Hello everyone,
It’s been a pleasure to find this forum, and I have spent a lot of time reading many posts. It’s very informative, and I thank you for reading this and for any information you can supply.
My husband and I are at the beginning of our journey into France and have been aware for some time now of how hunting can affect people in a detrimental way in rural France. Though I am Italian and have had experience with the hunting season in the Southern part of Italy, what I hear about the state of hunting in France is alarming.
Put it this way: we all have to share this world together, and one would think whether there are truly peaceful places left in rural France where hunting does not happen at all. Please let me know, answers from people who hunt and know well the land are very welcome also.
so we do have hunting round by us but they are an extremely nice bunch,
they respect they can pass through our land but cannot shoot on our land, once they did and came to offer us half of a massive wild boar (our share) which we declined as i’m not a fan of boar nor inclined to prep it.
Ive heard other on other areas with bad stories. We also haven’t had a hunting “accident” in a great many years.
Its pretty much everywhere though and ive not heard of an area that its not popular.
Thanks for the good and bad news. Good in that some hunters are more considerate, but bad in that you haven’t heard of a place free of hunting. I dream of being able to just peacefully enjoy the nature in a rural setting, all year round.
hunt free move into the middle of a village or town, with true rural come the chasse although you can put up signs, we do not have signs but they respect our request. luckily we moved just 5 mins and are still with same chasse.
I have lived in rural France for quite a long time and I can honestly say that my life has not been affected by hunting in any way whatsoever.
David you say you haven’t had any problems with the chasse, which is encouraging for someone like me.
Is it because it doesn’t bother you generally, or because they are more respectful, or because your land is fenced off?
As Harry mentioned above, he’s also been lucky with his local chasse. It’s good to hear that it is possible to live with it without being heavily impacted.
The chasse are around, I see them in their white vans from time to time and even see them standing in fields but they have never, ever been near the house that I live in or the tracks that I walk and cycle along. As far as I can see they tend to hunt on farmland, and I’ve slways presumed that the farmer is probably one of their number, or in large areas of woodland well away from habitation. They are there, they are just not a problem. My land is completely open, the neighbour’s dogs call by several times a day, the hunters, never.
You are in a good position, a lucky one compared to so many people who have had bad encounters.
I assumed there must be parts of the countryside where the chasse won’t go, for various reasons, hence why I placed my post.
only place chasse wont go is where they are not allowed and some don’t care im told and are reported to trespass.
In Italy I have in the past become friends with neighbours who hunted, and they didn’t come near where I lived. It’s how I dealt with the hunting. Many times I would come across someone new and when I tried to get to know them they would run away, afraid that I would call the Guardia Forestale, which I never did.
They have the right to hunt in certain periods of the year, and I respected that, but I also should be free of alarm and fear due to trespassing and close proximity with weapons. Luckily in Southern Italy hunters mainly shoot upwards in the air to kill birds, as they have decimated the entire fauna of big game that once existed in most of the provinces. There is absolutely nothing big left on land to hunt there, just small migratory birds. Accidents still happen even with the shooting mainly upwards, as in this last season when a hunter shot another hunter on the face.
Like it or not, hunting is a big part of the French rural culture.
I’m not sure rural communities realise they’re supposed to be creating a haven of peace. I often find the countryside a very noisy place, what with all that bleating, mooing, crowing and barking, and the tractors and harvesters and quad bikes.
Like David - I’m pretty much surrounded by hunting but it really hasn’t bothered us at all. Obviously, if the hunt didn’t use our land we’d be overrun with a huge variety of beasts big and small! Lovely as they are, I don’t want them ploughing up my front garden and much prefer some of them in a good stew! As you can imagine they can play havoc with the golf course !! 
Our local hunt is fine. It’s not as if they’re out every day of the hunting season. They are most careful to indicate to road users that a hunt is in progress so beware sanglier suddenly appearing in front of the car. They hunt for the most part across vineyards and woods which are private land and to which public access is not as easy as it might be in the UK. So many people who complain about the hunt seem to believe they can roam the woods at will and many seem to have lost the concept of a dog leash some way across the Channel. I tend to agree with Anna you can hardly hear yourself think with all the tractors,chain saws etc.
There are more hunters in France than they are in Italy. It is very popular throughout France, but is also quite well regulated so mortal accidents are not frequent and mainly affect the hunters themselves. You can’t hunt inside urban boundaries, but apart from that I think only specific nature reserves are excluded…see here
You can also find lots of information on the ONCF website. http://www.oncfs.gouv.fr
Round our way we have active hunting groups in each commune. We know the local group well, and when we ask they will tell us where they are going to hunt that day so we can walk elsewhere. It just means during the hunting season we tend to walk locally on Wednesdays, Saturday and Sundays so we can be sure. I have an fluorescent jacket for the dog as well, just in case. But hunting is part of the rural way of life, and I don’t think that will stop anytime soon.
The only thing that really bothers us is that they spread maize around for the boar. So the boar now have two litters a year, and that’s the dangerous moment when a boar is protecting her litter. After one scary incident we now take care to avoid the deep forest during those periods. Plus the fact that our dog loves maize and gorges on it…and is then very ill.
In this department you usually have to shoot downward at an angle of 45 degrees from a fixed hunting stand. And most hunting is done in groups. There are a few individual hunters which is permitted throughout the year and you can shoot from the ground.
I’m not sure if you are being ironic Anna or not.
Farming is an industry to put food on plates.
I find yelling children more annoying than the sound of tractors and quad bikes driven in convoy by holidaymakers make more noise and set our dog barking.
Barking dogs are another thing that the hunters often get blamed for. Surely everyone knows that children should be seen and not heard, I know I’ve often read that.
Not really. Like you, I’ve always regarded the countryside as a working environment, therefore I think the people who work there are entitled to live by their own rules. I don’t mind countryside noises one bit and I don’t find it reasonable to want to separate the countryside itself from the lifestyle and mindset that goes with it. Which as you say, includes killing animals to put food on plates.
im pretty sure she is making a joke, it put a smile on my face.
Hi Denise
We live in a rural area and have a wood complete with palomberie just behind our house where we walk the dogs every day. The local hunters are all lovely and I’ve always stopped to chat and introduce them to our dogs. Having said that, there are days when I don’t take my horse out as there is simply too much gunfire! We’ve never had any problems except for one occasion when I looked out of the bedroom window and saw two guys about to shoot right next to our garden gate that leads out into the woods! So I let the extremely large dog out into the garden who ran at them baying like the hound of the Baskervilles and they scampered!
And can you add your surname to your profile please as per our T&C - thank you!