood pigeon harvested
    Number of woodland birds and wood pigeon harvested
    CapercaillieBlack GrouseHazel GrouseWood Pigeon
    2013-20147 40014 6201 40043 690
    2014-20159 18020 1202 04039 960
    2015-20164 60013 1501 14039 460
    2016-20177 71016 2701 28037 570
    2017-20189 76019 6601 61034 800
    2018-201913 09019 9302 29029 580
    2019-20206 70013 9401 97032 420
    2020-20219 49018 1801 81033 660
    2021-20228 81018 8002 24036 040
    2022-20237 56015 9501 70032 110
    2022-2023
    Viken1 0702 41029016 270
    Oslo2070:70
    Innlandet3 1304 6403108 130
    Vestfold og Telemark3201 270404 070
    Agder2401 850:1 280
    Rogaland:120:930
    Vestland150200:100
    Møre og Romsdal30270:180
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage1 9903 8408601 000
    Nordland - Nordlánnda22080013080
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku37046030:
    Unknown hunting county::-:
    Explanation of symbols
  • Grouse bag. County
    Grouse bag. County
    Willow PtarmiganPtarmigan
    2013-201499 85051 700
    2014-2015140 00082 450
    2015-2016111 45063 500
    2016-2017118 10063 800
    2017-2018107 20059 600
    2018-2019124 00057 900
    2019-2020104 20045 100
    2020-2021126 80049 700
    2021-2022114 50044 800
    2022-2023109 70047 800
    2022-2023
    Viken7 3001 500
    Oslo--
    Innlandet13 5002 000
    Vestfold og Telemark2 6001 300
    Agder4 8002 200
    Rogaland8001 400
    Vestland3 4004 700
    Møre og Romsdal1 4002 600
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage36 2009 400
    Nordland - Nordlánnda13 3009 400
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku26 40013 300
    Unknown hunting county0:
    Explanation of symbols
  • Number og mallards and greylag geese shot. County
    Number og mallards and greylag geese shot. County
    MallardGreylag Goose
    2013-201413 60015 690
    2014-201515 20016 140
    2015-201613 47019 020
    2016-201711 51014 720
    2017-201812 79015 460
    2018-201910 70015 630
    2019-20209 49015 300
    2020-20219 89013 160
    2021-20227 85012 840
    2022-20236 86012 250
    2022-2023
    Viken1 5301 990
    Oslo--
    Innlandet990260
    Vestfold og Telemark6701 030
    Agder880830
    Rogaland710490
    Vestland370410
    Møre og Romsdal2701 470
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage9603 210
    Nordland - Nordlánnda3301 480
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku1701 090
    Unknown hunting county:-
    Explanation of symbols
  • Number of roe deer shot. County
    Number of roe deer shot. County
    Roe deer
    2014-201525 710
    2015-201626 590
    2015-201627 700
    2016-201730 380
    2017-201833 280
    2018-201929 520
    2019-202031 920
    2020-202134 300
    2021-202234 670
    2022-202332 900
    2022-2023
    Viken9 270
    Oslo70
    Innlandet3 710
    Vestfold og Telemark4 170
    Agder4 890
    Rogaland1 750
    Vestland240
    Møre og Romsdal1 580
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage5 980
    Nordland - Nordlánnda1 240
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku:
    Unknown hunting county:
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The purpose of the statistics is to provide information about harvested small game, wild boar and roe deer.

Small game

The species included in the statistics on small game hunting. Includes 40 species of smal game, wild boar and roe deer.

The hunting year

One hunting year lasts as from 1 April as to 31 March the following year.

Hunting licence fee

Persons intending to hunt in Norway must pay a hunting license fee to the Wildlife found. The fee covers the full hunting year. Payment of the fee is a prerequisite for hunting, but does not confer the right to hunt in any specific area.

The register of hunters

The Register of Hunters registers those who are licensed to hunt game in Norway. The register also provides an overview of the payment of the hunting licence fee, an annual fee for those who wish to engage in hunting. For more information, see the homepage of The Norwegian Register of Hunters .

