This year, 58 students started the hunter training in Fryslân; more than in previous years. Their motivation: to be in nature. "When you are outside, you experience freedom," says student Klaas Stielstra.
The number of hunters in the Netherlands is increasing. This is evident from membership numbers of the Hunters’ Association. In 2017, 20,540 hunters were members, this year there are three hundred more. In Fryslân, too, the number increased cautiously from 1104 in 2018, via 1120 in 2019, to 1151 in 2020. The Friesch Dagblad asked three students about their motivation.
Natascha Gielen (25) from Hollum, Ameland
“When I was ten years old, we moved to Ameland. There you live with nature. As a child, you learn the water levels, wind directions and meadow birds. That has been in him from a young age. I ride a lot of horses and like to be outside anyway.
I became interested in hunting because a number of people in my area are also hunters. My parents have a farm with twenty hectares of land. That is managed, and then I sometimes went on the hare hunt. You will ask questions and learn more. As a hunter, you are in the field with your senses. You can hear the sea in the background, you can feel the grass gliding through your hands. You know what lives there, how an animal develops and behaves.
The passion of a hunter is that you feel connected to nature
Training to become a hunter is tough. Many people don’t make it in one go. You need to know a large number of animal species and all the laws and regulations for hunting. You learn how to shoot, how to handle your weapon safely, how to hunt ‘widely’. An animal must not be under stress or pain and must not escape half-injured.
You sometimes notice the prejudice: hunters only hunt to kill. That is not the essence of hunting. If I go along for a day and nothing is shot, it’s for a reason. When rabbits are low, we do not shoot rabbits. A day without shooting is not a lost day. The passion of a hunter is that you feel connected to nature and that you disconnect from the work of everyday life.
There are hunters who find it annoying to have to justify themselves to critics. But I think it is important to take the time to explain what is involved in hunting. The hunter contributes to the presence of vulnerable species. Take the meadow birds, such beautiful animals. On Ameland we have a lot of them compared to the rest of the Netherlands. When I hear the lapwings here in the evening, I think: it’s spring. You have to protect that, that is such a beautiful piece of nature.
As a young woman, you are in the minority among hunters. About 4 percent of the members of the Hunters’ Association are women. I don’t see that as an obstacle. As a female hunter, you are a certain type of person: you don’t become a hunter if you mind getting dirty, working hard or cleaning an animal. A challenge for women in this profession is that they have to pay more attention to the recoil of the rifle. In women, the collarbone protrudes further forward. There are also guns for women that are shorter or lighter.”
Melle Oud (26) from Buren, Ameland
“My father was already a hunter and nature manager. Since I was ten, I have been going hunting sometimes. That hunting and fishing fits a bit with the islander culture. You also know exactly what’s here.
It’s not about what you shoot. It is about maintaining the population. For me, the most important thing is to be in nature. You are often up before dawn. As soon as you enter the field, you use all your senses and you are completely on edge.
You have to know every flower and bird in this course. Before, when I saw a goose fly by, I thought: a goose. When I see a goose now, I know whether it is migrating and what behavior it is exhibiting.
And if you shoot something, that’s a bonus. If you come home with rabbit, you know what you are eating. My favorite game on Ameland is the rabbit, provided my mother prepares it. But I am also afraid that it will soon be questionable – when we have a deed – whether we will still be allowed to shoot rabbits and hares. I think that the hunter is skipped, while he knows so well what is going on in the field. We treat game with respect. We must be as transparent as possible about this in the future; People need to know what a hunter does.
Here on the island, by the way, there is not much negativity about hunting. This is where I want to hunt and manage the wildlife. But first we have to succeed. That’s a challenge, because you have to know a lot. From the crops on the farmland to the breeding seasons of a duck. But I’m interested in a lot of things, so that’s good.”
Klaas Stielstra (38) from Stiens
“When you are outside you experience freedom. I also have that when I go out with my boat to fish. You will then come to places you never go. Fryslân is so beautiful.
I am the first in family to start hunting. In that respect, I am as green as grass. But the time I’ve been with them now, I loved it. You don’t just go and bring in a hare, but you look calmly: how much game do we see, how do they do it. Then you think: how do you get the healthiest possible area.
When I told my wife that I wanted to get my hunting license, she was skeptical at first. She said: ‘if you only go for the shooting, then you go to the shooting range.’ But it is not at all. If I’m sitting in the field with my binoculars and six deer are walking by or the hares are flying after each other, I think that’s a hundred times more beautiful than sitting behind the television.
I don’t notice much of judgments about hunters. I think we are a bit more down-to-earth about that in the north of the country. But when they are there, I stay calm. Often people already have their judgment ready. Then I say: ‘this is not going to work, we keep our decency, you go left, I go right.’
Shooting predators to improve the meadow bird population was not a direct reason for me to become a hunter. But it is a problem that needs to be addressed. How many crows I have seen pass by with stolen eggs… And then you have the foxes, stone martens and cats. Since the last lockdown, everyone has taken a dog or cat, so that problem will only get worse.”
Source: Wouter Hoving of Friesch Dagblad
