Hunting 2023

A total of 302,113 hunters paid the annual game management fee in 2023. Around 186,000 of them hunted. The number of hunters has been decreasing since early 2010s.

• The grouse bag of 2023 decreased compared to previous year. Around 108,000 black grouse, 30,000 capercaillies, 25,000 hazel grouse and 31,000 willow grouse were bagged in 2023.
• Mallard is by far the most hunted waterfowl in Finland, followed by teal. In 2023, a total of 114,000 mallard and 52,000 teal were bagged. Mallard bag decreased compared to 2022, while teal bag increased.
• The most hunted game was the wood pigeon (242,000 birds). The average wood pigeon bag was 11 birds per successful hunter.
• The raccoon dog bag was around 133,000 animals, and a total of 31,000 mink, 46,000 foxes, 16,000 pine martens and 9,000 badgers were bagged.
• For the first time, the brown hare bag reached the same level as the mountain hare bag. Around 73 000 individuals of both species were bagged.
• The moose harvest was 32,345 animals. The white-tailed deer harvest was 59,195 animals.
• There were around 149,000 small-game hunters, including around 56,000 waterfowl hunters and around 95,000 grouse hunters. The total number of moose and deer hunters was around 112,000.
• The game harvest resulted in around 7 million kilos of carcass meat, of which more than half was moose meat. The nominal value of the game meat was around EUR 55 million.

Information about the statistics

• The information concerning species within the scope of a hunting permit and the reporting obligation (including deer, large carnivores, grey seals, otters and European polecats, as well as long-tailed duck, goosander, common eider, wigeon, northern pintail, northern shoveler, tufted duck, greylag goose and bean goose) has been obtained from the Finnish Wildlife Agency and reported at the accuracy of individual animals. (Other species are reported at the accuracy of 100 animals.)
• The statistics were compiled based on a survey mailed to 9,475 hunters. The response rate was 56 %. The exceptionally large game bag of some hunters causes uncertainty in harvest estimates, especially at regional level. The reliability of the harvest estimates is usually higher for the most commonly hunted species than for less frequently hunted species.

Because the data collection method changed for certain waterfowl in 2020 due to bag reporting obligation, their bag quantities are not comparable with the estimates presented in the statistics before 2020.