I am looking for any clubs or groups of people who go on bird hunts in the Zurich area. I am looking to get two bird dogs in the Spring next year and want to know if there are any people in the area that are interested in hunting with dogs. If you have any advice that will be appreciated.
OK people get your minds out of the gutters. This is no Austin Powers shagadelic joke. I will be buying either two Weims or Vizsla's in the spring and would like to hunt them after they have been trained. I know that dogs are well accepted in Zurich and maybe I can bring them into bars, but I plan to bring them into the field instead.
Please only respond if you are a hunter or know how the REAL bird hunting scene works in Switzerland. Not hunting for women, but women are welcome to respond if they know how to hunt.
Hunting birds ? are you joking ? Sure, I always advocate in favour of hunting doves and putting them onto a grill. I might even start a new gastro-chain named "Dove Pick Grill"
I guess you uncovered the truth behind the brand name. I always suspected that there simple aren't enough seagulls in Switzerland to account for all the birds being served in the Mövenpick outlets.
I guess I need to dispell some cynicism that has lept into my thread. Believe it or not every 1st world country that has agriculture and forests, also has clubs where people that own sporting dogs hunt (maybe they keep a low profile). This is a left over skill that some of us kept despite being able to drive down to Migros and buy our pheasant.
These are clubs where people who love dogs, and who love being out in nature congregate to go out and hunt animals that they plan to eat later. In many countries you lease land from local farmers and promise to keep the animals that destroy the farmers fields under control. This is why you hunt regularly because if you do not keep the birds, deer, wild pigs etc. in check then he can charge you for damages to his crops.
I can easily find these clubs in the surrounding countries, but I can not find them online here in Switzerland.
I suspect you will be disappointed or you will need so many licences you will abandon the idea. Why don't you popover to a neighboring country? Make a weekend out of it.
There is a gun and hunting related shop in Siebnen, SZ canton. They have alot of info, and I believe speak a bit of english. I will be by there in the next couple of days, and can ask, if they are open at the same time, if they have any info for you.
Otherwise I know only squat. Other then, from what I understand, hunting is something more of land and animal managment responsibility, and not easy to get. That's intentionally vague cause I can't entirely remember.
The “low” hunt for small mammals and game birds takes place in October and November.
The “low hunt” lasts from October 1 to November 30, involving small animals like marmots and hares, and game birds like black grouse.
Hunting is strictly regulated by the cantonal government within the national framework provided by federal law. There are designated sanctuaries where hunting is not allowed.
There are jurisdictions where other hunting licences are recognised, but to hunt in Graubünden hunters need the licence from the canton - no outside licence will do.
Thanks for advice from everyone. I have lived here long enough to also expect there would be lots of hoops to jump through and walls to climb over prior to hunting anything more than a butterfly. Even though it is pretty difficult to get a hunting license in other countries, I would probably invest the time to do it Germany, or France, or Italy. Sometimes the Swiss take the fun out of activities by trying to make it exclusive and prohibitive for people.
If anyone finds this interesting let me know and maybe we can go on some adventures with our dogs. Sort of like Deliverance but without the Ned Beatty squealling :-}
Unless he is Maltese or Sicilian, perhaps Cretan or even French, in which case he means blackbirds, thrushes and robins? Definitely NOT a Swiss thing - and as said above very highly regulated.
I'm not sure about that. The cantons asess the populations on a regular basis and grant permissions for a certain number to be shot if they find that there are too many.
You may at first get the impression that wildlife that surrounds us is self regulating, but there is more intervention than meets the eye.
If SZ, there are several hunting clubs (probably in ZH too, but I only know SZ) - and as you have guessed, also several bureaucratic hurdles to clear. Search on Jagdverein.
And speaking of bureaucracy, don't forget your SKN courses...