is Hunting a common in your country?

37 comments

1. It is not unpopular, but it is the minority of Danes who hunt. That said, most Danes know one or more persons who hunts.

   Mainly deer, fowl and hares are hunted, deerhunting being by far the most popular, but pheasants and partridges are also common targets, plus all sorts of waterfowl.

   There is somewhat of a social inequality in hunting, since it is somewhat expensive to pay for the hunts, but it isn’t as bad as it used to be. Also, like 90% of hunters are males.

2. It’s popular in rural zones. But not only for locals, plenty of people come from cities to go hunting.

   A lot of people of my hometown hunt. Boar, foxes, rabbits and some species of birds. Mostly the ones who damage the corn, wheat, etc from the fields because we are an agricultural place. Boars and rabbits can and will eat entire fields of left alone.

   Oh, Spain here.

3. It is one of the most hated, and loved hobbies in Malta, they hunt Quails, Turtle Doves and another bird which I can’t remember. Problem is the hobby was more of a collector type thing before, any bird you see, you shoot and then you stuff it and keep it to show to your hunter buddies. This, obviously, has divided the country, a referendum allowing spring hunting to continue was needed to allow hunters to continue. Granted they have strict rules now, amount of birds they are allowed to shoot, what types etc, but most ignore these rules.

4. Considering how much forest and animals we have, it could be more popular. There were 20.177 hunters in 2019. So that’s around 1% of population. Average age was 56,53.

   In 2019 they took out 36.939 roe deer, 4.676 red deer, 499 mouflon, 2.000 chamois, 12.136 wild boar, 15.207 fox, 1.800 hare. They also take out around 100-150 bears each year.

   The game species in Slovenia include red deer, fallow deer, roe deer, chamois, alpine ibex, mouflon, wild boar, brown hare, alpine marmot, edible dormouse, nutria, muskrat, fox, raccoon dog, jackal, pine marten, stone marten, badger, grey partridge, common pheasant, mallard duck, jay, magpie and hooded crow.

   Representatives of large carnivores – bear, wolf and lynx – are not referred to as game. Large carnivores are managed by the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.

   You need a licence to hunt. Foreign hunters can hunt only under auspices and responsibility of a local licensed hunter.

5. Not at all. Not a lot to hunt over here.

   I’m aware they exist but I know nobody who does.

   I alslo know that what you can hunt or not will change depending on necessities. Hunters are more seen as people who keep the balance in nature here.

   Europeans have generally a lot of reguations on handguns and such. Not on shotguns and hunting rifles.

   The big difference is basically “I need it to defend myself” isn’t a reason.

   Hunting or sport is a reason. Hence you can get it rather easily at that point. Do expect plenty of evaluations though of course. Especially psychological ones.

6. No it isn’t. Germany is way too densely populated. We don’t have much (any?) wild nature that isn’t a regulated reserve.

   Hunting is also very much regulated. You need a license and obviously have to adhere to the hunting seasons at what not.

7. Not as uncommon as some people people might think. It’s not uncommon for people to shoot rabbits or water fowl. The only controversial thing is fox hunting which is a bunch of rich people and chasing a fox on horses until it’s mauled to death by dogs.

8. I think it is, most adults will know one or more people that hunt. Though i do live in a suburban area so maybe it’s different in bigger cities?

9. It is traditional thing here, but culturally very different than in other countries with wild nature. Hunting here is only one aspect of it, there are other activities that ‘myslivci’ do. They feed their animals in winter, they keep them overpopulated. They are very organized group, they have social gatherings like balls, they are tied to specific location where they oversee the forest.

   They work closely with ‘hajny’ – a person employed by forest owners, who manages the forest

10. In the Czech Republic, in order to be eligible for hunting, you have to pass multiple exams for licenses (such as gun license, hunting card and myslivec card) in order to become a “myslivec”. It’s not only about hunting, it’s about taking care of the woods, feeding the animals in the winter and so. Hunting is allowed only on overpopulated species, that mostly includes boars, deers and pheasants. To be completely honest, I like it that way, I hate when hunting is treated like a hobby or fun. It’s killing living things.

