Hunters are putting down their rifles and picking up a bow and a quiver of arrows instead.
“It is an intense feeling,” hunter Allan Rasmussen told DR Nyheder. “Like primitive man sneaking up on an animal.”
Animal rights activists worried
The trend worries animal rights group Dyrenes Beskyttelse. Just 10 years ago there were only a handful of bow hunters in Denmark. Today, there are over 2,000.
“The bow is something that a hunter chooses for himself,” said Dyrenes Beskyttelse biologist Michael Carlsen. “If he was thinking about the animal, he would choose the rifle, which is the most humane form of killing.”
Bow as accurate as a bullet
Brian Aaen Graversen from the Vestjyske Bow Association said that Carlsen’s concerns are unfounded.
“A rifle is too easy,” he said. “An arrow is just as deadly as a bullet. We only shoot when we are close to the animal and we are sure we will hit the mark.”
READ MORE: More state-owned areas opening up for hunting season
Bow hunters must have a regular hunting licence before they can take the bow test.
