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Hunting

Special hunt unpopular among hunters

The Schwyz cantonal government sees no reason to abandon its new hunting concept, even though it is unpopular among hunters. The government of the canton of Schwyz states that there is no pressing need to change course on the post-season hunt.

Editorial team Wild beim Wild · 6 December 2018

The Schwyz cantonal government sees no reason to abandon its new hunting concept, even though it is unpopular among recreational hunters. The government of the canton of Schwyz states that there is no pressing need to change course on the post-season hunt.

This year, the canton of Schwyz was divided into four hunting regions for recreational hunting for the first time. A total of 460 red deer were harvested. The culling target of 150 hinds was narrowly missed, with 124 hinds taken.

Differing views on the post-season hunt

Opposition was raised against the post-season hunt ordered by the canton, and a boycott was called. The cantonal government states that the deer population can only be effectively reduced if more hinds and younger animals are culled. Because the post-season hunt did not deliver the desired results, the cantonal wildlife wardens have now been tasked with carrying out the remaining red deer culls by the end of the year.

Post-season hunt in Valais

During the main hunt, the recreational hunters of Valais also failed to reduce the deer population sufficiently. They shot just 1’416 red deer during the two-week hunting season in September. The culling target had been set at 2’122 animals.

The post-season hunt is unethical.

Daniel Kalbermatter, President of the Valais Hunters’ Association

«We need to find a solution for the coming years that allows us to meet the culling targets in September,» said Kalbermatter. More on the Hunting Act and on the failure of population control.

More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on the criticism of recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.

The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.

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