I’m not sure how the hunters drive out the hikers by you, here we have game wardens and police that will enforce people rights to gather on state owned land, of course private land and management units are another story Sounds to me you have more of a political and law-enforcement issue than a hunting issue.
Die Sorge um die Natur muss bei der Pflege der Wälder eine größere Rolle spielen, sagt der Autor und Förster Peter Wohlleben im GEO-Interview
www.geo.de
"About half of the forests in Germany are in private hands, the other half belongs to all of us. They are public property. But those who manage the forests for us, the forest authorities, together with hunters, often behave as if they own them. They ignore the expectations of the population and sometimes even try to keep us citizens out of the forests. In Germany, anyone is allowed to enter any forest...We are allowed to walk around in it at any time of the day or night! The only exceptions to this are a few protected areas. Everyone should know and use this. In the USA, for example, there is no such right of access. Unfortunately, some hunters try to unsettle walkers so much that they don't go in after all, let alone trudge off the paths between the trees."
How does this happen?
"For example, with signs that say: "Caution, rabies!" This disease has been eradicated in Germany. Or: “Warning, wolves are hunting in this area!” These are attempts to keep people away."
Why should we be prevented from entering the forests?
"Because walkers disturb forestry and hunting operations. The basic understanding of the forest administrations in Germany can already be seen from their terms: "Trees" are not planted or cared for, but "hardwood" and "coniferous wood". The Federal Constitutional Court established in 1990 that wood production is of secondary importance in public forests".
Paul, even if the forest here is predominantly a cultural landscape, for us Germans the forest is a kind of sanctuary, it lives in stories and myths, it is part of German cultural history, anchored deep in the soul, the forests cannot belong to anyone, they belong all of us and any time!
As far as deprivation of liberty, half the population in the United States had their civil liberties taken away from them for over a year during Covid. Let’s see if that’ll play out the same way next time.
Yes, it was the case in many countries, the governments have assumed the worst-case scenario, the next pandemic will perhaps be handled a little more confidently, but now walking in the forest is allowed again and the hunters should also stick to it and not try to fool the citizens.
Andreas