Police control elk, deer hunting as season opens this weekend

The Police will organise intensified elk and deer hunting controls in the country this weekend and next weekend, said the National Police Board in a press release on Tuesday.

The controls will take place in collaboration with other wilderness supervision authorities responsible for fishing and hunting issues.

According to the Natural Resources Institute Finland and the Finnish Wildlife Agency, over 116,000 hunters participated in the elk hunt in 2021; the elk accounted for 36,000 shooting licences of the total of 111,00 licences for deer.

During the weekend starting the elk hunting season, the Police will organise intensified elk and deer hunting controls on 1 and 2 October 2022 in the Finnish regions of Lapland, Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu and on 8 and 9 October 2022 in other parts of Finland.

“The controls will have a local and regional focus and concentrate of certain core themes chosen by the Police and other authorities. To target the controls on large masses and regional focal points will have benefits in terms of general visibility and more vigorous prevention,” said Kai Vepsäläinen, Chief Superintendent of the National Police Board.

The elk is the largest and economically most important game in Finland, and the hunting of elk and other deer is more strictly regulated than other forms of hunting.

Vepsäläinen said that the use of robust guns and powerful cartridges and bullets calls for extra attention for safety reasons.

“In fact, the Police focuses the controls not only on the appropriate hunting methods but we are also concerned for the safety of hunting in general. The Police Departments plan their controls in collaboration with other supervisory authorities and target the controls appropriately, using information management methods for the purpose,” Vepsäläinen added.