Which European Country Has Hardest Hunting Test?

[Daktari]

Hello European members, what is the hardest hunting permit to acquire on the continent? Also what have been your experiences in your country? I would love to hear about the process!

 

[BRICKBURN]

(If Germany does not hit the top of the list I will fall off my chair. )

 

[Thumper Mcgee]

idk about Europe but the American test was a joke

 

[Tanks]

idk about Europe but the American test was a joke

There is an American test?

 

[Thumper Mcgee]

There is an American test?

at least in TN, its called the hunter safety course, and I'm pretty sure you have to take it for a license

 

[dailordasailor]

The owner of company I used to work for was German and all the laws, dog registration to hunt, insurance, etc made me never want to move there. Have to agree their test will near the top. Seems only wealthy people get “lucky” enough to hunt in Germany

 

[Tanks]

at least in TN, its called the hunter safety course, and I'm pretty sure you have to take it for a license

As a guy in his 60s I am grandfathered in most places that require it I think.

 

[mark-hunter]

As per my information - Toughest hunting examination is in Germany, as well as tough gun laws.
But once you get your certificate, my impression is, you are fully vetted and consequently treated as a gentleman! Respected member of community!

 

[Daktari]

Do foreigners have to pass the hunting tests to hunt in european countries?

 

[mark-hunter]

No.
Generally, your national hunting certificates, gun license, etc will be recognized.

Citizens of EU members states will have:
- their own national hunting certificate.
- EU firearms pass (this is not EU "CCW", but allows you to travel to other EU countries by car, with your gun for sport or hunting purpose, unloaded, separated from ammo, etc...

You may find interesting following article about hunting in germany, from american perspective:

An Alternate Universe: Hunting and Shooting in Germany, Part I

by David E. Petzal From January 27-30 I was the guest of Carl Zeiss at its first Media Hunt in Wetzlar and Laubach, Germany. The company invited 60 or so people in my line of work from Great Britain, all over Europe, and Russia, to tour the Zeiss factory in Wetzlar, shoot at two very different...

www.fieldandstream.com

by David E. Petzal
From January 27-30 I was the guest of Carl Zeiss at its first Media Hunt in Wetzlar and Laubach, Germany. The company invited 60 or so people in my line of work from Great Britain, all over Europe, and Russia, to tour the Zeiss factory in Wetzlar, shoot at two very different rifle ranges, and go on a traditional driven hunt. From this, I learned that hunting/shooting in Germany is not just different; it's an alternate universe.
Germany issues a national hunting license (which is a prerequisite for obtaining a firearms license) which you get only after passing rigorous written and oral tests and a shooting test with rifle and shotgun. The program is the equivalent, I'm told, of getting a master's degree, and the failure rate is high. In addition, you need to carry insurance and have a spotless police record. Germany's gun laws are equally restrictive. I doubt if American hunters and shooters would be very happy under this system.
On the other hand, I found that if you're traveling with a gun, you are treated as a standup guy who knows what he is doing. There is no hassle, harassment, or BS. No official or airline employee ever looked at my rifle, or gave my Customs form or other paperwork more than a cursory glance. (Unlike the Fish & Wildlife officer at JFK who, as I went through U.S. Customs, gave me the third degree on suspicion of bringing in foreign wildlife products.)
At the two shooting ranges and the hunt itself, there was no lecture on safe gun handling, the assumption being that if we didn't know how to handle firearms correctly, we would not be here in the first place. As I said, an alternate universe. More to come.

An Alternate Universe: Hunting and Shooting in Germany, Part II

by David E. Petzal In writing about an enterprise like this, some of the most interesting stuff falls through the cracks because it doesn't fit in anyplace in particular. So: An American Rifle in Germany American rifles did not seem to have any fans among the European writers whose guns I...

