Glass half full
The ANUUMigratoristi wanted to have its say on the new hunting season and on the climate that would be felt around hunting: “We must curb our enthusiasm, we must not overdo our optimism, we must moderate the volume of our voices: whatever we want, but without a doubt we must affirm that this hunting season 2025/26 has begun to move toward much greater regularity and serenity than in the past. Even the exemption for the chaffinch has returned to entertain hunters in the Alpine and pre-Alpine areas of Lombardy and the Autonomous Province of Trento (unfortunately, however, not in the region that deserved credit for restarting a mechanism that had been rusted by fifteen years of inactivity, namely Liguria, blocked by the Regional Administrative Court). Puglia, for its part, has succeeded in the interim proceedings against the appeal for a stay filed by animal rights activists against the exemption for starlings.
A less troubled front
Let us also remember the regional hunting calendar issue, which is not entirely peaceful but undoubtedly much less troubled than in previous years: requests for suspension were rejected by the Regional Administrative Courts of Liguria (which even immediately issued a short ruling) and Emilia-Romagna, and the Lombardy and Sicilian calendars were not even challenged, contrary to what has happened for several years now. Things were a little less good in the Marche and Veneto regions, with some calendar provisions suspended by their respective Regional Administrative Courts, but not everything could have gone smoothly: we'll see how it plays out in the lower court. Then, or perhaps as the first point on a scale of importance, we must highlight the mountain passes issue, which erupted last spring like a festering boil in Lombardy, with a very serious risk of disastrous repercussions across the country.
Catching live decoys
Hunting-friendly politics, it cannot be denied, has moved with iron determination, rushing through all parliamentary stages for an effective amendment to Law 157/92 introduced by Law 131/2025 "Provisions for the recognition and promotion of mountain areas" and, subsequently, also at the level of the Lombardy regional government and council through their respective acts. Now, under consideration by the Chambers, there is a bill for a comprehensive revision of the state law, which will undoubtedly experience a path fraught with difficulties and delays, on which we await our opinion once it has made some progress. However, a text exists and is formally in the works. In short, things are going better, much better. It is true that live decoys have not been captured; the EU Pilot procedure on hunting calendars, which has been in place for almost three years, has yet to be concluded (and we cannot imagine how); the EU Commission intends to extend the ban on lead ammunition to all forms of hunting, even outside of wetlands. In short: in a While the general European panorama continues to be disturbed by some storm clouds, the internal situation in this historical period is proving to be favourable."
A pinch of optimism
Not all hunters will have voted for those who currently govern Italy and hold the reins in many regions, but it would be ungenerous and unrealistic to ignore the commitment and willingness of these political forces to address the needs of the hunting world: or, better said, to address the needs for a more secular and less dogmatic wildlife management than what many of those who governed in the previous 25 years demonstrated (and failed to achieve). The issue of the "downgrading" of the wolf alone would be proof of this. At this point, we would hope for more pragmatism and less dogmatism even in EU offices, but those are very tough nuts to crack, their directions effectively supported by the Von der Leyen II government resulting from the last European elections: it will still take patience, a lot of attention, and just as much perseverance to maintain a grip on all the hot topics. In the meantime, however, let's enjoy this month of October, the month par excellence of Italian hunting in general and for all enthusiasts, this time with A little more beneficial optimism. Good luck!” (source: ANUU)
You May Also Like ..
