Preparing for the Swiss hunting exam

The cantonal hunting examination is the decisive step on the path to obtaining a hunting authorisation in Switzerland. In most cantons it covers a common core of subjects, even though the precise organisation, the number of test components and the timetable remain defined by each canton within the framework of the Federal Act of 20 June 1986 on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds (Hunting Act, SR 922.0) and its implementing ordinance (SR 922.01). Cantonal training programmes typically cover several themes: applicable legislation — federal hunting and nature-protection law, supplemented by the cantonal provisions specific to the relevant territory, in particular protected species, protection periods and the rules governing how hunting is carried out —; knowledge of wildlife, including identifying huntable and protected species, basic biology, behaviour and habitat, and recognising tracks and other signs of presence; firearm handling and safety, including maintenance, transport and storage of hunting weapons together with the safety rules that apply in the field, whether alone or in a group; and, depending on the canton, a practical shooting assessment, sometimes supplemented by tracking or hunting-dog handling. Each canton sets its own examination arrangements within this common framework (Art. 4 para. 2 of the Hunting Act). The exact content, the weighting given to each theme and the conditions for passing vary from canton to canton and must be checked directly with the relevant cantonal hunting service, which alone is entitled to communicate the official programme in force. To prepare, candidates can generally draw on material provided by the cantonal hunting service, on preparatory courses run by cantonal hunters' associations and federations, and on supervised shooting practice and field exercises. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), responsible at federal level for hunting and wildlife policy, does not itself run the examination but sets the legal framework within which each canton organises its own training and assessment pathway. It is therefore advisable to contact, in the first instance, the cantonal authority for the area in which one intends to hunt, to find out about registration arrangements, the precise programme content and any exemptions available to those already trained elsewhere.

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