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Hunting in Finland
Finland is about 1 200 km long and 600 km wide. Finland´s area is 338,145 km2, 69% of which is made up of forests, 8% of farmland, 13% of other land and 10% of water. While most of the country´s forests are part of the coniferous forest zone, those in the southernmost part belong to the deciduous zone, and in the north to the tundra zone.
Finland features countless bodies of water, 188 000 of which are lakes. The archipelagos off the coast of Finland are beautiful, and the islands numerous. There are 81 000 islands altogether in the archipelagos of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia.
Finland´s northern location and length mean that the living conditions of game vary greatly in the different regions of the country. Only relatively few game animal species can endure the rugged landscape and severe winters. The game densities are much smaller than, for example, in Central Europe. There is great variation at regular intervals, especially in the population densities of small game species.
The main game species are the capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, willow grouse, northern hare, brown hare, moose and white-tailed deer and, among waterfowl, the mallard. Fur game include the fox, racoon dog, badger, mink, beaver, muskrat and pine marten. Bears, wolves and lynx belong to large predators.
Game species in Finland
Hunting seasons in Finland
There are around 300 000 hunters in Finland who pay the annual game management fee (i.e. hunting card). Women make up three percent of this number. A total of six percent of the population of Finland hold a hunting card, which is more than anywhere else in Europe when compared to the size of the population.
In order to hunt in Finland each hunter must have:
