Wounded Game Tracking Obligations

Legal obligations when tracking wounded game.

The duty to search is set out in § 22 of the Wildlife Resources Act (viltressursloven), which has applied since 1 July 2026.

What the law requires

• Check whether you hit. Anyone who shoots at game while hunting must make sure whether the animal was hit.
• Put a wounded animal down. A wounded animal must be put down as soon as possible, with a lawful hunting weapon and in a responsible and safe way.
• Start a search. If you do not find the animal when you examine the place of the shot and the area around it, and you cannot rule out a hit, you must start a search.
• Stop hunting. You must not hunt new animals while the search is going on.
• The hunting team shares the duty. If you hunt as part of a team, the duties apply to the team too.

Deer, wild boar and mouflon

• If the animal has not been found by the end of the day it was wounded, you must notify the municipality.
• You must carry out the search without payment until the animal has been put down or found dead, or until the municipality decides the search ends.
• The municipality may take charge or assist. After it has ended the search, it may start a public search (§ 55).

Lynx

When searching for a wounded lynx, you must notify the county governor (statsforvalteren) and the nearest police at once. If the animal has not been found by the end of the day, you must also notify the municipality. The county governor decides how the search continues, and you must assist without payment.

Onto the neighbour's land

You may follow wounded big game onto land where others hold the hunting right, until the end of the day the animal entered it, unless the municipality extends that. Tell the landowner and the municipality as soon as possible (§ 23). When searching for big game in season, you may use a drone, but the landowner, the police and the municipality must then be notified (§ 29).

Tracking dog

When hunting moose, red deer and roe deer, the hunting team, or a hunter on their own, must have access to an approved tracking dog. If the dog is not along on the hunt, access must be secured in a written agreement, so that the dog can arrive within a reasonable time after the shot (regulation on the practice of hunting § 23).

For small game a tracking dog is not required, but you still have a duty to look for game you hit and put it down.

How to go about it

Mark the place of the shot. Wait (30 minutes after a lung shot, 4 to 6 hours after a gut shot). Walk to the place of the shot and look for signs. Call in a tracking dog if needed.

The duty applies even when it costs you: spend the time and resources needed to find the animal, even if it means the rest of the hunt is called off.

Breaching the duty

A breach can lead to an infringement fine (§ 58), or a fine or up to one year in prison (§ 60).

Checked against Lovdata on 3 November 2026.