Wait hunting

Wait hunting is a form of stand hunting: the hunter positions themselves at a previously chosen spot (on game trails, crossing points, forest edges or clearings) and waits for wild animals to come within shooting range. It is regarded as a quiet, controlled form of hunting because no groups of beaters are used. A closer look shows that even passive presence causes stress. And Swiss wait hunting involves more besides: in recent years, wolves, lynx and golden jackals have been mistakenly shot at bait sites during winter wait hunting because they were confused with foxes, the actual target species.

The research is clear: wild animals react more strongly to human presence than to natural predators. A study from Polish forests (Zbyryt et al. 2018, Behavioral Ecology), which compared stress hormones in areas with and without predators, reached a striking result: the highest cortisol levels were found in areas without predators but with heavy human influence from hunting pressure, roads and settlements. Wait hunting is quiet for the hunter. For the wild animal, it is a chronic threat.

What awaits you here

What wait hunting is and how it differs from other forms of hunting: Method, procedure and the structural feature of passive violence.
Repetition as a stress factor: what behavioural ecology shows: How recurring presence at fixed crossing points permanently alters wild animal behaviour.
Stress hormones and human presence: what research measures: Cortisol studies showing that stress arises even without a shot being fired.
Mistaken kills and protected species: the Swiss problem at bait sites: Wolves, lynx and golden jackals as victims of wait hunting, documentation and assessment.
Backstop, safety angle and risks to third parties: What cantonal regulations say about shooting safety and where they fall short.
Ethical questions: when efficiency is placed above empathy: What hunting ethics research and wildlife protection organisations say about wait hunting.
Demands: What genuine oversight and transparency in wait hunting would mean.
Argumentation guide: Answers to the most common justifications.
Quick links: All evidence, studies and dossier contributions.

What wait hunting is and how it differs

Wait hunting is a form of hunting from a stand that is defined by its location: not the high seat in the middle of the forest, but the game trail, the natural movement corridor that wild animals use regularly. At forest edges, clearings, crossing points and bait sites, the hunter waits under cover for passing animals. In Switzerland, wait hunting is used especially in small-game hunting, mainly targeting foxes. It is often practised in the evening and night hours and in winter, when fox populations are active and visibility is limited. Legally, it benefits from an exemption: since 1 February 2025, hunting in forests at night has been prohibited under federal law, but wait hunting is expressly excluded from this ban (Art. 3ter JSV). In Grisons, wait hunting of foxes, badgers and martens runs from 1 November 2026 to 28 February 2027, in each case from 5.00 pm to 6.30 am, and may only be carried out from houses, barns or other permanent buildings; meat and fish waste is put out at the bait sites (Low-ground hunt 2026: What Grisons, Ticino and Valais are releasing for the kill). From 20 to 31 October, foxes and badgers may also be hunted "without time restrictions" in eight Grisons hunting districts (Art. 84 of the Hunting Operations Ordinance, see Grisons hunting ticker).

The difference from the driven hunt: the animal comes of its own accord. The difference from the high seat within the stand: the hunter does not sit in the habitat but at the edge of a natural movement route. This is precisely what makes the method relevant to animal welfare in a specific way: animals that regularly take the same route experience a repeated threat along that very route. This alters their spatial behaviour, not through a shot, but through presence alone.

More on this: Wait Hunting: Waiting, Technology and Risks and Hunting in Switzerland: figures, systems and myths

Repetition as a stress factor: what behavioural ecology shows

Wild animals recognise recurring patterns in their surroundings. When people regularly appear at a game trail, a process of behavioural adaptation begins: animals avoid the spot, change their activity times, shift their routes. A thesis from the hunting management context (Haller 2021) states: "Wild animals are under considerably more pressure than before as a result of the new circumstances and respond to these additional disturbances with stress. This can manifest itself in greater shyness and reduced visibility, with dramatic consequences."

A recent study (2025) shows that constant human presence in wildlife habitats creates a permanent source of fear. Animals try to keep away from people, but because humans are almost everywhere, they are caught in a cycle of constant tension. This sustained strain can destabilise a population even without direct kills by hunters. Behavioural adaptation costs energy: more vigilance means less rest, shorter feeding times and more escape routes, especially in winter, when every calorie counts.

More on this: Hunting Fact Check and Hunting and Animal Welfare: What the Practice Does to Wild Animals

Stress hormones and human presence: what the research measures

Stress physiology provides clear measurements. In Polish forests, Zbyryt et al. (2018, Behavioral Ecology 29: 19–30) compared stress hormones in ungulates in areas with and without predators. The result: the highest cortisol levels were found in areas without predators but with heavy hunting pressure, a high density of roads and a strong settlement influence. For wild animals, humans cause more stress than wolves and bears.

A study on red deer (2022) shows that the start of the hunting season changes the behaviour and spatial distribution of red deer more than other seasonal factors. White-tailed deer demonstrably adjust their spatial behaviour in response to human threats. A meta-analysis of ungulate flight responses to human disturbance (Stankowich 2008, Biological Conservation) brings these findings together: hunting pressure and human approach are consistently linked to flight and increased distancing behaviour.

For the sake of a balanced account, it is important to note that a study on mouflon, red deer and wild boars (Tajchman et al. 2024, BMC Veterinary Research) concluded that stalking showed no strong long-term welfare effect in the population studied, and discusses possible habituation. This shows that not every form of hunting causes the same stress effect in every species under every condition. At the same time, the absence of a measurable long-term effect does not mean that no stress occurs: short-term stress is relevant to animal welfare even when no long-term impact can be measured.

