Active hunters, 2015/2016

In recent years, fewer and fewer grouses have been harvested, and the hunting bag has been at a record low. As a result of the decreasing population of grouse, the landowners in many places have limited the number of hunters. A total of 40 900 hunters went grouse hunting in 2015/2016, which is a decrease of 8 800 hunters from the previous hunting year. As a result of fewer grouse hunters, the number of small game hunters in general also decreased.

94 100 cervid hunters

A total of 94 100 persons hunted cervids in 2015/2016. Although more red deer than moose are being shot, there are considerably fewer red deer hunters than moose hunters. The number of moose hunters has remained stable, and in the last hunting year 61 600 hunted moose. A total of 46 400 hunters participated in red deer hunting. The third most frequent type of hunting was roe deer hunting, which engaged 41 500 hunters, 14 700 of whom had yield from the hunt. The cervid species with the lowest permitted number of hunters is wild reindeer, and only 11 100 people took part in wild reindeer hunting in autumn 2015.

Share of women is slowly increasing

In the hunting year of 1971/1972, less than half a per cent of the hunters were women. In recent decades, the number of female hunters has increased slowly, and in the last hunting year 9 000 of the hunters were women, which corresponds to 6.5 per cent of all hunters.

Most hunters in rural areas

At a national level, 6 per cent of the male population went hunting during the hunting year 2015/2016. The share of hunters is higher in rural areas than in urban areas and cities. In some rural municipalities more than 40 per cent of the male population over 16 years old go hunting. Among the male population in Oslo, only 3 per cent went hunting.