Hobby Hunters Are a Sham

Prof. Dr. Theodor Heuss allegedly said it decades ago: «Hunting is a subsidiary form of human mental illness.»

We briefly pursue this phenomenon and set out to find traces within the criminalised world of hunting. One quickly notices that a militant minority determines what the majority of society gets to see — or take pleasure in — when it comes to wildlife. This may even be one reason for the high demand for animal viewing at undignified zoos. The hobby hunting industry alone sustainably produces extremely fearful wildlife. It was hobby hunting that first made wild animals “wild” — that is, timid. Wildlife does not welcome stalking hobby hunters. The hobby hunter is the enemy image from which wildlife flees in order to survive. This flight not infrequently ends in a collision with a vehicle, leads to unnatural concentrations of animals in forests or in cities. There, wildlife is then accused of causing “damage” — and only because wildlife is being pushed into those areas by hobby hunters.

There can and must be absolutely no talk of a species-appropriate existence

Today’s hobby hunting destroys the normal social coexistence of wildlife, the ecological balance, natural behaviours, family structures and social bonds, use of dens and hiding places, the shift from diurnal to nocturnal activity, increased reproduction in certain species, increased migration into unhunted residential areas, unnatural concentrations of animals in hotspots, ecological imbalance, lifelong health-damaging psychological and physical stress, unhealthy meat, and so on.

Over 99.00% of ordinary people are not hobby hunters. There is thus around 1% of hobby hunters who take pleasure in a blood sport. Dubious individuals who live out pure violence without reverence for life and practice sectarian rituals in the forest. Hobby hunters are two-legged predators who speak of “harvesting,” “skimming,” “managing,” etc., when they cowardly shoot wildlife in the back in a treacherous manner. Equating the taking of prey with the picking of an apple.

Hunting living beings is a mark of barbarity, driven by ambivalent hobby hunters.

IG Wild beim Wild

Today’s hobby hunter is condemned by enlightened society as a killer of fellow creatures

The animals hunted today mostly for sport are peaceful beings toward humans, who have at least as much right to exist as humans do — to participate in our shared evolution — and they are also creatures that the majority of the ordinary population are glad to encounter on walks and hikes through forests and fields.

The forest and nature should be returned to people and animals as a peaceful space for recreation and coexistence. Our times are increasingly shaped by brutality and violence, and the recreational hunting community is not without its part in this. The negative energies of violence, fear, terror, disrespect, environmental pollution, and unease that the recreational hunting community leaves behind in the natural environment do not go without a trace.

The art of hunting is often compared to the art of war, with today’s hobby hunter typically sitting lazily, cowardly, and heavily armed on a high seat or in cover like a tyrant. All the while, the hobby hunter supposedly yearns for nature. But what kind of surreal nature has the hobby hunter created? He must use binoculars and telescopic sights to search for animals — his own relatives — in nature, whereas in unhunted areas they can be seen trustingly with the naked eye. It is not closeness to nature, but rather distance and hostility that the hobby hunter lives and creates. These are the character and essence of recreational hunting.

Many people have the impression that foxes, roe deer, red deer, hares, and similar animals no longer exist in the wild at all. How are today's children supposed to advocate for nature in the future if they can no longer experience it in this state of artificiality created by the hands of hobby hunters? Nature is degraded by hobby hunters into a staged construct, which represents a tremendous reduction in quality of life for ordinary people and animals alike. Hobby hunters and their shooting activities create a climate and energy field of unease for both humans and animals in natural recreation areas.

The hobby hunter pretends to be something he is not

Everyone agrees that the habitat for wildlife is shrinking ever further. And here too, the full perversion and hypocrisy of the hunting scourge becomes apparent. If humans are already destroying nature and the habitat of wildlife, there is no need to hunt them as well — least of all during the harsh winter months. Wildlife is punished twice over, even though they bear no responsibility for any of it. The hobby hunter is no friend of animals — his very name says as much. Hobby hunters do not only shoot sick or old wildlife. No, they shoot at everything purely for fun and even pay for the privilege. Upon closer analysis, hobby hunters are anything but environmentalists or animal welfare advocates. No wildlife group has a more dismal ecological footprint than hobby hunters. Hobby hunters like to portray themselves as conservationists or guardians of species. Yet it is invariably hobby hunters who decimate or exterminate rare species. No wildlife species has ever wiped out another.

Interestingly, public opinion has quite a different image of hobby hunters. Forest rangers, farmers, and nature conservation organisations shape nature management. The hobby hunter somehow still manages to be a fifth wheel, from which position he not infrequently torpedoes the conservation projects of others or makes nonsensical demands.

The hobby hunt has failed in wildlife management for decades and likewise leaves behind millions in annual damages to agriculture, forestry, viticulture, road traffic, species protection, biodiversity etc. Recreational hunting is therefore mostly ineffective and counterproductive. Even taxpayers must foot the bill for the hobby of hobby hunters. Recreational hunting does not address the root cause of a problem in any meaningful way, but is itself part of the problem and a contributing factor to it.

The conduct of hobby hunters needs to be regulated

Regulations exist above all for people, not for animals. When an animal behaves incorrectly in road traffic, it is not punished either. Nor is it punished for crossing the national border without an identity card. Non-violence is a cornerstone and hallmark of a civilised society. Non-violence advances the development of a society and its cultural landscape.

Non-violence is what distinguishes human beings from predators in the animal world. The hunting establishment is a form of organised criminality that has not been banned, yet makes little logical sense — in fact, a matter for the public prosecutor. No normal organisation generates anywhere near as many criminal proceedings, complaints, fines, improprieties, crimes, acts of animal cruelty, etc. as hobby hunters. More on the topic of animal welfare issues and crime and hunting.