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Vaud

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Cantonal system

Permits

The Vaud licence: fees, conditions and the draw

The general licence costs 750 francs; access to the ibex, chamois and red deer hunts goes through a draw.

Article 2 of the directives sets licence prices for 2026-2027: general hunting 750 francs, general without carrying a firearm 750 francs, trapping 100 francs, waterfowl 150 francs per body of water (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Murten), a temporary guest licence 50 francs, and a provisional licence for candidate hunters free of charge. A general and a waterfowl licence issued together cost 950 francs. To obtain the licence, the cantonal portal lists what must be produced: the licence or the certificates of success in the hunting examination; confirmation, entered in the licence, of having passed the latest periodic shooting test — except for a licence without carrying a firearm; proof of third-party liability insurance covering damage arising from hunting; proof of paying the dog tax for every dog used; and, for anyone not resident in the canton, a sworn statement that they meet the conditions of article 31, letters a to e, of the wildlife act. The ibex, chamois and individual red deer hunts are not freely open: they go through registration and then a draw, governed by articles 13 to 20 of the directives and by the directive of 1 January 2026 on draw-based hunts. The examination itself follows the directive of 1 May 2021.

Seasons

Days and hours: four days a week, an hour either side of the sun

Hunting runs Monday to Friday except Wednesday, from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset by the Bern ephemeris.

Article 5 of the directives allows hunting on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Three exceptions widen the week: roe deer from a stand or on the stalk is also open on Saturday during October; wild boar on Saturday from June to October from a stand or on the stalk, and from November to January by drive as well; and team red deer hunting is additionally allowed on Wednesday and Saturday, on the days listed in annex I. Article 6 sets the hours: from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset, by the ephemeris of the city of Bern. Wild boar again has its own regime. From June to August, stand and stalk may run until two hours after sunrise and from two hours before sunset. From November to January they extend to two hours after sunset. In OROEM reserves 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 115 and the wildlife reserves on the south shore of Lake Neuchâtel 49 to 52, regulation from mobile high seats is possible from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The season closes administratively: the hunting record book, unused control sheets included, must be returned to the hunting, fishing and species section by 5 March 2027 at the latest.

Species

The 2026-2027 culling plan, species by species

Two roe deer tags and one hare tag with the general licence, 237 chamois to take, ten woodcock a year, and a wild boar governed by weight rules.

Article 24 attaches to the general licence one control tag for brown hare and two for roe deer, with separate sector rules on the plain (art. 56 RLFaune) and in the Jura (art. 55 RLFaune). An additional tag may be bought at the prefecture once the first two roe deer have been taken, in the plain sectors designated by the inspectors. Article 25 sets the chamois culling plan at 237 animals for 2026, of which 215 for the Alps and the Chablais — one chamois per drawn hunter, east of the Veveyse, including below 1000 metres, outside sectors 495, 500, 530, 570, 595 and 600. The section may close sectors during the season; decisions go out the evening before from 10 p.m. on a dedicated telephone line, which hunters must consult from the first evening of the opening. Woodcock is capped at two a day and ten a year (art. 29). Wild boar (art. 30) is hunted by drive with dogs, from a stand or on the stalk from September to January; from June to August only from a stand or on the stalk, without dogs, outside the forest, at dawn and dusk — and in June only for animals under 50 kg gralloched. Ibex, finally, falls into priced categories: a base amount of 200 francs, no supplement for category A, then 200, 400 and 600 francs for categories B, C and D according to the male's age.

Weapons and ammunition

Sound moderators allowed, shooting test required

Vaud allows the moderator for hunting, but buying one needs an exceptional permit, and the licence requires a passed periodic shooting test.

Article 12 of the directives allows firearms fitted with a sound moderator, integrated or removable, for hunting in the canton. Acquiring the accessory nonetheless requires an application for an exceptional acquisition permit from the cantonal police firearms office. Its use is recommended in wildlife protection sites of international and national importance (OROEM and federal game reserves). On fitness, the licence is issued only on confirmation, entered in the document, that the hunter has passed the latest periodic shooting test — the sole exception being a licence without carrying a firearm. Those tests are governed by the directive of 8 July 2019 on periodic shooting tests for the practice of hunting. Article 11 further governs the use of high seats, and article 6 paragraph 4 allows, for wild boar regulation from mobile high seats in certain reserves alone, an artificial light source triggered momentarily as an aid to the shot.

Safety

Game control, closed ground and the record book

Every animal taken is reported, every location noted by its place name from the 1:25,000 map, and a mistaken shot carries a fee.

Article 22 requires that game taken be reported. Ibex must be presented the same day at the wildlife police control posts. A chamois taken in the Jura, at the foot of the Jura or on the plain is reported immediately to the district inspector, who arranges the presentation; in the Alps and the Chablais the report is likewise immediate and the animal is presented at the control posts or as agreed with the inspector. Red deer, whether hunted in a team or individually, is also reported immediately. Article 23 governs the record book: returned by 5 March 2027 at the latest to the hunting, fishing and species section; the control card for each wild boar returned within 48 hours; red deer control forms handed to the inspector at the presentation; the cards for June-July boar stalking and for crow hunting returned by 15 August 2027. The location must carry the place name from the 1:25,000 map, for every species taken. Error carries a tariff: article 4 sets fees for animals taken by mistake — 200 or 300 francs depending on the ibex category, 7 francs a kilo for red deer with a 600-franc supplement for a stag of more than eight points, 400 francs for a chamois, 200 francs for a lactating female, 100 francs for a hind with her calf or a sow with her piglets. Articles 9 and 10 finally delimit ground closed to hunting and traffic restrictions, completed by the directives of 20 January 2022 on wildlife quiet zones.

Regulations

Vaud: licence hunting, on four layers of law

Federal law sets the base, an intercantonal concordat the practice, the Vaud wildlife act the organisation, and annual directives the culling plan.

Hunting in Vaud is licence-based and rests on four nested texts, which the cantonal directives name in their preamble: the federal act of 20 June 1986 on hunting (LChP) and its ordinance of 29 February 1988 (OChP); the concordat of 22 May 1978 on the practice and supervision of hunting; the cantonal wildlife act of 28 February 1989 (LFaune, 922.03); and its implementing regulation of 7 July 2004 (RLFaune, 922.03.1). On top of that structure, the Department of Youth, Environment and Security issues hunting directives every year. Those of 3 July 2026 govern the 2026-2027 season and read in two parts: articles 2 to 23 are multi-year and may only be revised with the department's prior agreement, while articles 24 to 33, which carry the culling plan, are revised annually. The competent authority is the hunting, fishing and species section of the Biodiversity and Landscape division (DGE). Enforcement in the field falls to the wildlife police, whose permanent officers the directives call inspectors.

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