www.fieldandstream.com

by David E. Petzal
In writing about an enterprise like this, some of the most interesting stuff falls through the cracks because it doesn't fit in anyplace in particular. So:
An American Rifle in Germany
American rifles did not seem to have any fans among the European writers whose guns I checked. I saw a great many Blasers, a Steyr Scout, several Drillings, a Sako 85, and one semi-auto that may also have been a Steyr. I may well have had the only American rifle there, a Remington Custom Shop 700 in .338. Why this is, I leave to you.
At one rifle range (which is 100 meters from a residence and 300 meters from a hospital) I got to try out perhaps a dozen Blaser R8s, most in .308 and at least one in .300 Win Mag. Whatever else you think of these rifles, I can tell you they shoot. When you see gun after gun putting three or five shots, all touching, at 300 meters, you are bound to pay attention.
The Carl Zeiss, Inc. Optics Factory Tour
Zeiss optics are made by machine and assembled by hand. The frames are CNC machined from aluminum (and then inspected and polished by hand to get rid of burrs) as are the lenses. Assembly is done in dustproof rooms, and Zeiss means dustproof. When an English camera team went in to film the process, their equipment was washed beforehand with soap and water. One of these rooms is dedicated to especially complex assemblies, such as the mechanical stabilizer in Zeiss' 20x60 binocular. One person is assigned the job of keeping the technicians supplied with the parts so that these people will not have to interrupt themselves in mid-job. The care the company exercises in the manufacture of its instruments can only be described as fanatical.
_
Coffee_
It's almost impossible to get a good cup of coffee in the United States. It's almost impossible to get a bad cup of coffee in Germany.
Airlines
I flew Lufthansa to Germany for the first time in 1980 and it was a terrific airline. It still is. I can't say the same for our domestic carriers. If you would like to see what air travel is like when people give a crap, give Lufthansa a try. And, no, I did not get a free ticket.

 

[DieJager]

Netherlands is pretty rough. About 50 % fails the first time. 3 practical exams, one theory exam. And since a couple of years a e-screener , sort of a psychology test. The latter is after you passed the exam when you apply for your permit.

Somewhat similar like in Germany

 

[HWL]

(If Germany does not hit the top of the list I will fall off my chair. )

You will sit there for ever....

HWL

 

[Opposite Pole]

I have no comparison with other EU countries, but in Poland, you need to do a minimum 12-month apprenticeship with a hunting club. This is followed by a hunting course which takes a few weekends, followed by a written exam, followed by an oral exam. These cover everything from hunting culture and history, harvest seasons and laws to breeding seasons and gestation periods of game animals. Having passed theory you take a shooting exam (not difficult). Once you pass these, you are a qualified hunter and can now apply for a firearms licence for hunting purposes. So all you need to do is pass a medical, psychological and psychiatric assessment and be cleared by Police. Oh, since you are a new hunter, you can only shoot females of the deer species. In order to qualify to shoot males, you need to be a hunter for a period of minimum three years, do a course and pass written and oral exams and demonstrate ability to correctly assess animals age “on hove” as well as based on teeth wear. By comparison, the R licence and WIT (waterfowl identification test) examination in NSW, Australia, is a joke. It’s a university vs primary school exam difference. In Scandinavian countries up to 4% of people hunt, in Poland it’s 0.3%. One good thing is money is not an issue, you do not need to be well off to hunt.

 

[Foxi]

(If Germany does not hit the top of the list I will fall off my chair. )

you know us well, don't you?

 

[MS 9x56]

at least in TN, its called the hunter safety course, and I'm pretty sure you have to take it for a license

Each state has a hunter safety course requirement and most all of them are different. I know NY requires 16 hours and a test for hunting license and another 12 hours classroom and test for bow hunting license. No joke here.

 

[Foxi]

Each state has a hunter safety course requirement and most all of them are different. I know NY requires 16 hours and a test for hunting license and another 12 hours classroom and test for bow hunting license. No joke here.

A long, long time ago, I had to complete a two-year course !!!!!
Two years.
1,5 year course and half a year repetition of the whole.
It was not without exaggeration called the "green baccalaureate" (dont know an other word for our Abitur)
30-40% of the participants disappeared after six weeks at the latest, when they realized how much material had to be learned (botany, hunting law, forest law, gun law, dog handling, game diseases, agriculture and biotope improvements and and and).
These people wanted to get their guns legally( Pimps and colleagues)
And a third failed in the end.

Today it has become much, much easier.But ultimately not better.
There have never been so many poorly trained hunters in Germany as there are at present.
Sic transit.........

 

[Deleted member 53080]

Each state has a hunter safety course requirement and most all of them are different. I know NY requires 16 hours and a test for hunting license and another 12 hours classroom and test for bow hunting license. No joke here.

