No national calendar: periods set canton by canton
Federal law sets a protection framework; opening and closing dates remain an annual cantonal decision.
Hunting seasons are not set at federal level: the Federal Act on Hunting and its ordinance set a protection framework, and each canton establishes its own opening and closing periods every year, differentiated by species, sex or age according to its management plans. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) notes that this competence is exercised within the shared federal framework, but without a single national calendar: a licence-based canton generally publishes an annual decree or hunting regulation, while a leasehold canton includes the periods in the lease specifications. Geneva has no private hunting season. A hunter preparing an outing must therefore check the dates in force with the relevant canton rather than rely on a generic calendar, as the windows can change from one year to the next.