More on this: Why animal welfare law ends at the forest edge and Hunting myths: 12 claims you should scrutinise critically

Missed shots and protected species: the Swiss problem at bait sites

The Wolf Switzerland group documents a specific and serious side effect of Swiss wait hunting: in recent years, wolves, lynx and golden jackals have repeatedly been shot by mistake at bait sites during winter wait hunting, because they were mistaken for foxes, the target species. Pets are affected too: in Flims, Klosters and Sedrun, recreational hunters in the Grisons shot three dogs they took for foxes (Flims, Klosters, Sedrun: Three dogs that recreational hunters in Grisons mistook for foxes).

The assessment of the Wolf group is clear: relative to the total number of foxes killed, the number of mistaken kills of protected species is small. For predators with small populations, however, even individual mistaken kills have a markedly negative effect. This is not a hypothetical scenario; it is documented Swiss practice. Anyone waiting for a fox is firing in poor light at an animal that is moving. That animals with a similar silhouette and a similar pattern of movement are mistaken for one another is not an individual failing. It is a structural risk of this form of hunting.

Wildtierschutz Schweiz goes further: it describes small-game hunting and wait hunting as forms of hunting that "come from another age and yet remain reality to this day", and calls for an end to cruel hunting practices in Switzerland.

More on this: Wolf in Switzerland: facts, politics and the limits of hunting and Fox hunting without facts: How JagdSchweiz invents problems

Bullet backstop, safety angle and risks to third parties

Wait hunting often takes place along woodland edges and transition zones, that is, where hiking trails, forestry tracks and settlements are not far away. The cantonal guideline for safe shooting in the canton of Solothurn states: "Every shot must have a suitable bullet backstop (natural ground) that completely stops the projectile." An angle of impact shallower than 5° is considered problematic even with a good backstop, and on perfectly flat terrain this angle is already undercut at shooting distances of 60 metres.

Wait hunting for fox often takes place at dusk or at night. Visibility, residual light and the dynamics of a moving animal make the angle of fire and the bullet backstop harder to judge than when sitting in a high seat in broad daylight. The demand for safe shooting is therefore not a purely declaratory statement; it is a requirement on training, experience and circumstances that is not always reliably met.

More on this: Hunting accidents in Switzerland: figures, risks and structural failure and Hunting and firearms: an unregulated combination

Ethical questions: efficiency over empathy

From an animal welfare ethics perspective, the main question about wait hunting is not how controlled a shot can be, but why killing is the default answer in the first place. Wait hunting at bait sites works on a luring principle: animals are drawn to a specific spot by bait or animal carcasses and shot there. The luring principle creates the same ethical problem as box traps with scent bait: an animal is attracted by a signal that promises food and safety, and meets threat and death.

Wild animals are sentient beings with interests of their own. When wildlife research measures that human presence causes more stress than natural predators, that is a finding society must debate. The shot alone is not the problem. It is the system: the recurring presence along natural movement routes, the normalisation of threat as a hunting tool, and the structural invisibility of the suffering that goes with it.

More on this: Trap hunting: the cruel practice behind the euphemism and The psychology of hunting

What needs to change

Ban on wait hunting at bait sites in areas with predators: Where wolves, lynx and other protected species are present, wait hunting of foxes poses an unacceptable risk of mistaken kills.
Duty of transparency on mistaken kills: Every mistaken kill of a protected species must be reported immediately and publicly. No procedural incentive to avoid self-reporting through lenient penalties.
Independent monitoring of wait hunting in protected areas: In areas of heightened protection relevance (wildlife corridors, protected areas, predator habitats), wait hunting may only take place with prior official authorisation and accompanying monitoring.
No bait sites without official approval: Local luring sites for wait hunting are to be registered, inspected and listed in hunting transparency reports.
Priority for non-lethal alternatives: In conflicts with foxes in residential areas, prevention (securing chicken runs, waste management, structural protection) takes precedence over wait hunting as a response. Template motions: Template texts for hunting-critical motions and Ban on cruel trap hunting and lure hunting

Talking points

“Wait hunting is the most animal-friendly hunting method because it causes no disturbance.” The animal is not actively disturbed, but the place of its natural movement becomes a danger zone. Recurring presence at fixed crossing points alters spatial behaviour, increases energy expenditure and produces physiologically measurable stress. No shot, no dog, no group of beaters, yet a chronic threat all the same.

“Mistaken kills of protected predators are rare exceptions.” They are documented and have occurred repeatedly. For wolves and lynx with small populations, every mistaken kill matters at population level. That the majority of recreational hunters apply the method correctly does not change the structural risk: anyone who shoots at night at a moving animal with a similar silhouette can get it wrong under limited visibility, and must expect to.

“Wait hunting of foxes is necessary because foxes harm small game.” This claim demands evidence: which population suffers, in which part of the hunting ground, from which measurable impact of which fox population? In most cases this proof is lacking. Fox populations generally regulate themselves. And where a genuine conflict exists, prevention and habitat improvement for the affected small game are more effective and more sustainable.

“Wait hunting is legal and regulated in Switzerland.” That something is legal does not mean it is ethically defensible. To this day there is no independent statistic on mistaken kills in wait hunting, no public register of bait sites and no monitoring of the impact on wildlife populations in protected areas. Legal practice without transparency is not an animal welfare standard.

Quick links

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Related dossiers:

Our Standard

Wait hunting is regarded as the quietest form of recreational hunting. This dossier shows why “quiet” does not mean “harmless”: recurring presence along natural movement routes produces physiologically measurable stress, bait sites create structural risks of mistaken kills for protected species, and the scientific evidence shows that human hunting pressure is more stressful for wild animals than the presence of natural predators. IG Wild beim Wild calls for transparency, independent monitoring and priority for non-lethal alternatives. Anyone who knows of a specific case of wait hunting or has a question about the legal situation can contact us: Contact.

More on the topic of recreational hunting: in our hunting dossier we bring together fact checks, analyses and background reports.