Hobby hunter missing at Kops reservoir
Car found at a depth of 50 metres – driver still missing.
The search for the missing person continues following the unusual accident involving a 72-year-old hobby hunter at the Kops reservoir near Galtür.
The man's vehicle has since been located at a depth of approximately 50 to 53 metres. However, there is still no trace of the driver himself.
The accident occurred on 2 October 2025, when the hobby hunter was driving his off-road vehicle across the dam wall of the Kops reservoir. According to current findings by the police, the man opened the barrier to the dam crossing with a key and shortly afterwards lost control of his vehicle for reasons that remain unclear. The car plunged down a steep embankment and sank into the cold waters of the high-alpine lake.
A hobby hunter following behind noticed the headlights of the sinking vehicle and immediately alerted the emergency services. The fire brigade, water rescue, mountain rescue and police subsequently launched a large-scale search operation. The search proved difficult from the outset: the reservoir is up to 60 metres deep, underwater visibility is barely half a metre, and temperatures are only a few degrees above freezing.
Divers and sonar teams from the water rescue service spent the following days attempting to locate the vehicle. On 7 October, they finally succeeded in locating the wreck at a depth of approximately 53 metres using modern sonar technology and marking it with a buoy. The recovery operation is to resume as soon as the necessary technical conditions are met.
The underwater conditions are extremely challenging. “You often cannot even see to the end of the gripping arms,” a spokesperson for the water rescue service told ORF Vorarlberg. Remote-controlled diving robots are also reaching their limits due to the poor visibility and turbidity of the water.
The Vorarlberg police confirmed that the investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing. There are currently no indications of third-party fault.
The Kops reservoir is located at over 1,800 metres above sea level in the Montafon valley and is a popular destination for excursions and hunting. Access to the dam wall is generally restricted to authorised persons only.
For the family and friends of the missing person, the uncertainty remains great. The emergency services hope to recover the vehicle in the coming days and thus shed light on the fate of the hobby hunter. According to the statistics on fatal hunting accidents on wildbeimwild.com, serious accidents during recreational hunting.
In the view of IG Wild beim Wild, hobby hunters should be required to undergo annual medical-psychological fitness assessments modelled on the Dutch system, along with a binding upper age limit. The largest age group among hobby hunters today is 65+. Within this group, age-related limitations such as declining visual acuity, slowed reaction times, diminished concentration and cognitive deficits increase markedly on a statistical basis. At the same time, accident analyses show that the number of serious hunting accidents involving injuries and fatalities rises significantly from middle age onward.
The regular reports of hunting accidents, fatal errors of conduct and the misuse of hunting weapons illustrate a structural problem. The private ownership and use of lethal firearms for recreational purposes largely eludes continuous oversight. From the perspective of IG Wild beim Wild, this is no longer justifiable. A practice founded on voluntary killing that simultaneously generates considerable risks for humans and animals forfeits its social legitimacy.
Recreational hunting is furthermore rooted in speciesism. Speciesism describes the systematic devaluation of non-human animals solely on the basis of their species membership. It is comparable to racism or sexism and can be justified neither culturally nor ethically. Tradition does not substitute for moral scrutiny.
Critical examination is particularly indispensable in the field of hobby hunting. Scarcely any other domain is so thoroughly shaped by sanitising narratives, half-truths and deliberate disinformation. Where violence is normalised, narratives frequently serve the purpose of justification. Transparency, verifiable facts and open public debate are therefore essential.
