The Hunting Licence: Mirror of Mental Health?

In German-speaking countries, an interesting colloquial meaning of the term ‘Jagdschein’ has developed over time.

Editorial Wild beim Wild — 31 July 2025

The term Jagdschein, known in Austria as Jagdkarte and in Switzerland as Jagdpatent, and referred to elsewhere as a hunting licence, denotes official documents that permit the holder to pursue hobby-hunting as a pastime.

While the hunting licence is officially a document that allows a person to hunt wildlife, it is also used in certain contexts as a metaphor for individuals considered «not fully accountable» due to mental illness or incapacity.

The colloquial use of the term hunting licence as a synonym for mental incapacity brings with it a multitude of cultural, social, and psychological dimensions.

Tarzisius Caviezel, hunting president in the canton of Graubünden, describes hunting as a disease from which he cannot be cured. His favourite quote is:

Lies are told most frequently before elections, during war, and after the hunt. – Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898).

The hunting licence points to the diverse perceptions of mental health within society.

Welche Qualifikationen braucht ein Jagdpräsident in der Schweiz?

In a contrastive manner, the term is used ironically or metaphorically to describe people who find themselves in states of questionable mental health, without possessing the necessary insight or self-control.

In criminal slang, this is referred to as the minor hunting licence. Even in earlier times, the passionate hobby hunter would venture into the forest at night to poach without a hunting licence. A conspicuously high number of hobby hunters have also been implicated in lethal offences such as massacres at schools.

Where violence is discharged, damage is caused just as much at the point of release as at the point at which it is directed. And this in a concretely tangible way at the neuronal level. Scientists have discovered this through research. Neuropsychologists also confirm: the amygdala, a core region of the brain, is markedly atrophied or impaired in violent offenders. When this central part of the brain is defective, the sense of disgust, among other things, is switched off.

Whoever gets a hunting licence therefore always receives two things at once: a licence to kill and a licence to become stupefied.

Hobby-Jäger und ihr Muster im Gehirn

Psychological Aspects

The connection between a hunting licence and mental incompetence also raises questions about society's perception of mental illness. Humour that draws on such subjects can both help reduce stigma and make people experiencing psychological burdens feel supported. However, this irony can also contribute to serious problems not being taken sufficiently seriously.

Psychologists, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts speak, in the context of hobby hunting and hunting fever, of psychological defects among hobby hunters. Hobby hunters want to kill! Many hobby hunters have been damaged by the hunting virus.

Are there differences between hobby hunters and serial killers? Both are sick (hunting fever) and have a strong desire for power and control. Hunting can be an early symptom of a dangerous psychopathy that is not limited to animals alone. Many studies confirm that acts of violence against animals demand our full attention!

Both the serial killer and the hobby hunter believe they are participating in something important.

In the act of killing, both experience the same sensation as when consuming drugs. A temporary relief, a sense of calm passes through their body and mind — until hunting fever drives them to search for a new victim once more. It cannot be dismissed that hunting also facilitates other illegal activities such as poaching, arms trafficking, criminal behaviour, alcohol abuse, and so on, and that it fosters sociopathy.

I do not mean to imply that most hunters are weak people, but in my experience, weak people often enough seize the opportunity to compensate for their shortcomings by hunting or by playing around with weapons and knives. “The Soul of the Murderer” by FBI profiler John Douglas

Relevant hunting magazines are full of pictures of hobby hunters in the grip of hunting fever, holding a weapon and posing in a dominant position over their victims. Any soldier or police officer would be dishonorably discharged and committed to a psychiatric clinic if they were to present themselves before their victim the way hobby hunters do. Such magazines stimulate the imagination of hobby hunters to want to hunt more and more, including in all manner of countries. Hobby hunters need such photographs and films in order to feel important.

On an increasing number of websites, it is prohibited to publish trophy photos of any kind taken by hobby hunters, as this violates the standards of moral decency and propriety.

Hunting weapons, fueled by hunting fever, lead to abuse in our shared social life. Time and again, suicides involving firearms, threats, and fatal tragedies occur. There are studies showing that 90% of violent criminals began as animal abusers or hobby hunters. Year after year, countless people are killed and injured by hobby hunters and hunting weapons, in some cases so severely that they end up in wheelchairs or have limbs amputated.

Hobby hunters have been subjected to psychological and sociological studies both in Europe and in the USA, and have been compared with non-hunters across various aspects. The results clearly show that hobby hunters display no greater connection to nature than non-hunters, tend to hold negative views on issues of animal, environmental, and nature protection, and generally exhibit a higher tendency toward aggressive behavior — a typical characteristic of meat-eaters. The hunter's supposed love of animals and nature does not delight in the existence of the beloved object — rather, it aims to possess the beloved creature body and soul, culminating in making it prey through the act of killing.

More on this in the dossier: Psychology of Hunting

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