– This year there was simply no choice, we just had to cancel, says Vidar Moen. For around 40 years, Moen has hunted in the Årdalsfjella and seen grouse populations in good times and bad. But all in all, there are fewer birds this year than in the past. Bad weather during hatching has produced small grouse litters and poor rearing conditions for the grouse in the area. To give the grouse tribe a chance to get stronger in the spring, they have canceled the hunt. – It would be completely wrong for us to continue hunting now. Were on the red list In 2015, both the mountain grouse and the gray grouse had a short visit to the red list with the status of “Near threatened” before the population recovered and was registered in the species database. And every year, Norwegian mountains are visited by seafarers in search of birds to see how many there are in the mountains. Annually, the Norwegian Mountain Management Association publishes the “Rypeprapporten” which takes the temperature of Norwegian grouse grounds. In this way, local landowners and the mountain councils can plan whether birds can be taken in the hunt. In total, close to 160,000 grouse were killed during the previous hunting season, this year’s count shows a decline in large areas across the whole of southern Norway. In the mountain area in Gudbrandsdalen, few birds have been found, including in Fron where only 32 birds were seen. On Hardangervidda, the Eidfjord mountain management has sold off hunting licenses in the hope of improvement next season. – In Western Norway this year, things are very bad, says Espen Farstad, head of information at the Norwegian Hunting and Fishing Association. NEW CHANCE: – Several of the managers have closed down hunting, and that is actually a good thing, says Farstad. Photo: Sirdalsmedia.no Increase in Northern Norway However, Erlend Nilsen, senior researcher at NINA, can confirm that there are large variations. – Now it is not the case that protection for one year necessarily means that the population explodes and becomes huge, but with a low population there is every reason to be restrictive with hunting. In Northern Norway, and especially Troms and Finnmark, there has been an increase in recent years. In central Norway it has been roughly the same as in previous years and in southern Norway there have been fewer birds in recent years, the researcher says. – There is reason to be careful when thinking about the longer term, says Nilsen. The grouse need good nesting conditions and good weather during hatching, in addition there should be many small rodents in the mountains that predators can feed on instead of grouse chicks. Folkejakta – The grouse hunt is considered to be the folk hunt itself in Norway, and then it is important that we manage the grouse in the right way. Here we are on the right track, says Farstad. Every year, thousands of hunters go to the mountains to hunt small game, says Torgeir Lande, advisor to Norway’s Mountain Management Association. – In a normal year, seals want around 25,000 small game cards, says Lande But it is too early to say how this year’s hunting season will be. – In most areas there are slightly fewer birds than last year, according to the results of the count. Photo: Jonny Ekholm
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Must cancel grouse hunting due to lack of birds – news Vestland
