Hunting and Alcohol in Switzerland

A fixed blood alcohol limit – as exists in road traffic – is absent.

This means: those who roam forests and fields with a rifle may officially have a drink (or several) without crossing any clear legal boundary.

For many nature visitors, athletes and animal welfare advocates, this is a scandal. But what is the actual situation in Switzerland?

Switzerland likewise has no explicit blood alcohol limit for hobby hunters. While road traffic is governed by clear thresholds, recreational hunting is regulated with considerably less legal precision. Although various cantonal hunting laws prohibit the misuse of weapons or shooting while in a “state unfit for participation,” a blood alcohol limit is almost entirely absent. This leaves a great deal to the discretion of enforcement authorities – when enforcement takes place at all.

In practice, this means: a hobby hunter who heads out into the hunting ground with a loaded rifle after a morning drink often commits no specific legal offence, provided they appear to remain “in control.” The safety of other forest visitors thus depends on the subjective assessment of the authorities.

Risk to Humans and Animals

Recreational hunting is not a leisure pursuit like chess or card games. It involves the handling of deadly weapons in difficult and unpredictable terrain. Even when sober, hundreds of accidents occur every year, some resulting in serious injuries or deaths among people, dogs and protected animals. Under the influence of alcohol, the risks increase:

• impaired reaction time,
• misjudgement of distances and targets,
• heightened aggression and risk-taking.

While walkers, horse riders, joggers and mountain bikers use the forest as a recreational space, they are in effect forced to trust that hobby hunters are sober. There is no guarantee of this.

Hunting Under the Influence of Alcohol – a Taboo Subject?

The fact that this issue is rarely discussed publicly is also due to the close entanglement of the hunting lobby and politics. Instead of introducing clear regulations, many places rely on personal responsibility — an illusion when it comes to weapons ownership.

This debate should have been had long ago: Why are strict blood alcohol limits imposed on drivers, while armed hobby hunters remain largely uncontrolled?

Demands for greater safety

• A uniform blood alcohol limit for all hunters in Switzerland — at minimum equivalent to road traffic regulations.
• Regular, unannounced checks during hunting seasons by police or wildlife wardens.
• Transparent accident statistics that also disclose alcohol involvement.
• Public information about hunting seasons and risks, so that forest visitors can protect themselves.

Hobby hunting in Switzerland is an anachronistic pastime, and it carries responsibility. As long as no clear blood alcohol limits exist, a dangerous loophole remains open. The fact that hobby hunters are permitted to roam their hunting grounds with a loaded rifle after a few glasses of wine poses a risk to people, domestic animals, and wildlife.

The question is not whether accidents occur, but how many. Anyone who loves nature must therefore demand: clear laws instead of dangerous grey areas. Every 29 hours a hunting accident occurs, and practically every 3½ months there is a fatality to mourn.

From the perspective of IG Wild beim Wild, the limit for handling weapons under the influence of alcohol for hobby-hunters must consistently be set at 0.0 per mille blood alcohol. The same applies to wildlife wardens as well as military and police personnel, and for good reason. No one may handle or fire a weapon while under the influence of alcohol.

Hobby hunting serves the purpose of killing animals. Anyone who carries a weapon in doing so bears a particular responsibility towards both humans and animals. Alcohol or drugs are incompatible with this. Persons with alcohol or drug dependency must immediately forfeit their hunting– and firearms licences.

Following hunting accidents, mandatory alcohol testing must be introduced without exception. In addition, following the example of the Netherlands, regular medical-psychological assessments for hobby hunters are needed, as well as a binding upper age limit.

The largest age group among hobby hunters is 65+. It is precisely in this group that age-related limitations in vision, concentration, and reaction time are increasingly common, along with deficits in training and practice. At the same time, it is known that alcohol is consumed in the belief that it steadies a trigger finger. Others abstain from alcohol but are nonetheless no longer physically up to the demands of the activity.

The numerous missed shots, tracking operations, and the massive animal suffering associated with them can hardly be explained otherwise.