An outfitter can sell you land, a guide, a bed and a rifle. It cannot sell you a gun permit or skip the state fee. Here is what a guided hunt really buys, which paperwork stays yours, and what happens to the meat and trophy.
When you need this
You are comparing outfitted moose, roe deer, wild boar or grouse hunts and an offer says “licence included”. You are deciding whether to fly with your rifle or use the guide’s. You want to hunt ptarmigan in the mountains without booking anyone. Or you shot something and want to know whether the antlers can come home with you.
What a guided hunt is
In Sweden the right to hunt belongs to the landowner, or to a farm tenant unless the lease says otherwise. The owner can lease that right or sell hunting on it. A guided hunt is that access, packaged: the outfitter holds or has rented the hunting rights, then adds a guide, and often lodging, meals, dogs, field transport and a rifle.
What is included varies from offer to offer, so get each item in writing:
| Ask about | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Whose land, and whose hunting rights | Hunting where you hold no rights, intentionally or through gross negligence, is a hunting offence (jaktbrott) |
| Guide, lodging, meals, dogs, transport | The parts that make up the price |
| Rifle and ammunition | Decides whether you need import paperwork at all |
| Field dressing, meat, trophy | The meat often stays with the host unless agreed |
| Hunting card | Always your obligation, even if the host pays it for you |
What stays your job
The hunting card. Everyone who hunts in Sweden pays the viltvårdsavgift, the state game-management fee: 400 kr for one hunting year, 1 July to 30 June. The receipt is your jaktkort (hunting card). It is not a qualification, and you must carry it while hunting and show it to the police, a warden, the landowner or the rights holder. You can pay yourself through the foreign-hunter login in Naturvårdsverket’s hunter register. A Swedish host can also pay for guests through a guest list. The card comes as a PDF and is not posted abroad. Beaters and dog handlers pay too.
No local licence or exam. Sweden does not ask a visitor for a Swedish hunting licence. The Swedish hunting exam (jägarexamen) matters only for gun licences. For a visiting hunter’s import permit, the hunt organiser’s certificate shows those conditions instead. Hunting with the guide’s rifle under supervision needs no exam at all.
The gun permit. Only the Police issue an import permit, and only after the fee is paid. “Licence included” can never mean that.
Warning: A gun that arrives without a permit or a valid exception cannot stay. Once declared to Customs it must leave Sweden within four months, or it passes to the state.
Your rifle or the guide’s
This is the decision that sets your booking lead time.
| Route | What you need | Lead time |
|---|---|---|
| Guide’s rifle, under supervision | Hunting card only. No import permit, loan permit or exam | None |
| Own rifle, EU Firearms Pass with the gun entered | Carry the pass and the hunt invitation. Up to three months | Your home authority’s pass |
| Own rifle, Danish, Finnish or Norwegian licence | Carry the licence. Up to three months | None |
| Own rifle, everyone else (UK, US, Canada…) | Police import permit, 990 kr | Median about 29 days after you pay |
The “rental rifle” is really a loan. Sweden’s Weapons Act, in force since 1 June 2026 (vapenlag 2026:408), has no provision for hiring out a gun, only lending rules. A licence holder may lend a gun on single occasions, for up to two weeks. You need no loan permit (lånetillstånd) if the gun is held and used under the lender’s supervision. Naturvårdsverket calls this uppsiktsjakt: the lender within arm’s length, open from age 15.
Warning: The supervision condition is strict. Hunting alone with a borrowed rifle, without your own licence for that type of gun or a loan permit, falls outside the lending rules. That is unlawful possession of a firearm (vapenbrott).
Bringing your own. If you need an import permit, the inviting host fills in the police form “Invitation for hunt” and gives their Swedish personal identity number. Polisen asks hosts not to write their own letters. It also notes that the inviting host is not automatically whoever organises the trip, so a booking agent abroad may not be the right person. Whatever your route, declare every gun to Swedish Customs (Tullverket): online first from the EU or Norway, or to a customs officer when arriving from outside the EU. The full procedure is in bringing firearms to Sweden.
Is it a package trip?
If the seller combines lodging or transport with the hunt, the Package Travel Act (paketreselagen) may apply, with the organiser responsible for the whole trip. A hunt counts as part of a package only if it is a significant part of the value or an essential feature of the trip. The act does not cover trips under 24 hours with no overnight stay, not-for-profit occasional trips for a closed group, or business travel contracts.
Package organisers must also arrange a travel guarantee (resegaranti) against insolvency. New in 2026: since an amendment (Lag 2026:96), a package with no passenger transport that is paid only after it has been carried out needs no guarantee. A pay-on-completion hunt-plus-lodging deal falls in that gap; since you pay nothing up front, there is no prepayment to protect.
