I've been looking for boar meat as my usual source (a hunter by the airport) seems to have stopped.


That got me thinking, I have a fair selection of rifles and a reasonably acceptable aim...



Does anyone know what the rules are for hunting boar? Do you need landowner permission? I assume yes... Even better, anyone know of a club that speaks english around Zurich? (yes, I'm aware it's not in season now)


Couldn't find anything in English sadly...

Do you have a Swiss hunting license?

Several locals that I know do it.

Tom

All hunters must have a hunting permit/licence issued by the cantonal authorities. The type of licence available and the price varies between the cantons. In order to qualify for a licence, applicants must be over the age of 20, pass a test and fulfil a range of conditions.

You can't just go out there shooting as you please.

It wasn‘t your buddies that shot up the house in Sessa recently was it?

OP, I think you need a license for hunting. And I hope your aim is better than the guys above...

Seeing as you are trying to kill a living mammal I’d hope your aim is better than reasonably acceptable.

And you do need permission from the land owner.

Only if it's private land, must hunting around here is done on public land.

Tom

Depends on the canton. Canton ZH for example is divided into 169 hunting districts. Each district is leased to a hunters society for 8 years. Only those are allowed to hunt (with a few exceptions), exclusively, on nearly any property.

The number of hunters in each society is regulated and each new member needs the permission of the commune. A society can invite a guest hunter.
https://www.zh.ch/de/umwelt-tiere/ti...gdreviere.html

But first and foremost you will need a hunting license.

And the hunting license is no easy feat either, this is how it works in Zürich:

A written exam in german (based on a 400 page textbook covering everything from hunting dog breeds to the breeding season of stoats to animal diseases) and a shooting exam with shotgun and rifle has to be passed in order to become an hunting trainee, for lack of a better term. Once that's done you have to hook up with a local hunting group as a trainee. After that you take the actual practical hunting exam at least 2 years or a maximum of 6 years after passing the trainee test. Once all that is done, you can try to join up with a group to lease a district for a hefty fee. And then it's not all fun and games as either, as the leasees of each district are legally required to cull a certain percentage of deer to keep the population in check, are collectively liable for damages caused to local forests and farmlands by game animals, and a member of the group is required to be on call 24/7 by the police in order track and find any animals involved in vehicular accidents.

Interesting -- with all the confinement, in Spain I was lucky NOT to kill 4 boars as I drove down to my howetown on the North. My friend Alberto (hunter, and owner of various hunting reserves) told me that because of the lack of human pressure (industrial, farming, people, traffic...), the population (of boars and deer / red-tail deer / fox / rabbits) had exploded, and they were having serious (and unforeseen) problems with the management of the reserve. No idea about Switzerland, but, if you want to go hunting in the north of Spain, let me know - he will organize everything - from weapons import to export of the meat (he is a lawyer also, so who best?), happy to put you in contact.

(now, the difficult part is reaching Spain -- did you see that Swiss basically announced yesterday that they would stopped flying...everywhere??)

This is the reasoning I hear from every person that I know that hunts. (okay, a handful, but still)

Never mind the fact that humans have taken over the wild animals' land/homes/habitat and the humans decide what is an acceptable number and rest can be killed.

Very glad I live on Swiss side, where hunting with dogs is not allowed. In france they do hunt with packs of dogs, allow the dogs to have 'a bit of fun' with the animal, then kill it with a knife. Saw an ASPAS video the other day of a young board who had taken refuge in someone's garden- screaming and running aroundd with half its guts hanging out, after the dogs had ripped him apart. Just truly.

And in France- the hunters say the wild boars are too numerous- and at the same time, both artificially feed them on grain and corn to encourage numbers and breeding- then kill all the natural predators- then have the gall to say they are too numerous and cause damage.

Still, at least in Switzerland hunters get some training, are generally very good shots, and the laws are much tighter. Regular wild boar hunts in the woods behind us and then then drag them down in the snow to our lane- and always come and ask permission first.

