Psychology of recreational hunting in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Appenzell Ausserrhoden is a small, hilly canton in eastern Switzerland, stretching between Lake Constance and the Alpstein mountain range. Recreational hunting is practiced here as a licensed hunting activity. The Office for Spatial Planning and Forestry, Department of Nature and Wildlife, is responsible for hunting planning. The canton is divided into three hunting districts: Hinterland, Mittelland, and Vorderland. Since 2016, the hunting authorities of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, and St. Gallen have coordinated population surveys and hunting planning for red deer within their shared wildlife area.

Editorial Team Wild beim Wild — March 21, 2026

The hunting plan for 2025/2026 provides for the culling of 602 roe deer, 71 red deer and 17 chamois.

The hunting season for red deer and chamois lasts from September 1st to 20th, with a second hunting period for red deer from November to December. The roe deer population is described as "healthy and slightly increasing." The chamois population, on the other hand, is "stable at a low level."

Fawn rescue and fawn killing: The paradox

Since 2024, the Appenzell Ausserrhoden Hunting Association has offered a comprehensive fawn rescue service using drones and thermal imaging cameras. In spring, amateur hunters use this modern technology to save fawns from being killed by mowing machines. In autumn, the same deer are then hunted – 602 animals according to the hunting plan.

Psychologically, this paradox is revealing because it exposes the central cognitive dissonance of recreational hunting: Hobby hunters rescue animals only to kill them later. Rescuing fawns is framed as "conservation," as proof of a connection to nature and a sense of responsibility. But from the animal's perspective, the logic is grotesque: survival in June, death in October. Psychologically, rescuing fawns serves as a form of moral self-exoneration. It allows the killing in autumn to be framed as part of a "holistic" commitment, instead of as what it is: an armed leisure activity.

Chamois: Conservation with a loophole

The chamois population in Appenzell Ausserrhoden is "stable at a low level." The hunting plan calls for "protection in the hinterland" and "stabilization" in the central and lower-lying areas. Nevertheless, 17 chamois are authorized for culling. Psychologically, the same pattern emerges here as in Nidwalden: protection does not mean a hunting ban, but rather a reduction in hunting activity. Even a species at a "low level" continues to be hunted because a complete cessation would call the principle of hunting into question.

Red deer: "Unabatedly high" despite hunting

The red deer population in the shared habitat of the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, and St. Gallen is described as "unfailingly high." Despite annual culls, coordinated intercantonal hunting plans, and special hunts, the population is not declining. Psychologically, this is a familiar pattern: recreational hunting claims to regulate wildlife, but through hunting pressure and population dynamics, it produces precisely the populations it then cites as justification for further hunting.

Conservation work as identity formation

The Appenzell Ausserrhoden Hunting Association actively presents itself as a conservationist. Habitat improvements, hedgerow planting, and the removal of barbed wire: the conservation work is professionally documented and communicated. The cantonal president emphasizes the "shared strategy of all those interested in our natural environment" and hopes for "good cooperation with environmental and nature conservation organizations."

Psychologically, this self-presentation is a classic case of reframing. Recreational hunting positions itself as a "partner of nature conservation," even though it simultaneously kills 690 wild animals of the ungulate variety alone each year. Wildlife management is real and commendable. But it is being instrumentalized: it doesn't primarily serve the animals, but rather legitimizes the killing. Those who plant hedges and rescue fawns can hardly be accused of animal cruelty. That is precisely the psychological function: wildlife management immunizes recreational hunting against criticism.

The Geneva model demonstrates that habitat enhancement and wildlife conservation are possible even without recreational hunting. Wildlife management is not an argument for hunting, but rather an argument for nature conservation, and nature conservation doesn't require weapons.

More on this topic in the dossier: Psychology of Hunting

Cantonal psychology analyses :