Name: Small game and roe deer hunting
Topic: Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing

28 August 2024

Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics

Municipality.

Annually, the statistics are published five months after the hunting year has ended.

Not relevant

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The purpose of the statistics is to obtain an overview of a number of small game species and roe deer felled during ordinary hunting. The statistics on small game hunting date back to the hunting year 1971/1972. For the period 1971/1972 - 1992/1993 the statistics refer to a random sample among persons who have paid game conservation tax, later hunting license fee, for the hunting year. As from the hunting year 1993/1994 all hunters who paid the hunting tax were requested to report yield of small game hunting. Due to low return of reports, comprehensive calculations have been necessary to give total estimates. An amendment of section 50 in The Wildlife Act from the 30th of June 2000 gave the Directorate for Nature Management legal authority to fine hunters not reporting. From 2000/2001 the hunter's duty to report has thus become more real and from the hunting year 2001/2002 the response rate has been higher than 90 per cent.

From 1927 to 1984 the roe deer statistics were initially based on reports from the police, and later on from the municipal wildlife boards. From 1984/1985 the roe deer statistics are based on data obtained in the survey for small game hunting. The estimated figures will always have an element of uncertainty.

The statistics are commissioned by The Norwegian Environment Agency, and are an important tool in national management of small game. Major users are central and local wildlife management, research and educational institutions, media and interest groups and interested hunters.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

There are publised statistics over numbers of persons who have paid the hunting licence fee and active hunters

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

Not relevant

The population is defined by the Register of Hunters, and includes all hunters who have paid the hunting tax. The analysis unit is felled small game and the collection unit are the hunters.

Everyone who has paid the hunting tax for the relevant hunting year must report for the same year.

Every single hunter must submit a report to Statistics Norway by 1 May on the report form provided or by the Internet.

Regular control and revision steps are carried out on the incoming material. During optical scanning all forms are tested against the Register of hunters. The forms are checked for absolute and possible errors, and errors are correct during the revision of the forms. Examples of possible errors include abnormally high felling numbers and data on species outside their normal range.

Number of felled small game and roe deer are summarized and distributed by county and municipality.

Not relevant

Interviewers and everyone who works at Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality. Statistics Norway has its own data protection officer.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures where there is a risk of identifying individual data about persons or households [enter the correct unit here, where applicable].

The ‘uppression and rounding up/down method is used in these statistics to ensure this.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

In consequence of the changed calculation routine, there are breaks in the time series in 1993/1994, 1999/2000 and 2001/2002. It is assumed that the last two breaks have had marginal impact on the results.

From 1927 to 1984 the roe deer statistics were initially based on reports from the police, and later on from the municipal wildlife boards. For 1984-1986 roe deer statistics were suspended because the traditional way of collecting data severely underestimated the yield. From 1987 the roe deer statistics are based on data obtained in the survey for small game hunting. The figures for these years are not comparable with results from earlier years.

The data are checked for absolute and possible errors, but in some cases data on species outside their normal range are not detected. Some reports lack the county of hunting. In these cases the hunter's county of residense are chosen, provided that the species is normally widespread in this county.

In some cases will species be reported in wrong hunting county. Other sources of errors include missing or incorrectly filled out information from the respondent and errors occurring during the optical reading of the report form.

As from the hunting year 2001/2002 the response rate has been higher than 90 per cent, and corrections because of non-response have not been carried out. It is reason to believe that the numbers of hunters without yield, or with very limited yield, is considerably larger among that hunters not reporting than among these reporting. Consequently, the effect of non-response for the number of animals felled should be less than for non-reporting hunters.

As to the hunting year 2000/2001 the yield was estimated by different methods. For some species at the county or municipality level there will be variations that can in part be due the calculation routines employed. This applies particularly to species with limited ranges.

The municipality statistics are estimated by what is reported via the Internet and this reports are the sample survey. Therefore, only municipalities numbers for these municipalities are estimated. It can also be felled species in municipalities that are not included in the statistics as they are reported on paper forms. In such cases, the municipality numbers in that county will be over estimated.

In addition, the figures may be affected by errors because of incorrect and missing data.

Not relevant

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