Just sitting enjoying a nice peaceful Sunday afternoon,then,BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG,BANG,jumped up and looked out our front window to see a boar writhing around on the grass having just been murdered no more than 20 metres from our garden fence.I went out and confronted the shooter,he seemed completely oblivious that he was far too close to the house to be carrying out his idea of entertainment.Anyway after telling him what i thought of them and establishing where they had come from,i then told him that i would be reporting the issue to the Mairie in the morning,to which offered a half baked apology,not good enough,what is the matter with people.I don,t suppose there is much else i can do to voice my utter disgust at the total lack of concern for public safety shown by these people.
Good grief⊠there are strict rules and regulations about shooting.
Yep, get to the Mairie and if you took a photo of the sanglier, showing its position re your property, so much the better !
The hunting season drives me away from France every year. I spend much of the time between September and March elsewhere now. I canât cycle, walk or run for 6 months because this increasingly small minority of peoples idea of fun is to shoot animals . To pretend its keeping down the population of pesky birds, boars etc is just a downright lie.
Well, not a downright lie. But yes, I can see it so in the case above - where one is dealing with complete amateurs.
I have some 25 hectares of wood and scrubland that is riddled with wild animals. Quite safe to walk in (except for Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays) and very pleasant. The animals know a human and dogs are coming well in advance, so it is very tranquil with just bird noise.
This was five years ago, when the Maire was in charge of the very professional local chasse - I always had a dayâs warning of an intended shoot, and heaven knows how many haunches mysteriously left on my doorstep. During his shoot, lots of dog noise but very rarely more than one shot at a time. The Maire insisted his gang did the job properly. Compared to what I hear in the distance where it sounds like the wild west, I admired him for that.
Sadly he has retired and for five years, I can now hear the animals fighting for territory which sometimes can be quite upsetting if there are two large boars deciding who is boss. They also make a mess of the open areas.
I have a friend with a large spread in Scotland who prides himself on animal management that is quite evident on a drive around his estate captivated by the quiet life and quality of his deer. So i must concede with thos who say that culling is necessary. BUT, I totally agree that using any more than two quick shots for an instant kill, or to be near human life in the process is not acceptable. I understand how you feel.
There are such a small minority who actually hunt for sport and ruin the activities of the majority of non hunters that it seems unjust. Farmers cleanly shooting wild animals , I have no problem with, professional culling, no problem, but sadly those are in the minority.
You can declare your land a chasse free zone.
Do you know which direction the chasseur was shooting?
He was shooting in the direction of the boar,but the point is,they are supposed to be a minimum of 150 metres away from any houses,they know that but choose to ignore it,they are breaking the law.I have been advised that if the Mairie give me the shrug,to go straight to the Gendarmes.This is not something that i would normally do,but when public safety is on the line,i may have to.
Itâs sad that your local chasse does not take itâs responsibility seriously. Where I live, the chasse are completely different. I walk very regularly through the forestry near where I live and come across the chasse regularly in season. They always have people posted ar regular intervals with high vis and I stop and chat with them, ask where they are hunting and if needed adapt my walk. We use the countryside together. They donât hunt near houses and unless your out and about, youâd hardly know they were there. I think weâre probably quite luck that the several chasse round here take it seriously.
I want a chasse back, but a responsible one like last time!
A lot can happen in five years of the sangliersâ evolution in a confined space. Now, after five hunt-free years, they are rowdy.
Down here, its not uncommon for sangliers to have a night at the seaside (Collioure) and leave a right old mess of the beaches.
There seems to be a lot of emotion expressed about the danger to the general public regarding La Chasse. If you look at the official figures it would appear that it is more dangerous to cross the street than worry about hunting accidents.
The direction will be important to the Gendarmes/Police police environnementale in the investigation; if you believe an illegal act has been committed you have an obligation to report.
There are some exceptions to the 150 metre rule; I have found the below in English.
âThe law specifies that the area zoned for hunting excludes land in a 150 metre radius of any dwelling. That does not mean that shots cannot be fired within this area, but that hunting cannot take place within it. That said, shots cannot be fired in the direction of the dwelling.
Although this 150 metre is often cited as a general rule, in fact it only applies in ACCA controlled areas. Outside of an ACCA zone local municipal or prefectural byelaws apply, which may differ by department. The local shooting associations will also have internal rules that fix shooting distances.
In addition, also excluded is land that is completely fenced, provided the enclosure is âcontinue et constanteâ. Unfortunately, one of the adverse consequences of allowing owners to fence off their land to escape the hunt has been that many animals have become fence victims. Indeed, some local hunt associations fence off land to enclose wild animals, which they later hunt.
Not surprisingly, over the years there has been uproar in France about the rights granted to hunters, which culminated in a legal action in the European Court of Justice in 2000, when the court ruled that that the law violated the freedom of conscience and lifestyle, the freedom of association (the freedom not to join a group), and the right of ownership of oneâs property.
As a result, the government was obliged to pass a law weakening the provisions of the loi Verdeille, allowing property owners to have their property excluded from the ACCA. They are able to do so âau nom de convictions personnellesâ. There is no need to provide justification for your decision.
However, the procedure to do so is not easy, for it is only possible within six months of the five-year anniversary date of the ACCA. Your local mairie should have details; if not the local service de chasse in the prefecture or on their website.
The procedure requires that you send a recorded delivery letter (lettre recommandĂ© avec accusĂ© de rĂ©ception) to the president of the FĂ©dĂ©ration dĂ©partementale des chasseurs in your department asking that your land be withdrawn from the ACCA area. In some departments there are forms available provided by the prefecture.â
I do feel for you. From the end of October to February it feels extremely unsafe to set foot out the door in my village. The hunters seem oblivious and merrily take pot shots over our garden. They donât put signs up to warn theyâre shooting and often scare deer into the road causing serious collisions.
Thatâs illegal now.
Where are you getting that information?
We have two types of âhuntâ (Iâve said this before) the âbattusâ that happen once or twice a year, are controlled, signs on the road, a large group of hunters, all in brilliant orange coats. They are there to cull boar. There is often only one or two shots the entire time they are out.
The other type is local guys who come out every weekend through winter, tend to wear camouflage outfits, have a couple or more dogs, wander round our adjacent fields and woods and take pot-shots at anything that moves. No way are they going to put signs up. I have shouted at them in the past to get off our land and stay away from our dogs. It sort of works.
We stay in when itâs a formal battu out of courtesy. We go out when itâs just the local guys. Donât be intimidated. Wear a gillet jaune and sing loudly. It works - boar and deer donât sing.
If I remember rightly the law was passed in 2024. Last year hunts around us started putting up signs. We seem to have a different pattern to you, with organised hunts usually every Sunday and few if any solitary hunters.
You can contact the Marie and register your land to be excluded from the chasse.
If anything is shot on your land you should be offered meat.
I regularly get meat; I understand some chevreuil is arriving tomorrow.
Panels have been put up here for a number of years. I receive a text as to where the chasse is hunting.
Please note if you see panels out slow down; speeding drivers have moan down dogs and not stopped.
As another poster has said,i think people are confusing the two different types of hunt.The âbattusâis the hunt that is organized correctly and signs put out etc.The other is the group of Sunday afternoon amateurs who stray on to all sorts of land and start gunning down anything that moves,often far too close to houses,no warning,no signs,very dangerous people.