During my time in Germany the US Forces were under the "Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)", which gave us certain rights including the right to hunt under the same conditions as German citizens. We had to pay the same price as German residents and received the same license. We were required to carry the same liability insurance as German hunters, which was very reasonably priced due to very low incidence of accidents. By the SOFA we were allowed to hunt a portion of the animals on the "shooting plan" of Federal lands and State-owned lands within the American section (each Allied Government was assigned responsibility to govern a part of the country from the end of the war until the Government was given back to the German people, the SOFA was the agreement that accomplished this return of governance). Trophy animals were allocated to American hunters by "drawings" administered by American Forces Headquarters. Non-trophy big game animals and Roe deer (classified as "low game" by ancient tradition) were hunted by scheduling hunts through local command's offices. Under the SOFA, the American Forces were allowed to conduct the hunting schools in English and issue the proof of graduation which allowed purchase of the license. The subjects taught in the school were basically the same as taught to Germans in their schools, except over a shorter period but concentrated i.e. every night for two weeks. In the beginning, the agreement did not require a shooting test since it was thought that soldiers could shoot. I got my license under these conditions. During my second tour I attended the school that trained the teachers at the local hunters' schools. By this time, it was decided that not all soldiers could shoot, after all, and a shooting test (both rifle and shotgun) was added to the final test. Much later, under more liberal American Government, the agreement was drastically changed and I do not have much knowledge of the rights taken from the "Forces".
Mike
