Red deer hunting, 2003, preliminary figures

Except for a couple of periods with stagnation, there has been an increase in the felling of red deer in Norway since the early 1950's The largest increase has, however, occurred in recent years, and in the period 1991-2003 the yield increased by an average of 1 100 animals every year.

A total felling quota of 36 600 animals were allocated for the deer hunting in 2003, of which 68 per cent were felled. A total of 5 900 calves, 7 600 younger animals (1 ½ years of age) and 11 700 older animals were felled in the autumn of 2003.

From 2002-2003 as much as 76 per cent of the increase on a national level came from the three counties of Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane and Sør-Trøndelag.

Sogn og Fjordane the biggest deer county

Regarding the number of hunting licenses and number of animals felled, Sogn og Fjordane is still the largest "red deer county". Nearly 1/3 of all red deer shot inn 2003 were felled in Sogn og Fjordane. Totally, 11 600 permissions were issued, and 8 600 animals were felled. In the counties of Møre og Romsdal and Hordaland 7 000 and 5 000 animals were felled respectively.

Sogn og Fjordane county also have the highest score measured by dividing the number of red deer felled by the size of the qualifying hunting area. In average, 11.4 animals were shot per 10 squarekilometres of qualifying hunting area in 2003.

Tables:

• Table 1 Red deer hunting, by county. 2002-2003*
• Table 2 Red deer hunting, by county, age and sex