Germany: Over 30 dead at the hands of hunters in 2017

Since 2001, the initiative to abolish hunting has documented the victims of hunting accidents and crimes committed with hunters' weapons.

In 2017, too, reports of people shot dead by hobby hunters or who fell victim to hunting accidents shocked the public: in total there were at least 31 deaths.

Reading the reports, it is striking that these are not just classic hunting accidents («hunter mistakes hunter for wild boar»), but above all armed crimes of relationship («hunter shoots wife dead»). On top of this come several hundred injured, as well as the constant endangerment of bystanders (walkers, cyclists, motorists).

Read a selection of reports about deaths from hunting accidents and crimes committed with hunters' weapons in Germany.

The reports you read below were compiled on the basis of available press accounts. On the one hand, this can certainly give rise to sources of error, and on the other hand can never capture every case. The list therefore makes no claim to completeness. For especially in family tragedies it is rarely revealed where the perpetrator obtained the firearm, that is, whether he was a hunter or a marksman.

Hunting accidents and crimes in Germany 2017

14.12.17: Fatal hunting accident during a driven hunt

During a driven hunt in Hesse, a 76-year-old hunter apparently shot himself by accident. (Hunting accident: 76-year-old man killed in the Heppenheim municipal forest. Bürstädter Zeitung, 14.12.2017)

4.12.17: Wounded wild boar kills hunter

During a driven hunt near Greifswald, a hunter who had wounded a wild boar was killed by the animal. (Press release of the Anklam police inspectorate, 4.12.2017)

2.11.17: Hunter shoots wife and himself dead

In Saxony, a hunter over 80 years old first shot his seriously ill wife dead, then himself. (Family tragedy in the middle of the village. Freie Presse, 2.11.2017)

1.11.17: 81-year-old hunter shot dead during hunt

During a driven hunt with more than 60 hunters in the Harz, an 81-year-old hunter was found shot dead. (Hunter shot dead in the forest near Ballenstedt. Volksstimme, 1.11.2017)

30.10.17: Fatal hunting accident

A 61-year-old hunter was found dead under a toppled high seat in the Rostock district after a storm. (Storm topples high seat: hunter found dead. Ostsee-Zeitung, 30.10.2017)

26.10.17: 73-year-old shoots wife and himself dead

A 73-year-old man in the Olpe district first shot his wife and then himself with a long gun. (Press release of the Siegen public prosecutor, the KPB Olpe and the PP Hagen, 26.10.2017)

17.10.17: Trial – hunter shoots wife dead

A 63-year-old hunter confessed before the regional court in Halle that he killed his wife with a shot to the head. Despite suffering from a “hallucinatory paranoid psychosis”, he had owned several weapons. (Hunter confesses to shooting wife dead. Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 17.10.2017)

13.6.17: Hunter accidentally shoots himself dead

In Saxony-Anhalt, a 76-year-old hunter accidentally shot himself dead with his own rifle. The shot went off as the hunter was getting out of the car with the weapon. (Shot goes off from rifle – hunter bleeds to death. Hessisch-Niedersächsische Allgemeine, 13.6.2017)

19.5.17: Hunter shoots wife dead with shotgun

A businessman and hobby hunter was sentenced to life imprisonment by the regional court in Bielefeld for shooting dead his estranged wife. (Wife murdered with shotgun – life sentence for husband. Rheinische Post, 19.5.2017)

18.5.17: Fatal shot to the abdomen after struggle with roe deer

A 67-year-old hunter in Saxony wanted to kill a wounded roe deer with a rifle butt. In the process a shot went off and struck the hunter fatally in the abdomen. (Hunter died after struggle with wounded roebuck. tag24.de, 18.5.2017)

11.5.17: Hobby hunter shot wife dead

In Saxony-Anhalt, a 63-year-old hobby hunter shot his wife dead and then turned the weapon on himself. The police found the body of the 56-year-old woman and the man with a severe gunshot wound. According to the public prosecutor, he is said to have gone hunting in his spare time. (Did man kill his own wife? BILD, 11.5.2017)

