Dangers of Hobby Hunting: Seasonal Threat to Wildlife
Even in winter, hobby hunters cause havoc. They disturb wildlife during their rest period and hunt foxes without a culling plan.
Winter Rest Disturbed by Hobby Hunters
Even during the cold season, when one should leave wildlife in peace in their habitat, hobby hunters cause havoc.
As in January and December, the self-proclaimed predator also disturbs all wildlife in forests and fields in February, for example through the pathological hunting of healthy foxes.
Not every hobby hunter is trigger-happy, but every hobby hunter is a killer. No one has a mandate to kill. It is their choice to kill and their choice to “nurture and care for” what they later kill. Hobby hunting is often referred to as a passion, but it is always based on a dubious disposition.
Hobby Hunter Shoots Himself in Austria
In doing so, they sometimes shoot themselves in the head, as recently happened in Austria.
Investigators reconstructed that the 56-year-old hobby hunter, likely while descending or ascending, with the rifle presumably unsecured, accidentally placed his finger on the trigger. A shot was subsequently discharged from the weapon into his head. The victim, a lawyer with a practice in St. Pölten, died instantly on 6 February 2024.
Fatal hunting accidents in France
Almost simultaneously, in Verrières (Orne) in France, a hobby hunter shot another in the stomach. The 42-year-old victim died from these injuries.
In this case too, human error is the cause. Hobby hunters are normally required to fire a “warning shot” directed at the ground and must respect the hunting rules, which state that “not shooting is an act of hunting” when not all conditions are met.
At the end of December 2023, another hobby hunter lost his life in France. During the recreational hunt, this 44-year-old man was struck in the neck by his friend. This investigation is also still ongoing.
In mid-January, a 72-year-old hobby hunter had been shot dead by a 57-year-old hunting companion during a group hunt in Lorraine (eastern France).
Further articles
More recent hunting accidents and documented criminal offences involving hobby hunters can be found here: Chronicle of hunting accidents and criminal offences at Abschaffung der Jagd as well as in the Chronicle of hunting accidents in Germany, Austria and Switzerland at PETA.
