The history of hunting is as old as humanity. Previously carried out exclusively for the purpose of obtaining food in the fight for daily survival, hunting is now determined by a bundle of interests.
Hunting and hunters today – pros and cons
The main motives, emphasize the hunting associations, are the care and maintenance of our ecosystems in forests, fields and meadows: in particular the regulation of the wild animal population and the associated protection of forests and agriculture from browsing by wild animals. The passion for pursuing the hunting instinct that is inherent in all humans in the wild is certainly another driving force behind today's game hunting. And of course the prospect of hunting game you have hunted yourself.
However, hardly any other leisure activity is currently as controversial as hunting. While the radical, sometimes militant "animal rights organization" PETA, for example, calls for a complete ban on hobby hunting under the slogan "Hunting is murder", other organizations argue more differentiated in their criticism of the hunter's craft. For example, the German Nature Conservation Association (NABU) does not reject hunting in principle, but calls for a “stronger focus on nature and animal protection issues”. NABU denies that hunting is applied nature conservation.
As an observing participant in a mobile hunt in Schleswig-Holstein at the end of December 2018, I had the opportunity to gain my own impression of the people who are dedicated to stalking and their motives. Is there perhaps something in the common (prejudice) that hunters are trigger-happy, only anxious to destroy everything that comes before them? And that nature conservation only serves as a pretext for this? These questions were on my mind as I made my way to the agreed meeting point at night. I was also armed myself, but only with an inconspicuous camera...
A moving hunt is not a walk in the park
Well, I experienced the first surprise when the group of green coats gathered in the early morning darkness: there were around 30 women among the 10 or so actors. Hunting, as this example shows, is no longer a purely male domain in Germany.
The second insight: Hunting can be a remarkable physical challenge. Anyone who, when thinking about a hunt, only thinks of high stands or hiding places in the forest, where the shooters can stay quite comfortably for hours, has never experienced a mobile hunt. Large stretches of an area are roamed and many kilometers are covered. It is not uncommon for this to be difficult to access, densely overgrown and sometimes swampy terrain, as I experienced at the end of 2018. A hunt of this kind requires a fair amount of fitness.
“We too are environmentalists,” say the hunters
The hunters I spoke to while stalking are quite self-critical. They reflect on their actions and consider whether they correspond to their own code of responsible activity in nature. As a listener, you learn that the contribution of hunters to flora and fauna is broader than is widely known.
It is dedicated hunters who search the fields for deer fawns before the harvest season in order to save them from dangerous cutting machines. The hunters' infrastructure measures such as the creation of game fields, fallow areas, spawning waters and nesting aids also provide protection for wildlife. “In this way, we promote biodiversity and help reintroduce species that have already disappeared,” explained my companion. “It saddens me that this part of our environmental protection activities is not sufficiently noticed and appreciated by the public.”
“Some people also forget,” he added, “that game that has been hit is not rescued by the police, but rather by us and, in the event of serious injuries, relieved of its suffering. We provide this service at any time of the day or night.”
Hunting and hunters – a common enemy image? At the latest when you observe the loving relationship between a hunter and his dog, you will start to ponder and rethink your prejudices. This small series – unposed like all the photos in my photo report – perhaps says more than a thousand words:
By the way, dogs are indispensable as four-legged “hunting companions” when stalking. “It only works with them as a team,” said one hunter.
The Halali at the end of the hunt
The mobile hunt ended with the Halali, the end of the stalking according to an ancient ritual.
Anchor Point is located on the Pacific coast of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula and is home to dozens of bald eagles, which were nearly extinct in the United States 70 years ago.
Photographic documentation of a rare excursion to Süderoogsand in the North Frisian Wadden Sea: paths through protected zone 1, the beacon, the wreck of the Ulpiano, and the vastness of the Wadden Sea. A contribution to the Tidal Change project.
The exhibition “Nomads of our time. Travelling sheep farms in Schleswig-Holstein” with photographs by Holger Rüdel can be seen from February 13 to July 20, 2025 at the Sylt Museum in Keitum.
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