Hobby hunting in Germany: A few weeks of training, lifelong authority over wild animals

On 3 June 2026, the Hellweger Anzeiger profiled two operators of a private hunting academy in Kamen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and presented their self-portrayal as exemplary conservationists.

What the article does not address: the basis for all these far-reaching decisions, that is, killing wild animals, «managing» habitats and carrying out population controls, is in Germany a training course that can be completed in a few weeks.

What hobby hunters say about themselves

The hobby hunters profiled describe their activity as an indispensable contribution to nature conservation: they regulate wildlife populations, maintain biotopes, look after protected species and make responsible decisions about which animals may be killed.

«When you have responsibility for the game standing in front of you, you think carefully about whether it is the right animal,» Denise Jücker of the Kamener Kreuz hunting academy is quoted as saying. And Michael Garbe stresses that they teach the pupils «to handle the firearm sensibly».

That sounds like years of specialisation. The reality is different.

A few weeks of courses, lifelong powers

In Germany, preparation for the hunting licence typically takes between three and nine months, but often only an intensive course of a few weeks. Wildlife biology knowledge, that is, the scientific understanding of population dynamics, ecosystem functions or the actual need to regulate individual species, is only marginally represented in the legally prescribed examination material.

Anyone who then takes up the firearm makes decisions for which wildlife biologists and wildlife ecologists need years of university training. The difference: scientists are subject to peer review and obligations to provide evidence. Hobby hunters are subject to hunting law, which grants them extensive freedom of action in their hunting ground.

What science says about the «need for regulation»

The article's core thesis, that nature can no longer regulate itself without human intervention, is scientifically contested. In fact, research on predators and natural regulation mechanisms shows that intact wildlife populations form stable equilibria when they are not hunted. Predators such as wolf, lynx and eagle perform exactly the function that hobby hunters claim for themselves, but on the basis of millions of years of coevolution, not a one-week course.

The wildlife feeding mentioned in the article is also scientifically problematic: it artificially increases population density, promotes disease transmission and creates dependencies that are subsequently interpreted as a «need for regulation». A cycle that legitimises hobby hunting by creating the very problems it claims to solve.

The industry itself admits: «There are black sheep»

In the Hellweger-Anzeiger article, Michael Garbe concedes that there are «certainly black sheep», but «those are of course the fewest». This is the classic isolated-case rhetoric. The question is not whether individual hobby hunters act irresponsibly. The question is whether a system that, after just a few weeks of training, permits the killing of wild animals and transfers decision-making authority over entire ecosystems to private individuals is structurally suited to ensuring nature conservation.

Every day, articles like this one from Kamen appear in German-language media, portraying hobby hunters as selfless guardians of nature. How hobby hunting is actually compatible with nature conservation regularly goes unquestioned in such portraits.