A European guy who wants to hunt has a lot more skin in the game than the typical American guy. The licensing, costs, and storage requirements are all far higher than here. I suppose it is a bit sad to see that the old guns are being replaced with newer versions, but, at least there is participation still going on.
I grew up with the son of a former Hitler Youth member, a guy who emigrated to Canada and went to tool and die school. Once he had a skill, he decided he wanted to raise his family, here. Once established, he went through the steps to begin bird hunting, here, and was always amazed at how little it actually took to participate, compared to what he saw in Europe. He could afford a new gun (Savage BSE 20 gauge 3” magnum) the license, and found land to hunt, public and private, for free. He really only hunted ducks and ruffed grouse, but, he was so happy doing just that. He didn’t care if his gun was lower end than the guns he saw in his youth, in Germany, he was happy it went boom and it was all his. He kept it in a case in a closet in his laundry room. I don’t remember him ever having more than a box or so of ammunition.
Only one of his kids dabbled a bit in hunting, he usually borrowed a gun, and he doesn’t hunt anymore.
His father always enjoyed his time afield. I don’t believe he ever had a chance to hunt when he was growing up in Germany.
Best,
Ted