In Oklahoma, for residents, an 8 hour in person hunter safety course is required to be able purchase a hunting license, or the same course online. No minimum age requirement although children 10 and under must be accompanied by a guardian for the duration of the course. The course requirement is waived for those 31 and older. They still have to purchase a license of course. Got it way easy here

 

[Vashper]

Russia is an anarchic, bureaucratic, and individualistic country. I know how strange this sounds, but it's true. Getting a hunting ticket looks like this:
1. Fill out the questionnaire on the website " Public services"
2. Say "Uff" and wipe the sweat from your forehead. After 5 days, you get a ticket. There is no possibility of refusal.
Buying weapons is a little more difficult. You need to get a certificate that you are not a psycho, a certificate that you are not an alcoholic or a drug addict, pass a drug test, get a medical certificate (similar to a driver's license certificate), get a certificate of passing courses on the safety of handling weapons (not "take courses", but "get a certificate" - these are different things), and also call the district policeman to look at your gun safe and write a report about it. Which is not easy; there is usually no district policeman in my area - the profession is not prestigious, and the salary is small. And when he is, he is either on advanced training courses, or on a business trip - he with AK drives "barmaleys" in the mountains.
And to get a permit for rifled weapons, in addition to the above, you must also have a 5-year experience of owning a smoothbore. Absolutely, with no exceptions. And no one gives a fuck that you're an officer with 25 years of military service.
As for foreigners - I don't know, I can find out. But I've never heard of a foreign hunter not being served or jailed for violating the rules on handling weapons. We love foreigners.

 

[mark-hunter]

get a certificate of passing courses on the safety of handling weapons (not "take courses", but "get a certificate" - these are different things)

This may be described as: "shall issue" certificate
Other variant (proper examination) will be: "may issue" certificate...

(@Vashper FYI - I am using american slang, for CCW permits, which vary from state to state)

 

[mark-hunter]

A long, long time ago, I had to complete a two-year course !!!!!
Two years.
1,5 year course and half a year repetition of the whole.
It was not without exaggeration called the "green baccalaureate" (dont know an other word for our Abitur)
30-40% of the participants disappeared after six weeks at the latest, when they realized how much material had to be learned (botany, hunting law, forest law, gun law, dog handling, game diseases, agriculture and biotope improvements and and and).
These people wanted to get their guns legally( Pimps and colleagues)
And a third failed in the end.

Today it has become much, much easier.But ultimately not better.
There have never been so many poorly trained hunters in Germany as there are at present.
Sic transit.........

So many similarities, in Croatia.
Croatian hunting culture came from K und K empire, with mostly Austrian influence, which has (I believe) absolute similarities with German hunting culture and tradition.

This came from period, of last years of 19th the century, and beginning of 20th century when oldest hunting clubs are formed under full Austrian influence, and contemporary etiquette was then formed, and then passed on from generation to generation of Croatian hunters.

This hunting culture included the way how hunter should dress (dress code), fire arm culture (popular kiplaufs, drillings, bavarian stocks etc), respect for game after the hunt, hunters horn, etc etc...

And so it was till not so many years ago:
A hunter should be apprentice in club for 2 years before taking exam. (without gun permit)
He would have mentor in his hunting club. Then would make 2 months course - gun laws, biology, ecology, ballistic, basic veterinary medicine, animals deceases, dog handling, breeding, training and dog certifications, etc, and only then if passing exam would make hunting certificate (if he makes exam at all, there was percentage of failures on exam).
those were the old days.

Then they reduced apprenticeship to 1 year + 2 months course

Then they revoked apprenticeship fully, and implemented course per subject per required lesson hours.
So now, course can be speeded up to two weeks, or sometimes stretched to 2 months, few hours per day.

Next phase: Then they certified private schools to make hunting courses, which do not want anybody failing exam, because they will loose the clients.

And so it became: "shall issue" system. Nobody fails exam today.

As a result, now we have, what you have described:
There have never been so many poorly trained hunters in Germany (Croatia)as there are at present.

But I will disagree at one point:
I have met several (average?) German hunters in group hunts, here and there, and my impression is that German training and certification system still has upper quality compared to ours.
I congratulate you for that, despite what you have described.