Authorities say that Laplanders led the way, having been granted a record number of elk hunting permits.

From 7.00 am Saturday morning the Petäjäinen Hunt Club gathered at the village of Jaatila near Rovaniemi to prepare for this autumn’s first hunt. One of the 30 active elk trackers was Heikki Alaruikka, a long-time hunter.

“When you’ve done this for 60 years, you develop a passion for it. At 4.30 this morning I was already awake and had made my morning coffee,” Alaruikka explained.

These hunters are a typical crowd, with the average age around 50. However Juuso-Antto Tikkala is barely in his twenties. “Not all city folk can appreciate these things, but I do. My mind is at peace here in the forest,” he said.

Stock Control by Way of Hunting Permits

This year the 100,000 hunters with elk hunting permits will take aim at about 70,000 animals. Particularly in northern Finland, one goal of the hunting season is to manage the elk population to help prevent animal-related accidents.

In Lapland alone, hunters were granted a record 12,700 hunting permits to cull 15,228 animals. This is twenty percent more than last year.

Game manager and ranger Esa Hirvaskari was on hand to follow the group’s first kill. An 18-month-old male at the edge of a fell of lumber remained in sight for some time before anyone dared to test the range.

“I aimed at it for a long time, but the tree rods were blocking me. Then when it moved behind the trees a bit, I took a shot and got it on the first shot,” said one lucky hunter.

The Petäjäinen hunters have a quota of 28 animals this season – nearly one for each member of the group. With so many animals to cull, what started as a hobby could soon turn into real work, said Hirvaskari.