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Valais

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Cantonal system

Permits

Eight licence types, and a price that follows your address

The high-hunting licence costs a Valais resident 945 francs and a hunter living abroad 3,505 francs.

Article 3 of the decree distinguishes eight licences: A for high hunting, B for low hunting, A+B for both, C for waterfowl, E for small predators, R for tracking wounded game, G the general licence covering everything but wild boar, and S for the special wild boar hunt. Article 4 makes the price depend on residence, in four categories: Valais residents, former Valais residents now living outside, other Swiss residents, and hunters living abroad. Licence A therefore costs 945, 1,590, 2,235 or 3,505 francs; B costs 600, 1,110, 1,620 or 2,620 francs; A+B costs 1,345, 2,347, 3,350 or 5,400 francs; the general licence G costs 1,420, 2,487, 3,555 or 5,730 francs. The R tracking licence costs 25 francs for everyone, and the SCPF refunds it to a holder who can show they used it. Licences C, E and S cannot be bought on their own by a hunter from outside the canton: they require an A, B or A+B. A Valais resident taking them separately pays an additional base fee of 150 francs. Added to this are a 25-franc third-party liability premium, a 200-franc fee for anyone not a member of a Diana society, and 200 francs for a guest card. From the fiftieth licence onwards, hunters pay half price.

Seasons

Opening on 21 September 2026

The decree sets the opening of the 2026-2027 season on 21 September 2026; the detailed dates are in its annex 1.

Article 8 of the decree sets the opening of the 2026-2027 hunting year on 21 September 2026. Opening dates and durations, species by species and licence by licence, are in annex 1 of the decree — that is where a precise date must be looked up, not in a general rule. The same article already announces the opening of the following season, 2027-2028, on 20 September. That advance notice helps with planning, but it does not remove the need to read the decree for that season when it appears: the other dates will be set afresh. The SCPF also provides an interactive hunting map (art. 9) carrying the sectors and reserves — the practical reference for knowing where you are before knowing when you may shoot.

Species

Quota species: the caps per head and per day

Five marmots, fifteen woodcock, six black grouse cocks: the decree caps species by species, and sometimes by day.

Article 10 sets the maximum number of head a hunter may take in the season. Marmot is capped at five, subject to the particular provisions of annex 2. Mountain hare is limited to two, with a maximum of one a day; brown hare to four, likewise at most one a day. Black grouse cock is capped at six, one a day; ptarmigan also at six, but two a day. Woodcock rises to fifteen, under the provisions of article 23 paragraph 2. Authorised ducks have no seasonal cap but are limited to six a day. Red deer, chamois, roe deer and wild boar fall outside this table: their take is governed by the articles specific to each hunt — 13 and 14 for red deer, 13, 17 and 18 for chamois, 13, 19, 20 and 21 for roe deer, 13 and 26 for wild boar. The decree finally recalls a principle the figures might obscure: subject to particular provisions, all shooting rights are personal and non-transferable.

Weapons and ammunition

Unloaded in transit, rifled bullets barred on the plain

Other than on foot, the firearm travels unloaded in a closed case; on the Rhône plain, rifled ball is in principle forbidden.

Article 31 of the decree governs carrying and shooting. For any movement by means of transport, motorised or not, the firearm must be unloaded and stowed in a closed protective case; without a case, it must be dismantled. It may on no account travel in the front of a motor vehicle, driver or passenger side. While hunting, moving with a loaded firearm is permitted on foot only. The Rhône plain has its own restrictions. Rifled ball is in principle forbidden there; it is tolerated only over a maximum width of 250 metres from the foot of the slope, towards the bank, and on the imperative condition that no thoroughfare lies on the line of fire. Slug ammunition for smoothbore firearms is forbidden there. Smoothbore shooting is further prohibited on either side of the motorway, over a strip measured outwards from the boundary fence. Article 30 additionally lists, sector by sector and spot height by spot height, the zones where rifled ball is forbidden during the high hunt — from Oberwald to the Guldersand. That list is too precise to summarise: it is read in the decree, map in hand.

Safety

Present the animal the same day, fill the book before moving it

Red deer, roe deer, chamois and wild boar are shown to the warden on the day of the shot, and the control book is filled in before the animal is moved.

Article 11 requires a hunter who has taken a red deer, roe deer, chamois or wild boar to present it on the day of the shot to the sector warden or the control post nearest where the shot was fired. If same-day presentation is impossible, they must telephone the warden and agree another date. Chamois may be presented by a third party, but the shooter must telephone the warden first; in case of dispute the animal is impounded until the shooter appears. A protected or unauthorised animal must be reported to the sector warden and presented immediately by the hunter in person — not by a third party. The rule most easily broken by inattention fits in one sentence: before moving the animal, the hunter must fill in every entry in the control book relating to it. Losing that book costs 250 francs on an A, B, A+B or G licence and 50 francs on a C, E or S licence; failing to return it within the deadline after a reminder, and without reason, brings a penalty order of 150 or 50 francs depending on the licence, increased on repetition. The electronic control book escapes these fees, but in case of a technical problem the hunter must inform the warden without delay.

Regulations

Valais: an annual decree that governs the whole season

Cantonal law sets the frame, but the annual decree — adopted in June, in force from 1 July — fixes licences, dates, quotas and safety.

Valais is a licence-hunting canton. Above federal law and the cantonal hunting act (LcChP, RS 922.1) with its implementing regulation (RexChP, RS 922.100) sits the annual decree, which carries the living substance: the decree on the practice of hunting in Valais 2026-2027 (RS 922.110), adopted on 17 June 2026 and in force since 1 July 2026. This decree is the document to read before any outing: it defines licence types and their prices, opening dates, quota species, control procedures and safety zones — for one season only. A hunter relying on last year's decree is wrong. The authority is the hunting, fishing and wildlife service (SCPF). Enforcement in the field falls to the sector wildlife wardens, whom the decree makes the compulsory contact for every presentation of game.

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