8.5.17: Neighbour and himself shot dead

A 61-year-old man in Saarland shot his neighbour dead. Apparently it had been preceded by a dispute over the woman's dog. As the woman was about to drive to work, her neighbour approached her with a rifle and fired. The perpetrator then fled into a nearby forest and shot himself dead there. According to police, he held a gun licence for two short and two long weapons. (Dispute over dog ends fatally. Saarbrücker Zeitung, 8.5.2017 · Fatal dispute over dog barking. BILD, 9.5.2017)

7.4.17: 88-year-old shoots wife and himself dead

In Augsburg, an 88-year-old first shot his wife and then took his own life – according to the police, an «act of desperation». Whether he was a hunter or a marksman was not disclosed. (Man shoots wife and kills himself. Augsburger Allgemeine, 7.4.2017)

3.4.17: 80-year-old hunter found in woods with gunshot to the head

An 80-year-old hunter was found dead with a gunshot to the head in a wooded area in the Oberhavel district. According to the police, the involvement of a third party can be ruled out. (Märkische Oderzeitung, 3.4.2017)

7.1.17: Man and woman with gunshot wounds – both dead

Family tragedy in Arnstein (Main-Spessart district): A house resident found two family members, a man and a woman, lifeless in the flat with gunshot wounds, from which they later died in hospital. According to the press spokesperson of the Lower Franconia police headquarters, the murder weapon was legally kept in the house. Whether a family member owned the firearm as a hunter or as a sport shooter was not disclosed. The Main-Spessart district is rural in character and a hunting stronghold. (Man and woman remain in life-threatening condition. BR, 7.1.17. · Second victim dies after Arnstein family tragedy. Merkur, 2.3.2017)

Hunting accidents and crimes in Austria 2017

4.11.17: Mother shot dead with shotgun

In Bischofshofen, a 44-year-old farmer shot his 78-year-old mother dead in the barn with a double-barrelled shotgun. (44-year-old allegedly shot mother. salzburg24.at, 4.11.2017)

24.10.17: Husband shot wife and himself

In the Mühlviertel, a 58-year-old shot his wife and then himself. Both firearms were registered. (Husband killed wife and himself. Nachrichten.at, 24.10.2017)

10.10.17: Hunter accidentally shoots himself dead

In the Oberpullendorf district, a 51-year-old hunter was fatally struck by a shot from his own weapon. (Hunting accident: Three children now weep for their dad. heute.at, 10.10.2017)

12.9.17: Hunter shoots wife and himself

An 83-year-old hunter from Gemeinlebarn first shot his estranged wife and then himself. (With a rifle: hunter executes wife. oe24, 12.9.2017)

4.7.17: Hunter falls to his death

A 62-year-old hunter fell from his high seat in western Styria and was fatally injured. (Hunter fell from high seat – found dead hours later. nachrichten.at, 4.7.2017)

23.6.17: Fatal hunting accident

A 77-year-old hunter has died in a hunting accident in the Salzburg Pinzgau region. (Hunter killed in crash with off-road vehicle. nachrichten.at, 23.6.2017)

27.4.17: 81-year-old hunter fell from high seat: dead

As a hunter from Upper Austria apparently tried to arrange branches as a visual screen on his high seat, he suffered a fatal fall. (Hunter (81) fell from high seat: dead. Kronenzeitung, 27.4.2017)

19.3.17: Hunter shoots himself

A 55-year-old hunter shot himself near St. Pölten. (Missing hunter (55) found dead. heute.at, 19.3.2017)

5.1.17: Shot wife and himself

A 52-year-old man in Upper Austria killed his 46-year-old wife with his legally owned long gun, then set fire to the house and killed himself. (Bodies found in fire: gunshot wounds as cause of death. Kleine Zeitung, 5.1.2017)

Documentation: People as victims of hunters

Read our complete documentation: People as victims of hunters. Hobby hunting endangers not only wild animals but also people. More on this in our dossier on the animal welfare problem of hobby hunting.