Hungary’s Largest Hunting Trade Show Opens its Doors

Zsolt Semjén (L), Deputy Prime Minister and István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture

FeHoVa (weapons, hunting, fishing), the largest hunting event in the region begun this Thursday. “Exhibitors come from many countries to present their products and services to professional and hobby hunters, anglers, foresters, gun enthusiasts and those who simply love nature and want to learn more about it,” says the official website of the event.

The exhibition can be viewed at the Hungexpo Budapest Congress and Exhibition Centre, where 200 exhibitors from 13 countries will showcase their products until February 9.

Photo: MTI/Kocsis Zoltán

On Thursday Zsolt Semjén, Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Hungarian Hunters’ National Association held an opening speech. He emphasized, that Hungary has a reasonable and viable law regulating weapons and hunting.

MTI/Kocsis Zoltán

He said “there is cooperation between the Hungarian farming and hunting communities.” He added that agriculture and hunting should not be opposed to each other, as hunting rights in Hungary are based on land ownership, which creates a relationship between the landowner and the hunters. This prevents unnecessary conflict between agriculture and hunting.

At the opening ceremony, the Deputy Prime Minister also said that

wild animals are at home in forests and fields, they deserve to have a chance to live there, and the landowner must bear the “damage.”

At the same time, Hungarian hunting is farmer-centered, because the person entitled to hunt is obliged to set up a game damage fund, from which the payment goes to the farmer.

István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture; MTI/Kocsis Zoltán

At the opening ceremony, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy stressed the need to preserve the biodiversity of the land, and game management is one of the means of doing this, in addition to the protection of endangered species.

He stated, that

in 2023/24, 343,000 big game animals were exploited in 1,449 hunting areas, as well as a total of 562,000 hares and pheasants. Almost 73,000 trophies were judged, 58% of which were deer, 29% roe deer and 8 percent fallow deer.

Despite the difficulties, the financial balance of game management was positive in the same period, with a profit of 3,7 billion forints (approximately 9 million euro). This form of hunting is managing the populations of game species in a sustainable way, in line with international conventions and EU legislation, said István Nagy.

The FeHoVa exhibition can be summarized in one citation: “Ancient heritage, inherited by one, but not all. Ancient fight, a lust for searching, observation, a hunger for learning, for adventure, a passion for collecting, a love of forests, fields and hedges,” a quote from István Fekete, Hungarian writer, on the opening page of the event. The exhibition is an unforgettable experience for young and old alike.