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Zurich

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Cantonal system

Permits

A two-part training, four years in all

Theory and shooting first, then at least two years learning in a territory before the hunting exam proper.

Training in Zurich comes in two parts. After the theory and shooting exams comes a learning period as a candidate (Anwärterin, Anwärter) in a Zurich hunting territory. Only after at least two years is one admitted to the hunting exam proper, which takes the form of a practical test. Two further years on, the now-licensed hunter may sit the supervision exam (Jagdaufsichtsprüfung) and take on the wardening of a Zurich territory. The canton publishes the regulations on hunting exams and an information sheet on the law exam for game wardens and on the supplementary exam recognising out-of-canton hunting exams — an outside exam therefore does not simply carry over to Zurich. Dates are announced year by year: registration for the 2026 exams is closed, and the 2027 forms appear from January 2027.

Weapons and ammunition

The annual shooting proof, a condition for hunting

Every licence holder must show their marksmanship each year: four rounds in the black at 100 metres, plus the shot programme.

In Zurich marksmanship is not left to each hunter's discretion: licence holders must prove their shooting ability every year in order to be allowed to hunt. That is the Treffsicherheitsnachweis. The canton publishes what it involves: besides the “shot programme”, four rounds in series must land in the black on the 100-metre bullet range. Hunters also take voluntary training to sharpen their shooting. Hunting shooting needs purpose-built ranges. Between Bülach and Eglisau a large, modern hunting and sport shooting facility has been built in recent years; it has been open to hunters and to shooters from various disciplines since early July 2023.

Regulations

Zurich: 161 territories leased for eight years

The canton hunts under the territory system: political municipalities lease the hunting right to a society for eight years.

Zurich hunts under the territory system. The canton has 161 leaseholding societies, some of long standing. As a rule the hunting territories match the municipal areas: the political municipality leases the hunting right to a hunting society for a period of eight years. Hunters who win a territory in Zurich's usual award procedure are entitled to hunt in that area against payment of a market-rate lease to the canton. In taking on a lease, the hunting society commits to a wide range of services in the public interest. The current lease period runs from 2025 to 2033; the canton publishes the register of territories with the societies' contact addresses, and the territories themselves in its GIS browser. The legal basis is the cantonal hunting act (Kantonales Jagdgesetz, JG, LS 922.1) of 1 February 2021, in force since 1 January 2023, which replaced Zurich's 1929 act.

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