Hunting state land without an outfitter
In the three northern mountain counties, the county boards sell small-game permits for state land above the cultivation limit (ovan odlingsgränsen). Foreign hunters can use them from 16 September. Before that, from 25 August to 15 September in 2026, the land was reserved for people resident in Sweden or approved as having a closer connection.
| Detail | Norrbotten and Västerbotten, 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Day permit (dygnskort) | 275 kr, via NatureIT or local retailers |
| Who takes part | Everyone holds a permit and the state hunting card, dog handlers included |
| Bag limit (Norrbotten) | 8 ptarmigan and three black grouse or capercaillie per day |
| Reindeer (Norrbotten) | Keep 500 m from 25 or more gathered reindeer |
| Selling the game | Not allowed (Norrbotten) |
Permits are personal. Year permits are only for residents of the county or of a mountain municipality. Jämtland runs the same priority window to 15 September. Full season dates are in hunting seasons in Sweden.
Meat and trophies
Settle it before you shoot. Who keeps the meat is up to your agreement with the host. If you want antlers or a skull, agree who prepares them. A trophy for your own non-commercial use needs no registered taxidermist.
Wild boar. For meat eaten in your own household there is no testing requirement, but Livsmedelsverket recommends a trichinella test, and in some municipalities a cesium-137 test. Testing for hunters is subsidized in 2026.
Leaving the EU. The receiving country sets the rules for animal products, and they apply to private travelers too. Ask an official veterinarian early whether a health certificate exists for your country. Brown bear and lynx are A-listed under CITES. A non-EU citizen who shot one in Sweden can apply to Jordbruksverket for a CITES export permit, if they shot the animal themselves and are named in the county board’s inspection form. Bear meat may not be exported at all.
Swine fever. Sweden has been free of African swine fever since 25 September 2024 and has no restriction zones. Coming from an infected country? Clean clothes and gear after a boar hunt there, wash your dog, and keep untreated trophies and meat away from pigs and wild boar.
Practical information
| Item | Amount or rule | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| State hunting card | 400 kr per hunting year (1 July–30 June) | 2026-09-25 |
| Police import permit | 990 kr, charged whether or not granted; median about 29 days | 2026-09-25 |
| Guide’s rifle under supervision | No state fee; up to two weeks | 2026-09-25 |
| State mountain day permit | 275 kr (Norrbotten, Västerbotten, 2026/27) | 2026-09-25 |
| Foreign hunters on state mountain land | From 16 September | 2026-09-25 |
| Moose season opens | 1 September (north), 8 October (rest; Thursday in 2026) | 2026-09-25 |
| Guided hunt, rifle hire, taxidermy | Set by the seller | — |
FAQ
What is included in a guided hunt in Sweden?
It varies by offer, so get it in writing. The core is access to land where the outfitter holds hunting rights, plus a guide. Many add lodging, meals, dogs, field transport, a rifle and field dressing. The state hunting card (400 kr) is always your obligation, though a Swedish host can pay it for you through a guest list. Nobody but the police can issue a gun import permit.
Do I need a hunting licence to go on a guided hunt in Sweden?
You need the state hunting card, which is a receipt for the 400 kr game-management fee, not a qualification. It covers the hunting year from 1 July. Sweden does not ask foreign visitors for a local hunting licence or exam. If you use the guide’s rifle under supervision, Naturvårdsverket says no hunting exam is needed. For your own gun, the host’s certificate covers competence.
Can I rent a rifle for a hunt in Sweden?
In practice you borrow the guide’s. Sweden’s Weapons Act has no hire provision, only lending rules. A licence holder may lend a gun for up to two weeks without a loan permit if you use it under their supervision, which Naturvårdsverket describes as within arm’s length. That route needs no import permit and no hunting exam, but you still pay the hunting card.
Can I bring my own rifle on a guided hunt?
Yes. An EU Firearms Pass with the gun entered, or a Danish, Finnish or Norwegian licence, lets you bring it for up to three months with no Swedish permit. Everyone else applies to the police: 990 kr, median handling about 29 days, and the host must fill in the police invitation form. Declare the gun to Swedish Customs when you arrive.
Can foreigners hunt ptarmigan on state land in Sweden?
Yes, from 16 September. Before that, state mountain land in Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Jämtland is reserved for people resident in Sweden or approved as having a closer connection. Buy a day permit from the county board through NatureIT (275 kr in Norrbotten and Västerbotten for 2026/27) and carry the state hunting card. Norrbotten allows 8 ptarmigan per day.
Can I take moose meat and antlers home from Sweden?
Agree it with the host first; the meat is often theirs. Sweden has had no swine-fever restriction zones since September 2024, and trophies for your own use need no registered taxidermist. Outside the EU, the receiving country sets the rules, so ask an official veterinarian early about a health certificate. Bear and lynx trophies need a CITES export permit, and bear meat never leaves.
Related guides
- Hunting in Sweden as a foreign visitor — hunting rights and the hunting card in full.
- Bringing firearms to Sweden — the import permit, forms and border steps.
- Hunting seasons in Sweden — when each species may be hunted.
- Bringing your dog to Sweden — if your hunting dog travels with you.
- Hiking during hunting season — for the non-hunters in your party.
Facts verified 2026-09-25. Sources: Sveriges Riksdag (jaktlagen, jaktförordningen, vapenlagen, paketreselagen, resegarantilagen), Naturvårdsverket, Polismyndigheten, Tullverket, Länsstyrelsen Norrbotten, Västerbotten and Jämtland, Jordbruksverket, Livsmedelsverket, Konsumentverket — full register in this topic’s source file. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.