11. Not super common, but the cantons of Valais and Graubünden have a strong hunting tradition. In other cantons, it’s a small minority of people who do. I think one reason are different systems.

    In some cantons like Graubünden, you lease a “Patent” and have the right to hunt a fixed amount of animals anywhere within the canton except sanctuaries during the season (two weeks in September). This system is practiced in alpine and non-German cantons.

    In Geneva, hunting is forbidden except for the public game wardens.

    In the other cantons, you may only hunt within a territory that is leased to a hunting company of which you need to be a member or be invited by them.

    Most popular is red deer and roe deer. These meats are also very popular with non-hunters, and you can get them in supermarkets and restaurants. Then, boar. If you’re lucky you can get ibex and chamoix at the butcher’s, otherwise you need to know somebody. Chamoix is reeealy good, very tender and flavourful. Ibex is good to, but makes your chest hair grow. Marmot is kinda popular in Graubünden, but a taboo in Valais. Its fat is used in popular medicine for salves, and the meat is supposed to be like a tasty, gamey rabbit.

12. is this patent a private land lease, or just permission to use public land with other patent holders

13. Depends on the sort of hunting, we’ve sort of split into hunting, shooting and stalking (UK terminology).

    Hunting: The rich folk with the red jackets on horseback watching foxes get torn apart by beagles. Pretty controversial, only popular in certain circles.

    Shooting: Using shotguns on birds (pheasants, grouse, ducks mostly), generally working alongside dogs. Reasonably popular in rural areas, I know some people who do it. I’ve often thought about getting involved in the picking up side with my dog but only really for “rough shooting”, I’ve no interest in the big formal driven shoots with those wealthy types.

    Stalking: Hunting deer with rifles. More common further north but it happens throughout the country as it helps with deer over-population. I actually find the deer stalking side really interesting and would consider learning, I’m not as interested in actually shooting a deer though as I don’t eat a lot of venison.

14. In some parts,yes.

    Obviously much more in rural areas than in urban ones.I don’t know anyone here in the city who hunts,or if they do they never mentioned it ;-)It is not a popular or well thought of activity here.

    But in the countryside it still exists.It is regulated.It is not usually seen as a sport,but as a way to control wildlife populations,or for food.

    I think people who shoot birds are far less common than used to be the case.There are hunting groups in the hills near here who shoot wild boar,as there is a large over population of those animals.

15. Hunting is very popular here in Finland. I read somewhere we are among the highest per capita gun owners in Europe.
    Moose, deer, boar, bears, wolves, ducks etc are hunted.

16. Not very, there are about 27,000 hunters in the Netherlands (on a 17,000,000 population). In the Netherlands, you need to either own a hunting area or lease the hunting rights. To get a hunting license, you need to pass a number of exams about hunting and environmental laws, animal behavior and firearm safety. You also need to pass a firearms proficiency exam.

    Species hunted are hare, rabbit, pheasant, common wood pigeon and partridge. Also geese, wild boar, roe deer, red deer and fallow deer.

17. I highly doubt it is in Flander since it’s practially all urban.

    Definitely possible that it’s more common in Wallonia since they have vast lands of emptyness.

18. It is fairly common in Finland, especially in rural areas but there are people who live in cities that hunt too. [According to the Finnish Wildlife Agency](https://riista.fi/en/hunting/) there are 300,000 hunters in Finland.

    And what people hunt [depends on the season](https://riista.fi/en/hunting/open-seasons/). The hunters that I know usually hunt moose and waterfowls.

19. What’s common for you? Of course the vast majority of people in a modern postindustrial society don’t hunt their own food anymore. But it’s common enough that hunting blinds are a common sight. Let’s just say it’s normal and no one bats an eye.

20. More common than what most urban people would imagine. The traditional hunting on horseback with a pack of hounds is technically illegal but carries on and is widely hated by most since it is a very ‘upper class’ activity. Other illegal hunting with dogs is more common than people would think with people hunting badgers and foxes with Patterdale Terriers, this is universally condemned for many reasons as well.

    Deer Stalking is common in the Highlands and is needed due to a lack of predators of any kind, in an ideal scenario, there would be lynxes, wolves and bears but these were hunted into extinction hundreds of years ago.

21. only rich people in private terrains in the ardennes

22. Fairly popular in Sweden, we do after all have 68% forest area. Finland has slightly more forest, Norway has less, but both of those countries have more guns per capita than we do. Hunting is fairly big in those countries as well.

    All kinds of game is being hunted, but deer and moose is popular. We have a fairly hefty moose population in Sweden. Also boar, various birds, etc.

23. They often try to hunt Polish boars, which are apparently very easy to confuse with dogs, houses, various protected species, and people.

24. It is quite common.

    We have a pretty cool thing where we use a lot of dogs in hunting. A lot.

    Most hunting is done on red deer, fallow deer, roe deer and moose. Also a lot of boar, fowl such as various geese, mallards, capercaillie, ptarmigans, pheasant, grouse and various mustelids such as mink. Fox, hares and rabbits are also common animals for hunting.

    Some animals are also shot especially for protection such as bears, wolves and seals.

25. It is an elite activity for the most part. It is seen as a social networking activity like playing Golf. Main game hunted are deer, mainly stags for their trophy, also phaesants and boar (though it’s not advised to eat the latters meat due to the nuclear residue after Chernobyl).

26. Pretty common. In the past there was strong connection between local cooperative farms and hunters. Many people were both. Nowadays not so much, only cooperation I see is when they harvest “paths” in the corn, so hunters can see the boars. Boars love corn.

    Hunters here mainly hunt boars, rabbits, roe deers and pheasants(usually they release them and than hunt). Ofc nowadays most hunters are upper middle class people.

    Big hunts around here typically start late October and end early December. In the recent years there were usually only 2 big hunts and since 2020, only 1.

27. My dad is a hunter, he always used to take me with him. I enjoyed spending time with him outside. We live in a more rural part of Germany and some people hunt as a hobby.

28. Not common, but when people do go hunting it’s mainly pheasant hunting.

29. My father is a hunter so my viewpoint is pretty skewed but hunting seems quite popular in Luxembourg. Entry is pretty complicated and well regulated and licenses require exams and apprenticeships but many people still go through all of that and many more are just in the same social circle and participate only in battue hunting.

    Hunting rights are distributed through bids that change all four years (? don’t quote me there). Obtaining a bid means a hunter has to regulate local wildlife and if he fails to do so pay expenses to local farms who lost some of their harvest to deer and boar. The amount of game that can be shot is regulated through marks that limit what number of what game can be shot. However on allowance of the holder of the bid any hunter may hunt on the bid.

30. I mean, yeah. Only for a strict period of time. Boar, foxes, deer and some birds is the most popular game.

31. Unfortunately yes. There are quite often people killed or injured because of them and they sometimes go in individual houses gardens with their dogs, I already saw that

32. Yes, it is quite common. I would not say it is very popular, but we have a lot of nature and most people have cabins, and it is fairly popular in season. It is also kind of important that people to hunt so that we can control the population of elks, deer and etc.

33. Ye its common. I live in Stockholm and my relatives came here to hunt just outside the city for wild boars.

34. It’s still pretty common. In my area the Hunters mostly hunt boars, deers and rabbits.

    My dad is a farmer and boars like to his in corn fields, so whenever they are out and harvesting corn, the hunters aren’t that far away.

35. Yes it’s popular, mainly wild boars, various kinds of birds, hares, foxes exc.

36. Well my dad, brother, grandpa, neighbor and another neighbor all hunt moose so at least regionally it is somewhat popular

37. Really depends on how far away from Moscow you are. In Central Russia stalking deer or boar is a huge hassle, as you have to apply and pay for a quota and then hunt on private hunting reserves. The reserves usually only offer driven hunt, which is like target shooting with more hassle. In addition, calibre restrictions are getting weirder and weirder every year. You are basically pushed towards hunting fowl with birdshot.

    If you are in some small Siberian town, hunting is much more normalized, there’s enough wilderness around to hunt on to avoid private reserves and game wardens and national guardsmen are more chill about quotas and firearms, since they know most hunters personally.