Recreational hunting magnifies the problem it claims to solve
Hunting is still regarded in Switzerland as a tradition, as a contribution to “stewardship” and to the regulation of wildlife populations. But what if this very form of recreational hunting is the cause of many problems, rather than their solution?
For decades, red deer populations in Switzerland have been steadily rising.
At the turn of the millennium, around 23,000 animals were counted; by 2024, the figure had already exceeded 40,000. The number of kills has also nearly doubled over the same period. Yet the population continued to grow. The numbers speak a clear language: hobby hunting does not work as a regulatory instrument. Nevertheless, in hunting parlance, this is presumably called: “successful population management.”
The large, branching antlers of the red deer are also prized as a trophy — and therein lies the problem. Most hobby hunters prefer to target male animals. Yet science has long established that this focus in culling is counterproductive.
The more heavily deer are shot in a given area, the fewer male calves are born. The population therefore grows in spite of — or because of — hobby hunting.
This is because the sex ratio shifts: fewer males mean more females, and thus more offspring. A simple, but fatal equation.
An ecosystem thrown out of balance
Red deer are part of the natural ecosystem. In an intact natural environment, predators such as wolves, lynx or bears would regulate their populations. But these natural regulators were systematically eradicated over centuries. The consequence: hobby hunters take on the role of predators — yet without their ecological instinct.
Instead of acting according to biological principles, trophy hunting dominates. Old, strong males – genetically valuable animals – are removed, while fertile females survive. The result: ever denser populations, more forest damage, more wildlife accidents, and a weaker genetic basis for the population. The hobby hunters promote exactly what they claim to be fighting.
Science contradicts the hunting myth
Nature has long had its own order. In an intact ecosystem, predators such as wolves or lynx would regulate deer populations naturally – selectively, efficiently, and without a hunting licence.
Wildlife biologists analysed over ten thousand kills and found clear patterns:
- The higher the population density, the fewer male calves.
- The more old stags over ten years of age present in the population, the higher the proportion of male offspring.
The conclusion: only if more female deer are shot and older males are allowed to survive can the population decline in the long term and remain stable.
Yet this contradicts the logic of recreational hunting, which orients itself by antler size rather than ecological necessity. The result? A forest full of roe deer and red deer, but without a future.
The myth of the “sustainable hobby hunter”
Many hobby hunters like to call themselves conservationists. Yet anyone who is primarily after trophies is not hunting out of responsibility, but out of passion – and thereby fails the self-proclaimed mission of “stewardship.”
Sustainability means understanding and preserving an ecosystem. The current form of hunting, however, disrupts natural processes, promotes overpopulation, and obstructs the regeneration of forests.
Recreational hunting as practised today is ecological self-deception – an attempt to solve a problem with the very means that cause it.
Recreational hunting is not conservation – it is leisure entertainment with a rifle. It produces blood, noise, and figures with which hobby hunters justify themselves, yet the ecological balance sheet is disastrous.
Instead of protecting the forest, recreational hunting promotes:
- overpopulations through the wrong selection of targets,
- damage in protective forests through excessive browsing,
- and a genetically impoverished animal population, because the best animals fall first.
And all the while, hunting is sold to the public as «herd management» – a PR term that serves admirably to conceal responsibility.
Time for a Rethink
A future-oriented wildlife management would need to rely on science rather than tradition:
- Targeted culling of females instead of trophy hunting.
- Protection of older males for stable sex ratios.
- Promotion of natural predators that restore the balance.
Only in this way can wildlife management be truly sustainable — not as a leisure activity, but as part of ecological responsibility.
Recreational hunting in its current form is not a tool of regulation — neither for deer, nor for foxes or wild boar — but rather an engine of overpopulation. It harms wildlife, the forest, and ultimately itself. Anyone who seriously wants to do something for nature must stop viewing it as a trophy store and start understanding it.
Recreational hunting is not nature conservation, but nature disruption with tradition. It is a ritual of self-promotion, disguised as ecological necessity. Meanwhile, forests, wildlife, and biodiversity suffer under a system that cannot regulate itself — because it has no intention of doing so.
It is time to bury the myth of the noble hobby hunter. It is not the shot that makes the forest healthier, but the cessation of shooting.
