Germany: Hunting association calls for bow hunting
The Hunting Association of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is demanding the legalisation of bow hunting. Yet another attempt to legalise cruel hunting methods.
Bow hunting as a new method
The Hunting Association of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is urging the responsible Ministry of the Environment to permit recreational hunting with bow and arrow.
“Hunting is changing, and it is increasingly necessary to hunt in areas where the use of firearms can pose a not inconsiderable risk,” the hunting association stated in the course of discussions on the amendment of the state hunting law. This applies in particular to areas where people and wild animals come into closer contact, such as in tourist-developed regions.
However, in the association's view, it is not only bystanders who could be exposed to lesser danger through the use of bow and arrow. With an eye on the expansion of renewable energies, solar parks are also cited as potential hunting grounds where firearms are unsuitable. The risk potential of bow hunting is to be assessed as considerably lower in certain hunting situations, partly due to the shorter range, according to the recreational hunters.
Animal welfare concerns
The association sees only a minor risk of unnecessary suffering for the animals. According to international studies, the effect of hunting arrows and bows on the animal body is said to be on a par with the use of firearms. Were Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to permit this form of hunting, it would moreover not be alone: according to the information provided, 19 European countries have already authorised bow hunting.
From the hunting association's perspective, invasive animal species in particular would be considered as targets for this hunting method: these include raccoons, nutria, raccoon dogs and Egyptian geese. The recreational hunters are, however, raising for discussion whether wild boar and foxes might also be hunted in this manner, as these species, according to the recreational hunters, are increasingly causing conflicts. More on the subject of animal welfare issues.
Generally speaking, the average success rate of bow hunters in America is around 10%.Bow Hunting Studies America
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More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier The Role and Criticism of Recreational Hunters we shed light on the training, power and self-image of recreational hunters. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
