If you wish to go hunting in Germany, you need a hunting license. An annual hunting license is issued for a maximum of three years. The hunting season begins on April 1 and ends on March 31.

If your German annual hunting license has been revoked, you can reapply for it at the authority responsible for your place of residence after the specified suspension period has expired.

The authority may revoke your annual hunting license for various reasons:

• Unreliability in the context of hunting law, for example: 
  • a criminal conviction (for example, for a felony or an intentional misdemeanor)
  • repeated or serious violations of hunting regulations
  • Drunkenness in connection with hunting
  • Poaching or illegal hunting
  • Violations of the Animal Welfare Act
  • unauthorized possession of firearms or improper handling of firearms
• You are not physically or mentally fit, for example due to:
  • serious mental illness
  • Dependence on alcohol, drugs, or medication 
• The firearms authority has doubts about your suitability to handle firearms
• You lack proof of hunting liability insurance
• if you do not hold German citizenship and the hunting exam you passed in your country of origin is not recognized as equivalent to the German hunting exam
• False statements or deception in the application

• You must be at least 18 years old at the time of issuance. 
• You are of good character. 
• You are physically fit. 
• You have valid hunting liability insurance. 
• Your previously issued annual hunting license has been revoked. 
• The suspension period has expired. 

You can reapply for your annual hunting license as soon as the suspension period has expired.

Responsibility lies with the lower hunting authority.

• a recent photograph, if applicable 
• Proof of statutory hunting liability insurance