Crime of passion: hobby hunter shoots lover of his ex

It is one of the numerous reports in the news that at first glance appear to have nothing to do with the scourge of hunting.

An Austrian newspaper headlines the story in its usual fashion: «Man shoots new lover of his ex». Yet only through more in-depth research does the trail lead, as is so often the case in Switzerland as well, into the militant and cult-like world of recreational hunting.

Fatal shots at the apartment door

A 44-year-old German hobby hunter shot and killed the new boyfriend of his estranged wife with a pistol, then took his own life. A large-scale police operation was launched across the Upper Austrian and Bavarian border region in the manhunt for the hobby hunter in his final moments.

The impending divorce may have triggered the deadly act of bloodshed in Oberkappel in the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria.

At around 8:40 a.m., the 44-year-old German hobby hunter rang the doorbell of the victim's apartment in Oberkappel — a 51-year-old local resident. The perpetrator's wife opened the door, and a brief exchange took place between the separated couple, a police spokesperson described the sequence of events. Immediately afterwards, the 44-year-old hobby hunter fired multiple shots at the Upper Austrian man with a pistol and fled. The woman alerted the police. The emergency doctor was unable to save the 51-year-old; he died from his gunshot wounds.Crime and recreational hunting are inextricably linked.

Large-scale manhunt in the border region

After a search lasting just under two hours, the perpetrator was also found dead. He had fled by car to his place of residence in Untergriesbach in Bavaria. The two locations are barely ten minutes apart in the Upper Austrian-Bavarian border area. The unrestricted access to firearms in the hobby hunter milieu increases the risk of such acts of violence, as the analysis of firearm killings in Switzerland also shows.

In the view of IG Wild beim Wild, hobby hunters require annual medical-psychological fitness assessments modelled on the Dutch system, as well as a binding upper age limit. The largest age group among hobby hunters today is 65+. In this group, age-related limitations such as declining eyesight, slowed reaction times, lapses in concentration and cognitive deficits increase statistically and markedly. At the same time, accident analyses show that the number of serious hunting accidents involving injured persons and fatalities rises significantly from middle age onwards.

The regular reports of hunting accidents, fatal errors of action and the misuse of hunting weapons highlight a structural problem. The private possession and use of lethal firearms for recreational purposes largely eludes ongoing oversight. From the perspective of IG Wild beim Wild, this is no longer justifiable. A practice that is based on voluntary killing while simultaneously generating considerable risks for people 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 is no substitute for moral scrutiny.

Critical examination is especially indispensable in the field of hobby hunting. Scarcely any other field is so thoroughly shaped by euphemistic narratives, half-truths and deliberate disinformation. Where violence is normalised, narratives often serve the purpose of justification. Transparency, verifiable facts and an open public debate are therefore essential.