After long negotiations and two previous drafts, a revised draft for the new version of Brandenburg's hunting law has finally been presented, which both the parties involved and a majority in the state parliament can apparently agree to.

Originally, the draft was to grant hunting rights to forest owners with ten hectares or more. However, the current draft sets a minimum limit of 75 hectares, as is already the rule in most other German states. Previously, the minimum limit in Brandenburg was 150 hectares, on which the owner was allowed to practice his own hunting. Only with an exceptional permission this was already possible starting from 75 hectares. It remains to be seen whether halving the limits will lead to more intensive hunting. The main objective of this change is to reduce the overpopulation of wild animals, especially in terms of damage to young plants and complicating forest regeneration and conversion.

However, the radical reduction in the minimum hectare size for proprietary hunting met with resistance from hunting cooperatives, which saw their prerogatives threatened. They were not convinced by the argument that their sole rule alone was not sufficient to decisively reduce the number of wild animals. The Greens' plan to grant hunting permits to all forest owners, including those with a few hectares, was eventually dropped. Instead, the new draft provides that forest owners can form forest management associations on their own hunting districts, which do not have to belong to hunting cooperatives.

In Brandenburg, there are (as of July 2023) around 270 such forest management associations that jointly manage the forest. Another new regulation concerns the extension of the hunting season for cloven-hoofed game, i.e. for all even-toed ungulates subject to hunting rights, until January 31. This is to allow hunters to shoot more due to better visibility in the winter months. In return, there will be an extended rest period from June 1 to July 31.

Another change relates to hunters' target practice, who will now be required to practice firearms use at a shooting range annually. Fortunately, no minimum score is required to pass this exercise, so hunters can keep their hunting license regardless of their shooting score.

Another notable change concerns the ban on shooting stray dogs and cats. It is now not allowed to use automatic traps that could kill theseanimals. The reason for this is that protected species could accidentally get caught in such traps. Although stray pets can sometimes cause damage in the wild, they are now better protected.

In addition, some bird species have been removed from the list of huntable animals and may no longer be shot.

The reactions of hunters and forest owners to the new draft are mostly positive. The coalition partners CDU and SPD also show essentially approval of this new version. Environment Minister Axel Vogel, however, expressed his displeasure and described the draft as a compromise. He regretted that he would have liked more, but ultimately had to face political realities. He expressed satisfaction with the intended limitation of the lease term for hunting tenants to nine years and the now mandatory joint forest inspection of hunters and forest owners, which is to take place every three years.

The new version of the Brandenburg Hunting Law represents a compromise that takes into account both the interests of forest owners and the need to regulate the game population. It remains to be seen how the new regulations will prove themselves in practice and whether they will achieve the desired effect.