Is Hungary a hunting paradise?

Yes and no.

As one of the largest real estate agencies in Hungary, we ourselves have a passion for hunting – in our case as meat hunters, focused on healthy self-supply and processing. Time and again, our clients who are looking to buy a house in Hungary ask how hunting in Hungary actually works.

Below you will first find a brief tabular overview, followed by more detailed explanations.
  Hungary is a hunting paradise for trophy hunters who can afford the necessary fees as guest hunters. For emigrants, however, it becomes much more difficult to establish a “normal” hunting life comparable to that in their home country. The following article provides insight into the hunting situation in Hungary and the options available to foreign hunters, based on my own experiences.
 

The importance of hunting in Hungary

Hungary has rich hunting grounds across approximately 1,400 hunting districts with an average size of 6,000 ha.¹⁾

Foreign hunters are particularly attracted by species that are no longer found, or only very rarely found, in their home hunting grounds. These include red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, small game, and wild boar. Anyone who sees the red deer trophies or the harvest figures from hare and pheasant hunts cannot help but be impressed.

Game populations in Hungary (spring estimate 2024/2025) according to OVA (rounded)²⁾:
 

• Red deer 125,000 (increasing)
• Fallow deer 43,000 (stable)
• Roe deer 344,000 (slightly declining)
• Mouflon 13,000
• Wild boar 43,000 (sharp decline due to ASF prevention)
• Hares 490,000
• Pheasants 590,000
• Partridge 10,000

Over the years, the face of hunting in Hungary has changed.

While around 19,300 hunters were registered in Hungary in the 1960s, the number had more than tripled to 71,000 by 2024. This includes approximately 3,000 professional hunters.^{3), 5)}

During this period, a trend in harvested game has also emerged. Whereas the focus in the 1960s to 1990s was on small game, with peaks of more than 50 animals harvested per hunter, this has now dropped sharply to around 10 animals. At the same time, harvested big game increased from about 1–3 animals per hunter in the 1960s–1980s to around 6 animals per hunter today.³⁾

Hunting in Hungary as a foreign hunter – is it possible? Yes, but.

Obtaining a hunting license in Hungary will remain a utopia for most hunters. In addition to a 100-hour hunting course (approx. 150,000 HUF), a subsequent exam (20,000 HUF), a psychological assessment, a medical fitness test, and a criminal record check, the language barrier is by far the biggest hurdle. All exams are conducted exclusively in Hungarian. Reaching the required language level within a reasonable timeframe is hardly realistic.⁴⁾

The option most commonly used by hunters is hunting by invitation, using a hunting license from their home country and an additional hunting card purchased in Hungary.

Foreign hunters are charged accordingly. According to the National Hunting Administration Database, 25,000–30,000 foreign hunters come to Hungary each year, generating nearly 7 billion forints in annual revenue for the industry.⁵⁾

The appetite for trophies among foreign hunters remains unabated. Hunting associations generally expect guests to target large trophies, which are billed by weight and generate significantly higher revenue than harvesting female animals. Meat hunters are therefore just as unwelcome as hunters who are less interested in trophies and instead view wildlife management as part of hunting.

A special feature in Hungary is the mandatory evaluation of trophies from red deer, fallow deer bucks, roe bucks, mouflon horns, and boar tusks over 16 cm within 30 days of harvest.

In the 2020/21 hunting year, 67,182 trophies were awarded, of which 13,182 were harvested by foreign hunters. Due to pandemic measures, this represented only about 50% of the usual volume.²⁾

There are numerous hunting tour operators offering organized hunts with hunting associations or in state-owned hunting areas. For hunting travelers from EU countries, an invitation and an EU firearms passport are required to import hunting weapons. The import of handguns is not permitted.

Either the hunting tour operator or the hunting association can obtain a Hungarian hunting card for a fee. This requires a passport, a home-country hunting license, and a firearms ownership card if applicable. The hunt then takes place accompanied by a professional hunter. Prices for harvests vary significantly between providers and often include ancillary services that are overpriced by Hungarian standards. On the upside, some hunting associations own very attractive houses in Hungary where hunters can socialize comfortably after the hunt.

Those who are truly fortunate are individuals who own their own property in Hungary, are locally established, and have very good friends in hunting associations who frequently invite them as guests—or, in the best-case scenario, are accepted into a hunting association. Membership in a hunting association is unlikely, as spots are often “inherited” or allocated to “deserving citizens.” Exceptions may exist, but they are either individual cases or result from corporate memberships at higher organizational levels.

This year (2025), I opened up a new option and concluded a hunting contract with a local forestry operation that manages several hunting areas. Pricing is similar to that of hunting associations, but there is more understanding for meat hunters. From October 20 onward, hunting of female game begins. That means meat again. However, here too, a professional hunter is always present.

I know colleagues from a friendly real estate agency in Hungary who suggest harvesting a yearling wild boar for EUR 400, or craftsmen who invite you to a local hunting association’s hare and pheasant hunt, where the cost is a case of beer. In Hungary, almost everything exists—except a regulated hunting life for foreign hunters who emigrate to Hungary.

Roaming fields and forests alone, sitting in a blind, or stalking game via leased hunting grounds or paid annual agreements is virtually impossible, as accompaniment by a member of the hunting association or a professional hunter is always mandatory.

Tip for emigrants with a house in Hungary: Keep your home address, local hunting license, and EU firearms passport, and import hunting weapons for temporary use. Anything else is practically excluded for hunters. Without a Hungarian hunting license, there is no weapons license in Hungary—and therefore no legal firearm ownership.

We can only provide limited assistance with hunting opportunities, possibly in connection with certain properties in western Hungary where our seller owns hunting grounds. However, if you are initially looking for a place to live in Hungary, you can find our listings for real estate in Hungary here:

Buy a house in Hungary
Buy a villa in Hungary
Buy an apartment in Hungary
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Buy a house at Lake Balaton
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Author: Dr. Peik Langerwisch

After completing his studies in business administration with a degree as a graduate economist and earning a magna cum laude doctorate in management, the author worked for twenty years in global management consulting firms and banks. For several years now, he has applied this expertise as a real estate broker specializing in property in Hungary. He has also been a passionate hunter for many years, with a clear focus on healthy nutrition through game meat rather than trophies.

Brief overview of expertise and career

Data sources:

1. Hungarowild, 16.02.22
2. Országos Vadgazdálkodási Adattár (OVA) National Hunting Database, 2024, http://www.ova.info.hu/, https://www.ova.info.hu/kiadvanyok/Vadgazdalkodasi_Adattar_2023_2024.pdf
3. M. Korecz, Vadaász blog, 01.02.22, Vadalarm (summary of chamber data), https://www.vadalarm.hu/hu/blog/336_vadallomany-magyarorszag-orszagos-vadgazdalkodasi-adattar-2025
4. KSH (Hungarian Central Statistical Office), Statistics on St. Hubert’s Day 2024 (hunter numbers and harvest figures), https://www.ksh.hu/infografika/2024/szt-hubertus-napja_2024_eng.pdf
5. mfor.hu, 20.11.20