Hunting Districts and Bylaws

What Norwegian law says about the vald and the large vald (storvald), which rights the landowner keeps inside it, and what has to go in the bylaws because the law does not say.

A common conflict in a vald is hunters acting as if they own land that is not theirs. The law says a lot about the vald's dealings with the municipality, but little about the relationship between the landowners and the hunters. Whatever the law leaves out has to be in the bylaws or in an agreement. Otherwise it is not settled.

In short

  • A vald is an area the municipality has approved for hunting moose, red deer or roe deer (deer regulation § 2). It is an area, not an organisation.
  • The landowner still holds the hunting right on their own land (Wildlife Resources Act § 33). Joining a vald does not move it to the vald or to the hunting team.
  • The law governs the vald's dealings with the municipality: the vald contact, the application, the felling permit and reporting.
  • Who hunts where, how the animals are shared and how the money is divided is not in the law. It has to be in the bylaws or in an agreement.
  • Storvald is not a legal term. It is used for large valds with many properties, and for several valds working together on a management plan.

What the law decides, and what you have to decide

The law decidesThe bylaws or the agreement decide
That the hunting right belongs to the landownerWho hunts on which property
That the vald is connected and large enoughHunting fields, and which teams use them
That the holders of hunting rights appoint a vald contactHow the vald contact is chosen, and what they can decide alone
That the felling permit goes to the valdHow the animals are shared between hunting fields and teams
That the felling fee applies to the valdWho pays it, and how income and costs are shared
Deadlines for application, withdrawal and reportingInternal deadlines, voting rules and what happens after a breach
That the hunting right cannot be separated from the property for more than ten years at a timePrice, length and termination within those ten years

What the law says about the vald

The rules are in the regulation on the management of deer, which still applies under the Wildlife Resources Act.

  • The vald is an area. It is an area the municipality has approved for deer hunting (§ 2). A hunting field is a smaller area inside the vald that the holders of hunting rights have marked out themselves. A holder of a hunting right is anyone with the hunting right on a property, and that is the landowner unless something else has been decided.
  • Connected and large enough. The vald must be one connected area with at least as much counted area as the minimum area (§ 9).
  • Vald contact. The holders of hunting rights appoint a vald contact (valdansvarlig) who acts for the vald towards the municipality (§ 9). The regulation does not say how that person is chosen, or what they can decide internally.
  • Application by 1 May. The application must include a map, a list of the properties and a signature from whoever represents each property (§ 10).
  • The felling permit covers the whole vald. The municipality sends it to the vald contact by 15 June (§ 18).
  • Withdrawal by 1 April. A holder of hunting rights who wants to take a property out of the vald gives written notice to the vald contact, with a copy to the municipality (§ 11).
  • Unclear rights. The municipality can withdraw its approval and require a new application if it is unclear who holds the rights in the vald (§ 11).
  • Reporting within 14 days. The vald contact reports the animals taken to the municipality within 14 days after the hunt ends (§ 32).
  • Felling fee. The municipal felling fee for moose and red deer applies to the vald (regulation on wildlife funds and felling fees § 6).

The large vald (storvald)

Storvald is not a term in the law. The word is used for two things:

  • One large vald with many properties, often split into hunting fields with a team each. To the municipality it is one vald with one vald contact.
  • Several valds working together in a management plan area (bestandsplanområde). It must have at least 20 times the minimum area and its own representative towards the municipality (deer regulation § 12).

A management plan area can apply for a management plan for moose or red deer for up to five years. The plan must describe how the animals are shared between the valds each year (§ 15). That is one of the few places where the law requires the split to be written down. If one vald is to use its animals in another vald in the area, that requires a written joint hunting agreement (§ 19).

The law does not say how a large vald is organised. Many are an association with bylaws. There is no separate act for valds or for associations, so the bylaws are what applies between the members. If the large vald is organised as a cooperative or a limited company, the Cooperatives Act or the Companies Act applies as well.

The landowner's rights inside the vald

  • The hunting right stays with the property. The landowner has the exclusive right to hunt on their land (Wildlife Resources Act § 33). Signing the vald application makes the property part of the vald towards the municipality. Who may hunt there is for the landowner to decide, through the bylaws or an agreement.
  • Ten years at a time. If the vald, the association or a hunting team leases the hunting right from the landowner, it cannot be separated from the property for more than ten years at a time (§ 35).
  • No subletting without consent. Whoever leases the hunting right cannot lease it on without the landowner's consent (§ 35).
  • The landowner can ask to see the hunting fee. Hunters must carry proof of the paid hunting fee and show it to the landowner, or someone acting for the landowner, when asked (§ 16).
  • The landowner decides over the property otherwise. The hunting right is a right to hunt. It does not automatically include a right to put up towers and stands, cut shooting lanes or use cabins and roads. The landowner has to agree to that.
  • Game taken unlawfully. Deer taken unlawfully belong to the municipality. If someone else took the animal unlawfully during the season, the municipality can hand the animal or its value to the holder of the hunting right, deducted from their quota (§ 51).

When hunters overstep

  • Hunting on land they have not been given. The felling permit applies across the whole vald, but that does not mean everyone in the vald may hunt on every property. Who hunts where follows from the bylaws and the agreements. Breaching the landowner's exclusive right can be punished with a fine (Wildlife Resources Act § 60).
  • Guests and reselling. A hunting team that has leased hunting cannot sell or lease it on without the landowner's consent (§ 35). Whether the team may bring guests is something the agreement should say.
  • Towers, shooting lanes and driving. Agree in advance what is allowed. The regulations allow moose, red deer and wild boar that have been shot to be driven out with a motor vehicle on bare ground (regulation on motor vehicles in the outfield § 2). The landowner can still ban or limit motor traffic on their property (Motor Traffic Act § 10).
  • The wrong animal, or too many. Hunting moose, red deer and roe deer requires a felling permit (Wildlife Resources Act § 42). An animal the permit does not cover is taken unlawfully, which can lead to a fine or prison (§ 60). The municipality owns the animal, and if the holder of the hunting right took it, it still counts against the quota (§ 51). The agreement should say who carries the loss.
  • Not reporting. The vald contact has 14 days (deer regulation § 32). Without reporting, the municipality can refuse or withdraw a management plan (§ 34). Give the hunting teams a shorter deadline in the bylaws.
  • Damage to whoever uses the land. If the landowner has given the hunting right to someone other than the person using the land, such as a tenant farmer, the landowner is also liable for damage the hunting causes that user (Wildlife Resources Act § 35). The agreement should say the hunting team covers damage it has caused.

What the bylaws should cover

  • Who is in: the properties with their farm and holding numbers and the counted area of each, how a new property joins, and how a property leaves, with deadlines that fit 1 April.
  • Who decides: annual meeting and board, who the vald contact is and how they are chosen, votes per property or by area, and what majority is needed to change the bylaws.
  • Who hunts where: hunting fields and their boundaries, which teams use them, whether the landowners themselves come first, and rules for guests.
  • Sharing the animals: how the felling permits are shared between hunting fields or teams, and what happens with animals that are not taken.
  • Money: lease price or harvest fee, who pays the felling fee, and how income and costs are shared between the landowners. Many share by each property's part of the counted area.
  • Meat: who gets the meat, and whether the landowners get a share.
  • Rules for the hunt: dogs, motor traffic, towers and stands, shooting lanes, bait, cabins, roads and barriers.
  • Tracking: who provides an approved tracking dog, and who covers the costs.
  • Reporting: internal deadlines so the vald contact meets the 14-day deadline, and recording of moose and red deer seen.
  • Breaches: what happens after a wrong animal is shot, hunting outside the field or other rule breaches, and who pays.
  • Disputes and dissolution: how disagreements are resolved, and what happens to the vald if the association is dissolved.

When the landowners cannot agree

  • Leaving the vald. The regulation says how a property is withdrawn towards the municipality (deer regulation § 11). Whether the landowner is bound towards the others, for example by a lease that runs for several years, is decided by the bylaws and the agreement.
  • The land consolidation court. Anyone who owns real property or holds a right attached to it can bring a case to the land consolidation court (jordskifteretten) (Land Consolidation Act § 1-5). The court can set or change rules for shared use between properties and limit where a right of use can be exercised (§ 3-8). It can also set up an association and lay down its bylaws (§ 3-10). The condition is that at least one property is hard to use in a suitable way (§ 3-2). If the court has decided something about the hunting right, that takes precedence over the ten-year rule and the rule that whoever uses the property holds the hunting right (Wildlife Resources Act § 35).

See also Hunting leases and settlement and Landowner rights.

Sources

This page is an overview and not legal advice. If in doubt, the text of the law applies. Checked against Lovdata on 3 November 2026.