Huntalis
Coming soon on Google Play

Schwyz

Verified

Cantonal system

Permits

Four licence types and two million francs of cover

High hunt, low hunt, furred predators and waterfowl; the minimum liability cover is 2 million francs.

Hunting in Schwyz comes in four licence types. The high-hunt licence (I, Ia, Ib) covers red deer (I, Ib), chamois (I, Ia) and also fox, badger, raccoon dog and raccoon. The low-hunt licence (II) covers roe deer, mountain hare, mustelids and several corvids and pigeons. Licence III is for furred predators, licence IV for waterfowl — mallard, tufted duck, pochard, coot, Egyptian goose, ruddy shelduck and cormorant. Regulating ibex and marmot follows a separate path: it requires meeting certain conditions and registering, and the entitled hunters are chosen by draw. Insurance is compulsory under article 16 of the federal hunting act, and the canton notes that hunters' minimum liability cover is two million francs. Schwyz offers the option of taking out that insurance together with the licence: 33 francs a year, cover of 5 million francs in Switzerland and 3 million euros abroad, valid worldwide from 1 September to the following 31 August.

Species

What is open, wildlife region by wildlife region

The canton publishes the open/closed status by animal category and region, updated through the season.

Schwyz publishes not just a species list but an open-status table by animal category and wildlife region — Rigi, Muota, Mitte, Ausserschwyz — updated during the season. The status published on 1 September 2026 shows how to read it. For red deer, the adult stag and the spiker whose antlers rise above ear height are protected in all four regions; the spiker below that height and the Kahlwild — hind, yearling hind, calf and male calf — are open. A quota rule links the two: whoever takes three head of Kahlwild within a wildlife region is entitled to shoot a multi-tined stag in that same region. For chamois the buck is protected, while the barren doe and the yearling are open. The same mechanism applies: whoever takes a barren doe or a yearling below 1,400 metres is entitled to shoot a buck below 1,400 metres — above that altitude the buck is generally protected. For wild boar everything is open except the lactating sow, which is protected.

Regulations

Schwyz: licence hunting with annual rules

Hunting is a cantonal regale exercised by licence; the department issues the season’s rules each year.

In the canton of Schwyz hunting is practised under the licence system and is a regale of the canton. The hunting administration is responsible for planning, organising and monitoring hunting operations, and prepares the hunting and wildlife-biology groundwork for sustainable management of the game population. The hunting and wildlife division implements federal and cantonal legislation on hunting and the protection of wild mammals and birds. Its remit covers all birds living wild in Switzerland, carnivores such as the marten, even-toed ungulates such as roe deer, lagomorphs, and also beaver, marmot and squirrel. The rhythm is annual: each year the environment department issues the rules for conducting the hunt. A recent partial revision of the cantonal hunting and wildlife protection ordinance (JWV) extended compensation, through the cantonal game-damage fund, to grazing, fouling and trampling damage caused to farm crops by greylag geese and mute swans, and set rules for involving local hunters in measures against large carnivores.

Other Swiss cantons

Aargau

Appenzell Innerrhoden

Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Bern

Basel-Landschaft

Basel-City

Fribourg

Geneva

Glarus

Graubünden

Jura

Lucerne

Neuchâtel

Nidwalden

Obwalden

St. Gallen

Schaffhausen

Solothurn

Thurgau

Ticino

Uri

Vaud

Valais

Zug

Zurich

Back to Switzerland