V.
SHOOTING AND FISHING.
1. SHOOTING AND SHOOTING LEGISLATION.
In ancient times, shooting and fishing were the chief sources of subsistence
of the inhabitants of the North, but after cattle had begun to be
raised and the soil had begun to be tilled, shooting was no longer a necessity
for the support of life, but was. diligently practised, partly as a
valuable subsidiary source of subsistence, and partly to protect the herds
from beasts of prey; it was, besides held in high esteem as a manly sport.
Game, which was at that time very plentiful, was considered as “belonging
to nobody”, and it could be freely hunted everywhere. With the gradual progress
of civilization and the consequent decrease of game, legislation began to impose
restrictions on the general right to free shooting, and the owners of land were
given the sole right to shoot over their own land, with an exception in the case
of beasts of prey, which could still be hunted and killed anywhere by anybody.
But in course of time the idea became prevalent that the right to shoot, even
on private ground, belonged to certain privileged persons, and by the Boyal
Statute of Aug. 29, 1664, the landed peasants almost entirely lost the right to
kill or catch game not looked upon as beasts of prey. Only by the Boyal
Ordinance of Febr. 21, 1789, more minutely confirmed by the Boyal Statute of
April 13, 1808, was the right of landowners to shoot over their own property
re-established.
The game-law now in force, issued Nov. 8 , 1912, also recognizes as its
main principle the right of the landowner to shoot over his own land, but
if the land is let to anyone for tillage, the right of shooting over it goes
to the tenant, unless otherwise agreed. Consequently, unless a special
agreement is made, no one may shoot over land owned or leased by another
person. Exceptions are made, however, in the case of the wolf, the glutton,
and the seal, or seadog, which may be killed wherever they may he
found, even if they happen to be on another person’s property.
A subject of a foreign power may not employ firearms for hunting purposes
m Sweden unless he be provided with a shooting-permit issued for him personally:
such foreign subject, however, is entitled, without a permit, to shoot
game, etc., on an estate which he has the royal consent to own in Sweden.
Shooting-permits are issued by the governments of the Ians on written application
and are ^available anywhere in the kingdom. Permits available for the
whole year cost 100 kronor; day-permits cost 5 kronor. They do not permit
the holder to shoot elsewhere than on estates of which he has obtained the
shooting-rights.
Bear.
From a p a in tin g by B ru n o L i l j e f o r s .
The shooting-rights of private individuals are restricted by regulations
issued by the Government in special Game Statutes. According to these
regulations, game which has any value may be killed only during fixed
shooting-seasons, which, for the most part, are so arranged as to afford
the game protection during pairing-time and until the young are big
enough to look after themselves. In consequence of the difference in the
conditions prevailing in the northern, central, and southern part of the
country, the shooting-season for the same kind of game often varies for
these various zones. Apart from some few local differences, the following
shooting-seasons are those allowed at present for the more important kinds
°f game: