Hobby Hunters Mistake Horses for Wild Boar

The hobby hunter who shot a mare in its paddock last autumn in Rohrbach, in the southern Palatinate region, is no longer permitted to hunt.

Hunting Licence Revoked

The ban is, however, only temporary. The responsible authority at the district administration announced that the hobby hunter has had his hunting and firearms licences revoked until March 2023. The wildlife killer had claimed that he accidentally shot the mare last October. He said it had been night-time and he had mistakenly taken her for a wild boar.

Horse Owner: Hobby Hunter Acted “grossly negligently”

The horse owners, a couple from Rohrbach (Südliche Weinstrasse district), had filed a complaint against the man from Herxheim. They accused him of acting with gross negligence. He had allegedly fired across district boundaries in the direction of their stable without first checking whether any animals were in the paddock.

Investigation Against Hobby Hunter Dropped

The Landau public prosecutor's office has since dropped the investigation, as gross negligence could not be proven against the man. Nevertheless, the district administration has temporarily revoked his hunting licence.

A tragic case of mistaken identity also occurred at the end of July in Hesse, when a hobby hunter believed he was aiming at a wild boar.

On 30 July, a hobby hunter near Usingen (Hesse) shot a horse. According to a police spokesperson, the animal killer spotted what he believed to be a wild boar on a horse pasture from his elevated hide at around 0:40 a.m. and opened fire. Instead of the expected wild boar, a dead horse lay at the point of impact.

The case was handed over to the relevant public prosecutor's office. Such hunting accidents are unfortunately not uncommon.