Hunting and small-game bag 2015

The number of active hunters in 2015 was roughly 202,000 but a total of 306,000 hunters paid the game management fee. There has been a slight decline in the number of active hunters in the past three years.
The black grouse, capercaillie and hazel grouse catch decreased by about 20% from last year and the water bird catch by about 15%. Black grouse catch totalled 105,000 and western capercaillie catch to 28,000.
Mallard accounted for the biggest (249,000) and wood pigeon for the next biggest catch (235,000). In 2015, wood pigeon represented the biggest catch, showing a 13% decrease from the previous year.
Raccoon dog (160,000) and alpine hare (153,000) accounted for the biggest catches in mammals, with the number of raccoon dogs caught falling by 9% and the number of alpine hares by 17% from the previous year.
The information on small-game hunting was collected by means of a sampling survey among those who had paid the game management fee in 2015.