The Problematic Reality of Hobby Hunting: Between Tradition and Unethics

No hobbyhunter is forced to hunt.

No official will appear at the door with a court order to compel anyone to obtain a hunting and firearms licence at their own expense, or to purchase a rifle and ammunition.

No one is forced to lease a hunting ground, and no one is forced to go hunting for a fee. When someone hunts, they kill out of pure pleasure.

What state of mind can one expect from someone who cowardly shoots an animal from ambush while it is feeding, even though they have absolutely no need of its flesh or hide to survive, and then describes this as “hobby”, “nature conservation”, “species protection”, “disease control” or “tradition”?

Anyone who spends thousands of francs also expects a corresponding return. No one does this out of love for animals or nature.

Hobby hunting is a hobby for killers. Nothing more, nothing less!

The Green School-Leaving Certificate

More and more city dwellers are leaving their offices for the great outdoors — not only for recreation, but also for nature conservation. If more meaningful opportunities for slowing down were offered here, they would not have to end up at hunting, sink into it and become intellectually numbed.

Nature lovers actively create beautiful experiences in nature without executing wildlife in order to feel good. There are countless admirable people who also use, cherish and care for nature — performing sustainable, selfless work with the fire brigade, civil protection, animal welfare, Bergwaldprojekt, building dry-stone walls, maintaining biotopes, completing farm service placements, roe deer fawn rescue, wildlife stations, etc. None of them would ever think of demanding a violent sacrifice in the form of a living being in return, as hobby hunters do.

Graduates only later realize that the unethical “Green Abitur” instills nonsense and unscientific drivel in the manner of a cult.

In German-speaking countries, someone with “a hunting licence” is colloquially referred to as a person who holds a free pass on the grounds of certified irresponsibility.

The origin of this expression lies in the fact that the holder of a hunting licence is permitted to hunt wildlife in their hunting territory, while others are prohibited from doing so under penalty of law. By analogy, a person who is not of sound mind holds a kind of free pass that allows them to do things with impunity that are forbidden to others.

Gen Z

Gen Z are Digital Natives who have been familiar with the internet, gaming consoles and social networks from the earliest age. Now they want to combine virtual with offline experiences.

Damage is caused at the point where violence is discharged just as much as at the point at which it is directed. And this in a very concrete sense, at the neuronal level. Scientists have established this through research. Neuropsychologists also confirm: the amygdala, a core region of the brain, is markedly underdeveloped or impaired in perpetrators of violence. When this central part of the brain is defective, the sense of disgust, among other things, is switched off.

Those who obtain a hunting licence therefore always receive two things at once: a licence to kill and a licence to become stupefied.

Time and again, claims are made from within the hobby hunters’ milieu that, upon close analysis, trace their origins to hunting literature and similarly unscientific sources. This is due above all to the frequently inadequate training provided in courses for the hunters’ examination, which are conducted predominantly by individuals — some of them fanatics — withcult-like ideologies who require no recognised qualification. After completing their training, the hobby hunter moves exclusively within the echo chamber of the hunting press, which endlessly repeats their distorted and often factually incorrect portrayals.

In hunting clubs, members mutually reinforce their own worldview. In this way, an insular and militant group has emerged that is barely receptive to new information. The fatal consequence is that the local press and politicians still believe that expertise resides beneath the hunter's hat, which is why they gladly consult the local hobby hunter on all matters relating to nature. In this way, hobby hunters also contaminate the public discourse.

Added value:

• Game meat: Natural, healthy — or dangerous?
• Game meat from hobby hunters? — Carrion on the plate!
• According to studies, there are health risks associated with the consumption of game meat
• Nutrition: The civilised palate
• Game meat from hunters is carrion
• Game meat cannot be organic
• Meat from wild animals is not organic game
• Dementia: How harmful is venison?
• Venison makes you ill
• Lead residues in game meat products
• Game meat: Risks, lead and hunting myths
• Warning: Caution regarding game meat from hobby hunters
• Hunters also lie when selling meat