The hunting card: 43 euros and an exam, unless you already hunt at home
The annual game management fee opens the hunting card; the Finnish exam is not required of a foreigner entitled to hunt at home.
Anyone who hunts, or who acts as hunt leader within the meaning of article 30 of the hunting act, must pay the state the game management fee (riistanhoitomaksu) for each hunting year. Someone who merely assists the hunter — handling a dog, driving at a deer hunt, or helping in a comparable way — is not liable. Whoever pays receives the hunting card (metsästyskortti). The fee is 43 euros per hunting year, and 10 euros for anyone under 18 at the start of that year. Before paying, one must show knowledge of hunting, game management and the applicable rules by passing the hunter's examination (metsästäjätutkinto) before an examiner appointed by the Finnish Wildlife Agency. Three cases escape the exam requirement: someone who paid the fee in one of the five preceding hunting years; a Finnish national entitled to hunt on the Åland Islands under that province's own rules; and a foreigner who is entitled to hunt in their home country. That last point bears directly on a Swiss hunter.