26-year-old hobby hunter confirms common hunting clichés

Schortens is a municipality in the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony.

Tomke Woltmann is one of the many hobby hunters causing suffering, and a dedicated hunting horn player. The hunting horn is a primitive instrument with a very limited tonal range, used for the noise of war among hobby hunters.

At a young age she was taken up to a raised hide by a hobby hunter where she was shown how to distinguish the rustling of the wind from the sounds of an animal. This fascinated her.

Tomke Woltmann has held a hunting licence since the age of 19. Today, the hours spent in the raised hide fly by for the young hobby hunter.

Observing nature is exciting at any time and in any weather. It is a kind of meditation with adrenaline that calms you: hearing your own breathing, the breathing of the forest. And suddenly a roebuck steps out of the thicket – the adrenaline spikes, the pulse hammers in your ears …

She then made a very deliberate decision to pursue the “green baccalaureate”: she is convinced that hobby hunting is much more than just shooting. It is about patience, observation, and understanding nature.

Tomke Woltmann finds nutria delicious. She says the taste of the coypu falls somewhere between chicken and rabbit.

With the growing proportion of female hobby hunters, the social acceptance of hunting is also said to be increasing. «We work to maintain the ecological balance – without hunters this would not be possible,» Tomke Woltmann concludes by spinning her hunting clichés in the Nordwest-Zeitung.

Facts instead of hunters’ tall tales

In Canada, it is generally prohibited to sell game meat from hobby hunters in restaurants or shops, as it is considered more of a toxin than a food. Many authorities in Europe warn against game meat. Game meat is a filler of very low frequency and not a foodstuff. Accordingly, it also shapes the consciousness of those who consume it, and becomes visible in their activities and conduct. Hobby hunters live on meat. That is why they are violent and aggressive. When one lives from killing, one has no respect for life. One is hostile toward life. This is why most animal species are shot by hobby hunters for fun, despite the fact that, according to scientific studies, there is no meaningful justification for doing so.

Today's hobby hunting destroys the normal social coexistence of wildlife, the ecological balance, natural behavioral patterns, family structures and social bonds, the use of dens and hiding places, the shift from diurnal to nocturnal activity, increased reproduction of certain animal species, intensified migration into non-hunted residential areas, unnatural concentrations of animals in hotspots, and lifelong health-damaging psychological and physical stress on wildlife, unhealthy game meat, and much more that is detrimental.

Large segments of the hunting community have a level of knowledge rooted in the last century. This is primarily due to the frequently inadequate training in courses for the hunting examination, which are predominantly conducted by fanatics with cult-like ideologies who require no formal proof of qualifications. After their training, hobby hunters move exclusively within the echo chamber of the hunting press, which continually repeats its distorted and often erroneous portrayals.

Within hunting associations, members then mutually reinforce their worldview. In this way, an insular sect has emerged that is barely receptive to new information. What makes this particularly alarming is that the local press and politicians still believe that beneath the hunter's hat lies genuine expertise, and they readily consult the local hobby hunter on all matters relating to nature. In this way, hobby hunters also go on to contaminate the public discourse.

Added value:

• Game meat: Natural, healthy — or dangerous?
• Game meat from the hobby hunter? — Carrion on the plate!
• According to studies, there are health risks associated with the consumption of game meat
• Nutrition: The Civilized Palate
• Game meat from hunters is carrion
• Game meat cannot be organic
• Meat from wild animals is not organic game
• Dementia: How harmful is venison?
• Game meat makes you sick
• Lead residues in game meat products
• Game meat: Risks, lead and hunting myths
• Warning: Caution regarding game meat from hobby hunters
• Hunters lie even when selling meat