Many Mis-kills: Canton Fribourg Tightens Rules for Hobby Hunters
Just in time for the opening of the hunting season on September 1, the Office for Forest and Nature (WNA) announces new measures. Particularly in focus is the hobby hunting of chamois, in which an alarmingly high number of mis-kills was recorded in the past year.
More than a quarter of the chamois bucks killed in 2024 did not meet the criteria regarding age or sex assigned during the draw. This is not only a violation of hunting regulations, but also endangers the population.
To counter this, the authorities are now taking a hard line: anyone who commits a mis-kill will be excluded from chamois hunting for two years. The canton thereby aims to hold recreational hunters more accountable and ensure that the requirements are adhered to, explains the WNA in its press release.
For the 2025/26 season, 223 kills have been approved in the mountain area and in the lowland colony Kleine Saane — slightly more than the 214 animals of the previous year. At the same time, the hunting period is being shortened by one Saturday.
The rules are clear: only those hobby hunters who have been assigned a specific age class and a specific sex in the draw are permitted to kill these wild animals . The frequent violations last year show, however, that theory and practice are far apart. Once again, the credibility of the hobby hunters is at stake.
Within hunting circles in Fribourg, the tightened sanction is causing debate. While some describe the measure as long overdue, others view it as an excessive punishment for “accidental mistakes”.
The exclusion for misshots is intended to send a clear signal — and to increase the pressure on every individual hobby hunter to exercise the utmost care when identifying wildlife.
As a further new development, the period for the hunting of cormorants is being extended, running from 1 September to the end of February. This allows the entire permitted timeframe to be used outside the closed season established at the federal level. This decision follows Motion 2024-GC-89 «Survival of fishermen and more sustainable cormorant management».
Culling for wild boar and deer regulation in protected areas will be carried out again with the consent of the federal government.