I like the Geneva Canton solution.

Hunting is allowed here with dogs. It's practically impossible to get game, especially boar, out of heavy cover without them. They're also used to track wounded animals. Use of a knife is only allowed for a wounded animal when shooting would endanger people or property.

Yes- hunting with dogs to flush them is fine in CH- but you have to train them not to attack the animal and rip it to pieces- so it can be shot cleanly- Unlike in France where they do allow the dogs to attack the animal and rip it to pieces, before the kill. Big difference.

Many videos I could post, and the ASPAS video of this poor young boar- but will not. Just too horrendous. If you are going to hunt- do it quick, and do it well. AGain, I like the Geneva Canton solution.

Hunters in France are, for the most part, absolutely vile, selfish people with zero stewardship thinking. My father owns land in the South of France, most of it forest, with a house in the middle that is surrounded by about 60 olive trees. The part with the house is fenced in by a seven foot high fence that is set between thirty and fifty metres away from the house. We have bullet holes in the house from hunters shooting at things that had escaped to within the fence.

My dad has told the hunters of the village on numerous occasions that they should not set foot on his land (which he has clearly demarcated and is also characterised by the fact that he actually does the mandatory undergrowth clearing that is intended to prevent forest fires) but they don't give a damn. And not only do they not care, they even leave their rubbish lying around, including cigarette butts. During a lot of the year, smoking is strictly prohibited in the forest but they don't care. They feel it is their right to hunt and zero consideration is given to doing it in a humane way.

They will also shoot at anything that moves - I was given strict instructions to sing at the top of my voice whenever I wandered about in our forest on my own. Imagine not being able to walk around YOUR OWN PROPERTY without making noise for fear of being shot at. There also seems to be zero consideration for any season where one shouldn't hunt, if there is such a law, then the hunters ignore it.

So, summing up: I'm extremely glad that Switzerland takes its usual borderline over-engineered approach to the business of hunting. It is important to keep populations under control and take measures to keep them healthy. I remember being told to avoid getting anywhere near foxes back in the 80ies and 90ies because rabies was a big problem among the fox population of Switzerland. Through a systematic vaccination programme, rabies was eradicated among foxes by the end of the 90ies.

There is currently also a debate about what to do with raccoons that are arriving on Swiss territory, with a strong preference for not letting them settle here. Yes, raccoons are cute (the little hands!) but they have almost no natural enemies and can create absolute havoc. If they were to make a bird reserve their home, it would be almost impossible to protect the eggs and chicks from these highly intelligent omnivores. The wild boar are also without natural predators, unless the urban population can be convinced that having wolves and bears in their forest is totally fine. They seem to love canton Aargau in particular, must be all the carrots ... In 2009, only a little over 4'000 of them were shot by hunters, ten years later it was over 12'000. I'm glad to know that it isn't amateurs out for a bit of fun doing this, but serious people with the proper training and equipment.

Now totally out of curiosity, say you have the proper hunting license here in Switzerland and you shot a boar. Do you then take it home and butcher it in your own kitchen/garden/garage etc?? Or do you need a license to butcher as well?? (and if you don't have it, take it to a butcher?)

I mean, shooting is one thing, to cut it open etc etc is another!

I witnessed a wild female bore running to get us after we woke her by singing on top of our voices in the woods as kids once. She did have piglets so must have gotten protective.▽￣⚇ ￣▽

O M G

So what's your solution? Will you be the first to move out of your house, cease using public infrastructure, and stop buying food produced on farms?

Have you ever had your garden ploughed by a pack of boars?



You learn soon enough to keep a very safe distance, especially if they have young.


Issue in some cities is that they do not stay in the woods but come to plunder garbage bins etc etc.

In these areas people should be required to keep their garbage bins indoors, or to use boar-proof bins.

Take it from the Canadians who have been using bear-proof bins for decades.

I’d take a boar over a bear, particularly a momma-bear.