Hunters also have an obvious interest in the matter of an appropriate deer population. At the same time, a survey by the LSM.lv portal suggests that the majority of the public does not support increased deer hunting to reduce numbers.
Estimated data published by the State Forest Service (VMD) show that for 2024/2025 there were around 68,000 red deer in Latvia. VMD data on the density of listed red deer shows that the animals live more in the Kurzeme region, especially in the Lithuanian border area. And it has been like that for several years.
Therefore, the largest number of red deer is also hunted in Kurzeme. However, in the last 20 years, the red deer hunting limit set by the Ministry of the Environment has not been fulfilled in Latvia. Last year of the permissible 32,324 red deer that could be hunted, 24,949 or 77% of the permissible hunting volume were hunted in Latvia. O course, this number excludes any illegal, unrecorded hunting that takes place.
In this hunting season, it is allowed to hunt 33,660 red deer. Observations of hunters and farmers show that in Kurzeme, the deer population has reached a very high level.
Jānis Baumanis, chairman of the board of the Latvian Hunters' Union, said: "There are currently too many red deer in Kurzeme and Zemgale, except for some places. This number of animals should be reduced."
The increased density of the deer population has reportedly also led to increased damage on farms and in forests. Red deer feed mainly on grasses and young shoots of woody plants in summer and autumn, but in winter and spring - on grasses and woody plants, including agricultural crops.
Animals of the deer family - moose, roe deer, red deer - eat pine and spruce shoots, the animals also feed on the bark of trees, which is both gnawed and damaged by rubbing their antlers, which causes the tree to completely or partially wither.
The data of the 2023 survey of the Forest Science Institute "Silava" show that, compared to other regions of Latvia, in Kurzeme, more young spruces are severely damaged or destroyed. Young pine trees have been severely damaged throughout Latvia, including large damage observed in Kurzeme.
Juris Lazdiņš, chairman of the board of the "Zemnieku saeima" (Farmers' parliament) association, noted that every year the problem of damage by red deer becomes more urgent. Where the population density of red deer is higher, they can destroy up to 100 hectares of crops, which means that the damage caused to one farm can be measured in several tens of thousands of euros. If a herd of deer, consisting of several tens or even hundreds of individuals, visits the field, it only takes a few hours to cause great damage, he explained.
However, the head of the Hunters' Union Baumanis emphasized that hunters alone cannot be the solution. With a dwindling number of hunters, increasing hunting intensity could be problematic.
"There are fewer people left, and you can't pile everything on them either. (..) I know clubs that have to hunt an average red deer every day during the season in order to hunt what needs to be hunted. And it has long ceased to be any kind of entertainment or hobby. It is a real job (..) Hunters are not always a free workforce, and like any other workforce, the number of hunters in Latvia is decreasing (..) Last season there were around 19,000 hunters who took out season cards. This season [2024/2025 . year] could predict 18,000," said Baumanis.
Not only must the animal be hunted, but the resulting produce must be properly processed and stored. In hunting groups, where a large amount of red deer must be hunted, it is precisely the proper storage and processing of the produce that is the biggest challenge.
The head of the hunters' union calls on both hunters and forest and field owners to cooperate and plan when it will be necessary to hunt more intensively.
Farmers spend thousands of euros to put fences around their fields to help protect crops from hooves. However, fences do not always prove to be effective.
For example, Aira Vaitkus, the representative of the agricultural company SIA "Klagati" from Saldus region, said: "Protective measures do not help either. It seems that the deer have learned to overcome the fences by enduring the impact of the additionally used electric fence... they perfectly know when they are safe come to feed in which places. The fence was effective for a few years and then the deer got over it."
In order to reduce the damage caused by red deer to agriculture and forestry, VMD has decided to grant additional red deer hunting permits in certain places. The hunters' union emphasized that cows and calves, not bulls, should be hunted primarily to reduce the red deer population.
Baumanis said: "You basically have to hunt cows and calves to reduce the population. And that's the way to reduce the population. To reduce the population, you don't have to hunt middle-aged bulls... This part of the population is so relatively small that it does not affect population growth or damage."
Survey suggests difference between town and country attitudes
However, a survey commissioned by the LSM.lv portal and conducted by the Norstat pollster suggests that the majority of the public more or less does not support a larger amount of red deer hunting in order to reduce damage to agriculture.
The survey took the views of 1,004 people.
When asked whether they support allowing hunters to take more red deer than allowed to reduce damage to agriculture, 35% of respondents said they were in favor of such a move and 47% that they were not. 19% did not have a view to offer.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who live in the countryside were more supportive of a cull (49%) than those who live in small towns (37%), big cities (30%) or Rīga (29%).
