Yeah, the German course and test are a little more detailed and in-depth than what we have to go through. We are told there is some backlash now among German hunters. They are starting to question why they have to know and test on biology of non-game species and animals that aren't huntable anymore. I know they have a book of about 5,000 questions that they can buy to study up on before their test. Our shooting test was the same but the written test and board are supposedly "dumbed-down" a little. The German course takes about a year, BUT, most Germans who take the course have no (or very little) prior experience in shooting or hunting. They know that about 95% of Americans who want to get a Jagdschein are already fairly accomplished hunters and shooters. Case in point, our Rod and Gun club here hasn't had a shooting or gun handling failure in over 6 (12 tests) years. The Germans say they usually have one shooting failure in every two or three tests. In fact our best shooter was a 18 year old high school girl. She outshot a 2-star, a CWO-5 (SF), a couple of O-5's and me a grumpy old E-7.
In some ways, I think a better hunting course would be good to put in place in the US, but I really don't want to give the government that much regulation over hunting. Our consensus is that the German government just makes the testing so hard and expensive so that you have to prove your desire to hunt by putting up with all the crap and paying all the fees. It's expensive here. My three year license will cost about $225. I have to pay about $75/year for personal liability and hunting insurance. Of course you have to pay to pull the trigger on an animal and then pay more if you want the meat. The only way around that is when you can get in on an "Abschuss" hunt. Basically a cull hunt. Some guys got in on one a while back where they just had drive hunt after drive hunt all weekend until they killed over 200 animals (Rehwild "roe deer" and Schwarzwild "wild boar"). They didn't have to pay a trophy fee for those but they did have to pay for any meat they wanted. Of course guns here are generally more expensive for the same model than in the US. I can pick up a Tikka T-3 .308 SS for about $700 but it's only about $600 at home. Then I have to send it to be proofed, that's about $40. It all adds up. Gun safes (Waffenschrank) are mandatory and they police can come inspect them any time they want. Well, gotta go... duty calls... more paperwork.
Thanks for the "thanks". Seems like everyone is saying "thank you" these days. Seems sort of corny at times but when you know it is honestly meant then it feels good. Too bad we didn't take care of our Vietnam vets that way. They deserve it a lot more than we do.
later,
ngh
