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Education

Helicopters remain banned for hobby hunters on Sundays

Helicopter flights for hobby hunters remain prohibited on Sundays. The Federal Court upholds the restriction to protect mountain wilderness.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild — 12 September 2022

Good hunting practice requires that a shot must be placed in such a way that the killed animal can be retrieved and transported into the valley using humane and conventional methods.

Drones and helicopters are a no-go!

The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has now enforced the flight ban for game retrieval, after hobby hunters apparently brought enough noise and disturbance into the natural environment.

«We inform you that the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) in Bern has today instructed helicopter companies to no longer carry out flights for game retrieval on Sundays and to unconditionally comply with the ordinance on landing outside airfields.» This was published by Heli Rezia on Saturday on social media.

In essence, Bern has finally put a stop to the removal of game by helicopter on Sundays and public holidays.

The helicopter companies are unclear as to why FOCA is intervening at this particular moment, and they therefore intend to enter into dialogue with Bern. «We will request a review rather than an analysis of the situation«, says Renato Belloli, director of Heli Rezia, based in San Vittore (GR).

«The question needs to be clarified«, says Fabio Regazzi, president of the Ticino Hunters’ Association, as well. «In my opinion, it must be possible to grant exceptions, because otherwise it will be very difficult for hunters to carry out their activities on Sundays,» he told RSI.

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

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