Red deer hunting

Updated: 22 March 2024

Next update: 21 March 2025

The number of red deer shot hunting year
The number of red deer shot hunting year
2023-2024
52 490
 
Red deer felled. Preliminary figures
Red deer felled. Preliminary figures
NumberShareChange in per cent
2023-20242023-20242022-2023 - 2023-20242019-2020 - 2023-2024
Total52 490100.06.413.0
Males
Calf8 82716.89.726.9
Yearlings8 23415.79.45.7
Older8 60016.42.81.7
Females
Calf7 98215.26.022.1
Yearlings8 05615.311.915.5
Older10 79120.61.410.9
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Red deer hunting, by county. Preliminary figures
    Red deer hunting, by county. Preliminary figures
    2023-2024
    Felling licences, red deerFelled red deerMalesFemalesHarvest percentage
    The whole country77 66852 49025 66126 82968
    Viken (2020-2023)1 89076142533640
    Oslo0000.
    Innlandet3 1311 73496377155
    Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023)3 0671 23965758240
    Agder3 1881 81095285857
    Rogaland5 4194 1192 0052 11476
    Vestland35 62326 17612 55413 62273
    Møre og Romsdal17 16911 7585 6206 13868
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage7 9794 8632 4652 39861
    Nordland - Nordlánnda20230201015
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023)0000.
    Explanation of symbols
  • Red deer hunting. Animals felled by county,age and sex. Preliminary figures
    Red deer hunting. Animals felled by county,age and sex. Preliminary figures
    2023-2024
    Felled red deerCalfYearlingsOlder
    TotalMalesFemalesMalesFemalesMalesFemales
    The whole country52 4908 8277 9828 2348 0568 60010 791
    Viken (2020-2023)7619310712375209154
    Oslo0000000
    Innlandet1 734211212300195452364
    Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023)1 239136192169136352254
    Agder1 810273258289246390354
    Rogaland4 119834760652593519761
    Vestland26 1764 5114 0354 2184 3093 8255 278
    Møre og Romsdal11 7581 9691 7291 7261 8401 9252 569
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage4 8637926877506609231 051
    Nordland - Nordlánnda30827256
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023)0000000
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The statistics give an overview of Norwegian red deer hunting. The figures show the number of red deer shot and the number of permissions given, by age and sex. The statistics also comprise figures on estimated carcass weight.

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 25 October 2023.

Hunting ground

The basic territorial unit sanctioned for hunting cervids and allotted felling licences.

Qualifying area

The area forming the basis for hunting licences allotted by the municipalities. For moose and red deer, the area includes mainly woodland and bogs.

Cervids

Cervids includes moose (Alces alces), red deer (Cervus elaphus), wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).

Issued licences

The number of licences allotted to a hunting ground by a municipalitiy.

Cervids felled

The number of cervids felled in regular hunting.

Selective shooting

Licences issued with an obligation for a certain distribution of animals felled, by calf, 1½ year-old animals, adult males and adult females.

Per cent felled

Shot animals as a percentage of licences issued.

The hunting year

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

Hunting period valid until 31 March 2028

The regular hunting period for red deer hunting is 1 September to 23 December.

Name: Red deer hunting
Topic: Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing

21 March 2025

Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics

County and municipality. For the hunting years 2007/08 and 2008/09 figures on municipality level were based on the hunting area where the municipality was responsible for the administration. This area may include area in several municipalities. Previous years, figures on municipality level were based on hunting taking place within the municipality borders. See also 6.1. Since the municipality figures for these two years are not comparable from one year to another, the statistics from the hunting year 2008/09 was published at county level. As from the hunting year 2009/10, the data will be collected and published on municipality level.

The statistics are published annually. Preliminary figures are published in March of the year after the hunt has ended. Final figures are published 10 weeks later.

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 these statistics is to show the extent of red deer hunting in Norway. Statistics on felled animals date back to 1892. Until 1951, the reports were collected from the police and covered all red deer killed, both those that were shot through legal hunting and those that died in other ways, to the extent this was reported. After 1952, the statistics only cover red deer legally killed through ordinary hunting.

The most important users of these statistics are The Norwegian Environment Agency, the County Departments of Environmental Affairs, professional bodies, the media, research and educational institutions and the local wildlife authorities.

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.

Statistics are also published on moose hunting and wild reindeer hunting, as well as Non-harvest mortality of cervids.

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 statistics include all legal hunting of red deer in Norway.

The responsible person for each hunting ground report the results of the hunt to the municipality. The municipality is responsibel for reporting aggregated data for the municipality.

Total census.

The municipal authorities send forms for reporting to the responsible persons in each hunting ground together with the licence. These responsible persons have a duty to report back to the municipality within 10 days after the end of the hunting period. The municipality then has a duty to send reports to Statistics Norway within 3 weeks.

Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data. Sum checks and checks of the number of animals felled compared with licences issued are undertaken. Where necessary, the municipal authorities are contacted to clarify cases of doubt.

The number of felled animals and number of hunting licences are summarised and distributed by country, county and municipality level.

Not relevant

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

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

The statistics are comparable back to 1952.

For the hunting years 2007/08 and 2008/09 figures on municipality level were based on the hunting area where the municipality was responsible for the administration. This area may include hunting area in several municipalities. Previous years, figures on municipality level were based on the hunting area within the municipality. This results in a break in time series for the statistics. Municipalities not managing any hunting area themselves will lack in the statistics for these two years. This change was due to more cooperation between municipalities because of expanding hunting grounds. In the hunting year 2007/08 more than thirty municipalities were affected by this change, and in 2008/09 the municipal figures were not published. As from the hunting year 2009/10, the statistics are collected and published at municipality level.

The report work is closely connected to the municipality's management of the stock of red deer and the data quality is regarded as very good. Some big hunting grounds cross municipal borders. In some cases, this makes it difficult to tell in which municipality some of the animals were felled. The distribution of these animals is determined by the local wildlife authorities. This does not affect the total number of red deer shot.

The level of non-response is negligible. Reporting to Statistics Norway is compulsory for all municipalities. Statistics Norway and the county management remind municipalities that have not forwarded the reports within three weeks after the end of the hunting season. In that way all municipalities are covered.

Not relevant

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